No, this couldn't possibly be true, I must have misunderstood... but I'm sure I didn't.

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School that day was normal except for the small buzz still going around about the two guardian angels of Paris being a couple.

Even Alya had calmed down a little but sometimes she would suddenly burst out a squeal after rewatching the video she took of the pair.

After another fit of fangirling Marinette confronted Alya.

"When will you calm down?"

Alya giggled at her question, "Never, obviously!" Then she started laughing at the exasperated expression on her besties friend, "You don't seem too excited about them dating. Are you jealous?"

"Jealous?! I would never be jealous of someone dating Chat Noir. Anyways I've got Adrien, he's much better."

Inwardly Marinette was laughing hard at comparing the two boys, they were the same person after all.

Alya, on the other hand, wasn't completely convinced by what Marinette had said. Mainly because of the, even though, small blush on her cheeks.

"Are you sure?" Alya carried on prodding her with questions.

"Positive."

"Otherwise I'll have to tell Adrien," Alya waved her phone.

"Sure, you can tell him. He definitely wouldn't believe you," She giggled at the thought.

"Oh well, next time," Alya sighed, defeated. She knew Adrien and Marinette's trust of each other was incredibly deep, even though she didn't know why.

"I'm glad you gave up," Marinette giggled at Alya's fake disappointment, "Look, here comes Nino."

"Hey Dudettes!" He was enthusiastic as ever when he smiled, greeting them.

"Hey Nino," The two girls responded together, Alya walking over to him to greet him with a small kiss.

Nino looked around a bit, then frowned, "Have you two seen Adrien?"

"No," Marinette answered, "But I'm sure he's just late."

Alya nodded.

While they started heading to the classroom together, Marinette was thinking of reasons why Adrien could be late.

He did have patrol yesterday so maybe he just woke up late. He also had wanted to try tell his father that she and Adrien had started dating though she doubted he had succeeded in finding a time when he wasn't busy doing something.

But something was still nagging at Marinette's mind. He usually wouldn't be late and she was worried for him.

They had arrived in the classroom and the bell rang signaling the start of class.

"Adrien Agreste?"

No response.

"Adrien?"

Silence.

"We haven't seen or heard anything from him," Nino called out to the confused Ms. Bustier.

She frowned, "Thank you for telling me, Nino."

The rest of the class was present.

Alya nudged Marinette, "Why do you think Adrien's late?"

Marinette shrugged, sighing, "I'm not sure but it's weird. He's never late."

"I don't think we should be worried though, he probably just slept in," Nino dismissed, waving his hand.

The school day passed fast enough with all the work they had to do. Next thing they knew it was the end of the school day.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, girl!" Alya waved Marinette goodbye as she started walking back home.

"Bye! See you tomorrow!" She waved back.

It was raining lightly, just enough for Marinette not to get wet without an umbrella. As soon as she entered the bakery though, it looked like a dam broke somewhere above. It came pouring down in great drops of water, drenching anyone who was enjoying the previously light drizzle.

"Hey honey, you are one lucky girl entering just as it starts to poor down." Sabine was at the counter of the bakery welcoming her daughter in.

"Hi Mamman," Marinette went over to give her a hug, "I've got some work to finish from school. I'll be in my room, okay?"

"Of course, I'll call you for dinner."

Marinette sat in on her desk chair, not paying her homework much attention. She had texted Adrien to ask him if he was okay but he hadn't answered her. She was distracted to say the least.

She kept giving glances at her phone but no new messages popped up. The homework was also complicated and so even if she could concentrate more she probably still would have had trouble completing it.

Suddenly, Marinette stood up unexpectedly, making Tikki jump up… or fly up.

"Sorry Tikki, I didn't mean to scare you," Marinette apologised to her kwami, "I just need to go to my balcony and clear my head."

"But Marinette," Tikki protested, "It's raining outside."

Marinette looked out the window thoughtfully, "I know but I think it'll help me stop worrying and do my homework."

Tikki didn't look very pleased but she let Marinette go out anyways. If it helped her, why not?

As Marinette stood on her balcony she looked up at the sky. It was a cold grey. She turned her head back down to the street below her. She couldn't see anyone. No one in their right mind would be taking a walk in this weather but, after all, Marinette had always liked the rain when it was light.

Suddenly, Marinette saw something move in the corner of her eye and she looked at the opposite side of the street, towards where the park was. There she spotted a figure clad in all black standing in the rain, their head low.

Marinette gasped, "Chat!"

As soon as she said it the boy looked up at her, his eyes filled with pain. He was completely soaked, something you could only see by his hair.

