Part 4 — Adrien Agreste!

"Sorry that you're stuck in this situation with me, Marinette."

"Don't be silly," said Marinette from behind him. "I just…I wish I could do something." She reached out, patting the floor with her hand until she felt his fingers and heard him gasp behind her. She straightened herself a little, leaning on his back and pushing her head against his; she took a deep breath, trying to calm down the erratic beating of her heart at the thought of touching Chat's bare hand for the first time since Dark Owl. As she thought that, she felt him taking better hold of her hand and squeezing it.

"You are doing something. You're amazing." He squeezed her hand a little more.

She smiled as she lowered her head. "Thank you, Chat Noir."

They stayed in silence for a moment that felt endless, wondering whether the other could feel the pulse of their hearts beating madly in their chests, the warmth seeping through their intertwined hands, giving them strength.

"I hope Ladybug is alright," Adrien whispered. "It's not like her to not show up for the fight; she's usually the first to get there."

"She's probably in a similar situation, unable to transform." Marinette glanced at Tikki, who frowned back at her from inside her small purse.

Chat Noir muffled a sob behind her. "Just… she's the one who finds solutions, I just go with the flow. And if she can't get out of this, what chance have I got? I'm grateful that I'm with you, Marinette, because you're so clever, but… this feels impossible. At this rate, we're all going to die."

"Don't say things like that…"

"We, and all people of Paris, are stuck, with no food, no water, no way to get out…"

"Don't say that Chaton, please. Usually, I'm the one who catastrophises, you're the cheerful one who lightens the mood. If this time you're not going to cheer me up, I don't know what I'm going to do." But he wasn't listening to her and she could feel it because his back was rocking back and forth and Marinette had the feeling that he had gotten himself into panic mode.

This was bad. Very, very bad.

"Chaton?" She had to repeat it three times before finally, she heard him sucking his breath in and say,

"Yeah?"

She looked around. With even her partner for once feeling the gloom, all she could see was dark. Plagg had disappeared. Who knows where. He must still be in the hall, maybe rummaging inside a cabinet or a vending machine as he'd said, but the place was so big that she couldn't spot him. Pun intended.

Also, she knew Chat Noir was right. Even if they found a vending machine to buy food for themselves, the electricity was off, so they couldn't use it. With no water and no food, they wouldn't resist for long. Marinette felt a sudden weight growing in the pit of her stomach, her mouth filling with acid at the realisation that this moment was a crossroads. They were stuck and the only way to move forward was to accept that things would change and that nothing would be the same anymore. Her fingers felt like ice as she dropped his hand to squeeze both her hands into fists. She let out a nervous breath and gulped before starting to talk,

"S-sorry, I know it's s-something you don't expect and that you d-don't need right now. But… J-just in case something happens to us for real, a-and we die, and I can't t-tell you ever again."

He huffed. "It sounds worse than how it sounded in my head if you put it this way."

A full kaleidoscope of butterflies stormed inside Marinette's belly. It was the moment of the truth. "Please, Chaton, let me say it or I'll never say it again."

"O-okay," Chat Noir said behind her.

She took a massive breath and held it. "I w-wanted you to know… uh… I'm in l-love with you." As soon as she said that, she shut her eyes and squeezed her fists even harder. The silence coming from behind her made it worse. Why didn't he say something? Anything?

"Uh," he breathed after a while, "I thought you had gotten over me after your dad was akumatised, and you had fallen in love with this… Buttercup…"

What did that mean? Was he rejecting her again? Marinette panicked. "Um, er, that was a… lie?"

She felt him stiffen behind her. "What was a lie? Buttercup?"

"N-no! That was true! T-the lie was—that night, I, uh, panicked and, uh, said the first thing that came to me and, uh…"

Chat Noir's shoulders dropped as Marinette said so, and her heart followed his shoulders in their slump because he sighed and when he spoke, his voice was even more gloomy than it had been before when he was panicking about dying.

"So you weren't in love with me after all?"

"Uh-huh," whispered Marinette. She felt him moving a little forward and detaching his back from hers, and her heart sank even further.

"What makes you believe that you are now?" he continued, his tone even more deflated than before, his voice coming out cracked and almost painful from his throat.

She heard him sniffling and didn't need to see his face to know that he was crying; that broke her heart even further because… he hadn't cried even when she had rejected him as Ladybug, that night after they faced Glaciator.

"I mean, yes, we have a lot of history together, you're the civilian who spent more time with me on this side of the mask, but… you don't really know me, right? I mean, you don't trust me enough even to tell me the name of that boy, you keep calling him a codename. Maybe you should see who I am before saying that you love me? You could hate me…"

Marinette straightened her back; her gaze narrowed as her brows furrowed in a decisive frown. "Adrien Agreste!" she snapped. She felt him jumping nearly out of his skin and continued quickly, "That's Buttercup's real name. He… he's… I can't say that I'm not in love with him anymore, Chat Noir. He's… just so special to me. He's not a celebrity crush. What I said in the declaration I rehearsed with you was true. We started on the wrong foot; I thought he was like Chloé, just a spoiled and superficial brat. But he's the complete opposite. Kind, gentle, funny… I love his laugh. And the way his eyes sparkle when he's happy. He deserves so much love and I think I still love him but… I don't know how, or when, but you too have made your way into my heart."

