Beginning of His Truth

Part 2

(3 Years Ago)

"I found out from my kwami that there were Ladybugs in the past, who fell in love. When some of them did, they'd forget about their duty, being infatuated with the ones they fell for. As romantic as that is, it's also irresponsible. This isn't some story or fairy tale, where things work out in the end because of some fairy godmother or good Samaritan, there are people who's lives are at stake. I know I'd be the same, unfocused, unable to perform to the best of my abilities because I'd want to devote my time to whoever I end up choosing. There were instances where not only the Chats got hurt, but one was even killed because of those kinds of choices!"

Chat Noir stood there shocked, seeing her mournful expression for someone she didn't even know, also at this new bit of information that Plagg obviously hadn't bothered to tell him about. Other Chats in the past got hurt because Ladybugs fell in love? No wonder Plagg is so pessimistic about love. The hand that had been on Ladybug's shoulder, fell away like a stone, too heavy to keep up there, the boy's eyes had widened in shock, his brain on overload.

"I refuse to be like that," she continued her voice firm and full of determination. "I'm not going to make that same mistake. You are too important to me to endanger like that, you're one of my closest friends, my partner that has my back, you are the yin to my yang, and I can't imagine doing this without you. Chat, you're irreplaceable to me." Adrien felt his face heat up like the sun, with each wonderful positive word about how she felt about him, passing her lovely lips. His eyes widened in wonder, mouth parted with no words to reciprocate, since his brain stopped functioning, again. But for a preponderant reason that had his soul soaring past the pollution filled clouds above the Eiffel Tower, towards the moon and stars. No one had said anything like to him, nothing that positive since his mother had left.

She likes me!

As a FRIEND, came the snarky voice that sounded familiarly like Plagg. You want her to like you as more than just that, you've got to do more than just stand there like love struck zombie.

Still unable to coordinate his mouth with his brain, he did the only thing he could think of, and pulled his Lady into a tight hug. Breathing in her sweet scent, as he tightened his hold on her, like she'd answered his fondest wish. He knew she hadn't, but it was nice to pretend, especially if it meant he got to hold her without being pushed away like normal. At first, Ladybug didn't respond from shock at the sudden embrace, but then she raised her arms and hugged him tightly back. One of her hands reached the top of his head, and scratched behind one of his ears, causing the cat boy to purr, comforting them both. Eventually, they broke apart, Ladybug letting go first, Chat regrettably so.

"I will not be like those other Ladybugs, I will not endanger the citizens of Paris or you, just for my own happiness. It's not fair to any of you."

His eyes were shining with joy, as he stroked back a strand of her raven locks behind her ear, showing her ladybug patterned Miraculous on her lobe, touching the ruby red gem with a claw. Normally, they'd never touch the others Miraculous, but over the years, they trusted each other enough to feel comfortable with it. "I'm so happy you feel that way about me," he said in an honest and gentle voice.

"You know what I mean," her voice holding a hint of warning.

"I know, I know, as furend and purrtner, nothing more," he smirked, the metal tip of his tail twitching playfully. For now, this just gives me time change her mind, even convince her to reveal ourselves. I'm a patient cat, if nothing else, he absolved in his mind. Ladybug shook her head at the double pun and took out her yo-yo to check the time, it read 11:03pm.

"We better get started with patrol, I'll take Notre Dame, you take Arc De Triumphe. Let's report back in an hour, less if there are idiots in need of a trip to the police." She then ran, jumping off the tower, free falling through the air before she brought out her yo-yo out from around her waist. Flinging it through the air to grapple around a parapet, swinging in the direction of the church.

"As you wish, my Lady," Chat murmured as he watched his lady love fly through the night sky into the city lights below. When he lost sight of her, he turned around, dashing over the edge of the tower. Then pole vaulted over to the arc, where traffic both machine and human were heavy, his suit helping him to blend in with the inky blackness of the night.

…..

Chrrr! Chrrr!

