No Bitter End

by WalksTheAges

Adrien Agreste's day starts out normal, everything according to schedule...until he sees an article on the Ladyblog that changes everything-but also nothing. Ladybug, the love of his life, is 5,300 years old, and Adrien is determined to join her in her immortality. But first, they have to defeat Hawkmoth- and everything spirals out of control from there! WIP. MULTICHAP.

1. Day One: Adrien

TRIGGER WARNINGS for this chapter: discussion of rape and sexual assault: does not happen on screen, and does not happen to our main characters.

The actual descriptions begin with "met everyone's eyes with a stern expression" and ends with "it took an eternity". Discussions of the subject follow, but are not explicit.

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Everyone in this fic is an Unreliable Narrator

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ADRIEN DAY 1

Blinking his eyes open blearily, Adrien Agreste stared at the ceiling and wondered how his life had come to this.

"Oh my sweet Camembert, I adore you so, how could you ever believe that I wouldn't love you? We're meant to be!"

Somewhere in his cavernous room, Plagg continued to quietly seranade his cheese stash, apparently unaware that Adrien was awake and could hear him perfectly well.

"Camembert, there will NEVER be anyone that could replace you! Everyone thinks me and that sugarcube are involved, but it's a lie I tell you! Slander! Besides, we all know she's sweet on the flowerbud."

Rolling onto his side and smushing a pillow over his face, Adrien tried to fall back asleep; he still had like, twenty minutes before Natalie came to wake him up, right? A quick, furtive glance at his wall of windows confirmed that the sky was still the dark of pre-dawn.

Thank god.

Pulling the blankets over his head and doing his best to tune out Plagg's dramatic defending of his cheese's honor, Adrien drifted off to sleep again…

"Adrien, it's 6:15. You will have breakfast in the dining room with your father at 6:45." Natalie's clinical voice jolted Adrien out of sleep once more, and he thrashed in the blankets, momentarily disorientated.

Where did the akuma go? He was just fighting a giant cheese monster, wasn't he?

"You will then do your piano practice from 7:15, until you leave for school at 8:15." Natalie continued speaking from the doorway, either unaware of, or ignoring Adrien's momentary, sleep-induced distress.

Untangling the blankets from his legs finally, Adrien struggled to sit up and speak normally, "Okay, thank you, Natalie! Please tell my father that I look forward to our meal."

Natalie nodded curtly and shut the door behind her once more without a further word.

Hanging his head and letting out a sigh, Adrien placed a hand over his heart, feeling it pounding in his chest from the nightmare; it had been one that he had had quite a few times these last few months, and while the akuma usually changed each time, the end result was always the same:

He failed, and Ladybug was taken, vaporized, removed from the timeline, trapped in a photo, turned into a statue, eaten by a dinosaur, drowned in the flooded parisian streets… or in this case, turned into red, shredded cheese from an akuma's gratesword.

And each and every time, it was his fault.

Either he didn't react fast enough to save her, or his own stupid, selfish choices doomed her to fight and die alone.

25,914.

His arrogance, his stubbornness, his choices⏤ her death.

"Hey kid, you heard the babysitter, you've only got twenty minutes now to get ready," Plagg's voice said, appearing out of the darkness under his bed and zipping up to lounge on his pillow next to him, "Of course, if you were smart, you'd just sleep all day and eat cheese, like me. Who wants to go to school, anyways? Not me!"

Adrien, broken from his stupor, rolled his eyes at the familiar routine; Plagg encouraging him to be lazy and eat his stinky cheese with him⏤ and Adrien refusing to even taste it; he smelled like it constantly, he didn't need to deal with having the taste of it stuck on his tongue, too.

Ignoring his bad influence of a kwami, Adrien crawled out of bed finally and made his way to his bathroom, where he quickly showered and dressed for the day, making sure his Gabriel Signature outfit was perfectly pressed and straight, just in case his father really was going to eat breakfast with him⏤ he doubted it, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Glancing at the clock and seeing it was 6:40am already, Adrien cursed and sprinted to the dining room, racing down the winding corridors and stairs of the mansion, whose layout he had long memorized, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Sliding down the railing after a furtive look around, Adrien managed to reach his seat and sit down right as the ornate timepiece above the table chimed out 6:45am.

Natalie appeared in the doorway as if summoned by the chime. "Your breakfast will be out momentarily, Adrien. I'm sorry, but your father has just informed me he is busy with work and will be taking his own breakfast in his office."

The smile Adrien had pasted on his face cracked and fell, and he hung his head in disappointment as Natalie vanished again and the chef brought out his plate.

The next half hour, where he could have actually talked to his father if he ever bothered to show, passed excruciatingly slowly and boringly as he picked at his food, more interested in the coffee than the pastries, knowing the caffeine would be needed to keep him awake until lunch eventually came around.

When Natalie eventually came around again to collect his plate, Adrien hurried back to his room to do his piano 'practice', only sitting down to play for the first few minutes as Natalie glanced in on him once to make sure he was working.

The second her footsteps faded into the distant halls, Adrien nodded at Plagg, who gleefully set up his phone to play his current piece (Plagg was the one to originally give him that idea; his kwami was a genius for laziness) then got up and walked away from the piano as the music quietly filled the room for any prying ears to hear.

Dropping into his desk chair and booting up his gaming computer, Adrien opened up the Ladyblog in an incognito window as usual, knowing his father liked to check his search history randomly; anything that wasn't fashion or school-orientated was banned if he spent more than fifteen minutes on a webpage.

Scrolling to the top of the blog and hitting the 'news' section, Adrien browsed Alya's latest posts for awhile, rereading a few of her more interesting articles to while away the time as the sky behind him slowly began to lighten as the sun rose; he was just about to exit the blog entirely when the page refreshed, and a new article appeared at the top, marked Tuesday, 10/01/19 7:49am:

Ladybug gives interview to Ladyblogger, proves blogger right!?

Clicking on the link, Adrien squinted at the page, confused as a bunch of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs filled the page, part of a series of photos that were zoomed in on and blown up on top of the article.

Not seeing anything particularly interesting in them, Adrien scrolled past them to the written part of the post instead…

And stared.

Ladybug confirmed to be over 5,000 years old!?

What?

Staring at the headline, flabberghasted, Adrien felt his brain leave his body entirely.

What? What? WHAT?

Then his eyes trailed down the page, reluctant to leave the headline, and it got worse.

In an astonishing one-on-one interview with yours truly, Ladybug reveals that she is indeed thousands of years old; this reporter's second theory (see this page for my original, now-debunked theory) was correct!

As many of you are well aware, I, Alya Cesaire, was kidnapped by an akuma earlier this year known as Pharaoh, who was determined to sacrifice me to bring back his dead wife, as clearly shown in the ancient hieroglyphs above; the similarities between me and the failed sacrifice are shocking, but even more so was his absolute hatred of Ladybug!

Yes, folks, that's right! This Pharaoh knew Ladybug, and not as our resident hero, but as the dastardly fiend that stopped him from sacrificing an innocent woman some 5,300 years ago!

And here's the real kicker⏤ Ladybug admitted it was true! She even offered herself up as a sacrifice as reparations for her past actions, in a clever plot to trick the akuma and defeat Hawkmoth's latest ploy to take over Paris!

As you can see in the hieroglyphs above, Ladybug is clearly depicted with her signature spots and yoyo weapon!

While some of you may say that these could just have been coincidence, some alternate version of our hero's mantle, or part of her plan to defeat the akuma, this reporter was able to get an exclusive interview after the last akuma battle involving the newest superhero, Rena Rouge!

In this Ladyblog Exclusive, Ladybug confirmed, once and for all her age: 5,372 years old, give or take a year. She was around twenty years old when she first foiled the Pharaoh's plot to bring back his queen Nefertiti, and has been fighting villains the whole world over ever since, and succeeding!

So, fellow Parisians, let this be a message of hope: Hawkmoth is just the latest in a long, long line of villains, and:

Ladybug. Always. Wins.

⏤Alya Césaire, Official Ladyblogger, signing off.

Adrien stared at the screen.

The words stared back, swimming in his vision as his mind spiraled.

What?

"Whaaat?" Plagg drawled, floating into view, "What's got you looking like someone stole your cheese?"

Dumbly, Adrien pointed with a shaking finger at the article.

Plagg turned to look at the computer screen, and Adrien watched as the kwami's pupils shrank in reaction to the bright screen, before blowing wide as he read the headline.

"Whaaaaaat?" Plagg said, clutching his paws to his face as he hovered in front of the screen, staring aghast at the text, "No fair! She didn't even mention me! She promised she would!" He whined, loudly and dramatically.

Confused more than ever, Adrien waved his hand in front of his kwami's face, drawing his attention away from the mouse, which Plagg was frantically scrolling up the page with, "Plagg, what are you talking about?"

"Ladybug!" His kwami burst out, looking aggravated as he jabbed a finger at the screen, "Annnnnnd, she promised me she would give me a whhhhooooollle platter of camembert bread!" His fur fluffed in agitation, Plagg flitted about around the computer for a few seconds, before grumbling in annoyance and flying back to his cheese stash, apparently hungry again after talking about cheese so much.

Momentarily distracted from the reveal by his kwami's antics, Adrien rolled his eyes⏤ the only thing that Plagg ever thought about was his stomach.

Returning his gaze to the pictures that Plagg had scrolled up to, Adrien brought them up to full screen and decided to flick through them, wanting to see the images of his Lady that Alya had described.

The first few pictures were of hieroglyphs, with captions on the bottom giving a rough translation, courtesy of the Louvre; then, slightly more interesting, was a curious illustration of a creature with black facial markings and antennae.

Could that be Ladybug's kwami?

Glancing behind himself at Plagg, who was nearly invisible in the far corner of the room, Adrien compared the likeness of the two and figured it had to be; he'd only ever met one kwami other than Plagg, and that was Master Fu's Wayzz. Although they looked completely alien, even compared to each other, the large eyes, large head, flipper paws, and antennae seemed to be a common feature.

Wondering what Ladybug's kwami would look like in person, Adrien scrolled past the picture, lamenting his inability to bookmark it for later or download it to his computer⏤ things that would get his father's wrath for sure, although he could maybe say it was for a history project and get away with it.

The next few pictures were much the same: excerpts of hieroglyphs and their translations in the captions, with a few pictures of pharaohs or random egyptian citizens⏤ and then he saw it, not her, not Ladybug, but him?

"Plagg? Come here." Adrien said, staring at the screen. His voice sounded odd, even to himself, and Plagg was quick (for once) to listen to him.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" Plagg whined, flying over slowly, a huge slice of the goopy, reeking cheese clutched in his small paws, "Can't you see i'm eaaatttinnngg?"

"Who is that? Is that another Chat Noir?" Adrien demanded, stabbing his finger at the screen again; no longer was his hand trembling in shock, now it was…. Something else. Anger? Betrayal? Jealousy?

"P'shaw, no it's not another Chat Noir," Plagg scoffed, rolling his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Adrien's shoulders slumped in relief.

"No, you're the one that came up with that uncreative name; that's one of my previous wielders, Bastet."

Adrien jumped up like he was electrocuted, whirling his chair around to glare at Plagg.

"That's what I meant!" He shouted, annoyed at Plagg getting his hopes up, but quickly contained his anger, worried Natalie or Father would hear.

"Well geeze, you could have said that," Plagg grumbled, gulping down his cheese quickly so he could cross his paws in a huff, "Why do you care so much about her anyways?"

...wait, 'her'?

"What do you mean, 'her'?" Adrien asked, staring at his kwami in confusion; why would Plagg take a female wielder?

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" Plagg responded dryly, "You don't actually think I care about my wielder's gender do you? It makes no difference to me, and besides, it's only in the last few thousand years that I even understood gender; some of my wielders call me 'he', some call me 'she', and some just call me Plagg." He shrugged, and repeated,"It makes no difference to me."

Adrien stared at Plagg, and wondered what on earth that was even supposed to mean; how could you not understand gender? Why didn't Plagg care if someone called him a she?

Adrien shook his head, banishing the nonsensical thoughts for later; Plagg was just trying to distract him, probably.

"So you had a different wielder back in egypt?" Adrien asked instead, "A girl wielder? And you met THE Ladybug, my Ladybug?"

Plagg nodded, still looking slightly annoyed, before fluffing his thin fur out in an emotion Adrien had never seen him display before: "Yeah, she helped me out of a bind when Bastet got corrupted; if you want to know why Hawkmoth can't be allowed to get his hands on yours and Ladybug's Miraculouses, look up Sekhmet sometime."

"...Okay…." Adrien said, only half paying attention to his kwami's words, too caught up in the revelation he'd had when Plagg confirmed he was looking at an ancient Black Cat:

Ladybug was over five thousand years old.