She grabbed his hand again and squeezed it. He tentatively squeezed it back.

"Marinette, I—"

"Please, let me finish, Chaton. I need to say it all or I may not say it anymore because when you'll reject m—"

He squeezed her hand so strongly that she fell silent. "Reject you?" He audibly took a big breath. "Do you know how many times I have kicked myself for having rejected you that day? How many times have I spoken to Plagg before falling asleep and have told him that I wished I was that Buttercup you love so much? I'm a complete mess. I… was so blinded by Ladybug that I had misinterpreted the feelings that I had for you, but when I realised it, it hit me like a train. I still love Ladybug, but I realised that I have fallen head over heels right into the deep pan in love with you. But I didn't know how to tell you; I didn't want you to hate me!"

"I don't see how I could ever hate you, Chaton. I love you for the wonderful person you are, for everything you've done for me, from day one." Her breathing started getting erratic as she gulped. She took a big, shaky breath and carried on, her voice cracking and sounding groggier the more she spoke. "I love you for being with me, every time, without fail; for believing in me; for trusting my judgement; for being my rock even when everything and everybody else failed me. For reassuring me and cheering me up and taking me out of my catastrophising spins. Whoever you are behind that mask, you can't be any less than wonderful, mon Minou."

When she said that, she felt him tense behind her. But now that she had said it, she couldn't hold on anymore. She was all in. "I… want to see you. I can't stand this anymore. I'm… going to turn around now; if you don't want me to, just say anything and I won't." But he didn't say anything and she turned around, detecting the white shirt and blue jeans first, the blond mop of hair and then, taking in a very, very red-faced Adrien Agreste, wide-eyed and looking at her with the most incredulous frown. Her lungs decided to stop cooperating altogether and she paled.

She could not breathe.

"What did you just say? What did you call me?" he asked in a whisper.

Was acid in her mouth going to be her new normal? She wanted to die this very second, but she forced herself to keep her head on her neck and carry on with what she had already decided. It was the time. There wasn't going to be another better time, a more perfect moment. It was then or never. "Tikki, spots on."

His eyes grew even wider, if possible, as the pink Miraculous magic wrapped around her body and Ladybug took the place of Marinette. They looked at each other for a very long time, the silence of the room only broken by their erratic breathing and by the mad beating of their hearts inside their ears and throats.

"Oh my God." Adrien's voice was almost unrecognisable for how cracked it was. He tentatively leaned in and when he saw that she wasn't jerking away, he wrapped her into a bone-crushing hug.

"I can't believe it!" Marinette whispered into his ear. "It's you…it was always you!" Her arms ran to his neck as she reciprocated the hug, her throat clenched with the sobs she was trying to hold.

"It was me." He repeated those words; his hands ran to her hair, her head fitting perfectly just above the crook of his neck, allowing him to rest his chin on the top of her forehead. He moved his head slightly to place a soft kiss on her hair and dry the many tears that had fallen on it, making it damp. "I love you, Buginette. I love you so much that my heart feels like it can burst."

She pulled off him to give him a watery look, her eyes clouded with the tears that were running freely down her cheeks. "I love you too, Adrien. Chat Noir. I-I can't believe that I'm finally able to say it."

He grabbed her chin with his hand and leaned closer until he was millimetres from her lips, losing himself in the intensity in the look of those pools as blue as the ocean, silently waiting for permission to continue this long moment. For a moment, it lasted so long and that made her decide to take the initiative, crashing her lips on his. It was a kiss that tasted as sweet as the sweetest croissant, but also salty, because of the tears that mulled their cheeks. He broke the kiss to give her an adoring look and gently wiped the tears from underneath her eyes to her cheeks with his thumb, finishing to dry it on his jeans.

Then, he framed her face with both hands. "I'm so happy," he whispered, kissing her again and deepening the kiss until they couldn't breathe anymore.

"Ew, you two are appalling. I can't leave you five minutes without finding you glued to each other," said a voice to their side. They both became beet-red and parted from each other. They turned towards the sound to see a very disgusted-looking Plagg staring back at them, the gleam of mockery mixed with pride in his electric green eyes contrasting with the grimace on his face. "Sorry to interrupt your little… mouth sucking session. But… I found some food. The walls bounced me back, but I could pass through the floors."

Obviously, he wasn't sorry at all, and Adrien knew that very well. But what he had said afterwards had made up for the sarcasm of his first remark. To be honest, Adrien was too happy to care. He transformed again and watched with a little satisfied smile the way Ladybug's eyes widened at the sight of the green energy wrapping around him.

"Wow," she whispered, Chat Noir's smile growing wider.