Chat looked out towards one of the many historic monuments of Paris in a cat-like crouch, seeing no problems for the past twenty minutes since his run through over the rooftops, he pulled out his baton where the sound was coming from. At the press of one of the paw pads, the upper part of the silver cylinder moved up, revealing a small screen in the center like a video chat on a cell phone, with an image of Ladybug, her bluebell eyes showing the seriousness of the situation. The hero stood up from his crouch, looked in the direction she'd gone, and started racing along the rooftops as fast as he could, then looked back at the phone.

"I'm guessing the robbers decided tonight was a good night to come out?"

"Yes, but it's not clear since no one can see them at the moment, even the police snipers can't seem to get a clear visual."

"Well, that's unfurtunate," he remarked. She scoffed and rolled her eyes at the pun.

"I need your help, I'm over at Rue des Pyramides and Rue Saint Honore. An art gallery with many wealthy families is what seemed to attract them this time, especially the mayor's daughter wearing some family heirlooms. It's been all over the news for the last three days," she growled out. Chat knew Ladybug had more than a "dislike" for the Bourgeois girl, as did most people who knew her. Sadly for the spotted heroine, the blonde was one of her many big fans. She'd also had warned the mayor to not publicly announce these kinds of things because of how much trouble it incited in the local crooks. Obviously, he hadn't taken the warning seriously enough, and now more than likely, his daughter was in danger, again.

"You must be... uncatfurabell with this, Bugaboo." She turned to glare at the cat's longer pun.

"I may not be thrilled, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to stop doing what's right," then she grumbled through gritted teeth, "even if she does cause more than half the victims to be Akumatized." Chat laughed, as he leaped over the to the next roof, at her begrudging facial expression. "We'll need to collaborate with the police if we're going to save them, once you get your tail over here."

"I'm on my way, be there in thirty seconds, my Lady. Cat out," he then closed the screen, extending his baton he took it out to pole vault across six or so roofs, making his way over to his destination much more quickly.

When he got there, he saw Ladybug stop herself mid-pace to look up at him, as he landed hard next to her. He straightens himself up from the crouch and looks over to where all the police cars are at, snipers are on the rooftops, taking aim at all available exits around the building. Search lights were roving around the building, trying to see in for any possible hostages that might have been missed by the robbers. The Chief stood there with the mayor, the man looked to be in his late thirties, a large belly, balding red hair hidden by a blue baseball cap, bright green-blue eyes that matched his daughters. Pale skin made paler in contrast to the late hour, he wore his uniform and whistle about his neck, he stared at the building, lowering the megaphone from his face, looked as if he'd just finished giving the perp(s) a warning. It seemed as though there hadn't been a reply, it was not a good sign.

The Mayor was a mess. His normally greased back, graying hair from his mostly bald head was a disheveled mess, his tux and sash that ran from shoulder to waste were in the same state. His normally bright icy blue eyes, that matched his daughters were darkened with worry, it looked like he'd been offered a blanket, but he'd refused, attempting to look determined, but he wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to his only child. Luckily, the police had done a good job keeping the reporters from the area, and hassling anyone for information. Nodding their heads, the superhero duo dropped down to the ground, making their way over to the Chief of Police, Roger Raincomprix and the Mayor of Paris, Andre Bourgeois. Both looking relieved at seeing the young heroes walk up to them.

"Chief Raincomprix," Ladybug greeted. Chat nodded at the policeman. "We're here to see if we can help."

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, thank you for coming and offering your assistance, we could use it," Roger greeted, nodding his head in respect to the pair. The mayor practically bowled the Chief over in his haste to speak to the super duo himself, his hands clasped like he was trying to implore them, together with a look of panic and fear on his face.

"Please, I beg of you-"

"Monsieur Mayor, we need to speak with Chief Raincomprix, so we can asses the situation logically. The sooner we do this, the sooner the hostages are freed, and you can get your daughter back," Ladybug said calmly.