Ladybug kept rejecting his advances.

Ladybug looked sad sometimes, when she looked at him.

And now Plagg was telling him Bastet was Ladybug's original partner…

Adrien felt a lump building in his throat.

Had Ladybug been in love with her first Black Cat?

Am I just one in a long line of Black Cats, always supplanting her lost love, only good for reminding her of what she lost and can never get back?

He shuddered at the thought, and stared at the screen, absorbing every detail of Bastet, what little he could see clearly on the ancient carving; her clear cat head, more stylized than his mask and ears, the scepter she held in front of her, and when he scrolled to the next picture, anxious to see more, he saw her, his Lady, front and center⏤

⏤but off to the side, blurred and out of focus in the photo, he saw what might have been two carvings facing each other, of Bastet and Ladybug exchanging a bouquet.

"Adrien? It's time for you to leave for school." Natalie's voice barely preceded her arrival, and by sheer superhero reflex alone, Adrien had reached out, stabbed the desktop tower's power button with his finger, dove out of the office chair, barrel-rolled his way back to the piano bench, jumped into place at the piano and paused the music just in time for Natalie to stick her head in the door.

Adrien turned, hoping his pounding heart wasn't evident as he answered her in the calmest voice he could manage: "Okay, Natalie."

As Natalie turned away at the door to glance down at her watch, Adrien bent down and grabbed his school bag, surreptitiously holding it open for Plagg to hide inside as he scooped it up and onto his shoulder. "Okay, Natalie, I'm ready. Will Father be there to say goodbye before we leave?"

He really, really doubted it, but he could never seem to stop getting his hopes up.

"I'm sorry Adrien, but he is busy with his work again, and will not be able to see you off to school." Natalie informed him, not showing a hint of emotion through her cool demeanor. He frowned as he followed her out into the hallway, clutching at the strap on his shoulder with clenched fists.

What was keeping his Father so busy anyways, that he couldn't even be bothered to see his own son?

Following Natalie down the large staircase below the grim family portrait his Father had commissioned when his mother first disappeared, Adrien fumed internally at his father's behavior.

He got it, he really did.

He missed mom, too.

But… that didn't mean it was right for his Father to treat him this way; it wasn't right for his father to hide away from the world at home, to ignore every thing except for his business. To ignore his only son.

No, I'm being unfair. Adrien forced himself to wave away his ungrateful thoughts, It's different for him. Isn't it? I lost my mom, but he lost his wife. He knew her for longer… what would I do if I lost Ladybug?

The thought gripped his heart in a cold fist, and he shivered despite the warming weather as the sun gradually rose into the sky above them.

"Thank you." Adrien said to his bodyguard on autopilot as the large, silent man held the door open for him; the man grunted in acknowledgement and moved around to the front of the car, pulling away from the curb with the usual quiet Adrien had gotten used to during his car escorts; Father did not want him listening to the radio, as it could broadcast songs he didn't approve of.

I don't know what I would do if I lost her. Adrien admitted to himself

I don't want to know.

But… but Ladybug already knew how that felt, didn't she?

She was thousands of years old.

She'd lost her Partner.

She'd lost ...countless Black Cats. Countless Partners.

I won't fail her, He vowed to himself, I'll be different. I'll be the Black Cat she can depend on, the one she doesn't have to worry about losing.

Master Fu, during their brief interactions, had remained frustratingly cryptic outside of telling Adrien what he needed to know to use the magic cheese he had given him to let Plagg transform into his different elemental forms, but one thing he had revealed to Adrien?

His age.

Master Fu was one hundred and eighty-six, going on one hundred and eighty-seven.

Wielding a Miraculous was not something that everyone could do safely; channeling the power of a Miraculous could have adverse effects on those not strong enough to endure it, and wielding two was known to drive men and women into insanity or straight into the arms of death.

But for those who were not weakened by wielding one, they would actually begin to absorb the power and grow stronger over time.

The wielder and the Miraculous would bond, become more in tune with each other; transforming often enough and remaining transformed for long, or using your powers enough would slowly but surely blend into your regular human half, granting enhanced strength, endurance, agility, and… longevity.

Master Fu had not explained his circumstances, but he had told Adrien that he had been transformed almost constantly, sometimes for days or weeks at a time during his first years as a hero; it was only in the last fifty or so years that he had been safe enough to remain untransformed for long, and as the decades went on and he remained untransformed, his true age began to catch up to him...

And so, when Hawkmoth showed his face, as a villain requiring a Miraculous hero, Master Fu had been physically unable to transform, and that was why he had chosen Adrien to wield the Black Cat Miraculous: he needed someone to partner with the Ladybug Wielder.

Already, Adrien spent a lot of time as Chat Noir, either battling Akuma or to escape the suffocating walls of his home, but now he would be religious about it; he would take every chance he could to transform, even it was just for a few minutes during bathroom breaks⏤ even if he had to carry entire, mini wheels of reeking camembert around with him to help Plagg recharge so often.

If wielding his Miraculous as often as possible would even remotely increase his chances of making Ladybug fall for him, he would do it.

The car slowed to a stop, and Adrien once again thanked his bodyguard as he exited the car, closing it behind him with an unintended slam, and realized if he was going to be going out of his way to 'evolve' faster by being Chat Noir more often, he would have to start watching his strength when he wasn't transformed.

Giving an apologetic wave at his bodyguard as he ascended the steps, Adrien made his way towards Ms. Bustier's class, wondering how soon he could get his hands on the extra cheese; some of the online ordering places did priority two day shipping, but already he was impatient to transform⏤ he usually wasn't able to stand the smell of more than a small portion of tightly-sealed slices, but Master Fu had given him that fully-stocked case of magical ones….

He would have to double check how many of each kind he had remaining, but he was pretty sure it would be safe to use at least one of each elemental 'flavour'; as long as he had one of each kind remaining in case of an emergency...

Reaching the classroom, Adrien found his seat and settled in to wait for the rest of the class and Ms. Bustier to arrive; unless there was a morning akuma attack, Adrien was usually one of the first to arrive, with his strict schedule.

Looking around the empty classroom, Adrien was tempted. Really really tempted…

But right as he was about to open his mouth to speak the words, Chloé burst through the door with her usual fanfair, followed by Sabrina.

Wincing at almost getting caught by his oldest friend, Adrien sat back down before Chloé could run over and hug him with her ever-present over affection, smiling and waving at her instead, before yawning dramatically as an excuse to not get up to greet her.

He loved Chloé, he really did, but there were times⏤ especially since his newfound friendship with Nino⏤ that he found himself angry at her and how she treated the people around her, or sad, because he could still see the little girl he had first met, devasted because her mother didn't want her anymore, only visible in rare moments of vulnerability when Chloé let down her scathing guard.

"Hey, Chloé," Adrien finally greeted, finishing his fake yawn, "Hey, Sabrina."

"Oooh, Adrikins, you've been so tired lately! Honestly, your father is working you too hard. You should take a break! You could come stay with me at my Daddy's hotel you know, just say the word! It'll be just like old times!" Chloé gushed excitedly, ignoring the other students that were filing into class after her dramatic entrance.

"That sounds nice, Chloé," and it did, "But I don't think my Father would approve. He has me on a very strict schedule already, but it's going to be even harder to have free time since he's beginning his new Collection for next year."

Or at least, that was the excuse his father had given him.

He hadn't even seen any of his father's new work in a few weeks.

Maybe the increased number of akuma attacks were distracting him with their chaos?

"Sup, dude?" A backpack being dropped unceremoniously onto their desk followed Nino's usual morning greeting, and Adrien smiled more genuinely at his best friend, glad to have a distraction from the temptations Chloé was offering him.

It would be so easy to sneak out as Chat Noir and transform back at Chloé's father's hotel, and just… relax with the Chloé of the past, the one she was only when she was truly alone with him with no prying eyes to see her rare kindnesses.

Adrien was just about to open his mouth to actually greet Nino when Alya appeared out of nowhere and excitedly leaned over their desk, "Adrien! So! What'd you think of the latest Ladyblogger Exclusive!?" Alya demanded, grinning madly in barely-contained glee.

"Oh my gosh, Alya, it was so good!" Adrien enthused, "How did you score that interview with Ladybug? Did you see Rena Rouge with her? And what do you think about Chat Noir, do you think he's thousands of years old, too?"

Adrien really was marveled at Alya's reporting skills, and was insanely curious⏤

Did Alya run into Ladybug before or after Rena had transformed? Was Rena still there, or had she vanished by the time Alya asked for an interview? Would Alya idly mention a civilian girl with Ladybug, and unknowingly reveal Rena's identity?

And more importantly: what did people think about Chat Noir after this reveal?

"Ooh, it was so awesome! I was waiting around trying to get some good footage of the akuma battle, when Ladybug and Rena Rouge came running up together! Rena ran off by herself, and I was going to try to follow her to get some clues about her secret identity, but then Ladybug distracted me and said she wanted an interview with her favorite reporter!"

Alya's voice had started out quiet and conspiratorial but grew louder and more fervent with each word, until she was practically shouting her glee, drawing the attention of all of the students that had arrived; everyone but Marinette was present, and everyone except for Chloé and Sabrina quickly gathered around to hear the scoop of the century.

Alya, finally noticing the crowd that had gathered, straightened up and tried to look more dignified as she continued her tale, gesturing dramatically:

"She said she'd had something she'd wanted to tell the public for awhile, that it was a secret she didn't think she needed to hide anymore, especially with the increased number of akuma attacks! She wanted to give some more hope to Paris in these 'dark times', and then she just… dropped the bombshell on me!" Alya exclaimed, before pausing dramatically.

She struck a pose and spoke in the familiar tones of their resident hero, doing an impressive imitation.

"'Alya Césaire, you are the first person I have told this to in a long, long time. I know you were really excited to think I was a girl your age, but I'm... not. Physically, I'm in my mid-twenties, but I haven't physically aged in over five thousand years. You were right, that was me in the hieroglyphs. I didn't want anyone to know then, because my partner was still new to all this, and I didn't want to scare him off. But you were right: I am thousands of years old.'" Alya mimicked, voice doing a surprisingly good imitation of the superhero's gentle but firm tones, taking up Ladybug's classic stance of one hand on her yoyo at her hip and gesturing with the other.

"'But why are you telling me this? Why now?'" Alya asked thin air, pivoting around so she was facing where 'Ladybug' had been, as if having a conversation with herself, adopting in a dramatic rendition of her own voice, "'Why are you telling me this now, when you wanted to hide it before?'"

She pivoted back into 'Ladybug' and mimed twirling her yoyoy idle, flipping her long red hair over her shoulder and cocking her hip as if she was about to swing away, "'Because, there's been so many attacks lately, at least one a day these past few weeks, and I've seen how frightened the citizens of Paris are becoming⏤ and I wanted to give them hope. This is not a sign that Hawkmoth is growing stronger, this is a sign that he is growing desperate. His time is almost up, and he knows it!" Alya crowed, throwing her hands in the air triumphantly.

Adrien was spellbound by her words⏤ he could almost see it himself as if he were there, and he idly wondered how long it had taken Alya to memorize Ladybug's speech; she had probably recorded the entire thing on her phone and watched it so many times she could lip sync to it.

There was a moment of silence around the classroom as everyone waited with baited breath for Alya to continue, but the girl gave them a confident smile, threw her invisible 'yoyo', and said, "'I can't wait to see your article, Ayla! Don't forget about the Pharaoh; Bug out!'" Alya mimed pulling on the string, then whirled on the class, no longer mimicking Ladybug, and practically slammed her hands onto the desk in her enthusiasm.

"Then she just swung away after dropping that reveal on me!" She exclaimed, drumming her palms on the desk in pent-up excitement. There was a beat of silence around them, and then the class erupted into noise: awed exclamations, gossiping, shouted questions all blended together in a mess, and all around the room, the click-click of phones being unlocked could be heard as everyone hurried to open up the Ladyblog article in question.

Breaking from his daze, Adrien remembered his earlier question: "But what about Chat Noir?"

Snapping from her own glee, Alya adopted her Serious Reporter Expression; tapping her finger on her chin in thought, and relaxing from her pose, Alya stared at the ceiling, obviously thinking over her response.

"Well, from what Ladybug said, he was still new to being a superhero when they first met, right?" Alya pondered, "So he can't be crazy old like she is? And⏤ she said she didn't want to scare him off, so he's probably a lot younger too. It'd be a little intimidating, having your first fight against a villain when your partner has been doing this kind of thing for centuries, right?"

