"You seem..distracted. Is there any way I can help?"

"Uh-" Adrien was unsure what to say. His father sitting at the dinner table with him had been shocking enough, but now worrying about his son's feelings and asking to help? What exactly had happened to Gabriel Agreste? "No..it's just…do you mind if a friend comes to visit today, after we finish dinner?"

"Which friend?" Gabriel's eyebrows raised slightly but a quick glance from Natalie set them back in place.

"Alya."

"I don't feel that a girl alone in your bedroom is appropriate." Gabriel answered before looking at his assistant with a frown. "But I might consider it. What are your plans for the evening?"

"Oh…I don't have any? Alya called me earlier and asked to talk. I believe it's probably about my other classmate, Marinette." Adrien idly dug at the food on his plate as Gabriel's interest peaked genuinely for the first time that night.

"Marinette? That's the up and coming designer, correct? I remember her hidden signature. She's a talent to keep my eye on once she graduates." Gabriel took a sip of water as he watched Adrien's face light up like a child on Christmas morning.

"I bet she'd love to hear you say that."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but is there something wrong with Marinette?" Natalie asked from the side, peeking over her tablet.

"She's just not been feeling well lately. I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that's what Alya wants to talk about."

"Then by all means." Gabriel waved a hand at his son. "I trust that you will make good choices."

"Thank you, father." Adrien studied his father's face in confusion and awe. Whatever had happened to his father, Adrien wasn't in a hurry to see it fixed.

~•••••~

"This way." Adrien opened his bedroom door and Alya stepped in behind him. "So what did you need to talk about?" He asked as he shut his bedroom door and twisted the lock.

"I was looking at the ladyblog today." Alya began as she glanced around Adrien's bedroom. "I figured something out."

"Oh?" Adrien's head tilted to the side as his brain worked to guess what she would say next. He had been sure this conversation would be about Marinette.

"When Mister Bug came to cleanse the akuma today…he said that he was my third follower. So I went way back on the Ladyblog, looking at all my old notifications. My third follower notification..that would have to be Mister Bug, I mean, why would he lie? Do you know who my third follower was?"

"Of course I do." Adrien laughed, realizing what Alya was trying to say. "I gave you that hint on purpose."

"So you know who I am."

"And you know who I am." Adrien gave a cheesy grin and Alya groaned.

"So let me get this straight. You're Chat Noir. From like, day one?"

"Yup. The one and only."

"And Marinette, you know that she's Ladybug. You found out the other day when-"

"Yes." Adrien cut her off. Remembering the event was still a bit too painful to delve into for long. "She detransformed in front of me to give me the miraculous."

"So she really doesn't want Tikki back?"

"That's what she says. But don't worry, we've got a plan in place. Soon enough Marinette will be begging for the ladybug miraculous back."

"And how exactly is that going to happen?" Alya asked, scrunching up her eyebrows. "Marinette is stubborn. Once she's made up her mind.."

"I gave her my miraculous." Adrien answered, as if that solved everything.

"So she's going to be the black cat now? How does that help?"

"Well, you know the kwamis right? Mine is…difficult."

"He's a pain in the ass." Tikki answered, appearing from Adrien's pocket. "I love him, he's my other half..and I still cherish the times when we're separated for thousands of years. Marinette will crack by the end of the week." Tikki floated off, followed by Trixx, and Alya frowned.

"So basically your plan is just to annoy her until she gives in." The girl rolled her eyes "That sounds exactly like the kind of plan I'd expect from Chat Noir."

"Hey!" Adrien held up his hands in surrender. "It's the best I've got. Like you said, Marinette is stubborn. If she wants to do it, she will. If she doesn't…"

"She won't."

"And Plagg has the best chance of convincing her."

"What happens if he can't change her mind?"

"Then ladybug is gone forever."

~•••••~

"Where are we going, pigtails?" Plagg asked, floating around Marinette's head as she pulled on a warm sweater and a pair of hiking boots. Marinette ignored him, pulling the bands out of her hair and allowing it to fall. She rummaged in her closet until she found an old hat and shoved it onto her head. "I'm not leaving so might as well talk to me, kiddo." Plagg teased, swimming through the air on his back.

"Do you ever stop talking? For just a minute?" Marinette snapped, a hand pressed to her forehead

"No." Plagg answered honestly, coming to a stop as he found a comfy spot on Marientte's chaise to lay on. "So where we going?"

"We are not going anywhere. I am going to go check on Adrien. You are going to stay here." Marinette climbed up into her loft and opened her trap door, only turning around for a moment to fix her pillows under her blankets to make it look like she was sound asleep.

"It's the middle of the night. How are you going to go check on some boy? You should transform!" Plagg yelled, as if suddenly coming up with the idea.

"I am not transforming. I'm just going to go sneak out and keep watch over Adrien's house. He wasn't okay today. I'm worried Shadowmoth will try to akumatize him again."

"Aww you care about this Adrien kid a lot. Does somebody have a crush?" Plagg teased, hoping to distract Marinette from leaving long enough to talk her into transforming.

"Not anymore." Marinette shook her head, glancing at the photo of her and her friends she had put up beside her bed. She did still care about Adrien, of course she did..but Chat…

"If you're not transforming then what do you plan to do about it if he is akumatized? And how are you going to sneak out? You're not ladybug anymore!" Plagg argued, trying not to laugh as he put the puzzle pieces together. What a love square that was.