As if remembering himself, the Mayor straightened, standing a little off to the side so Roger could come forward, to apprise the superheroes of the hostages and the robbers. The officer told them that so far, there had been no replies to any of his queries, no assurances of the guests safety from the guilty party, the snipers weren't able to see into the building that well, since the lights had been turned off before the cops had arrived. There had been contact from one of the guests that there had been an attack but before the police could get anymore information, the call had been cut off. From their experiences over the years, Chat and Ladybug knew this wasn't a good sign, Chat took off onto the rooftops, to see if he could get a better idea of who and how many they were dealing with. His better night vision and hearing would definitely come in handy.

When Chat returned ten minutes later, he looked grimly at his partner and the Chief. "I could see some of the hostages. They're all over the place and they all look... frozen."

"At least this explains why we haven't heard any gun shots or calls for ransom," stated Chief Roger.

"So, we're dealing with a late night Akuma, again. Now, in what way are they frozen?" the heroine queried.

"Like they're stuck in place and can't move. It looked like they were trying to escape their pursuer, each one of them had a broken pocket watch with a cracked case attached to them in some form," Chat explained.

"Did you see the Akumatized victim?"

"Yes, he looked like he walked off the pages of an early 1800's historical novel, top hat and all. But he kept changing in height, from a teen, to adulthood, to being in his late fifties, and back to teen, almost like he couldn't make up his mind at how old he wanted to be. He changes every two minutes."

"We can use that to our advantage," Ladybug murmured. "Hopefully, we can catch him by surprise."

"I noticed he's moving them around like mannequins to certain areas of the gallery."

"That's odd," Ladybug said.

"Will you be needing our assistance?" Asked Chief Raincomprix.

"Just make sure the reporters don't get in and the bystanders are kept away. We'll be able to get a better handle on the situation if everyone is kept safe and clear of the area. You and the rest of the force have done great so far, we appreciate you offering to help. But it's too risky sending in your men when you're not equipped to handle the Akuma's abilities," Ladybug assured, Roger nodded and started giving orders to his men over his radio unit. Chat glanced at her, they both nodded, taking off towards the darkened building.

…..

Whoosh!

Clang!

The sound of wood against metal echoed throughout the room, as an older man in his mid fifties fought against Chat Noir, his black wooden walking stick striking against the silver metal staff of his opponent. Every so often, the birch would crack knocking away a yo-yo, flung from random places in the rooms they battled in. The Akumatized victim who called himself Pere Temps, wore a black top hat, the band that surrounded the bottom edge had a gold color to it, that was firmly placed on top of his curly brown graying locks, matching his fiery gold eyes that glared back at the heroes in carefully controlled rage. A solid black Regency wool top coat with the collar turned out showing the inside color which was in a vibrant red, the suit strangely didn't restrict his movements, even though it looked like it was starched stiff, his attacks fluid like water and lightening fast for someone of his age. Along the edges of the suit, cuffs included, was a golden fleur de lis pattern. A bright gold waistcoat peeked out with red pin stripes, giving the him a classic look, that left Marinette's hands itching to replicate when she got home. The matching black fall front trousers, started at the bottom of where his ribs would be on his lanky form, an M notch tailcoat flowed out behind him, his feet encased in shiny Hessian's.

"Give me your Miraculous," came the incessant line from the Akuma, like so many before him.

"Do you realize how old that line is?" Was the cheeky reply from the black leather clad hero. Ladybug face palmed, rolling her eyes at her partner's terrible joke.

"Really, Chat?"

"Come on," he winked at her, after he'd dodged under a swing from the Akuma's staff in the super villain's slightly slower fifty year old state. "Admit it, you were thinking it too, Bugaboo."

Whump!

The fancy walking stick clouted the young superhero in the chest, knocking him against another painting in the gallery, destroying the art piece and leaving a cracked chat-man shaped dent in the wall behind him, the young man was temporarily winded, slumping to the floor in pain.

"None of your sass, fleabag," a now much younger sounding Akuma admonished, grinning wickedly. A ladybug patterned yo-yo flew at the younger Akuma's back, attempting to wrap him in the magical black string from behind, he turned and brought up his walking stick again, barely blocking the weapon as the heroine flung herself into hand to hand combat with Pere Temps.