Adrien nodded along, conceding her point that he probably wouldn't have been as easy going with her on the first day with Stoneheart if he knew she'd been doing this a lot longer than him⏤ so her odd behavior that day, was that all an act, to put him more at ease?

Was it all a ploy to make his transition into a hero more comfortable, thinking he had a peer his age at his side, who was just as new to it as he was?

Now that he thought about it, her abrupt shift in attitude that day had been really weird, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time; now, with hindsight on his side, he could see it for what it truly was: a mask, a facade, a feigned weakness, falling away to reveal her true self in the face of her hated enemy.

Adrien must have made a good impression that day, because Ladybug had never felt the need to put that mask back on around him.

Maybe if he had known her true age that day, he wouldn't have fallen in love with her; maybe she could have become his mentor, his teacher, someone to look up to as a role model⏤ instead of his comrade, his friend, and the love of his life, no matter how much she tried to deny that last one and kept him at arm's reach.

But he had fallen in love with her, and finding out her age, here, now, when he had already invested so much of his time and energy into his feelings for her⏤ it didn't change much, as far as he was concerned.

He still wouldn't let her down, he still wouldn't disappoint her, he still vowed to himself that he wouldn't leave her behind like all that other Black Cats had in the past⏤ he would still shield her from danger, still protect her, but now he would actually have to care about himself and keeping himself alive, something he was probably going to have trouble with⏤ she was his whole world, and taking a hit for her to spare her the pain was as easy as breathing.

And if⏤ no, when he was able to uphold his promise, when they defeated this villain, and the next, and the next, and the next, when they both traveled the world together, fighting crime as the years turned into decades and centuries⏤ what was a few thousand years between soulmates?

The human mind wasn't easy to change, but the heart even more so.

Yes, finding out her true age was shocking; it was frightening even, to try and imagine how many people she had met and lost, how many atrocities she had seen, how much more experienced she was then he⏤ how much more of the world she had seen and traveled before he was even born, and even now, his experiences were limited to the walls of the Mansion and only very recently Paris at large.

Had she seen the Eiffel Tower built? Did she scale it's heights in 1889 with the same ease as she did in 2019?

Is that why it was one of her favorite spots to go to in the very rare occasions where there was a false alarm on an akuma, or when she did not need her Lucky Charm to defeat a villain, and thus did not need to rush off to transform? She always seemed so at peace up there…

Maybe she was remembering sitting up there, watching sunsets and sunrises with another Black Cat? Reminiscing about sunsets she had watched in other parts of the world?

Did she see Chat Noir, when he sat next to her, offering her a rose she would refuse, or did she see someone else in his place? Another boy? A man? A girl? A woman?

Her first Partner had been Bastet; did she miss her still, to this day?

...Did she have loved ones buried in the Catacombs?

"Hey, dude, what's up with the long face?" Nino asked, and Adrien jumped, realizing he had forgotten where he was and gotten lost in his melancholy thoughts. "Isn't this like, the coolest thing ever?"

Forcing his mind back onto the current subject, Adrien forced a smile and nodded, "Yeah, it is! You're a really lucky reporter, Alya, that Ladybug chose you to reveal it to the world!"

Alya grinned at the praise and crossed her arms in a proud stance, "Oh course! Ladybug would only trust the greatest reporter in Paris!" She exclaimed, "Now, if only my bestie would get here so I can show her the news!" the girl said, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation.

Checking the time on his watch, Adrien realized it was already 7:25, class was going to start soon, and Marinette had not arrived yet; the poor girl was probably going to be late again.

Marinette always seemed tired, either sleeping through her alarm or forgetting to set it the night before; some days, her parents had her up even earlier than Adrien was to help them open up the bakery, and there was more than one occasion where she would say that, and in the same breath inform them she had also been up really late as well working on a design!

It was crazy, how little sleep she seemed to get but still remain mostly-functional during the day⏤ At least according to Adrien's official schedule, he was supposed to be getting at least nine hours of sleep….

But unfortunately, his official schedule just didn't take into account his late-night battles as Chat Noir for obvious reasons...

"Good morning class! Did everyone get enough sleep last night?" Ms. Bustier's kind voice interrupted his thoughts once more, and Adrien looked up as his favorite teacher walked through the door. "I know that attack last night was very frightening, so today, if anyone needs a break, please let me know, okay?"

Huh?

Alya's hand shot into the air, "Ms. Bustier, that attack happened pretty close to Marinette's house, I don't know if she's coming into school today or not. She might have just overslept, but she hasn't texted me or anything." Alya informed quickly, looking worried, and Adrien shot her a worried, mystified glance.

What attack were they talking about?

He hadn't gotten any akuma alerts...

"That's fine, thank you, Ayla. If Marinette still hasn't arrived after our morning rituals, I'll be sure to check in with her parents before we start our lessons for the day." Ms. Bustier accepted, and Adrien was even more confused.

What was going on?

Slowly, tentatively as Ms. Bustier began calling pairs of students down to the front to begin their morning ritual of greeting and complimenting each other, Adrien raised his hand.

"Ms. Bustier?" He questioned politely, not wanting to ask Nino or Alya and risk looking rude for whispering in her class, while wanting to get information quickly. His heart was starting to pound again.

What had he missed?

"Yes, Adrien?" Ms. Bustier answered right away, pulling her attention from Ivan and Kim who were dutifully complimenting each other's hair and band-shirt, respectively.

"I'm confused, was there an akuma attack last night? I didn't hear anything about it on my phone. I usually get alerts for them. Was everyone alright? Is Ladybug⏤ are Ladybug and Chat Noir okay?" He asked, fighting for calm, almost forgetting to ask about his own super identity's safety.

Had there been an akuma attack last night, and he had somehow slept through it?

Had Ladybug had to take on an akuma single-handedly?

Did she win?

Did she… did she lose?

Was she okay!?

Ms. Bustier's usual, cheery smile vanished, to be replaced with a sad, serious expression he had rarely seen on her.

"No, Adrien, it wasn't an akuma attack last night, we're safe from that, for the meantime at least. No, there was a different kind of attack last night…" Ms. Bustier hesitated, and sighed quietly. "No, it wasn't a supervillain, it was a regular human being that did it." she repeated, before holding up her hand to gather the class's attention, gently interrupting Max and Juleka's compliment session.

"Class, could I have your attention, please? I don't like interrupting our morning ritual, but I did not realize not all of you were aware of what happened last night. Please retake your seats for me."

Once all eyes in the classroom were on her and everyone was back in their assigned seat, Ms. Bustier continued. "Okay class, can all of you close your eyes for me?"

Adrien obeyed without question, squeezing his eyes shut and staring at the shifting, colorful darkness behind his eyelids, wondering where this was going.

He could hear his classmates fidgeting around the room, the rustle of clothing, the breeze from the open windows, and very very faintly, Plagg snoring away in his bag.

"Okay class, keeping your eyes close, can you raise your hand for me, if you don't know what rape means?" Ms. Bustier's voice called out softly, and Adrien frowned in confusion, pondering the word.

He'd heard it before from some rude people in his game's online chat before Father disabled the multiplayer function, but from Ms. Bustier's tone of voice, it sounded a lot more serious than a video game insult.

Adrien quietly raised his hand, and heard some shifting around the room. He hoped he wasn't the only one ignorant to the word's meaning.

"Thank you class, please lower your hands, everyone. Okay, everyone take a deep breath, in through your nose... good... hold it... okay, and then slowly breathe out through your mouth... Okay, good. Keep your eyes closed, and keep breathing. Before I explain what it means, if anyone needs to leave the room, please feel free to wait outside, or in the art room if you prefer."

There was a distinct rustling of clothing, and then two⏤ no, three⏤ pairs of footsteps descended the stairs and vanished into the hall; Adrien couldn't tell for sure who left, but he was certain he recognized Rose's light footsteps.

Ms. Bustier's heels gently clacked across the floor, and with a quiet woosh and click, the classroom door slipped shut, silencing the echos of the retreating footsteps.

"Thank you for keeping your eyes closed, everyone. Go ahead and open them now." Ms. Bustier instructed, and Adrien blinked his eyes open, still confused about what was happening, but less panicked than before; Ms. Bustier was very good at calming anxiety in her students.

Looking around the classroom, Adrien discovered that Rose had indeed left the class, along with Juleka and… Ivan?

"Okay, class, today we're going to be speaking about a sensitive topic, and as you can see, some of your classmates have left the room; I would appreciate it if you do not broach this topic with them, as it is something deeply personal and can be very upsetting. This is not a matter to take lightly." Ms. Bustier said sternly, before softening her expression, "For those of you that chose to remain, please feel free to leave as well if this conversation is upsetting to you."

Adrien's anxiety, which had been dying down, instantly ramped up again at Ms. Bustier's small speech.

What… what on earth had those PVPing trolls been shouting at his team that was so bad? Why had Natalie heard a single, half-sentence of the online chat and practically ripped the power cord out of the wall to turn it off, before storming off to get his then equally incensed Father?

What was so bad that Rose, Juleka, and Ivan had to leave the room before it was even talked about?

What had happened near Marinette's house?

"Okay, class, for those of you unaware, sexual intercourse, or sex, is an act performed between two consenting adults; there are different kinds of intimicy involved, performed between a man and a woman, a man and a man, and a woman and a woman, or different groups⏤ those you will learn about in your health classes, but please feel free to ask me after class, or your parents if you have questions." Ms. Bustier said, pausing to see how the class reacted.

"Specifically, we will be discussing penetrative sex performed between a man and a woman, wherein a man inserts his penis into a woman's vagina." She continued clinically, leaning against her desk and steepling her fingers in front of her as she let her words filter through everyone's ears.

Adrien blushed deeply at the mention of sex and seruptiously glanced around to see that, while most of his classmates were blushing and hiding sniggers, a fair portion had serious or concerned expressions.

Alya, when he glanced behind himself, looked pale behind her thick glasses.

She knew something he didn't.

Ms. Bustier looked around the room and met everyone's eyes with a stern expression. "Today, we're going to be discussing sexual assault, and rape⏤ which is when someone forces someone to be intimate with them without the person's consent. This is not a laughing matter." Her short, forceful statement effortlessly silenced the few guffaws coming from a few of the boys across from Adrien.

The class went silent, as Kim, who had been one of the boys sniggering at the mention of sex, went pale at the rare severity in Ms. Bustier's voice, especially when she directed what was the closest Adrien had ever seen to a glare at him.

Kim sat ramrod straight in his seat, staring at the desk. "Sorry." He muttered, so quietly that Adrien swore he was probably the only one who could hear it thanks to his super hearing.

Ms. Bustier smiled sadly at him nonetheless, seeing his apologetic body language. "Thank you, Kim. Again, class, please let's have everyone take a nice, deep breath... hold it... and then release. I want you all to continue this breathing exercise while I explain what happened; please do not interrupt, but if you need to leave the room, do not hesitate. Okay, class?"

"Okay, Ms. Bustier," Adrien parroted back as his classmates echoed his response around him; bracing his hands on the desk, Adrien tried to continue the breathing exercise as the heat finally left his face, though he was still anxious and jittery.

Ms. Bustier waited another moment, stood up straight with her hands folded, and slowly spoke. "Last night, a young girl around your age was sexually assaulted in public by her boyfriend. The man slapped her on the butt and kissed her despite her protests in the middle of a restaurant."

Adrien's mouth dropped open.

"The owners of the restaurant they were attending called the authorities to intervene with what they thought was a normal 'couple's spat' gone wrong, but they were unable to keep the man inside after phoning authorities; the girl fled the restaurant, and the man followed her out.

"By the time the police arrived, the man and girl had vanished, but their car was still parked in the lot. When police searched the nearby area, they heard a woman crying in a nearby alley."

Around the room, many of the girls gasped, but Adrien was still confused; when he glanced to the side, he saw Nino staring down at his clenched fists, and when he looked the other way, across the aisle, Chloé was leaning forward over her desk, elbows on the surface like she was bored, casually playing with the hair by her one ear⏤

⏤But Adrien knew her well enough to see how her fingers were repetitively twirling the same strands between her fingers in well-concealed anxiety.

Ms. Bustier paused again, and stared solemnly around the class once more. "The police found the girl with her pants and shirt torn off, and in the process of being raped. They apprehended the man, and paramedics brought the girl to the hospital."

Dead silence met this pronouncement.

Waiting a moment to see if there were any questions, Ms. Bustier continued, still stern and professional, but now with a lingering cloud of anger hovering over her shoulders. "This horrendous attack is something that should never have happened, but it did happen, and all we can do is support the victim, and do our best to ensure it never happens again."

It took an eternity, but finally, Adrien found his voice. Raising his hand, Adrien's ears burned as it felt like the eyes of his classmates were zeroed in on him at daring to ask a question.

