A/N: I figure it's time for another chapter. Don't you?

Chapter 27

"A cryptex?" Adrien was confused. He was sure he'd heard the term before, but couldn't place it.

"Leonardo was not only a great artist, but he had a penchant for puzzles," Tikki replied.

"Oh, like in that DaVinci Code movie?" Tikki nodded. "So how is this going to work," Marinette asked.

"Well, we figured we should do two cryptex puzzles, one for Chat Noir's identity and one for Ladybug's. The first clue will be our names - mine or Plagg's. This will reveal a second cryptex that will be opened by your best friend's name - Alya or Nino. I figured that you could buy or make something for the 'prize' in the center that will mean something for the two of you. If they are able to open it, you'll know for sure that they know your identity."

"I have just the thing!" Marinette's excitement lit up her face as she turned to her boyfriend. "I'm thinking we make Chat/Carapace and Ladybug/Rena themed lucky charms. Care to go shopping with me for some jewelry supplies? Come to think of it, I never did get all the supplies I need for that contest entry."

"Purrfect. But not today. I'm exhausted!"

"Me too, Kitty. How about I meet you tomorrow after school?"

"Sounds like a plan, though I'll need to run any schedule modifications past Nathalie." Adrien was already texting his father's assistant.

"In that case, kid, I'll need to go home with Pigtails tonight. Sugarcube and I'll need help from the other Kwamis. It will go faster if we're all in the Miracle Box."

Adrien pouted a little, then sighed. Looking at Marinette he said, "Make sure you call me if there's an Akuma, okay?"

"I'll call you, then swing over close enough to drop Plagg off if anything happens. Deal?"

"Deal." He turned to his Kwami. "I'll miss you tonight, buddy."

"I won't be gone too long," he said with what appeared to be a modicum of concern. "Who would feed me camembert?"

Adrien snickered. "Yeah, well… let's not make a habit of it. Okay?"

Nathalie was going through her normal routine while Gabriel rested - answering emails, making sure suppliers were paid, scheduling meetings, etc. when she received the text from Adrien about his schedule.

"You have a fencing practice immediately after school, but your other lessons can be rearranged. Date night?"

"Something like that."

"I'll take care of it." While she arranged the schedule, she thought some more on how to help Adrien reconnect with his father. Unfortunately, the two had almost nothing in common. Since it was late, Nathalie finished up the day's work and headed home.

The next morning, Adrien picked Marinette up for school, a little anxious for having been without Plagg for the night. As per usual she was running a little late - though this habit seemed to be breaking as she liked to greet her boyfriend in the morning with his favorite croissant (and maybe a passionfruit macaron). What was unusual, other than the fact that Plagg was already in Marinette's purse, were the paparazzi.

Yells of "Smile!" and flashbulbs going off disturbed their walk.

"Ignore them," Adrien advised his girlfriend. "It will eventually die down."

Marinette knew that being with Adrien meant being in the public eye and, to some extent, she was used to that as Ladybug. But not in her daily life.

"How do you handle this," Marinette whispered.

"You get used to it." Adrien stopped, looking Marinette in the eye as he reached out to hold her hand. "I promise, it will get better."

As Marinette hugged her boyfriend, he whispered in her ear. "Think of it this way… the bakery gets some free publicity for a while."

Marinette couldn't help but laugh at that. Letting go of Adrien's hand as they finished crossing the street, she got a very Ladybug gleam in her eye. "Race you to class, Sunshine!"

"Hey, no fair!" he yelled as she ran toward the school, leaving him behind. Running to catch up, ignoring all the paparazzi who, thankfully, were not allowed on school grounds. Tikki started nudging Marinette, who grabbed Adrien's hand and led them to a quiet corner as they had a few minutes to spare. Making sure they couldn't be spotted, Marinette let Tikki and Plagg out of her purse.

"We got the first two cryptexes finished," Plagg said. "... the inner ones. Tonight we'll need to stay in the Miracle Box again to complete the other two. We'll show you how to program the answers later."

"What we need, other than the inner gift," Tikki explained, "is the clue that will open the cryptexes. The outer ones should be easy, just a question in plain French who's answer is our names," she said, indicating herself and Plagg. "But the inner ones should be encrypted somehow, and the question pointing to your best friend. We'll want you to come up with those."

Marinette looked at Adrien, then back at the two Kwamis. "Thanks, Tikki. We'll work on it." As the two Kwamis hid back in Marinette's purse she looked once again at her boyfriend. "Any ideas on that score?"