"We'll never give up our Miraculous! Hawkmoth has already proven that we can't trust him, not when he terrorizes the innocents of Paris," Ladybug regaled.

"'Innocents,'" echoed the Akuma, thoroughly incensed by the word. He then started hitting back harder and faster at the young woman, causing her to move on the defensive. "There's no such thing as an 'innocent' Parisian these days, these invitees have already shown that." He kicked at the girl's stomach, it felt the organ had moved up to her lungs with the pain, sending her sprawling on the ground. He'd raised his wooden staff over his head, a purple butterfly pattern glowed over his twisted features, almost as if Hawkmoth was giving her the final blow instead of his puppet.

"No!" Chat screamed, picking himself up off the ground and raced over to the Akuma. With the Akumatized man's focus slightly elsewhere, Ladybug was able to dodge the blow meant for her head, but just barely. Chat attacked with renewed vigor, while the heroine backed off to call on her 'Lucky Charm.' The cat boy was unable to land any hits on his target because of how quickly the age changing man moved in his cool rage.

"This gallery was supposed to be in honor of my loving wife, she was innocent, she everything good and beautiful in the world."

The red and black spotted hero was unable to call for her trump card because she had to quickly dodged more blows to her head, more of the hits meant for her aching ribs, eventually she flipped herself away from her aggressor, Chat following while shielding them both. Flinging herself out of the room, into another to hide behind some of the pillars and regroup, she saw Chloe Bourgeois and Lila Rossi, frozen in fear and disgust, as they pushed at each other to get away from the other. Watches were attached to the backs of their gaudy gowns, ticking away, like all the other victims.

Ladybug and Chat had already tried getting the devices off, only to be electrocuted, violently flung off the victims bodies, his wild blonde tresses looking like he'd tongued a light socket. Ladybug had tried really hard not to laugh at his dazed and shocking look after making sure he was okay, her bottom lip was still swollen from biting it so hard, he'd glared at her for that one. The Marinette side of her wanted to laugh at the look of the two girl's twisted faces, but refrained since it wasn't the time, nor would it have been a charitable side of her that did it. A hero doesn't laugh at a victim's folly, even if they're your bully outside of the mask, a side of her mind that sounded very much like Tikki admonished.

"Fate had other plans and took her from me," the Akuma continued his monologue, strutting through the rooms as he suddenly aged to a man in his early thirties, carefully searching the rooms. Silently, Chat sidled next to Ladybug, she turned, nodded her head in acknowledgment, then turned back to barely peek around the edge at their aggressor. She had decided she didn't want to use her 'Lucky Charm' just yet, not when they didn't know where the black butterfly had attached itself.

They watched as the Akumatized victim threw another watch, thinking they were hiding in a different section. The watch broke, the heroes watched a red and gold plume of gas encase the area, Pere Temps scowled when he saw that he'd wasted a weapon on a bad guess. He moved on moving closer to where the two heroes started to plot out what to do next. They'd worked together for so long, all it took were some hand signals and head shakes or nods to communicate.

"Her work is here, it was announced that this art show would be about her, the art coordinator assured me of this. That the two girls would bring great publicity for the charity auction afterwards, yet the gallery became about a couple of rich brats and their goddamn jewelry, instead of my lovely Giselle.

"They called her life's work 'a waist of space,' that 'no one cared cared about a bunch of colorful chemicals on canvas by a dead old hag!'" Ladybug cringed at the crass words used by her enemy, she knew what it was like to receive such words from the prissy brat. She truly felt sorry for the mourning husband, he and his wife hadn't deserve that kind of treatment. When I set his Akuma free, I'm going to have a nice long chat with Chloe and her father. It's time she understands there are consequences to acting like this. Lila's parents are also going to be getting a visit from us later, Ladybug vowed to herself. She and Chat readied themselves, as the man drew nearer, he went on the other side of the art pillar, trying to see about taking the guy out from behind.