"Come here!" Marinette urged him to jump up to where she was standing.

He obeyed and jumped up, though he barely made it. He almost slipped when he jumped up, from exhaustion or because everything was wet and slippery, Marinette couldn't tell.

"What were you thinking! You're completely soaked!" Marinette started scolding him but she stopped. Just distinguishable from the rain drops she could tell he was or had been crying.

"What happened?" She asked it more gently this time.

He didn't answer and just shivered on the spot.

"Let's get you inside. You're freezing!" She had grabbed his hand and flinched at how cold it felt.

When they were both inside, Chat Noir let go of his transformation leaving behind a shaking Adrien.

Marinette quickly stood up and grabbed not one but three blankets and wrapped them tightly around him. She then quickly ran downstairs and shortly afterwards reappeared with a steaming cup of cocoa, which she handed to Adrien.

He looked a little warmer but his face was still streaked with tears and there was still an atmosphere of grief hanging around him.

"Please tell me what happened. I was worried when you didn't come to school today and you wouldn't answer any of my texts," Marinette looked at him pleadingly.

Adrien gave out another shiver, "I… I found out who… who Hawkmoth is."

At this he burst into tears and Marinette ran forwards to him and hugged him while he uncontrollably sobbed into her shoulder.

He was shaking so hard from his evident grief. Who could it possibly be to hurt him so much? Marinette was curious yet apprehensive of the situation.

While Marinette was holding Adrien, engulfed by his own grief, Plagg had flown to a corner of the room, shivering. All the pain Adrien was feeling had seeped into Plagg. Partly because of the connection which the chosen and their kwami share but also because he knew that he couldn't do much to comfort Adrien. After all, he was the kwami of destruction and chaos.

Tikki was still floating by Marinette's side, trying to reassure the confused and worried girl. Her aura of creation and healing was not working very well, Adrien was obviously very upset.

Tikki suddenly realised that Plagg wasn't floating next to her anymore and scanned the room for him. As soon as she saw him, in the dark corner of the room she gave a few more reassuring words to Marinette and flew over to the quivering kwami.

As soon as she got to him, she hugged him tight. She held him stroking him gently. "Plagg?" She just gently let go of him and stared into his glittering, emerald eyes.

"Thanks, Tikki," Plagg gave her a small smile. He was so glad to have her as his partner.

"What's wrong?"

Plagg looked down, "Just the connection… and I guess I feel guilty about not really being able to comfort him properly."

This just confirmed Tikki's suspicions and she nodded, "It's not your fault… Do you know who Hawkmoth is too?"

Plagg nodded sadly, "Yeah… it's… it's his father."

Tikki's eyes grew visibly bigger and she gave out a little gasp.

"I know it's… it's horrible," Plagg looked at their two chosens.

Adrien was starting to calm down a little he didn't want to make Marinette wait any longer. He started talking but his voice was so rough from crying he started coughing.

"I'm going to get you a glass of water ok?" Marinette gently asked him, "I promise I'll come back immediately."

He nodded and reluctantly let go of Marinette.

She quickly opened the trap door and walked down into the kitchen to get the glass of water.

"Hey honey, are you okay?" Tom asked Marinette.

Marinette nodded, "Yeah, fine."

Tom looked slightly reassured but kept on asking, "Are you sure? I thought I heard someone crying."

"Oh… um… I was watching a sad movie! Yeah… sorry," Marinette was happy with her excuse but she might have just said it with too much enthusiasm.

"If you say so hun," Tom smiled.

Marinette gave him a quick kiss, "I'll be upstairs if you're looking for me! Just knock before you come in. You don't want to see me watching a sad movie."

Tom chuckled, "Of course."

Marinette hurried up the stairs and back into her room. She went over to where Adrien was sitting, staring into space, his cheeks still tear stained.

"Here you go," Marinette handed Adrien the glass of water and he drank it gladly, his throat feeling better.

"Thanks," He took her hand and pulled her down to sit beside him on the carpet. Adrien absentmindedly rubbed circles on the back of Marinette's hand as he started staring back into space.

"I… I should tell you then…" Adrien looked at her, those beautiful, bluebell eyes looking right back at him. She gave him an encouraging nod and he started.

"You know… last night I was trying to tell my f-father that we're dating now and I… I went over to his… office. He was still talking to someone so I… I stayed outside the door and waited… I guess I was curious… I walked closer to the door and listened to what he was saying… He was definitely talking to someone in the room but I didn't see anyone. I went closer and then I heard what he was saying… he was talking about us… Ladybug and Chat Noir… At first I thought he was just interested in the news but then the other… person… said that our love could be our greatest strength which… confused me… but then my f-father said… he said he agreed with him but he also said that… that our love could be our greatest weakness," He swallowed, "I think the other person was Nooroo."

