What if Luka told Ladybug the truth about what he knew when she was faced with an ultimatum by Su-Han? One-shot, spoilers for the episode "Ephemeral" and Season 4.

Ephemeral Admissions

Luka had a boring task in the fight against Moolak, discovering the safe combination by trial and error. He was just hoping the combination wasn't "9999". Ten thousand resets would be incredibly tedious.

As he entered one number after another, he thought, "Why didn't I tell Ladybug that I knew how to get in touch with Chat Noir? He could Cataclysm this open in a second."

Even if Adrien was tied up with something and couldn't get away, Ladybug would have known how long he would be busy and could plan accordingly, maybe find a way to stall Moolak.

But Luka would have to admit he lied, that he had known both their identities since the fight with Wishmaker. Marinette would stop trusting him. It would be the end of any chance he might have with her.

Now they were in the sewers, for the return of the Snake Miraculous. "Scales rest."

"Thank you, Luka," said Ladybug as he started to hand the bracelet back.

A hand reached out and grabbed Ladybug's wrist!

"This time it was too much!" said a scowling bald man dressed as a monk.

"Grand Master Su-Han?" said Ladybug.

"NINE! You gave out NINE Miraculous to defeat ONE villain! When all you needed was Chat Noir and his Cataclysm!"

"I didn't have a choice! He was unreachable!" said Ladybug.

Luka thought, "He wasn't unreachable, if I had spoken up. Now Ladybug is in trouble with this Grand Master guy, all because of me."

"How is he 'unreachable'?" asked Su-Han. "With a Miraculous this powerful, you have to have control over the owner! And what if he's doing whatever he wants with it? Acting like Shadow Moth..."

"Chat Noir, like Shadow Moth? No... but... aren't you exaggerating a little?" asked Ladybug.

"Not at all! You have to discover his identity, for him to be neutralized if necessary."

"What? We must not know our secret identities! In case Shadow Moth captures one of us..."

"I DON'T CARE! Fix the problem quickly, or I'll take his Miraculous back, and I'll chose a new Chat Noir."

"Wait, wait. I have an idea. If only you know who he is, would that be enough?"

"I... I suppose so... But if you can't control him..."

I understand. Chat Noir is going to be replaced," said Ladybug.

Luka didn't know what to do. Did she want to give the man information or not? Maybe things could remain as they were.

"Are you going to do what he asked you to?" asked Luka.

It's not as if I have a choice," said Ladubug. "It's better than having a fight with the Celestial Guardian, and losing our Chat Noir. I will need you."

Luka flinched inside. No, she didn't mean that she knew that he knew. It was a plan to use the power of Viperion.

Ladybug called Chat on her Bug-Phone again.

"Ah, finally!" said Ladybug when he picked up.

There was a pause as she listened.

"Don't worry, we're all good now. We need to talk. Meet me on top of the Eiffel Tower."

Ladybug went around the corner to detransform and feed her kwami. Luka fed Sass a chunk of tofu.

"I want to know, Ladybug. How are you going to tell Su-Han the identity of Chat Noir if you don't know it yourself?

Luka was glad he didn't have to meet Marinette's eyes when he asked that question. The guilt over his lies was eating him up.

"Do you know why Chat Noir and I shouldn't know our identities?"

"So Shadow Moth will leave you alone when you're not a superhero. As long as he doesn't know who you are, you're of no interest to him."

"Exactly. But if we need to, a superhero can know the identity of Chat Noir. Or mine, but not both!"

"Not both. Right to the heart!" Luka thought. "How can I admit the truth now?"

"So that there would still be one of you to fight," Luka said aloud, trying to keep the strain out of his voice.

"You figured it out. But for Chat Noir and me, it's different," said Marinette. "If we knew our identities, and unfortunately got akumatized, we could easily betray one another!"

"And Shadow Moth would win," said Luka sadly.

"And I could have been akumatized again, and betrayed you both," Luka thought, but didn't say aloud.

"Tikki, Spots On!" called Marinette.

"Sass, Scales Slither!" called Luka.

They came back together from around the corner. Viperion was grateful for the mask to help hide his feelings.

"Here's the plan," said Ladybug. "You stay hidden here. I'll ask for Chat Noir's identity. He'll tell me who he is."

"I'll find out his name through the earpiece!" said Viperion with fake excitement.

"Find out," he thought. "Yeah, right."

"And you rewind the time using your power. I'll forget about the conversation and you won't."

Carrying out this charade with Ladybug was making Viperion feel sick. Maybe there was an easier way.

"Or, I can ask him directly if you'd like. It would be more direct and safer, don't you think?"