"She had more heart and class than either of those harlots have in the tip of their pinkies, they insulted her to my face, belittled the heart and soul of her work publicly, they deserve to be punished. My Giselle deserves retribution!" The last of that sentence had changed from a young gentleman to that of an older gentleman and the super heroine knew it was now or never. Their chance to quickly finish this.

Ladybug felt his dark presence, before he'd brought one inky shod foot past the edge of where she'd hidden herself. She swung her yo-yo as hard as she could hitting him in the forehead, the man cried out in pain as he grabbed his injured face, Chat grabbed at the hat tearing it, while the heroine grabbed his walking stick, breaking it over her knee. But no black butterfly fluttered out of either items. Shocked but not discouraged, the duo went to grab his top coat next, but he'd slid of between them, causing the heroes to ram into each other, tangled up in their limbs. Pere Temps started cackling darkly at them, pulled out two gold watches that had slid down out of his sleeves to his black gloved hands, the heroes unaware of his trick. The heroes quickly undid their interlocked appendages, stood up, bracing themselves for the Akuma's next attack.

"Did you really think, I'd let you find the source of my power, that easily," he jeered, a goose egg had started to form on his forehead. The purple butterfly mask over his face glowing eerily with his bright golden eyes, as he sized them up. Chat realized the man's clenched hands, almost a second before the man flicked his wrists at them, sending the watches in their respective directions. Instinctively, Chat shoved Ladybug out of the way from the timepiece aimed for her, causing her to fly to the side, hitting the ground. The cat boy was hit in the shoulder by the watch instantly, the glass on the mechanism's face cracked, letting out the gas that enveloped him. For a moment, everything went black for Chat Noir, time had instantly stopped for him. Then all of a sudden, he witnessed what he should not have... over and over again.

…..

The first thing Adrien noticed was that he was back at the mansion, in broad daylight, but it looked different, felt different. His vision was a little hazy around the edges, any and all sounds slightly garbled like he had swimmer's ear, at first. But things slowly began to sharpen into focus, he noticed when he looked at himself, he was still Chat but see through, he'd brought a hand to his arm to take off the watch but his hand passed through it... and himself. Adrien felt a shiver slither up his spine like the cool scales of a snake at the sight, he snatched his hand away, the ticking of the watch quiet. He noticed the glass on the face of the watch wasn't broken, the short hand was at the twelve, the minute hand at the ten, the second hand ticking away at the seconds. He then saw movement at the top of the stairs that lead to the side of the mansion where his and his parent's bedrooms were, he also heard angry shouts that got louder as they neared. He tried to move but found himself unable to move from the spot.

"Why are you doing this, Gabriel," came a normally sweet voice full of anger and sadness. Adrien's mind froze at the sound of her voice, his heart quivered with longing.

"Maman?" the boy whispered incredulously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Celine," was the cold reply.

"Don't lie to me Gabriel," the blonde angel glared up at him, dead in the eye, her voice lowering more in anger.

The leather clad hero looked up at the top of the stairs and saw his mother, in all her glory. Long bright flaxen hair swept into a simple low side pony tail, lively emerald green eyes sparking in challenge, her normally smiling pink lips were pulled into a slight frown, her blonde brows lowered over her long darker blonde lashes, small straight nose slightly wrinkled, her pale golden skin glowing in the light of the sun. She was wearing her favorite black long sleeved v-neck shirt, a pink long sleeved sweater over top with little black buttons on the cuffs and down the front of it, a pair of pink dress pants with black piping, and short black kitten heels. A silver pin was attached to the bottom edge of the collar of the shirt, the five points were a swirled star pattern, a pearl attached to the center. He also noticed that she still wore her wedding ring.

Gabriel's cold dark blue eyes stared back at his wife's, his cheeks burned on his lightly tanned skin, his thin lips pulled into a grim frown, his fists clenching at his sides, from being caught. The man still wore a suit of his own making that was immaculately clean and crisp looking on his thin frame, his platinum blonde hair slicked back, but not as gray in this time, black framed silver glasses perched on his distinguished nose. The man then snarled at his wife.