"Yes, Adrien?" Ms. Bustier asked, some of her anger vanishing from her posture as she herself practiced breathing as she called on him; patience and sadness replaced the more vitriolic emotion in the set of her shoulders.

"Why… why would anyone do that? You said it was the girl's boyfriend that did it. How could he do that to her?" He asked, ducking his head as the stares locked on him became too much.

"Well, Adrien, that is a good question. Unfortunately, we live in a world where many people⏤ not just men⏤ think that because they are in a relationship with someone, that that person 'owes' them intimacy." Ms. Bustier explained, beginning to move around the classroom again, walking back and forth in front of the desks as she talked, apparently unable to remain still any longer, impassioned by her own speech.

"Truthfully, no one ever owes you intimacy⏤ and, class, please remember this, always: You will never owe anyone intimacy, ever. If someone asked you to do something that you are uncomfortable with, or even if you're just not in the mood, any reason at all, you are allowed to say no." She said fervently, and once again let her eyes travel over the class, trying to meet everyone's gaze to impart the urgency of her words.

"But what if you're married?" Kim asked hesitantly, hand raised only part-way, as if ready to snatch it back down at a moment's notice.

Ms. Bustier smiled kindly at him, not minding the question asked genuinely.

"Marriage should make no difference⏤ you are still owed respect for your wishes." She said, "You and your spouse could be together for decades, and you would still not owe them sex; or even, if you are happily having sex together, but they wanted to try something different, something you were uncomfortable with, you are allowed to not want it, you are allowed to say 'No', and so are they." Ms. Bustier scanned the room again, looking for questions, but continuing to speak when none were forthcoming.

"Sex can be an important part of a relationship, but it does not need to be an integral part of it; sex is something that can bring people closer, physically and emotionally, but only if it is something that both partners want; because sex is just that: it is a want, not a 'need', as you will hear some incorrectly call it; a need is something necessary for survival; you need food, you need water, you need shelter to survive; you do not need sex."

There was the rustle of cloth behind him, and Adrien peeked over his shoulder to see that Alya had raised her hand as well now, face no longer pale, but blushed, further darkening her complexion.

"Yes, Alya?" Ms. Bustier called, and Adrien hurried to turn back to the front, not wanting to embarrass his friend more than she already was if she noticed him staring.

"I'm a little confused, Ms. I get what you're saying, that you don't owe anyone anything, but isn't it… uh, biology? Don't all humans instinctively want..."

Alya hesitated, and Adrien stared intently at his desk, blushing again himself and only imagining how hard it would be to ask out loud.

"...Isn't sex an important part of making a relationship last? Don't all humans, if not need, then want sex?"

Moving closer to their side of the room, Ms. Bustier smiled at Alya, stopping in front of Adrien's desk, "I'm actually glad you asked, Alya. Biology is often brought up when it comes to sex, sexual attraction, and gender. But the truth is, while biology is an important part of understanding humanity and history, it should not limit us."

Stepping back and to the side until she was in the center of the two aisles again, Ms. Bustier instructed, "Class, if anyone here has corrective glasses or contacts, please raise your hand?"

Next to him, Nino immediately raised his hand, and Adrien heard Alya doing the same behind him; glancing around, he saw that Max and Sabrina had raised their hands as well⏤ and was surprised that, when he cast his gaze forward again, Ms. Bustier had her own hand raised with a smile.

"Thank you class. I myself wear contacts to correct my vision, and as you can see, if we let biology define us as strictly as some try to claim we should, then either we would be forced to go through life, unable to see⏤ or, we would not have been born with bad vision in the first place." She said.

"Biology and science are not the ultimate answers to life; biology is not some hard set rule for perfect beings with a few glitches thrown in the mix; we are all animals, mammals, and we are part of nature, just as much as the world around us."

Smiling brightly and tilting her head, Ms. Bustier gestured out the windows, at the trees dancing in the breeze, at the pidgeons flocking over the school, at the clouds covering the sun, making the otherwise-warm day slightly cool in the shade cast.

"Nature is chaotic and flawed, and that is why some people are born with near or farsightedness; that is why some people are born deaf or hard of hearing; that is why some people are born with different developmental disorders, such as ADHD or autism, or even physicals ones, such as dwarfism or not having fully formed limbs⏤ it's all a normal part of nature, because humans are not 'perfect', and we don't have to be."

"To answer your question more fully, Alya, while many people do experience sexual attraction and want sex, there are those who do not." Ms. Bustier said, "Just like some people can be natural math prodigies, other people naturally feel attraction to their own gender, both genders, or do not feel attraction at all."

It was Alix that raised her hand now.

"Ms Bustier, what do you mean some people don't feel attraction at all? I thought everyone did?" The girl asked, sweeping her bangs out of her eyes as she leaned forward, head cocked to the side in confusion.

Ms. Bustier smiled, "That is a common misconception; like I said, many people rely on 'basic biology' to insist that all humans must obey some 'rule' that they must only be attracted to the opposite gender. In fact, it has been a known phenomena since ancient times that, much like gay kings, bisexual queens, and transgender egyptians, there have been many famous figures throughout history that were asexual, meaning someone who does not experience sexual attraction."

Adrien stared at Ms. Bustier as she spoke, completely mind-boggled.

Huh? I've heard of people who are gay, or bi, but… how can you not like anyone at all?

"Some famous figures believed to be asexual, or 'ace', are names you might recognize: Sir Isaac Newton, the famous scientist, was most likely asexual and died a virgin, while Emily Bronte, the famous author, was believed to be someone with split attraction; asexual, while still experiencing romantic attraction."

"Dude," Nino muttered beside him, staring in fascination at Ms. Bustier, "That's so cool, I didn't know there were people like that!"

"Ms. Bustier?" Myléne asked, "I know a lot of people that are bisexual, and I actually saw an article awhile back that said that our generation is the most bisexual one documented, but what about asexual people? How many people are like that?"

"Yeah, I've never heard of it before, either!" Sabrina pipped up enthusiastically.

"Oh! Ms. Bustier! I know!" Max said excitedly as Ms. Bustier was about to respond; Adrien twisted around in his seat to see Max waving his hand in the air quickly.

smiled at his enthusiasm, knowing his love of math and facts. "Go ahead, Max."

"The original 1948 estimates for those known from the Kinsey Scale as 'Group X' were hypothesized to be 1% of the human population, but with awareness campaigns and more acceptance of LGBTQIA people, the number of known asexuals has risen, and the 1% estimate is believed to be much higher; even so, at 1% that means that at least 77 million people are asexual out of our current world population of 7.7 billion!"

Max spoke without hardly pausing for breath, and Adrien had to stare at him for a minute as his brain struggled to take in all that he had said, because only half of those words were familiar.

Adrien had never been good at math, but seventy-seven million seemed like a lot of people for being '1%'.

"That's correct, Max!" Ms. Bustier praised, "Many studies, especially ones from more conservative times, have much lower numbers and results then were true even for the time, as many people still viewed anything relating to queer identities as being taboo, and many queer people internalized their society's prejudices, and rationalized away their own orientations."

Ms. Bustier paused suddenly, blinked, then glanced down at her watch. "Oh! I'm sorry class, our conversation carried on a little bit longer than I anticipated; thank you everyone that participated in our discussion, and if you have any further questions, please feel free to stay behind after class, or join me during our lunch period today if you would like to discuss either of our subjects in more detail." She apologized.

Confused, Adrien glanced at the wall clock, and he saw that they had already gone a few minutes past the time they usually took for Ms. Bustier's morning rituals, and were now cutting into proper lesson time.

Ms. Bustier began moving towards the classroom door.

Placing her hand on the handle, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled at everyone.

"For now, let me see if the other students are feeling well enough to rejoin us, and Alya, I will contact Marinette's parents to make sure everything is⏤ "

Glass, flying everywhere.

Metal.

Concrete.

Wood.

Ripping through the door.

Ripping through Ms. Bustier.

A monster's wordless roar.

Ms. Bustier screaming.

His friends screaming.

Someone, tackling him to the floor.

Something icy cold, like dread.

It hit his hands.

Then⏤

Disorientation.

Darkness.

...Adrien struggled to open his eyes, vaguely aware of someone calling his name from far away.

His back hurt.

He couldn't feel his... fingers?

"rian! Adrien!"

Was that Plagg?

Why couldn't he see?

Oh. His eyes were shut still.

"Plagg?" He croaked, forcing his eyelids apart and trying to focus; all he saw was darkness around him, and panic nearly set in, until he saw two green blurs of light above him.

"Kid!" Plagg cried out in relief, zooming closer and more into focus; all Adrien could make out of his kwami in the darkness was the glitter of his acid-green eyes and the faint, internal purple glow when he opened his mouth in speech.

Everything else was just… black. Darkness, complete and utter.

His breathing sped up, and he could swear he could feel it bouncing back towards his face from some unseen barrier, closing in on him…

"Kid, it's okay, calm down, I'm here, we won't be stuck for long." Plagg quickly said, rare comfort in his voice as he darted forward to nuzzle against Adrien's face with a purr, "No time to explain. You gotta transform, Ladybug needs you."

That got his attention.

"Akuma?" He gasped out, and Plagg's eyes bobbed up and down in the air, nodding in the darkness.

Adrien narrowed his own eyes and pushed his rising claustrophobia away; he had a job to do!

"Plagg!" He shouted, "Claws out!"

Plagg's eyes vanished into the darkness and Adrien felt the magic of the transformation filling him, and winced as it built up in his limbs with an almost painful intensity.

Transforming into Chat Noir almost never hurt; the magic had its own, natural ways of channeling itself through his body harmlessly... most of the time.

Except for rare occasions, his Miraculous was able to pull his body into different poses and stances, directing the magic through his limbs, through his bones and veins and out, out into the air around him to form his suit⏤

But on occasions such as this, where he was trapped and unable to move, the magic of his transformation was equally trapped within him, burning through his limbs like fire instead of flowing like water.

Only this time, it was even worse, because something was wrong.

The burning magic, that usually began on his right hand, began and stalled at his right wrist, making it feel like it was being charbroiled.

Adrien bit his lip to keep from crying out at the pain, trying to force himself into Ms. Bustier's breathing exercises as the magic remained burning at his wrist for what felt like an eternity, before finally whooshing backwards instead of forward through his fingers, burning a path down his arm until the magic had crossed over his shoulders, up his neck and down his spine.

Something was wrong with his hands⏤ even with the pain of the confined transformation, he couldn't feel them.

His mask materialized across his face and he was forced to squeeze his eyes shut as the fire licked it's way up his head to form his ears, immediately heightening his sense of hearing, until his own breath and heartbeat was deafening in the confined space.

A ring of fire around his waist heralded his tail forming, and finally, with a green flash that he could see even behind his closed eyelids, the transformation finished, and all of the pain vanished as if it had never been.

Breathing out a sigh of relief⏤ the transformation had only taken three seconds, tops, but it felt like an eternity⏤ Adrien reached upwards to push whatever had landed on him away, and recoiled.

Cold, stiff, dead things were attached to his wrists, and when he finally peeled his eyes open to use his night-vision, he saw with horror that instead of his usual black gloves ending in sharp claws, his hands were now clad in pure white, with only his Miraculous remaining black.

Frantically, he tried to wriggle his fingers, but they stayed stiff and frozen, clenched into unmoving fists, and he could only just barely move his wrists at all to bend them.

What in the heck did the akuma do to him?!

And why? What was the point?

Heart pounding in his chest, Adrien at least had to admit it scared him, badly, to lose the use of his hands, especially since he had been hit as a civilian, and couldn't even remember it happening.

The last thing he saw was Ms. Bustier about to open the door; had there been an explosion?

Was anyone else hurt?

Ladybug needs you! Plagg's voice, distant and echoing from memory interrupted his panicking thoughts, and Adrien mentally kicked himself into gear: okay, he couldn't use his hands, but that didn't mean he was useless!

Wiggling his toes and glad he could still feel them, Adrien braced his elbows against the ground on either side, curled his back, brought his knees up to his chest, and kicked, straight up with all the force he could muster.

There was a loud snap! And the darkness around him exploded into light as something overhead flew up and over with the force of his kick.

Shielding his eyes against the bright sunlight assaulting his eyes, Adrien dodge rolled to the side the second he was able to, bouncing to the floor as he made sure to get clear of the trap.

Rolling clumsily across the floor until he thumped into something that might have been his desk, he squinted around, trying to see what had been holding him captive.

Directly in front of him was a large black box, the top of which was flipped open in the air on silver hinges; the inside had a rigid cushion he had been laying on, and the entire thing was lined with white and black velvet.