Adrien was crying again, however this time he was trying to choke back the sobs but he wasn't successful and curled into himself shivering from the continued sobs coming from him.

For a while, Marinette sat there, frozen, processing what had Adrien had said. It made sense now, why he was so affected by who Hawkmoth is. No wonder…

She had started to have her suspicions when Tikki had muttered "Nooroo!" quietly and Plagg had nodded sadly. Now that she thought about it more she remembered that Nooroo was the kwami of the butterfly miraculous. In other words, Hawkmoth's kwami.

"I should have known!" Adrien was talking angrily in between his sobs, "I should have known it was him! I thought he just needed time to recover after my mother disappeared so I gave him space, I did everything he wanted me to do but I'm not enough!"

"Adrien…" Marinette whispered his name softly as she stroked his hair, "You could have never known. He's your father, and that's how you see him. It's not your fault."

"But you even guessed that it was him! But I didn't believe you! It's all my fault." Adrien was absolutely exasperated, blaming himself through his tears.

"Adrien, listen to Marinette! It's not your fault you could have never known!" Plagg had flown over to Adrien and was staring sternly at him. At the look Adrien gave him Plagg flew to hug his cheek, "It's not your fault."

Tikki was floating next to Marinette and smiling at how sweet Plagg could be sometimes.

Marinette slowly stood up, shaky from sitting down on the floor for so long, "Do you want me to get you something to eat? Something to drink?"

Tikki nodded, "Yes, you should get Adrien something warm to drink, maybe some tea. He still looks cold from being in the rain for so long."

Marinette agreed and went downstairs. She made two mugs of apple cinnamon tea and carefully carried them back upstairs.

"There you go," Marinette handed Adrien the mug. He gladly took the it and took a few sips.

"Thanks Marinette."

She gave him a small smile and sat at her desk, thoughtfully. After a while of silence Adrien looked up at Marinette, "So, what do we do now?" He looked almost scared.

Marinette fiddled with her earrings, a subconscious habit she had picked up after a while of wearing them. "Well… I'm not sure."

"Ok… um… imagine Hawkmoth… isn't who we know he is…" Adrien gulped, "What would you do?"

Marinette thought about for a while and slowly said, "I would think of a plan to defeat him and… gather up the team."

Adrien nodded, "Okay… so that's what we'll do."

Marinette smiled at how brave her partner was being, she couldn't imagine what he must feel like, "Ok… so the team… I think we'll have to get back our strongest partners, Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee."

"But won't that be dangerous for them?" Tikki had started to help thinking with them.

"Yeah… But if Hawkmoth doesn't know we figured him out and are planning an attack he wouldn't expect me to hand out the miraculous," Marinette countered back.

"Fair enough," Tikki agreed.

"Ok, so we hand out the three miraculouses," Adrien nodded, "Should we tell them to meet us somewhere?"

Marinette looked out of the window thoughtfully, "Yes, that's a good idea… Maybe at the Eiffel Tower?"

"Yes, at around nine?" Adrien continued, "So it's more likely everyone can come."

Marinette smiled, "Good, we've got a plan. I'll take the fox and the turtle miraculous, you can take the bee."

Adrien nodded, "Ok."

"You have to be really careful!" Tikki cautioned Marinette and Adrien, "You should write them a note giving them instructions not to use the miraculous until they come to meet you."

They both agreed to Tikki's warning and Marinette started writing the notes. When she was done she carefully got the miracle box from the secret compartment it was in. She took out the bee, fox and turtle miraculous, sticking a note to each box and handing the bee miraculous to Adrien.

Outside it was slowly turning dark and Adrien looked out worriedly. "I have to go back today, it's the only advantage we have… We know who he is but he doesn't know we know."

Marinette nodded and carefully looked at Adrien, "I know it's hard but you're right, you have to go back today." She walked over to him and hugged him tightly, "I know you can do it. You're the bravest person I know."

Adrien smiled, he couldn't have anyone better by his side.

As they slowly let go of each other Marinette gave Adrien a small kiss and smiled at him, "I think you should probably get home, it's late and…" She trailed off.

Adrien nodded, "Yeah, you're right," He looked over to where Plagg was floating next to Tikki and beckoned him forwards, "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Plagg muttered as Adrien called the words and Plagg got sucked into the ring.

"Bye Chaton," Marinette waved as the now black clad hero jumped out of the top trap door and blended into the darkness of the night.

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A/N: Hmm, it's getting interesting now...

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!