"I don't have to explain myself, let alone take orders from anyone, not even you." Celine leaned back like she'd been slapped but recovered, bristling.

"You stole my peacock pin, I want it back, it's not yours to take."

"Don't think that I'll be willing to give it back, unless you swear you will no longer become Madame Paon, ever again. After that, I'll want you to either destroy it or get rid of it."

"That's not how it works. The magic of the pin is now attached to me, the only ones who are able to sever my connection to the Blue Peacock Miraculous, are another Miraculous holder, or if I die. I am unwilling to give up being a hero when crime has gone up, I'm not doing this to be selfish. I'm out there trying to make the streets safe again, if I have the power to protect other people, even our son, don't you think I should use it?" Celine explained, trying to be soothing as she placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. He smacked it off, like he would an annoying fly, his eyes like glaciers as he stared at her. Tears started swimming in her eyes, not because of the hit, but the fact that it echoed in her heart.

Adrien watched all this, his heart crying out for his mother, he understood why his father was angry, but taking it out on her for something she'd been doing for what looked like years, that was a bit much. He knew if he was in his mother's shoes, he wouldn't have stopped protecting the innocent either. Knowing she'd been a Miraculous welder too made it feel like it really was his destiny, he'd never trade Plagg or Ladybug for the world, he was proud of her and thought it strange that his father didn't show or say those words. This could be another thing they had in common that he could talk to her about, when he saw her again.

"It seems I can't trust you to keep yourself safe, let alone our son when you're out there helping random people," came the growled reply.

"I thought that was one of the things you loved about me. One of the many reasons you married me," Celine answered quietly, sadness creeping into her voice. "I thought you liked Madame Paon."

"Not when she's mywife," Gabriel then turned his back to her, Celine's facing the stairs, while he looked down the long hallway, gathering his thoughts for what he was going to say next. "I need you here, where I can keep both you and Adrien safe. I refuse to lose you because of your soft heart. If you don't conclude this ridiculous little adventure you're getting yourself into, I will take the boy, and leave the country until you do."

"No! You can't do that!" Both Adrien and Celine cried out. Gabriel turned back around to face Celine, then slapped her across the face, hard. The force knocked her back, inches from the top of the stairs.

"No, oh dear God, please," Adrien silently begged. "Stop fighting, please!"

"I can and I will, if you you keep contradicting me on this." Then slowly, he leaned over his wife, grabbing her cheeks with one hand he brought her face milometers from his, his voice gentle but eyes hard like ice. He seemed to be enjoying the control he had over her.

"I don't want to do this, but I'm not going to concede, nor am I going to compromise on this one like I've done throughout our marriage on everything else, my dear. The choice is yours, the pin or your family." He then captured her lips in a hard demanding kiss, showing his dominion over his willful wife.

"Pere, stop it! Stop hurting each other, don't do this!" The boy screamed, even though he knew they couldn't hear him. He could foresee what was going to happen next.

She pushed herself away from his body, it caused her body to be positioned next to the stair railing instead of the steps. The woman then punched him in the jaw with a resounding crack, echoing throughout the silent mansion, causing the man's head to launch back. Incensed, Gabriel slapped Celine even harder, her body temporarily suspended in the air as she flew over the edge of the railing to the stairs. Adrien was finally able to move his frozen body, he was being shocked with each step, the watch didn't want him to take. He ran over to where he knew he could catch her, as she came down, she went through his body, he felt a tingling sensation like when a part of his body had fallen asleep, as she fell head first to the checker patterned floor. There was a dull crack, then her body crumpled, her eyes were glazed over, staring out blankly like a china doll, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and her head from the impact to the ground. The slaps to her face were starting to bruise, her neck was bent at an odd angle. The leather clad hero's eyes widened, shock and horror numbed his body, his mind unable to process what he'd just witnessed, his heart fell like a heavy weight, his knees crumpled down to the ground to look at his beautiful, now dead mother.