Still gathering his wits about him, it took him a moment to recognize the trap for what it was: an oversized wedding ring box.

Huh. That was a first, but certainly not the strangest thing he'd encountered from an akuma.

Dust invaded his nose, and he sneezed, trying not to look too hard at the destroyed state of the classroom; the wall of windows were completely gone, and shards of glass littered the floor, while the doorway Ms. Bustier had been standing in had been completely obliterated.

Bracing his elbows on the floor and heaving himself to his feet, he saw that identical wedding boxes were scattered around the room, no doubt holding his classmates prisoner. Dashing to the closest one, he tried to open it, but to his frustration he couldn't get any kind of grip on it to pry it up with his frozen hands.

Not hearing any noises from within the box, aside from some slow breathing, Adrien was forced to abandon his attempts, and could only hope his classmates would remain asleep within the traps instead of waking and panicking.

He also really, really hoped they weren't air tight.

A loud Crash! Echoed from the deserted hallways, quickly followed by a familiar voice shouting something unintelligible over the sound of battle.

Ladybug!

Leaping over the rubble that was all that remained the doorway, Adrien dashed down the destroyed hallway, dodging concrete debris and twisted metal as he followed the sounds of battle. By instinct, he pushed off from the floor with his feet with a bit extra power, leaning into his momentum, arching his back and extending his arms forward, fully intending on picking up extra speed by running on all fours.

Too late did he realize his mistake as the unnatural white of his gloves caught his gaze, but by the time he reacted to try to correct his angle into a roll, he was already crashing headfirst into the ground as his dead, frozen hands refused to support his weight.

Head and forearms slamming into the punishing ground with his enhanced momentum, Adrien had never been so grateful for the endurance granted to him by his Miraculous; if he hadn't been transformed, he would have had a concussion or broken arms from the impact.

Pins and needles still shot up his arms from the crash though, and he cursed his own stupidity as he struggled to his feet, trying to shake the numbness from his arms and praying it wouldn't spread from his hands to the rest of him.

"Chat Noir!"

With no more warning than that single word, something cinched tight around his waist and then he was being pulled, up, into the air, flying across the room as something slammed into where he had been lying, destroying the flooring and causing the entire section to collapse with thunderous roars like an avalanche.

Twisting in midair as he was flying, Adrien realized that Ladybug had lassoed him with her yoyo and pulled him to safety; she was perched on the wall across what used to be the second floor of the school's courtyard.

Instinct granted from his transformation surged through him and he angled himself to land feet-first, thankful for it, but at the same time trying to push away the part of him that wanted to land in a four-limbed crouch; he had learned his lesson from leaning too heavily on the Miraculous instincts.

Landing on his feet below his Lady, Adrien barely kept his balance as his hands seemed good only for being dead weight, ruining his balance as he flailed to stay upright on a small outcropping of rubble. Ladybug might be able to stand or walk on walls whenever she wanted, but Adrien needed to work up and keep momentum to do the same.

Leaning back against the wall so he wouldn't accidentally overbalance, he tried to place his feet on the largest bits of concrete that were all that remained of the previous hallway. Below him, straight down, he could see that much of the courtyard was buried in collapsed sections of the second floor, and would be very treacherous to traverse: they would have to get the akuma to a new area, or they would be in danger of having the entire school fall around their ears.

"Purrrfect timing, Buggaboo!" Adrien called gratefully, looking up to where Ladybug was crouched sideways on the wall, retracting her yoyo from around his waist now that he was safe, and immediately thwiping! It back out, knocking a huge, indistinct figure, no doubt the akuma, into the pile of rubble it had just created. The noise when the giant crashed to the ground was amazing, and sent up a thick cloud of dust, momentarily hiding much of the room from view.

"I may have nine lives, but I much prefer to spend them with you than as a pancake." Adrien continued as the dust began to settle, craning his neck to try to get a clearer glimpse of the mystery akuma, even as he winced at his attempt at a joke.

Crap. That was a bad pun. He knew the akuma's theme was rings, so why could he only think of breakfast?

"Chat Noir, where were you? I was calling for twenty minutes!" Ladybug snapped, dropping down from the wall to land gracefully next to him, perfectly balanced on the razor's edge of metal sticking out a foot from his own feet.

Adrien's ears flickered back against his will, and he cursed how emotive his transformation made him. "I'm sorry, my Lady," He said, and raised his right hand into her field of view, "I'm afraid I got hit when the akuma first appeared. My kwami was only able to wake me in the last few minutes."

Ladybug gasped at the sight of his snow white hand, which had finally loosened from a clenched fist, but was still completely immobile to his own will. Shaking his arm emphatically for the millionth time and watching his dead hand flap about limply, Adrien tried rubbing his forearms together to get blood flowing, despite knowing it wouldn't do any good; magic had made his hands cold and numb, and only magic would fix it.

"Oh, Chat Noir! Your hands!" Ladybug exclaimed, looking aghast, but also confused, "Are you okay? Everyone else that the akuma hit had their feet or shoes turn white, not their hands. They weren't able to walk or run away⏤ are you okay?" She repeated, leaning in close to peer at his hands.

Adrien stopped the fruitless waving of his hands so she could take them in her own⏤ his heart nearly melted as she so tenderly cradled his hands in her smaller but stronger ones.

Concerned blue eyes peered closely at his fingers as she gently maneuvered them into a more relaxed position, careful of his sharp white claws.

"Does this hurt at all?" She asked, flipping his left palm over and rubbing his hand between her own, trying to warm it; he saw her shiver at the contact and assumed they were as cold to her as they were numb to him.

He shook his head, keeping his ears trained on the stirring akuma below them; they didn't have much time until the villain was back on his feet and they were back in battle. "No, I can't feel them at all. It doesn't hurt, but they're kinda useless right now, I can barely even hold them up, they feel heavy, like lead weights." He explained. "Ladybug, I can hear the akuma getting up, we should get out of here while the school's still standing, and try to lead it away from here."

Ladybug nodded, releasing his hands, which he allowed to simply fall to his sides, useless as they were.

"You're right, we need to take him away from the populated areas. This guy's really into property destruction, but from what I've seen, the people he traps in those boxes are safely asleep." Ladybug said, straightening up and wrapping one arm around his back and under his opposite arm.

Smiling at the close proximity to his crush, Adrien grinned stupidly at her and slung one useless arm over her shoulder to reciprocate, tightening his grip as well as he could with just his forearm.

Ladybug rolled her eyes at his flirtatious look and tightened her own arm until it was nearly painful around his ribs and back.

"Don't let go, kitty," She warned with a playful smirk, and then she had cast her yoyo and they were flying through the air again, sailing over the head of the akuma below them. As the dust began to clear, Adrien finally caught a glimpse of him.

"Nice monkey suit!" Adrien taunted on the fly as they soared overhead, "Where'd you rent it from, the zoo?"

Below them, the huge akuma that was dressed in a black and white tuxedo glared up at him with the familiar, glowing violet eyes almost all the akuma victims seemed to gain.

The giant shoved rubble off of his shoulders with an incensed roar and tried to swat them out of the air, but Ladybug was already five steps ahead, dodging nimbly in the air with acrobatics that took Adrien's breath away.

As they practically danced in the air with every expert cast of Ladybug's yoyo, Adrien was grateful his own weapon was a baton⏤ he didn't think he would be nearly as good as his Lady at swinging from rooftop to rooftop; he much preferred the solid support of his baton or his own legs.

The giant man scowled at the sight of them gaining distance on him and skidded to a stop half a mile from the school, throwing clouds of dust and debris into the air as he planted his feet into the roads below, crushing cars that were hopefully empty.

"Uh, Ladybug?" Adrien called, fighting to be heard over the roaring wind as Ladybug continued with her acrobatic dance across the rooftops, still carry him under her arm, "He's stopping. I think we can too, this cat's starting to get a little motion sick."

But Ladybug just shook her head and adjusted her grip on him, "Sorry kitty, we can't stop until we're further away. He's not stopping, he's got a ranged attack." she explained, and Adrien looked behind him again at the sound of a thunderous BOOM!

Behind them, the giant akuma had dropped down to one knee in the street, shaking buildings around him with the impact, and was now reaching into his back pocket. Adrien squinted to see what he was doing, but his view of the object was blocked by the akuma's thick fingers.

Cocking his wrist at an angle, the akuma snapped it out in one quick motion, straight in their direction.

Oh crap.

"INCOMING!" Adrien shouted, and not a moment too soon: Ladybug released her yoyo's hold on the next building, and the two of them began to plummet, shedding altitude instead of climbing higher.

With a deafening crash, the projectile slammed into the building they had been aiming for; a deep roar like thunder filled the air, and Adrien squeezed his eyes shut and angled his head away from an impact that never came.

There was a sudden jerk, then he and Ladybug were changing direction once more, angling away from the building that was currently imploding in on itself.

Concrete, brick, and metal continued to rain down around them, but Ladybug had gotten them far enough away from the impact area that they were safe, for the moment. They only landed on a rooftop briefly, just long enough for Ladybug to taunt the akuma into pursuing them on foot once more, and then they were off, swinging from building to building with the grace and finesse only Ladybug could achieve at such incredible speeds.

Keeping one wary eye on the akuma rampaging across Paris in their wake, Adrien wondered how much practice, how many years it had taken her to achieve such grace.

He didn't know much at all about ancient egypt other than the general things everyone knew: pyramids and mummies.

...But he didn't think there would have been many places for her to swing from back then, unless she had been climbing the pyramids and sphinx, the way the climbed the Eiffel Tower?

I'll have to see if Father will let me take a trip to the Louvre again. He thought to himself, I'll actually pay attention to the tour this time, and I can see the mural where Alya got her pictures in person.

Maybe there will be something there that Alya didn't notice; something only a Miraculous Wielder would pick up on...

Seeing that they were gaining ground on the oddly-silent akuma, Ladybug finally alighted on a rooftop near the Seine. The akuma, which was rather slow for his large size, was now slowly but surely catching up to them, but at least at this point he was clearly too angry to aim his ranged attack properly and preferred to smash them into smithereens personally.

"Sooo…" Adrien said as Ladybug released her hold on him; he dropped to his own feet and shook out his hands again in vain, unable to quell the urge.

This whole hand thing was really starting to freak him out; he kept thinking i cant feel my hands they look dead, when I hit them against something they just feel dead, this is gross and freaking FREAKY AHHH'... and was fighting to remain composed.

"What's this guy's problem anyways? What's up with the cold hands?" He asked as casually as he could.

"Cold feet, actually," Ladybug corrected, "From what I gathered, he tried to propose in public, couldn't work up the nerve to speak, and just silently went down on one knee in the square. Everyone was cheering him on, applauding, then his girlfriend got upset and ran away."

"Me-owch," Adrien sympathized, "Well, I understand him being akumatized now. Poor guy, that girl obviously didn't love him enough, he deserves better!"

A public proposal was the most romantic thing he could imagine, how could anyone turn that down!?

"C'mon, M'Lady," He drawled, resting his head on Ladybug's shoulder and rolling his neck until he was looking at her adoringly, "Don't you feel bad for this poor guy? Getting rejected like that?"

But Ladybug just hip-checked him away playfully, swinging her yoyo up and down repetitively as she shook her head. "Getting rejected? Yes, I understand that feeling," She said, voice full of longing, before it hardened. "But proposing in public like that, with no warning? That poor girl was just put on the spot! You can't just do that, you're making it like she has no choice but to say yes, especially with crowds of people around cheering, like it's an unavoidable outcome!"

Adrien stared at Ladybug, mystified at her sudden vehemence. Where was this coming from?

"You can't just pressure people like that! Imagine how much stress she was under! No wonder she ran away!" Ladybug said ardently, stomping her foot on the roof hard enough that a few shingles shattered under the impact, and went skittering down the roof.

Blushing, Ladybug peered down at the road as the broken tiles shattered loudly on the sidewalk. "Oops."

Adrien sauntered up beside her to join her in looking down, "Well, at least your Miraculous Ladybugs cover property damage, along with everything else." He said, snorting in laughter.

Ladybug nodded resolutely. "Speaking of, we still need a way to trap this guy; I think the akuma is in the engagement ring, it's in that box he's getting his weapons from, the only problem is he just doesn't stay down or still for very long, and he only has it visible when he's throwing stuff at us." She pondered aloud, casually whipping her yoyo up and into a helicopter spin before Adrien had even noticed the chunk of road soaring in their direction; the asphalt splattered around them in tiny granules, practically dissolving under the onslaught of Ladybug's weapon.

"And it looks like he doesn't have a problem using his environment to his advantage, either." Adrien observed, futilely brushing chunks of road out of his hair and away from his sensitive cat ears. It was nearly impossible with his completely numb hands. "Maybe if we immobilized him when he's pulling the ring out again?"