"Makes it more real?" he asked and when she nodded and blushed crimson, he brought a hand to his nape and gave it a nervous rub.

"Uh, ah, d-do what shall we?" she spurted out, her index fingers fidgeting nervously.

He chuckled. "Had I not found out who you were already, Milady, now I would know." She blushed a deeper shade of red at his words, so he poked her ribs and gave her a sheepish smile. "As much as it's nice to see you all shy in front of me, maybe we'll need a little… luck?" he suggested, and that brought Ladybug out of her 'Marinette-moment.' Her gaze once again sharp, she smiled at him and nodded.

"Lucky Charm!" she called, but blinked a couple of times when she saw what fell in her hands.

"A map of the tower?" wondered Chat Noir. "Have we gotten lost?"

Ladybug looked around desperately, trying to figure out why she had been given that Lucky Charm, but she couldn't think of any reason.

"Do you want me to try and destroy the wall to get out?" He raised his hand, balled it into a fist, and called his power, but as he was doing that, Ladybug looked at her Lucky Charm, the floor, and his hand that had just got charged with his destructive power.

"Hold on!" she said, stopping him in his tracks. "I have a bad feeling about the wall; I can't find any way to use my Lucky Charm here and even Plagg couldn't come out of the barrier. What if the Cataclysm can't destroy it? We would be stuck again."

"What do you suggest then, Milady?" Chat Noir stopped the movement of his arm that was going to hit the wall and put his arm down, holding the wrist of the charged hand with the hand that wasn't charged.

Ladybug's gaze kept darting around, a big frown furrowing her brows, a small pout curling down the corners of her mouth. Then, she noticed a detail in the map and suddenly flashed her eyebrows and smiled. "Plagg said that he could go through the floors. Cataclysm the floor, Chaton. We'll end up in the sewers, which this—" She showed him the Lucky Charm. "—happens to have a map of!"

"Very clever," the black-clad superhero praised. "So can you tell me where I need to put my hand? Where are the sewers? As far as I know, Montparnasse Tower stands on top of a métro station."

Ladybug looked at the map and her gaze narrowed. She moved nearly close to the furthest left side of the Tower and smiled triumphantly. "Here!"

Chat Noir pushed his charged hand onto the floor underneath him, causing a big explosion that shook the whole building, with large cracks forming on the floor that reached and surpassed the external walls of the Tower.

As expected, the floor crumbled away but the destructive power didn't affect the walls at all. When the cloud of debris created by the explosion started to fade, they saw the outline of the big labyrinth of sewers opening underneath them. With confidence, they jumped down.

"Well done, minou," Ladybug said, but she couldn't even glance at the happy face of her partner beaming in the praise because when her gaze focused on him, she noticed behind him a pair of unmistakable green eyes staring eerily from the wall, surrounded by the shadow of a face. Volpina's face. Ladybug gasped, causing even Chat Noir to turn around.

"What the—" he started, but an evil cackle shut him up.

"I knew you'd try to escape my trap using your powers eventually!" The voice that echoed in the sewers was also one they both knew perfectly well.

"Volpina!" they growled at the same time. Ladybug tried to throw her yoyo at the face in front of them, but she just hit the wall and the Fox Akuma's face disappeared as soon as it was touched.

The voice cackled some more in reply. "Did you really think I'd come to greet you myself when I can send my illusions to do the work for me?"

As the heroes backed down and ended up back to back, many different copies of Volpina's face appeared on the walls all around them. "I'll just need to wait for your timer to run out and I'll finally know who you are. You've got no way to escape, it's only a matter of time."

To be Continued…

Author's Note:

Hello there! Here's chapter 4 ^-^ Hope you liked it :D. So the reveal is done! Hope you liked the Marichat there. But now our heroes need to deal with the Akuma. Will they win for a second time against Volpina, enhanced with the power of the Goat ?

A couple of people asked how this is the power of the Goat and what physical object Lila created: a magical barrier like the one in the story is a physical object. The power of the turtle would have been similar, but there are a couple of differences that are important to the story and that you'll find out about next chapter.

I could be wrong (we haven't really had much chance of seeing how the Akuma power mixed with the Miraculous power works) but as things with canon stand now, this is my understanding of it. It was hard writing it because I didn't have much canon material to be 100% sure of how it worked. Even if it's wrong (have no idea, we need to wait and see), it's still fun in this story (I think).

Back to business, please let me know what you thought of this chapter in a comment! I hope you liked it! I'm always open to dialogue, I don't mind ANY type of feedback! Thank you so, so much to all of you who wrote, or will write, a review or a comment on this story! You always make my day!

As usual, if you read this and you're not part of our wonderful Discord server already, but you enjoy reading, writing and talking about Miraculous, please join my favourite Discord servers, Miraculous Fanworks (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks) and Miraculous Discordance (discord dot gg slash QwgKdUhJNJ). I will wait for you on one of these servers; I promise I won't bite. Bug out!