"Celine?" Chat looked up and saw his father run over to his wife's still form. There was no reply from her pale lips.

"Oh mon Dieu,why couldn't you just listen to me?!" The man started wracking in sobs, pulling his greased hair as he stared at the woman he'd accidentally killed.

"No, no, t-this has to b-b-be a m-mistake," Adrien's lips trembled as he denied what he just saw. "Pere l-loves Maman, h-h-he'd never do t-this,... it has t-to be a trick t-t-that Pere Temps i-is using." Darkness enveloped him once again.

…..

Adrien thought Ladybug had used her charm and fixed everything, but when he looked at his see through gloved hands, he knew that wasn't the case. He noticed he was in a very white room that was mostly bare, what looked like silver metal cabinets with handles on them, a white door behind him, and a cold metal slab table with a sheet over top a lump under it. He tried to stand up, his legs still wobbly from the shock of seeing his mother die in front of him. The cat themed boy tried to move his body, but the shocks from the ticking watch were more painful than before so he stayed put, still weak from fighting it last time. Logically, he knew this happened already in the past that Pere Temps had constructed, that there was nothing he could do now, that it was all part of the Akuma's magic to make him feel guilty. But he couldn't help feeling that not only he'd failed his mother, but had somehow killed her.

His sensitive ears picked up the sounds of footsteps heading in his direction, he wanted to avoid that tingling sensation again, but he got shocked again for his effort. He started wondering if it would cause permanent brain damage soon with how often it was happening and how strong the voltages felt like they were getting. The door gently swung open through Adrien's immaterial form, along with Gabriel Agreste and what looked to be a doctor in a white lab coat. Then the pieces started to fall into place in his head; he was at a morgue.

"Well, Mr. Agreste. It looks like she died on impact, her cranium broke, some of the pieces entering the upper lobes, the force of her weight and gravity caused her neck to break the third and fourth vertebrae. She felt no pain since her brain had been..." as the doctored continued to drone on with the statistics, Gabriel's head nodded, looking like he was half listening as he stared with bored intent at the form under the white sheet. Chat's face visibly paled even more, realizing what and who they were talking about, he could feel his stomach ready to heave the little food he'd eaten before he'd left for patrol with Ladybug.

"This can't be real, this... this can't have happened," the boy whispered incredulously.

"Now, I have most of the paperwork done to release her body to you for burial, but the police are wanting the full report, and I assume you'll want your son to-"

"No, that will not be necessary, Dr. Poirot," Mr. Agreste sharply cut in facing the shorter blonde with glasses. "I called you specifically for a reason, do you know why?"

"Well," the doctor rubbed the back of his graying hair, a sweat starting to break out on his bald forehead. "In all honesty, no I don't"

"Figured you wouldn't remember," the mogul mumbled. "Hercule, we used to go to the same school together back in university. For one semester, you tried your hand at design..." Gabriel hinted.

"Ah, now I remember. Wow, that was some time ago. I didn't think you'd remember." The shorter man laughed awkwardly.

"It's useful to know who you went to school with. If I also remember, you had racked up quite a bit of debt to the government for... gambling, didn't you?" The other man gulped visibly, the suited man stared pointedly at him like a rat in a labyrinth, waiting for him to finally get the message.

"How much?"

"You'll be debt free, so long as you don't say a word, gather all the paperwork, destroy it, then give her body and affects to me" Gabriel's arms were crossed, he stared at his nails, one ankle crossed over the other while standing. "But, if I hear even a peep about this or how she died, you'll be seeing the Reaper on a one way boat trip down the Seine. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, Monsieur."

"Excellent, now leave me be, with my wife."