Ladybug nodded, eyes narrowed pensively as she observed the akuma still charging at them, quickly gaining ground on their resting spot. "Let's see what my charm gives me." She said slowly, almost to herself,, "Something that'll be helpful for later, hopefully…"

Ears still twitching from the gravel irritating them, Adrien cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow.

Something was off in Ladybug's voice just now, but he wasn't sure⏤ not quite able to put a finger on the emotion in her tone.

Heh. He should totally use that later, that was a good one.

Nodding again resolutely, Ladybug took a bracing step backwards and thwipped her yoyo up into the air overhead⏤

"Lucky Charm!"

And out of the pink flash that followed fell ⏤

"A window planter?" Ladybug questioned, looking mystified at the large, rectangular, polka-dotted plant pot, complete with real red flowers as it fell heavily into her arms..

Adrien leaned forward and gave the flowers an experimental sniff. "What are you going to do with these? Make him a bouquet?"

But Ladybug was staring at the plants, considering them with her head cocked to the side, bluebell eyes squinting in thought. "Rhododendrons?" She whispered to herself, before her eyes opened wide in realization. "I'll be right back!"

"WHAT!?" Adrien yelped, nearly inhaling a mouthful of pollen when Ladybug abruptly heaved the planter high in her arms, smashing several flowers into his face. Wiping frantically at his eyes to get the cloud of yellow dust out of his eyes with just his forearms, Adrien could barley make out as Ladybug slung the planter under one arm and prepared to swing away, yoyo already cast out to the next rooftop. "Ack," He coughed, ," Ladybug, where are you going!?"

"I'll be back soon!" Ladybug called out, and before he could even reach out to grab her arm⏤ not like he could do so, anyways, it would be more like flapping his limp hand against her wrist⏤ she was swinging up and away from the roof, "Just try to keep him distracted for me!"

⏤And off into the distance, quickly vanishing into the Parisian streets as she vanished over a distante building.

CRASH!

Ears flattening against his skull, Adrien turned around to see that the akuma had nearly reached the building he was perched on, and was continuing to hurl bits of road and empty cars at him.

Crap.

Ducking into an awkward dodge roll to avoid a particularly nasty bit of metal that might have once been a bicycle, Adrien awkwardly lurched to his feet, feeling oddly like a kid playing at being a T-Rex. He kept his hands curled up against his chest, not wanting to reach out to grab something by instinct and not remember his predicament until it was too late.

"That all you got!?" Adrien taunted, swaying from side to side mockingly, knowing that he needed to buy Ladybug as much time as he could, and that, at least until she returned from her mystery errand, he couldn't risk using Cataclysm.

If he used Cataclysm too soon, and ran out of time before she returned, he would be well and truly doomed⏤ unless he was able to find and take shelter from the destructive akuma while Plagg ate his way through the thin wooden box of camembert that Adrien wouldnt be unable to open with his dead hands…

Although maybe Plagg would be able to open it himself? He wasn't sure how strong kwami were exactly, but he knew how exhausted Plagg was when they detransformed back; he couldn't risk it.

The nameless akuma roared at him and continued advancing, each foot fall shaking the city like an earth-quake; out of the corner of his eye, Adrien saw that a few citizens still remained in the area and were quietly fleeing.

Knowing he had to keep the akuma's attention on him, Adrien upped the ante; "Come on, big guy, cat got your tongue?" He shouted, doing a little jig, waving his numb hands spastically in the air, trying to be as infuriating and distracting as possible.

It worked: the akuma, who had been turning his head in the direction of the civilians, snapped back to glare poisonously at him, and bared his teeth and ⏤ oh, wow, that akuma had fangs.

"Heh, that's what I thought!" Adrien called, dancing sideways on the roof, trying his hardest to look nonchalant while he put as much distance between himself and the akuma as he could without the use of his hands. "You can't even speak, can you? You couldn't even pop the question!"

He knew he was wading into dangerous waters, but sometimes, you just had to take the plunge.

Jumping to the next rooftop over and flailing wildly as he landed for balance, Adrien glanced behind him to see the incensed akuma still pursuing him. Continuing to run, he leapt from building to building, sometimes nearly overbalancing, but finding it getting oddly easier the more he leaned into his Miraculous' instincts; instead of repeating his earlier mistake of running on all fours and crashing, he seemed to be developing a more heightened sense of his body…

The more he ran, the more he leaped, the more blows he dodged without using his hands for balance, the easier it was; it took another five rooftops and three more balconies before he realized that his tail felt… heavier?

More… there?

It was odd. His tail had always just kinda… existed. Been there. Sometimes, very rarely, it would move on its own, reacting to his emotions⏤ but he'd literally removed it and tossed it to Ladybug to be used as a belt more than that had ever happened.

Now, though?

Now it was starting to feel like… an extension of him.

A part of him.

Six more rooftops, two more cars dodged, and a poor pidgeon run into later, he could feel his tail as it moved behind him, acting as a counterbalance to his leaps and bounds, even while sneezing feathers out of his face.

Perching on a balcony for a brief reprieve in his ill-fated game of cat and mouse, Adrien breathed heavily, panting; he didn't usually get tired during akuma battles, but allergies-aside, this one had been dragging on for so long, he was starting to get worried about Ladybug; shouldn't she have come back by now?

He wished he could use his baton to check the time; he didn't know when Ladybug left the battle with her Lucky Charm, but it felt like it had been forever ago⏤ When he glanced up at the sky in the middle of a long leap, he saw that the sun, which had just been reaching it's height in the sky when Plagg eventually woke him up in the akuma's trap, was now falling towards the horizon.

How long had he been racing over the rooftops, alone?

Where was Ladybug?

He didn't want to think about it, but a part of him wondered if somehow, the akuma had hit her as a civilian when she detransformed back from casting her Lucky Charm. Was she still nearby, when he dodged that purple car that trashed an alley?

Had she been on her way back, when he ducked under that chunk of concrete that went through a storefront window?

No, I can't think like that.

He had seen a brief glimpse a young woman clutching her arm and staggering away from a broken car, but he hadn't had the chance to stop, prefering to lead the akuma away than go to her aid and put her in more danger...

But what if that had been her?

Stop it!

Leaping to the next building, and the next, and the next and the next, until all of the rooftops were running together and blurring and⏤ had he been here already? That chimney looked familiar. That broken gutter, had than been from the akuma, or was it preexisting damage?

Lost and disorientated, surrounded by the wreckage of his city, Adrien forced himself to put on a burst of speed so he could rest on a balcony further ahead; he needed to do something to communicate with Ladybug!

Landing in the shade of an awning, Adrien twisted around and tried to fumble his baton from it's holster. Something that was as easy as breathing was now nearly impossible⏤ he couldn't feel anything with his fingers and they refused to budge an inch or apply pressure no matter how much he swore and grit his teeth in frustration.

Tail lashing in agitation, more animated than he'd ever experienced it, Adrien was about to leap to the next rooftop when a thought occurred to him. Twisting around once more to look behind him, he experimentally directed his mind towards moving his tail on command; it twitched behind him, sluggishly reacting to the directed commands, slower than the instinct that moved it wildly.

Grinning broadly at the small victory, Adrien awkwardly fumbled to pick the length of leather up in his numb hands, failing multiple times until he got exasperated and pinned in between his forearms instead of trying to use his fingers at all.

There!

He couldn't feel his fingers, but with his increasing awareness of his suit's tail, he could feel his fingers on his the belt.

It was like a switch had been flipped.

It was strange, creepy, even, to suddenly have this entire new limb become an… awareness in his head. He tried to move it, and with the increased tactile sensations from his hands, he was able to flex the appropriate… muscles, for lack of a better word.

His tail snapped from side to side, as easy as moving his arms!

Excited, he coiled it up and snapped it out, wiggled it, and gripped the railing as tightly as he could with it, testing the grip; it was freaking weird being able to direct and feel from a literal leather belt as well as any other part of his body, but this was good, it was amazing!

It was... miraculous!

Adrien's ears picked up the whistle of air, and he flipped off the balcony in a grinning barrel-roll, just as the akuma's fist smashed into it.

Hawkmoth must have been getting impatient; the akuma now had the signature butterfly mask hovering over his eyes, indicating the villain was communicating with his victim, and the villain's attacks were coming in quicker, more desperate, and harder to anticipate.

Smiling a cheshire grin so wide his face was starting to hurt, Adrien landed nimbly on a window sill, snagged a strip of curtain in his mouth, and launched himself higher, no longer feeling the need to wave his arms about for balance as the fabric ripped in his sharp teeth, trailing behind him whimsically.

Sending a cocky smirk at the akuma around the pink fabric in his mouth, Adrien spread his feet into a battle stance and with a quick flick of his tail, had his baton out of it's holster and caught expertly in the coiled length.

Snaking the new appendage over his shoulder, Adrien tucked the baton into the crook of his elbow, extending it out past his wrist in a line. Pinning the end against his body, he made quick work of tying a crude knot around it with his tail and teeth, holding it in place; he wasn't sure for how long it would last, but it was better than nothing.

Spitting the taste of dryer sheets out of his mouth (must have been laundry day), Adrien snapped open the closest end of the baton open to bring up his communicator, keeping a smirking eye on the akuma as it loomed.

"What's your name, anyways?" Adrien taunted, stalking along the edge of the roof with renewed confidence now that his baton was in his 'grasp' once more, albeit an unconventional one. He would have to be careful about his swings, otherwise he would probably rip the curtain right off and be disarmed.

On his communicator, the symbol for Ladybug was flashing and rapidly converging on his location.

The sun above them was falling well and truly now, and he didn't think he'd ever had an active battle drag out as long as this one had.

He just had to hold out a little bit longer.

After all, Ladybug always won, right?

The akuma growled at him and hurled another mangled bike his way; Adrien swatted it out of the air with ease, delighting in his newly regained sense of security and confidence.

"Come on!" Adrien shouted, "You can do better than that!" He sidestepped a blast of concrete, ducked under a piece of glass that shattered loudly behind him, and cartwheeled out of the way of the akuma's fist as it punched a hole in the building.

Abruptly, the roof disappeared from beneath his feet, and Adrien yelped as he began to fall; the akuma must have hit a load-bearing wall, now the entire building was collapsing!

Reaching out with his baton, Adrien tried to stab it into a wall to stop his momentum, but couldn't get the correct angle. Growling in frustration and fear, Adrien tried again, and when the end of it simply pinged off the wall he was trying to stab, he attempted to wedge it between some support beams, something that would surely rip his arm off if he tried to do it untransformed.

The support beams collapsed under his weight.

Cursing, Adrien wished he hadn't chosen such a tall building to taunt the akuma on; his endurance was incredible while transformed, but a 20 story drop would still be able to hurt him pretty badly.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, spread his arms, and go limp to reduce the damage of his impact as much as he could, something twipped! high above him.

Smiling before the vice even tightened around his waist, Adrien rolled over so he was facing up, and got to watch as Ladybug's yoyo snapped down to grab him in real time, moving almost too quick to see.

The ground was still rushing up to meet him, but just like when they were fighting the Gorilla, he had complete confidence in his Lady.

The yoyo head wrapped around his waist, and the line snapped taunt in the blink of an eye.

If he wasn't transformed at the moment, Adrien's spine would have snapped in half under the sudden pressure as his momentum was halted so abruptly.

Grinning like a loon as gravity reversed, he reveled in his Lady's determined face as she peered down at him, relief in her eyes when she saw his was unhurt.

"Nice timing, my Lady! I must say, you're reeling in quite the catch!" He quipped with a smile as she released him from the yoyo's hold, allowing him to land next to her with his newly practiced grace.

Ladybug rolled her beautiful eyes and rubbed her temple in exasperation. "Really, Chat Noir? Two in one?" She asked, swinging her yoyo in a short circuit around her hand, obviously still ready for the fight.

"Of course, m'Lady, I am nothing if not creative!" He said, before proudly gesturing at the crude strips of curtain holding his baton to his arm.

A familiar battle cry interrupted whatever Ladybug's response was going to be, and, shocked, ear's twitching madly, Adrien turned and saw…

Chloé Bourgeois?

Yep, yeah, okay, that was Chloé Bourgeois, currently delivering a roundhouse kick to the akuma's face.

"Queen Bee!?" Adrien gasped, excitement and pride for his first friend overriding even his relief at seeing Ladybug here to back him up, "You brought her back?!

Ladybug smiled slightly at his exuberance and nodded, thwipping her yoyo out to snag the akuma's hand as he tried to swat Chloé out of the air mid-leap.