"He won't tell anyone else, unless I ask him," said Ladybug.

"I understand. I will give Chat Noir's identity to the Celestial Guardian," said Viperion, giving in.

"And he will leave me alone!" said Ladybug.

One more question to suss out her feelings. "Are you sure there'll be no problem with me knowing Chat Noir's identity?"

"As long as I don't know who he is, everything will be all right!"

Ladybug had gone to the Eiffel Tower to meet with Chat Noir. Viperion was listening in on the earpiece she had provided.

"Do you think Chat Noir will tell you?" Viperion asked.

"He's been dreaming of doing it ever since we first met." said Ladybug.

"There he is! Stand ready," she said a moment later.

They both looked at their timers, hers in her yo-yo and his in his harp.

"Let's do it," said Ladybug. "We're in sync."

"Second chance!" said Viperion, activating his power.

"Countdown started! It is 1 AM. 5 minutes left before you detransform. We've got to be done by 1:05 in the morning. At my signal, rewind!"

Viperion made a decision. There was no better chance to find out what coming clean would be like.

"You don't have to do this," said Viperion. "I know who Chat Noir is."

"You've got his name?" asked Ladybug. "Great! You could have interrupted me before I said all that about the countdown – it was a repeat for you."

"It wasn't a repeat. What I mean is, I've known his identity since we fought Wishmaker."

"What!? But you said he didn't unmask either of us."

"I lied. I didn't want you to worry."

"You only learned Chat's identity? That's a little too convenient. I don't believe you. Why should I trust you when you lied before?"

"You're right, I know both."

"You know BOTH! How could you? You put both of us at risk. You put the kwamis and the world at risk! What if you had been akumatized? What if Shadow Moth had suspected and captured you? Or had a Senti-Truth visit you?"

"That's the kind of worries I was protecting you from. I was being a friend."

"You were being a hypocrite! To think I tore myself up over breaking up with you because I couldn't tell you the truth, when you used your first opportunity to lie to me about something this important!"

Viperion heard Chat Noir's voice. "Is something wrong, M'Lady?"

"Yes there is, Chat Noir," said Ladybug with cold fury in her voice. "We have a traitor on our team. We need to kick him out of town, out of range of Shadow Moth's akumas."

"I'm sorry, Ladybug," said Viperion. "I had to know what would happen if I told you the truth."

"Oh no, I just realized why you chose this time to tell me! You total piece of –"

"Second chance!"

"Countdown started! It is 1 AM. 5 minutes left before you detransform. We've got to be done by 1:05 in the morning. At my signal, rewind!"

Viperion let the conversation go on this time. Ladybug was pretending there was going to be a mutual reveal, and that Chat should go first because she felt intimidated.

"All right," Chat Noir said. "In fact, I am... I am Adrien Agreste."

Ladybug burst out laughing. "And I am Audrey Bourgeois! You, Adrien Agreste? Impossible! You two couldn't be more different."

"Claws in."

Ladybug was silent.

"You see? It's really me, Adrien Agreste. What about you?"

When Ladybug didn't call for a reset, Viperion said, "Ladybug, I heard his name. Shall I go back in time?"

"No... wait... not now," said Ladybug.

Viperion knew she was speaking to him, but Adrien took it as for himself.

"I understand," said Adrien, "Evidently it's not easy to reveal who you are."

As Adrien went on about his feelings, Viperion saw the countdown was nearing zero.

It seemed like maybe Ladybug was too overwhelmed to decide. Marinette's feeling for Adrien were complicating everything. It was supposed to be her call, but should he override her?

He had to, just to give her time to think. And himself.

"Second Chance!"

"Countdown started! It is 1 AM. 5 minutes left before you detransform..."

"Ladybug, I reset just now."

"You've got his name?" asked Ladybug. "Great! Now I'll just have a short conversation with Chat about something else, and we're done."

"I need to tell you something. When you had the conversation and Chat revealed his identity, you let the timer run to almost nothing. I overrode you and did the reset on my own."

"That... makes me wonder what I could have been thinking."

"I felt like I had to. I wanted to give you a little time to think about it. Once we go past the limit, there's no going back."

"You didn't have to tell me that. Now I'll always wonder. Who could he possibly be to give me a reaction like that? Am I going crazy?"

"No, I assure you that you're not crazy. It's understandable."

"How can you say that? Is there a connection between us? How would you know?'

"Umm, well..."

"You know who I am? How long have you known?"

"I can't keep lying. I've known both of your identities since we fought Wishmaker."

"What!? BOTH?"

Rather than get another ear-full of her wrath, Viperion reset.

"Second Chance!"

This time he would let her decision stand. Come what may.