1. Miraculous

It had been nine long years since she'd gotten her miraculous. It was still crazy to think that at twenty-two years old, she and her partner—her original partner who she would always refer to as her partner and never as a teammate—were still fighting Hawkmoth. Not the original Hawkmoth, though. No, he'd gone down years ago. It killed both her and her partner that they would never know who the old Hawkmoth was, but Lila had left a very blatant note that there had been a transfer of authority.

Ladybug still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that that woman had somehow managed the one thing that she and Chat couldn't.

It was a blessing and a curse, this transfer of power from Hawkmoth to Butterlie. For one, Ladybug and Chat Noir were able to track her. She'd made no secret of her identity to them. But with that blessing came a double-edged sword. There was no outing her, seeing as there was no believable proof. Furthermore, they couldn't get too close. Lila was crafty. If Ladybug and Chat Noir got close to her as civilians, then surely, Lila would think something was up. And if they got too close as Chat Noir and Ladybug, she'd turn the city against them. It was no secret that Lila hated the two supers. And since the world was wrapped around her finger—she'd made herself quite a star by lying about her connections to get connections which she used to further herself into someone famous for being famous—all she had to do was lie about Ladybug and Chat Noir enough to turn a riot against them.

It pissed the Miraculous team off more than anyone could explain.

The worst part of Lila was that although there weren't as many akumas, her akumas were more powerful and strategic than Hawkmoth's ever were.

It proved to be a real problem to the supers.

Their last problem was Mayura still using her powers to attempt to avenge Hawkmoth—that was the other big issue; Mayura was more powerful than Hawkmoth ever was, too. It must be a woman thing—and take down Butterlie. But, if given an opening, Mayura would easily snatch a miraculous and run. She did it once. It had been a pain to retrieve the fox necklace. Partly because Butterlie wanted it, too.

In short, Ladybug would sum up the last couple years as superhero hell. At least she'd convinced Master Fu to allow Alya, Nino, and whoever Chat had decided to give the Bee miraculous to to keep their miraculous. It was so much more convenient for them to show up at every fight automatically.

After all, Marinette couldn't always get away from her job. She did all she could, but after so many years of this Miraculous dealings, the people of Paris barely batted an eye. If it wasn't in their part of the city, people would easily dismiss it as someone else's problem and life would go on as normal.

One day, things would go back to normal.

Marinette just didn't know when that day would come.

2. Civilian Life

Adrien remembered the day his father basically gave up on… everything. Adrien had been eighteen, and it had been around the time he'd finished up his homeschooling as well as the time Hawkmoth's miraculous had been stolen by Lila. Nathalie had to take over the company around that time, and instead of going to further his schooling, Adrien had taken up shadowing Nathalie so as to take over the company.

Which he had to last year when Nathalie became severely ill. She'd been slowly growing worse over the last couple years, but when she'd collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital, Adrien knew that from that day on, he was on his own.

As hard as it was to be the new CEO of Gabriel's and then be Chat Noir on top of that, he was so immensely thankful that being Chat Noir had brought Ladybug into his life. She was a grounding force he needed, and the unconditional support she offered was the only thing keeping him sane. Sure, he had his bro Nino that he'd forever be thankful that he accidently met one day, and he had Chloe in his life who'd shockingly pulled her act together over the last few years—maybe it had to do with the artist she was dating now, or it was possibly because of the superhero lifestyle she'd taken up—and he had the miraculous team who knew how hard it was to live a double life. But it was always Ladybug who could tell the truth behind his words. The one who was by his side when things got hard. The one who held him when he cried and encouraged him when he wanted to give up.

Even though they decided a while ago it was best to keep their identities secret, he couldn't help but feel both of their resolutions were waning rather quickly. He wanted her to be in his everyday life, to be by his side as a pillar of support, and he wanted to be by her side in return for everything she'd ever done and was doing for him. He really hoped those walls would fall soon enough. But he would let her make that choice. She was the one who wanted those walls in the first place, and he'd respect her decision. For now, anyway. He thought that maybe it was time to start pushing for more again to see if she was ready.

But in the meantime, he'd take every late-night secret moment he could and savor every stolen kiss they shared hidden in the night. Just because they didn't know each other's identities didn't make their love for each other any less true. It didn't make their relationship any less real. It made it a little more difficult, but he would think it was as real as it could be seeing as he'd fallen in love with who she was instead of a name, a face, or a lifestyle she lived.