Adrien thought. "Hmmm… well, we should make them different. One that leads toward Nino's strength, and one that leads toward Alya's strength."

"Let's try researching cyphers today during lunch."

"Sounds good, bu… shoot, I almost forgot," Adrien smiled a smile that was pure Chat Noir. "Sounds good, Princess."

The bell rang. "Shoot! Let's get to class before we're late. I, for one, cannot afford any more absences."

Gabriel awoke after a full day and night's sleep fully rested. It was too late to meet with Adrien for breakfast, so he simply got ready for the day and headed to the atelier to find Nathalie already settled in for the day.

"Good morning, Nathalie. What's on today's agenda?"

"Assuming there will be no interruptions due to your… extracurricular activities, we have a meeting with Vincent scheduled for 11:00 to discuss the photos from the last photoshoot, and one with our advertising agency at 15:00 to discuss the official statement from Gabriel Fashions about Adrien's girlfriend…"

"Good… good." Gabriel seemed distracted as he thought about his son. He sighed. "Nathalie, I know it's asking a lot of you, but have you… um, did you think of any ideas on how I could reconnect with Adrien."

Nathalie sighed. "It kept me up half the night," she said. "The problem is that I don't know what you two have in common, other than the loss of Emilie and his working as a model for House of Gabriel," the honesty in her voice made Gabriel take a closer look at her. While he didn't notice at first, he could see makeup covering the dark circles caused by her lack of sleep.

"Perhaps you could start with that." Nathalie paused, trying to think of how to say what needed to be said. "Adrien deserves closure about what happened to his mother. While you lost your wife, he lost his mother and, in a manner of speaking, you as well. I don't know if you want to disclose everything… but you could 'find' the body or something and have a real funeral. Or you could show Adrien the cryogenic chamber and see if you can find some medical help. Whatever you decide, it's up to you. I'll be right there with you, whatever you decide."

"Nathalie, I…" Gabriel paused a moment. "I don't deserve you."

She couldn't help it. "That's for sure," she said with an honest-to-god smirk.

Gabriel actually snorted at that. It startled him enough that he began to chuckle, though as it went on the chuckle turned into a laugh. He hadn't laughed in so long he'd forgotten what it felt like.

"Gabriel Agreste, did you just laugh?" Nathalie said with mock seriousness, her face in its practiced blank mask… for all of about ten seconds. "I never thought I'd hear you laugh again," she smiled. "It's good to hear." Then she started to laugh as well. Every time one of them would stop, they'd end up looking at the other and start laughing again.

It wasn't long before the atelier was filled with full on belly-aching laughter from two of the most stoic adults one could meet. It was ridiculous.

"Look at us, Nathalie. Laughing like a couple of kids." He walked over to her and, placing a tender hand on her cheek, smiled. "Thank you, Nathalie."

"You're welcome, Gabriel."

Just then, the doorbell rang. The two adults scrambled to regain their stoic demeanors as Nathalie let in the photographer for their 11:00 meeting.

For once, Felix Graham de Vanily was completely unsure of what he was doing. Well, okay, that wasn't entirely true. But it was the first time in a long time that he actually showed his confusion. To put it bluntly, Chloe had summoned him. She didn't give a reason. So here he was, on his way to meet with the Bourgeois heiress in her father's hotel.

The last time he'd seen her was at the spa when she mistook him for his cousin. No, that's not right. The last time he saw her was when she'd been Queen Bee during that disastrous Akuma fight when he'd been mistaken for Adrien. He knocked on the door of her suite.

"Felix!" she greeted as she opened the door two seconds later. "Thank you for coming."

"Yeah, okay," he grumbled. "Thanks for the invitation. So… why am I here?"

"I was hoping to… um…"

"Wow, Chloe Bourgeois at a loss for words. That's a rare sight." Chloe hit him on the arm, then immediately seemed to shy away again.

"Well, um, I was hoping we could, maybe, hang out like we used to as kids?"

Felix tilted his head in confusion as looked at her. "You aren't going to make me dress up and play 'tea party' with dolls, are you," he asked, just a slight smirk in his voice.

"Nothing like that, you ass," she said. "No, I just wanted to… hang out. We haven't been around each other in so long, and when I saw you the other day, I just wanted to…" she waved her hand in a loss for words, "... reconnect."

Felix looked at Chloe. He hadn't seen her in years, and truthfully he enjoyed their time together… most of the time. She looked a little lonely and, if truth be told, so was he.

"You know what, Chloe? I think I'd like that."