"Of course, she is a fantastic hero." Ladybug said, pride evident in her own voice, even as she pulled on her yoyo's lead, forcing the akuma's trapped hand to slam into the edge of the roof, keeping it restrained as Chloé taunted the akuma from a distance, goading him into bringing out his akumatized object.

"I bet it's the ugliest ring in existence! No wonder she rejected you, you probably couldn't even afford one out of a cereal box! Hah, you think it's beautiful? Then prove it! Show me it, i'll be the judge of its beauty!" Chloé goaded, looking gleeful and she leapt nimbly around the akuma, dodging his swats and swipes, looking more like she was flying then leaping.

Adrien, mesmerized with his friend's rarely shown feats of agility and grace, was shocked when the akuma fell for it.

The nameless akuma growled in anger at her insults, before reaching into his back pocket with his free hand. Hawkmoth's communication mask appeared over the man's face, but he waved it away dismissively, retrieving the box from his pocket and proudly opening it up to show Chloé the glittering black ring inside-

And Chloé swooped in, brought out her spinning top, and Stung the akuma, freezing him in place with the ring out in plain sight.

Adrien stared at the frozen akuma, even as Ladybug cheered Chloé on, smiling broadly and waving Chloé over.

He'd been dodging this akuma, racing through the streets and rooftop for hours, for this guy to just go down…. That easily?

Where was the epic final showdown? Where was Ladybug's convoluted Lucky Charm plan?

Not going to happen, apparently.

"Good job, Queen Bee!" Ladybug praised, drawing his friend in for a hug, and Adrien found his incredulous disappointment disappearing in the face of Chloé's starstruck gaze as she looked at Ladybug, overcome at the simple show of affection.

Grinning at his friend and unable to resist the chance to get closer to Ladybug, Adrien sauntered closer and draped his free hand over Ladybug's shoulder, allowing his numb white fingers to flop down her arm and leaning his head against her shoulder. "Group hug!" He said cheerfully, "Now, M'Lady, what's your plan to break his object? Something cunning? Clever? Convoluted?"

Eying the frozen akuma in front of them, Adrien tried to count how many seconds had passed since Chloé used her power. He didn't think it had been a minute yet, but he knew they only had five minutes before it wore off…

"Nope!" Ladybug said, an odd cheerfulness in her voice, and Adrien his head, still resting on her shoulder, turned to look up at her, confused at the change in tone.

Before he could complete the (hopefully) suave move, Ladybug had reached up, gripped his forearm, and then he was flying through the air, whirling head over heels as she chucked him at the akuma.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Adrien tried vainly to deny that he had, in fact, just screamed like a girl, but the sound of Chloé behind him cracking up into laughter dispelled his illusion. Snapping his mouth shut and cutting the embarassing sound off mid-scream, Adrien quickly caught on to Ladybug's plan, slightly annoyed at her not telling him ahead of time.

Then again, that meant she trusted him to know how her mind worked, so was that progress!?

Yeah, he was going to go with that.

Spinning his tail to help him twist in midair, Adrien snagged the end of the crude knot tying his baton to his hand with his fangs and pulled it loose, then caught his baton in his jaws before it could fall. Biting on the control button, he allowed it to shrink down to a more manageable size and stretched his now free hand out in front of him.

"Cataclysm!"

Pure, destructive energy gathered and bubbled up in his right hand, originating at his Miraculous and spreading out like hot water to cover the tips of his fingers, palm and back of his knuckles. Black, poisonous mist gathered around his hand, sizzling ominously as he sailed through the air, leaving a trail of noxious bubbles in his wake.

Angling himself with the added help of his tail, Adrien slammed his numb palm down on the exposed engagement ring, disintegrating it and the black box around it into ashes.

Cataclysm spent, Adrien tried to catch hold of and cling to the akuma's arm, but with his hands still useless, he wasn't able to get a grip, and went flailing through the air.

Crap crap crap crap⏤ !

Then, behind and above him, he heard the best thing in the world:

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

There was a bright, almost blinding flash of light and then⏤

A swarm of beautiful, sparkling red Miracu-bugs washed over him, bathing him in warmth and comfort as their healing magic suffused his body. His exhaustion vanished and Adrien let out a celebratory woop as feeling to his fingers and hands was restored.

Allowing the little Miracubugs to leave him behind, Adrien grabbed his baton from his mouth and with practiced ease, extended the pole and used it to redirect his momentum, delighting in the return of his full mobility.

Twisting in an acrobatic vault that would hopefully impress his Lady, Adrien leapt from building to building, working his way back up to where Ladybug was talking to the victim: a young adult, who didn't look much older than himself was sitting on the ground, looking dejected.

"...sk her ahead of time what she thought about marriage?" Ladybug was asking, her voice gentle but obviously leading up to something.

The victim shook his head, "No, but… I wanted it to be romantic! I wanted to surprise her! It should have been one of the best days of my life! But then I just⏤ I couldn't work up the nerve to ask! I was already on one knee so I just⏤ I just shoved it into her hands!" The man moaned in despair, hiding his face behind his knees, clutching at the now-repaired engagement ring. "She's going to hate me now! I botched it up, I ruined it!"

"C'mon, Mr. Morau, I'm sure she doesn't hate you," Ladybug consoled, dropping down into a crouch so they were on a more even level, "In fact, I think you should go find her, and talk to her."

"You should apologize." She said, and Adrien, walking up, was stunned, freezing in place as he stared at her.

Was she…

Was Ladybug saying the akuma victim should apologize for becoming an akuma victim!?

Senses immediately on high alert, Adrien dropped his baton into a more battle-ready grip, subtly altering his stance, ready to pounce at the first sign of an akumatized object.

He'd obviously had the effects of the Miracubugs used on him, and even now he could see them traversing over the city, repairing all of the damage and injuries, traveling in a humongous swarm.

Could… Could Hawkmoth send out more than one akuma? Had he sent one out to wait until they were distracted, and akumatized Ladybug!?

She would NEVER blame an akuma victim for their akumatization!

Never!

Something was seriously wrong here!

Stalking forward but acting as casual as possible, Adrien sidled up beside his Lady and tried to be casual about scrutinizing her appearance, looking for anything black that was out of place.

"Why, for messing up my proposal so badly?" The man asked tearfully, but Ladybug shook her head.

"No, but you should apologize for not taking about marriage before springing it on her, in public no less. Marriage is a big step in a relationship, and if you feel you're ready for it, you should talk to your partner, and see if they're ready too." Ladybug explained gently, and Adrien felt his hackles lowering as he relaxed his stance.

Okay, so Ladybug wasn't victim-blaming, good.

That would have been totally out of character, and only someone like Hawkmoth would think it was believable for Paris' number one hero to act that way.

Sighing in relief, Adrien's ears pricked back up when he heard Chloé's Miraculous giving it's warning beep; his would sound soon enough.

Since he was close enough, Adrien glanced at Ladybug's earrings and saw the she had all five spots left⏤ and in fact, hers were not flashing at all!

Recalling the fight after Ladybug arrived, Adrien realized she had not needed to use her Lucky Charm a second time, and thus, did not have a timer! Darn it, this would be such a good time to ask her out! But how would he persuade her? He would have to run off to detransform, then run back, and hope she didn't have plans!

"Queen Bee, it looks like you're going to detransform back soon," Ladybug said, and that odd tone of voice was back, Adrien trained his ears on her again, observing her body language.

She looked… guarded.

Had she and Chloé gotten into an argument? It wouldn't be the first time, but he thought they were friends now!

"Here, Mr. Morau, I'll give you a lift back to the ground. You go find your girlfriend and talk to her, honestly, okay?" Ladybug suddenly said, odd demeanor vanishing into the air again as she helped the civilian to his feet. Ladybug slung her yoyo to a light pole and leapt from the building with the slightly more composed man clinging to her tightly, eyes wide as they descended.

"I'll be right back, Chat Noir! Wait for me, okay?" Ladybug called, and Adrien stared after her, confused but growing elated.

She wanted him to wait for her?

Usually, at this point she would be encouraging him to run away to keep his identity a secret!

Ohmygod he thought, dazedly, what if she wants to know who I am finally!?

His Miraculous let out it's first beep, and Adrien felt excitement building up in his nerves as he got to stand there and wait for Ladybug instead of fleeing.

Unable to hold still, Adrien condensed his baton again and started flipping it between his fingers, marveling at how dexterous he was once more with the full use of his hands back.

Grinning over at Chloé, Adrien practically pranced over to her, wondering if he would be able to reveal himself to her as well? But even he knew Chloé wasn't the best at keeping secrets...

Then again…

He wasn't sure now, how many people had been there, when Chloé first pulled out her Miraculous in public. How many people had caught a glimpse of Pollen, Chloé's kwami?

Not many.

His father might have some vague knowledge of what a kwami was, because he had that ancient Miraculous book for his inspiration, but Adrien wasn't sure⏤ he hadn't gotten a particularly close look at it, just enough to wonder where his father had gotten it from. Pollen's apparance had been so brief, many people might have forgotten about it in the excitement of Chloé Bourgeois transforming into a superhero in front of their eyes.

But… Chloé had never mentioned Pollen to anyone.

She had never mentioned kwami, or their existence, to anyone in the class during her documentaries, or any other time she was bragging about her heroics.

He knew that Chloé had found the Bee Miraculous at least a day before she transformed⏤ she knew enough about her powers, about the activation phrase, and everything that she must have sat down and talked to Pollen well ahead of time; Pollen must have impressed upon Chloé the need to keep kwami and the secrets of the Miraculous just that⏤ a secret.

"Sooo, Queen Bee," Adrien said, sidling up to where she was examining her nails as though they were visible through her suit; Adrien squinted to make sure they weren't, momentarily unsure if he was remembering right. "What do you think Ladybug wants to talk to us about?"

The look Chloé shot him, when their eyes briefly met, was one he had never been on the receiving end of.

Calculating and cold assessment, like he was just another fanboy looking to woo the Mayor's daughter, and she was wondering how to best use the situation to her advantage.

Then it was gone when she blinked, and Adrien stared, wondering if he had imagined the look.

"I'm so excited!" Chloé squealed, suddenly animated, lunging forward until she was gripping his shoulders and jumping up and down in place, "You'll never believe it, loverboy! And Ladybug wanted me to keep it a secret for now, but⏤"

"Queen Bee!" Ladybug said, sounding exasperated, as she appeared from the edge of the roof, landing lightly next to them. "I told you I wanted to tell you together." She chided, looking slightly amused, but once again, something was… off about her voice, or her body language, or both.

Adrien couldn't pin it down exactly, but something… weird was going on.

Ladybug interrupted his train of thought, holding out a small, wrapped something in his direction, offering another one to Chloé. "Here. Queen Bee, you can detransform back here, no one else is around. Chat Noir, there should be an empty building two streets in that direction," Ladybug pointed to his left, and he accepted the small package from her, mystified, "See the one with the red roof? That one, there. It's abandoned, but you can detransform back, feed your kwami, and then meet back up with us…"

Ladybug faltered suddenly, blushing slightly. Her hand dropped from it's imperious pointing and began to play with her hair instead, "I- I mean, if you're free, tonight, that is. I ⏤ I wanted to arrange a get together, for the three of us, I wanted to talk to you about some things but if you're busy we can totally do it another night⏤"

It took Adrien a moment to get his brain working again, and he was quick to interrupt Ladybug's rare rambling, completely and utterly spellbound by what she was suggesting.

She wants to spend time together, without akuma!? She wants to talk to me!?

"As if I could ever say 'no' to you, Buggaboo!" Adrien exclaimed, vibrating in excitement once more. He frantically cast his gaze to the red roof she had indicated, resisting the urge to leap away immediately; the sooner he detransformed the sooner he could transform back and spend hours with his lady! "Where did you want to meet up!?"

He looked back at Ladybug in time to see the tail-end of a grimace on her face, and realized he should probably dial down the enthusiasm a bit.

Crap.

I must sound so immature to her right now.

… How many times has she had to deal with this?

And...

...Am I the youngest partner she's had?

He tried to imagine having a twelve year old as his partner, and grimaced himself at the thought.

"Sorry, m'Lady, I'm still a little jittery from that akuma," Adrien said, forcing his voice to sound normal, and not show the bubbling of hysterical excitement building up in his chest. "See? My hands are still shaky!" He held up one of his hands, which was indeed trembly from a combination of some leftover adrenaline from the fight, but now he was Just! So! Pumped!

HE HAD A DATE WITH LADYBUG!

That… odd smile was back on Ladybug's face, but at least she appreciated his calmer tone. "That's okay, Chat Noir, that was a pretty long battle. You handled yourself pretty well without me." She said, waving off his apology. "Did you want to meet us at the Eiffel Tower in say, twenty minutes? That should give your kwami plenty of time to eat and recharge."