He may have a ring he'd bought impulsively one night hidden away in his bedroom that he looked at in hopes of a future with her. He hoped he'd be able to give it to her sooner rather than later.

By the time he parked his car at his work, the clock was already showing he was late. It wasn't on purpose, but seeing as he was the boss and all he had to do was paperwork first thing this morning, he could get away with it.

However, the girl who was running in a black pencil skirt, red blouse, and kitten heels toward the building probably wouldn't. It was only when he got closer did he realize who it was. "Marinette."

Startled, she whipped around to face him right as she made it to the door. With a groan, she turned back around, tossing her head back in frustration. "I'd hoped I wouldn't be caught."

He chuckled. "You're lucky it's just me."

"Beyond lucky," she said, opening the door for him. "I'll have to thank Alya for dating your best friend. And I have to thank Nino for getting me this job in the first place."

"With your portfolio, there was a good chance you would have gotten in eventually," Adrien said.

"Still doesn't hurt that my best friend's boyfriend introduced me to the boss and convinced him to hire me."

Adrien chuckled. Honestly, he was happy to have hired Marinette as a design assistant. She was a hard worker and very talented; he could see her working her way up in the company. The designer Adrien had assigned her to had few complaints.

"By the way," Adrien said, hitting the elevator button. Speaking of complaints… "Why were you late this time?"

"I set the wrong alarm," Marinette admitted. "I know, I know; it's no excuse, but that's what happened."

"As long as you promise to start double checking your alarms, I'll accept it."

She groaned. "Yes, sir."

The elevator opened, allowing the two of them to enter. He hit the button for her floor and his floor.

"By the way, really quick," Marinette began rambling as soon as the door shut. "You know Alya and Nino are trying to set us up, right?"

"It's plenty obvious," he said with a smirk.

She chuckled. "They're not very subtle about it."

Honestly, the thought was rather amusing. Adrien knew Nino wanted to set him up with someone. He could even see why Nino was trying to set him up with Marinette. It was just hard to dance around that subject when there was a matter of him having a secret girlfriend. "I'll be frank with you," Adrien said. "While the main reason I must turn you down should be because I'm your boss, the actual reason is… I'm seeing someone. Nino doesn't know, and I beg of you to not tell him because I'm not ready to introduce the two."

The surprise was clear on her face, and he hoped he didn't offend her. Though he was her boss, Adrien saw Marinette as a friend. They did get together with Alya and Nino outside of work all the time, and even played video games one-on-one online to unwind. He didn't want to lose her as a friend. "Oh! Well, I guess that works out then," she said, flashing him a smile. "Because… I'm not exactly single either. And I'll only keep your secret if you keep mine from Alya because I'm not ready for her to learn about him yet."

The elevator doors opened for Marinette's floor. He hadn't known Marinette was seeing someone; she never talked about it. But considering Adrien was in the same boat, he could understand. "Deal." Adrien stuck his hand out.

Marinette took it to shake before stepping out of the elevator. "See you later, Adrien."

"Don't be late, next time."

"I'll work on that."

Adrien chuckled as the doors shut and the elevator took him up to his floor.

Ding!

He reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, seeing that he had a message on a chat app the miraculous team had set up.

But then he realized it was a private message from his love.

Good morning, Kitty. Sending my luck your way for the day. Thinking of you! XOXOXXX

A warm fuzzy feeling flooded him as he read the message over. He couldn't help but blush realizing there were more kisses than hugs.

Good morning, my bugaboo. I'll happily take and treasure any luck you give me. It's always an honor to be in your thoughts, my lady, seeing as you are always in mine. I would send you hugs and kisses, but I'd rather give them to you personally next time I see you. ;)

It wasn't long before she responded.

Such a tomcat XD But you won't hear me complaining. I love you.

His heart was racing as he walked to his office, grin plastered across his face.

I love you more. He responded.

I doubt that.

With a happy sigh, he dropped into his chair at his desk. While he wasn't working his first choice of job and struggled to survive the stress of part-timing as a superhero, he couldn't say his life was bad. Not when he had people like Nino or Alya or the miraculous team or especially his darling Ladybug in his life.