"If he gets akumatized or I see an akuma, I'll just send you to find Mister Bug. I have a burner phone I use to contact the kwamis in the miracle box. I can call for you whenever I want." Marientte rolled her eyes. "And teens sneak out all the time. You don't need superpowers to do it. Now, stay here. I don't need your help." Marientte crawled out of her trap door and onto the balcony, breathing in the fresh air as her feet hit solid ground.

"C'mon, kid. Just transform." Plagg nagged as Marinette ran her hands along the banister. "Whoa kid, what are you doing?" Plagg suddenly lurched forward as Marinette pulled herself up to stand on the railing, balancing precariously over the street below.

"I told you. I'm going to check on Adrien. Ladybug or not, I can't let something happen to him." Marinette walked the railing all the way to the corner of the roof, reaching out with her foot to find a solid foothold. She found one, curtesy of a loose brick, and with one quick step she was left holding onto the side of the building.

"Without ladybug's suit you're just a human kid. If you fall you could seriously injure yourself. Please, just transform. Or come back. Either works!" Plagg began to panic, tail lashing frantically behind him.

"Plagg?" Marinette questioned, turning toward him. "You're not seriously worried about me, are you? I've done this a ton of times since I met Tikki. I know what I'm doing."

"But before then you had Tikki to help you if you fell."

"Plagg.." Marinette nearly rolled her eyes but then remembered exactly how caring Plagg had been when she was- "Look." Marinette acquiesced, cutting off her own train of thought. "If I feel like i'm going to fall, I'll transform okay? You're here. I don't need to be scared. Neither do you."

"Alright." Plagg knew she was only saying that to reassure him, but he stayed quiet as he watched Marinette scale the side of the building, only taking a true breath when her feet hit the ground.

"See? I'm good. Now go back inside. I'll be back in a couple hours. Call you if I need you." Marinette headed off in the direction of the Agreste Mansion and Plagg squinted to follow her shadow.

"Yeah right. Like that's going to happen." He muttered to himself as he flew after her, hiding himself in various nooks and crannies to keep from being spotted. Up ahead, Marinette turned a corner and Plagg hurried to follow after, not wanting to accidentally lose her in the darkness. Coming around the corner and finding the street empty, Plagg had thought he'd done just that until he heard a small whimper from the side. Looking around, the kwami was barely able to make out a huddled shape just inside the nearest alleyway.

"-is so stupid!" He heard her mutter, the sound muffled around her tears. "I've got to protect Adrien. I can't let this get in the way of doing my job. Not again." Marinette groaned and finally Plagg noticed the way she sat, arms hugging her abdomen as she bent over herself.

"Marientte? Are you alright?" Plagg approached cautiously, backing up a bit when Marinette's eyes shot up to meet his.

"I told you to stay home." It was clear she was trying to be authoritative, but her cracking voice betrayed her.

"You're hurting. How long? How bad?" Plagg flew down to put his small paw on her cheek. "Is that why you don't want Tikki back?"

"Since the accident. I- it's a bit more bearable today, but I..I can't fight like this." Marinette gasped for a breath between her tears and Plagg frowned.

"You just scaled a building! You may be in pain, but you're still plenty capable. The suit makes you more powerful to help you through. It will protect."

"It didn't protect me from dying." Marinette turned away from Plagg, curling further in on herself and Plagg groaned. That was the exact opposite of how he needed this conversation to go. "You know..you could transform right now. I bet it would take the pain away."

"No, Plagg. I'm never going to transform again. I don't want to be a superhero anymore."

"Come on. Just transform! I need an outlet or I'm going to drive you crazy!" Plagg began flying around Marinette's head in a crazy circling pattern. "I mean look at all this energy, I've just gotta-"

"Then go back to Chat Noir. I don't want you here anyway." Marinette began to shiver, the cold of the night beginning to set in.

"But I-"

"Plagg, just stop. Nothing you say will convince me to be Ladybug again. Nothing you say will convince me to be Ladynoir again either. I don't deserve a miraculous."

"Why would you think that? Because you got injured all of a sudden that negates everything you've done for Paris before now? That's insane!"

"If It wasn't for Chat Noir, Shadowmoth would have won. I failed Paris by letting myself get hurt. I'm a failure. Someone else could do a much better job."

"That's not true, Sugar. You're the best ladybug I've ever seen in action."

"I doubt that." Marinette looked away once more as Plagg nodded enthusiastically.

"You are. Kwami's honor. I've never met a Ladybug and Black Cat better at their jobs, better for each other, than you and my boy. If you won't go back to being a superhero for Paris..how about just being a superhero for yourself? Transform. We'll stay in the shadows. No one will know. It'll be a secret."

"A secret?"

"Yeah. You don't have to go back to saving Paris just because you transform. Chat Noir has a handle on it for now. So let's take it slow. One step at a time. For tonight, let's just transform. We'll stay hidden and it'll be easier to check on your friend that way."

Marinette looked up at the kwami of destruction and nodded, wiping away her tears.

"Plagg," She began, watching as the kwami danced around in the air excitedly.

"Claws out."