"What," Adrien said, taking a step back from the girl.

"Okay, I know that it sounds crazy, and I sound like one of those fans that has a hard time discerning reality from not. Believe me, I've had a few too," she said, circling the boy like they were caught in a dance and only she knew the routine.

"I was adopted right after I was born. I never knew my real parents. But," she said, turning away from him to search through the doors of her makeup vanity before pulling out a piece of paper, "my birth mother wrote me a letter."

Adrien stared at it, unblinking. This could not have went further from where he expected this conversation to go. As a matter of fact, what did he expect when he all but begged his father to let him meet her? Unless she was stupid, she was never going to outright say that she possessed a miraculous. And Cassandra may be a lot of things, but even he knew after seconds of meeting her that she was not stupid.

This, however, was not something that Adrien could possibly have imagined.

"Here," she said, thrusting the aged paper into his hands, "read it if you don't believe me."

She stood there, arms crossed, his entire reason for being there on display for the world to see.

He looked between the paper and the bracelet before looking up at the girl herself. Cassandra stood tall, poised like a painting, her grey eyes expectant. Where has he seen those eyes before?

Slowly, Adrien opened the letter and recognized his mother's handwriting instantly. His heart skipped a beat, his eyes screwing shut despite himself but he forced them to open and focus on the words at hand.

My dearest Cassandra,

When the doctor told me I was pregnant with twins, I was overjoyed. Your father and I could hardly contain ourselves at the idea of having not one, but two, perfect children of our own to raise. Life, however, rarely follows expectation. I know in my heart that you are not meant to be ours, and that you are destined for greater things beyond what our family can provide for you. I do not expect you to understand why I chose to keep our son instead of you, but I hope you know that it was not an easy decision to make and that it had nothing to do with a potential lack of love for you. We love you beyond your wildest imagination, and it is due to that love that I have to let you go. I hope that one day, after you have grown into the beautiful, intelligent, kind young woman I know you are meant to be, that you will reunite with us and your brother Adrien. Until then, I wish you all the best.

Your mother,

Emilie Agreste

He didn't realize he was crying until he felt a soft hand wipe them away.

"I've read it so many times, and it always makes me cry too," Cassandra said, her face mere inches from his own.

All of a sudden, Adrien realized why he recognized her eyes.

"You have our father's eyes. I don't know if you know that, but you do," Adrien said, wiping away the rest of the tears.

Cassandra snuck her arms around the taller boy's waist, burying her face in his chest.

'I have a twin sister,' Adrien thought as he held her, smoothing the hair that looked so much like his own.

Soon, she pulled away, wiping her own eyes, smearing the makeup under them.

"Sorry," she said, "I've never really gotten a chance to compare myself to family before. I guess it just hit me."

"We have to tell Father. I'm not sure why he never mentioned you before, but I'm sure he'd love to know that you're here in Paris."

Cassandra stiffened and pulled away from him, crossing her arms. "I can't, Adrien. He can't know that I'm here."

"Why," he asked.

"I can't tell you why. Just trust me, Adrien," she said, rubbing her bracelet.

Finally, the truth of why he was there reached the surface. "Interesting bracelet, Cassandra. Where'd you get it?"

An emotion flashed across Cassandra's eyes, so quick that Adrien almost didn't catch it, before they hardened once more.

"A gift from Mother. Came with the letter," she said, speaking like he was a reporter instead of her supposed long-lost brother.

"She never wore jewelry like that. She only wore earrings unless she was filming," Adrien said, stepping closer.

"I didn't say she wore it. I said it was a gift," Cassandra said.

Before Adrien could say anything else, a knock on the door interrupted him. "Mr. Agreste, I believe your car is here."

He used every bit of his model training to give his newfound sister a million-watt smile and his hand.

"It was great meeting you, Cassandra. I would love to see you again sometime," he said, praying she took his hand.

Cassandra followed his lead, giving him a brilliant smile of her own. "It was truly a pleasure, Adrien. I have no doubt we will see more of each other in the near future," she said, shaking his outstretched hand.

How Adrien managed to make it to his room with little trouble, he didn't know. However, he collapsed as soon as the door clicked shut. Tears ran down his face without his permission as he held his head in his hands.

"Hey, Kid, it's okay," Plagg said, placing a hand on his holder's shoulder.

"It was her handwriting, Plagg. Cassandra wasn't lying. Can you tell me if the tiger kwami was there? I have to know," he said, breaths coming faster than the words.

"You know I can't do that. We're not allowed to reveal Miraculous holders without their permission, and you can guarantee that you wouldn't have hers if she actually was one. She seemed really cagey about it," Plagg said, flying back to his cheese stash.

"Why wouldn't she want to meet Father? She said it herself that we were the reason that she was in Paris. She found out who we were, and she wanted to be reunited with her family," Adrien said, his heart slowing down.

"Technically, she said that you were the reason she was in Paris. Not your dad," Plagg said, through full cheeks.

"Do you think she knows I'm Cat Noir," Adrien said, his heart picking right back up.

Plagg sighed, flying down to face Adrien. "Listen, Kid. The glamour works both ways. You can't tell that she is a holder, but she can't tell that you're one either. You're just being paranoid."

A beeping on Adrien's phone interrupted the conversation. He took the device out of his pocket and looked at the alarm.

"Shit, I forgot about my patrol with Ladybug. Let's go, Plagg. Claw's out," Adrien said, becoming Cat Noir once more.


"I thought you stood me up for a second there, Kitty," Ladybug said, standing up from her place on the edge.

"Meowtch, Milady. I think any guy would be crazy to forget you," Cat Noir said, slinking around his partner.

"Okay, down, Kitty. We've got business to tend to," Ladybug said, giggling at her partner's behavior.

"Your wish is my command, Bugaboo," Cat said, letting the worries fall away in his lady's presence with a casual flick of his tail.

"First to Eiffel Tower wins," Ladybug said, swinging away from the building before Cat had a chance to respond.

"You're so on, Milady," he said, running in the opposite direction.

It took twenty minutes before he spotted the Fushia suit again. He ducked behind a building before the girl could see him. She seemed to run without direction or care, nearly missing a building before grabbing the edge with the claws she wore above her hands.

"Bug," Cat said on his baton phone, "Meet me here. She's back."

"Don't do anything stupid, Chaton. Wait for me," he heard her reply.

The girl's tiger ears turned in his direction shortly followed by her eyes. She bolted in the opposite direction.

"Dammit," Cat said, punching the wall he was hiding behind before running after the tiger holder.

'Okay, she seems to be pretty slippery and definitely faster than me,' Cat thought, trying to keep up with the purplish-pink tail, 'Best bet is to cut her off somewhere.'

He ducked in an alleyway, trying his best to get in front of the girl. He jumped through the open window of a building, hoping the other side would be open as well.

'Bingo,' he thought, jumping through the next window, taking out the girl in the process.

"Get the hell off me, you mangy cat," she screamed, writhing under him.

"Not until you tell me who you are and where you got your miraculous," Cat said, holding the girl's hands by her sides.

"Panthera," she spit at him, her purple slit-eyes wild. "And it's none of your damn business where my miraculous came from."

"How about I take it off, and see if I'm right about who you are, Cassandra," he said, smiling at her briefly panicked expression before turning his attention to the panja bracelet.

"I'm not sure you want to do that, Adrien," she said, and he snapped his head up too fast to be a coincidence.

'Shit,' he thought, 'No, no, no, this could not be happening.'

"You're not the only one who notices this shit. Call your girlfriend off before I tell her and the rest of Paris who you really are, Adrien Agreste," she said, smiling like she was the tiger and he was the canary.