Nodding along while trying his hardest to look cool as a cucumber, Adrien grinned at Ladybug and held the hand-sized package she had given him gently to his chest. "Of course, m'Lady! I shall meet you and Queen Bee there shortly."

Backing away in a bow, Adrien slipped the soft package into his larger waist pocket before backflipping off of the roof with a woop.

Grinning like an idiot and feeling his face burning with a blush, Adrien quickly pole vaulted his way to the abandonded building Ladybug had indicated to him; pausing on a balcony adjacent to it, he examined the exterior before finding a suitibly broken window he could fit through.

Launching himself across the alley, he managed to slip through the window without breaking too much of the remaining glass, though it was a tight squeeze. Shaking some dust out of his hair as his Miraculous gave it's second warning, he glanced around the empty floor he was on, taking in the numerous cobwebs and dust floating in the air, disturbed only by his presence.

Deeming the area safe and empty, Adrien removed the slightly-squashed package from his pocket, dusted off a bit of the floor with his glove, and sat it down in the clean patch.

Straightening back up and raising his hand, Adrien cried:

"Plagg! Claws in!"

Green light flared around him as the transformation lifted away, spiraling up from his feet like an upside down shower, all of the warmth of the magic being sucked back into the ring⏤

And out zipped a dizzy Plagg, who groaned and would have fallen out of the air if Adrien hadn't caught him in time.

Huh?

Plagg lay practically limp in his hands, and the kwami's head was lolling from side to side, eyes barely able to open as he pawed at the air weakly.

Concerned, Adrien dropped to his hands and knees, cradling his kwami close to his face as he tried to examine him to see what was wrong; he always acted tired, but never like this!

"Plagg!? Plagg! What's wrong!?" Adrien demanded frantically, almost ready to start shouting and hoping Ladybug would hear him.

Could kwami get sick!?

"F⏤ foooood!" Plagg cried desperately, looking on the verge of tears as he clutched his tiny stomach, "I need food! Please! I won't do it again, I swear! Just please, I need food!"

Alarmed at his kwami's nonsensical rambling, Adrien was horrified when he realized that Plagg literally looked skinnier in the dim lighting, almost skeletal.

Panicking, Adrien patted desperately at his jacket pockets, before realizing he'd left his bag with the camembert at school!

"Plagg! I'm so sorry! I don't have anything with me!" Adrien said, starting to panic in earnest.

His kwami let out a small, barely-audible sob, and Adrien was on his feet in an instant. "Don't worry Plagg! Ladybug's nearby, she'll be able to⏤ "

Something soft crunched beneath his shoe, and Adrien jumped a foot in the air, scared out of his wits before he remembered the package Ladybug had handed to him.

Ducking back into a crouch and trying not to jostle Plagg who had gone eerily silent in his hands while still shaking like a leaf, Adrien cradled his kwami to his chest with one hand and frantically ripped through the brown paper wrapping around whatever Ladybug had handed to him.

Please be cheese, please be cheese, please be cheese!

When he finally managed to unfold the infernal wrapping with his shaking hand, Adrien discovered a…

Weird bread loaf?

It was about the size of his outstretched hand, and had checkerboard slits carved all around the edges, except for a round part in the middle, that looked like it had been scooped out and filled with melted⏤

"CHEESE!" Plagg cried, sounding slightly more energized as the smell of the camembert bread wafted up to him.

Before Adrien could even raise the cheesy bread up to Plagg's height, Plagg apparently decided he didn't want to wait for Adrien to move it for him.

Plagg rolled right out of Adrien's hand and dove at the food, attacking it with a ferocity Adrien had never seen.

Still freaked out by his kwami's weird behavior, Adrien tried to reach out and move the bread closer to his kwami⏤

And flinched back when Plagg hissed at him, pupils nothing but blank pinpricks in his large green eyes.

Feral green eyes.

Heart pounding deafeningly in his head, Adrien scooted back desperately on the dusty floor, staring at his kwami as Plagg's fur stood on end, jealously guarding the food as he scarfed it down frantically, barely pausing for air.

Lightheaded with a mixture of terror and confusion, it took Adrien a moment to realize he himself wasn't breathing, and he let it out in a quiet gasp. "L-" he croaked, "L-Ladybug!"

But his voice refused to raise above a choked whisper, and he realized she was too far away to hear him, even if she was still on that rooftop that now felt miles away.

What's wrong with Plagg?!

Hands shaking for real now, Adrien fumbled to his pants pocket, trying to find his phone, only for his heart to sink even further when he realized that it too, was left behind in the destroyed classroom.

I can't even call Master Fu.

Tears burned at the corners of his eyes as he watched Plagg eating so desperately, eyes roving each and every way as though waiting for someone to snatch it from him⏤ waiting for Adrien to snatch it from him!

He had teased Plagg about food before, but surely Plagg knew he would never take it from him?

Not… Not seriously?

Oh my god⏤ did he really think I would take away his food!?

Apparently so.

"Plagg?" He called tremulously, "It's ⏤ It's okay, no one's going to take your food away. You can eat as much as you want." He said, trying to keep his voice even, throat burning with remorse. He didn't know what had happened to make Plagg so hungry, so thin, so… starving, but he wanted to reassure him as much as he could.

Was this… was this because he was transformed for so long?

He had spent hours running around as Chat Noir today, probably the longest he had ever gone in one go, without recharging periodically after using Cataclysm.

Was that it?

Or was it because of the oddity of his tail?

Was the Miraculous… had it been bonding with him faster out of necessity, when he was handicapped?

He had never even considered his tail to be just that⏤ a tail⏤ he had always considered it to be something that was purely cosmetic until today, where, over the course of a scant few hours, it went from a cosmetic embellishment to a fully functioning limb.

Had he caused this?

Had he drained Plagg of so much energy by drawing on the power of the Miraculous too quickly? He hadn't even been aware he was doing it!

A sob escaped his throat before he could contain it, and guilt swarmed over his heart as the tears escaped, wracking his body as he sat huddled on the floor, coughing in the dusty air, smearing dirt across his face when he tried in vain to scrub the tears out of his eyes, squeezing them shut to block out Plagg's panic.

Was this something that would happen, every time he transformed from now on? Was his quest to 'evolve' faster going to make Plagg suffer like this, every time, or was today just a fluke? Had his handicap sped up the process temporarily, or was it going to keep doing this to Plagg?

Had he somehow damaged his Miraculous during the fight?

The sudden silence around him made his blood freeze, and Adrien's eyes snapped open, desperately looking for Plagg in the gloom.

His kwami was lying motionless on the floor, next to the empty brown paper wrapper.

"Plagg!?" Adrien choked out, and dashed forward on his hands and knees, heedless of the disgusting dust and dirt being ground into his clothes, nor the fact that Plagg could very well attack him in his fear. He didn't care.

If Plagg needed help, he was going to help him!

The closer he got, the clearer he could make out his kwami, and when he finally reached his side, he saw that Plagg was glowing softly in the darkness, as if lit from within.

The light smattering of what Adrien affectionately referred to (only in his head, of course) as 'stardust' freckles on his forehead was glowing softly in the gloom, well and truly looking like Plagg had a galaxy imprinted in his thin fur.

"Plagg?" Adrien whispered, and when there was no immediate response, he carefully scooped Plagg up in his hands, cradling him gently to his chest. "C'mon, bud, let me know you're 'okay'. I can take you to Master Fu, or Ladybug, but I don't know how I can get out of here by myself…"

Casting his gaze about desperately, Adrien stumbled to his feet and made his way to the window, trying to see if he could spot the tell-tale red of Ladybug anywhere, or if she had already made her way to the Eiffel Tower.

How long had it been since he detransformed?

Five minutes? Ten?

Close enough to the broken window that some one the twilight haze was filtering in, Adrien squinted down at his watch; it was 5:58pm.

He stared at the numbers, uncomprehending.

He didn't… he didn't know how long he had been unconscious for, he didn't know how long it had taken Plagg to wake him up, or what time, exactly, he had transformed. It was one thing to know the entire day had gone by, but another to see it in actual numbers and time.

The faintest whisper ghosted over his senses, then, more audibly, "...Adrien?"

"Plagg!" Adrien gasped, tearing his gaze away from the darkening sky, and looking down at his kwami; Plagg's unearthly glow had faded, and with the light gone his appearance was restored: no longer did he look skeletally thin, but neither had he regained his usual chubbiness entirely, either.

"H-hey, Kid. S-sorry about that, I was a little out of it for a bit, there." Plagg said quietly, floating cautiously out of Adrien's hands⏤ Adrien followed him with his fingers a distance below him, ready to catch him again if need be⏤ "Uh, you can… you can ignore anything weird I said, okay? I mean, if I even said anything."

"Are you okay!?" Adrien whispered, leaning into peer at his kwami⏤ but Plagg shied away from the close contact, like he always did.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I just had a little too much energy used up today, that's all." Plagg said, waving his flipper paws about like it was no big deal that he was acting like he had been dying.

"You hissed at me." Adrien said dumbly, blinking down at his kwami, as tears pricked his eyes again, "You were guarding your food, like you thought I was going to take it away."

Plagg's eyes, still glowing brighter green then usual, widened, and the unease that filled the little kwami instantly was palpable.

Shivering and twitching his whickers, Plagg clutched his little paws to his chest and stared at the floor intently, avoiding Adrien's. "Oh. Uh, did I?" he asked weakly, "Are you sure you didn't imagine it? Maybe this is alllll just a baaaaad dream..."

But Adrien was having none of Plagg's deflections.

Crouching down so he and Plagg were at eye level, Adrien reached out and with just a fingertip, gently brushed it along the side of Plagg's face, making the little kwami close his eyes; either in a pleased response to the touch, or a fearful one.

The fact that Adrien couldn't tell the difference was heartbreaking.

How did It take me so long to see?

"You know I would never do that to you, right?" Adrien whispered, staring intently at Plagg's downcast eyes, watching as Plagg's fur was gently ruffled with the passing of his breath.

"And I promise, from now on, I won't joke about it, either. I didn't realize how upsetting it was, or how… drastic your exhaustion after transforming me was. I'm sorry." Adrien apologized, and then all of a sudden Plagg had tackled his chest in a hug, the surprising strength in his kwami's move almost knocking him backwards.

"Woah!" Adrien said, trying to keep his balance as the teeniest, tiniest purr in the world began against his chest. "Plagg, are you okay now?"

The purring stopped, and Adrien looked down in time to see Plagg hastily drying his eyes on his jacket, before spinning around and floating haughtily in the air, paws crossed in indignation.

"Of course I am! Now, are you going to go all mushy on me again, or are you going to go and meet up with Ladybug?" Plagg asked, turning his head to waggle his non-existent eyebrows at Adrien over his shoulder, "I heard you two have a date..."

But Adrien wasn't settled, just yet. "Are you sure, Plagg? You looked so tired before…"

He could still see it in his head, in nightmare HD: Plagg, nothing but skin and bones, too weak to move.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure, just… just make sure to take breaks between battles, okay? At least until the Miraculous has bonded with you more at a… slower pace." Plagg said, shivering despite his attempt at reassurance.

Adrien nodded frantically; he'd been right! It was because of that whole tail thing!

"And make sure you always have cheese with you! You're lucky Ladybug makes the best Camembert Bread in the world! It's been a few millennium since I had it that good!" Plagg scolded, eyes and tone going soft and dreamy at the mention of Ladybug's gift. "If you want to make it up to me, you can ask her for some more! Tell her she still owes me a platter-full!"

Rolling his eyes, but smiling gratefully at the return of Plagg's usual humor. "I'll make sure to pass on the message!" Adrien said, before holding up his hand, waiting until Plagg met his eyes. "If you're ready then?"

Plagg nodded, and Adrien gave one last glance down at his watch, before calling out:

"Plagg, Claws out!"

It was 6:15pm.

He might be a litttle bit late to meet Ladybug.

But it was worth it to make sure Plagg was safe.

Swooping through the broken window, Adrien hopped onto the adjacent roof and scaled it until the Eiffel Tower was in clear view, backlit by the falling sun.

From this great distance, he could just barely make out two little figures perched on the platform near the top: one red and one yellow smudge.

As he leapt away from the building, he heard a faint… rustling, almost a ...flutter?

But then he realized he had left the wrapper from Ladybug's gift behind in the abandoned building, and a breeze had followed him through the broken window.

Just paper, fluttering in the wind, that was all

"Here I come, m'Lady!" Adrien shouted gleefully to Paris at large, and started making his way to the Eiffel Tower, not bothering to look back.