The doctor turned without a backward glance to the man and left the room, once again going through Chat's transparent form. The boy had watched the scene and had felt his blood go cold, seeing his father act so callous. The black leather clad feline's body crumpled more, tears flowing freely from his acidic green eyes down his domino mask, dripping off his chin as they fell to the floor, thankfully the watch didn't shock him. The tall thin man slowly made his way over to his wife's lifeless body, the weight of the world back on his shoulders as he stared at the lumpy sheet, gently, almost reverently, he pulled back the snowy fabric. Adrien saw his mother's pale face, white as paper, her lips blue, the discoloration on her cheeks prominent, golden lashes fanned out over her high cheekbones, like she was sleeping, her golden hair laid out under her head, artfully arranged, A white cloth had been placed on top of her head, trying to give her a bit of dignity by hiding the missing top area of her skull. Gabriel lightly touched her paled bruised cheek, almost like he was afraid to.

"Why couldn't you just do as I say?" He asked, voice catching in his throat as he held back his cries of anguish. "Do you realize you've left our son without a mother? Me without a wife? As you're husband, it's my duty to do what's best for the family. Now, I must fix this." Adrien started to feel anger spark towards his father's egotistical words,his denial as to who's fault it was that the woman he loved was dead. For some reason, this started feeling less and less like a trick of the Akuma to the boy, as he watched the man before him deny his guilt in all this. The scene darkened.

…..

Adrien didn't bother getting up. Nothing else he saw could be worse than not only witnessing his mother's death, or seeing her cold body on the icy slab of metal in some unknown morgue. Soon he looked at his surroundings, the place was mostly dark, the room warm and yet familiar. His keen magical eyes picked up on movement, soon a circular shutter opened, Chat closed his eyes at the bright whiteness that suddenly flooded the room. Hearing the flutter of wings with his perceptive cat ears,he opened his eyes, realizing this is where Hawkmoth's layer was. If he could see anything that could help hint where the villain was, Chat would be able to stop the evil bastard with his Lady.

Slowly, the cat boy's green eyes adjusted, but he wasn't able to see the man clearly because of how the light silhouetted him. White butterflies flitted about the room in agitation, like they were trying to leave from their prison through the closed window. He did see the man holding a purple broach with four light, almost white wings sticking out from the sides of it. In front of the man, floated what Adrien assumed to be the kwami of the Moth Broach, it was about the same size and similar basic shape to Plagg; of an overlarge head and a smaller main body that made him look deformed. Only it was a light lavender color, small butterfly wings slowly flapped about behind the creature, the bottom ends sticking out in a similar way to the cat god's whiskers. A darker purple in a spiral shape was on the little god's forehead, large almond shaped eyes with purple irises looked up at the man who held his Miraculous, looking a little nervously at him.

When they spoke, Adrien couldn't hear anything discernible, like he was underwater, no matter how much he strained his hearing. Instead, he settled for watching their lip movements and the little creature's facial expressions. Chat paid as much attention as he could to his surroundings and enemy, making sure to memorize the fount of information around him. It would help him figure out where Hawkmoth's layer was at. It felt familiar, like he'd been there before, but it was a long time ago when he was a kid. Then Adrien heard something that jogged his memory, the voice of the man as he called out to the kwami's power, the creature unable to fight the call. The voice from the tall lean man was strong but not deep, while the voice of the kwami sounded light and kind.

"Nooroo, Dark-wings Rise!"

The world faded to black, only to repeat these scenarios, three more times, destroying the boy''s soul with each replayed scene.

…..

Sometime later, after the roving red light of thousands of sparkling ladybugs weaving through the air had fixed everything, Chat came back to the real world, relieved to no longer be watching what he'd witnessed. His memory was still intact, he wished the "Miraculous Ladybug" charm could bleach his brain from what he'd beheld. He was both mentally and emotionally drained, leaving him feeling completely exhausted, his limbs felt like overcooked linguine. But he knew he and his Lady were far from done with their work. The black encased hero walked over to where Ladybug was speaking with the Mayor, Chat assumed she'd already spoken with the victim as she tends to do after each fight.

"Thank you, for bringing back my little girl, Ladybug," the man said clutching Chloe to his chest, tears in both their ice blue eyes. Eventually, the young woman had felt she'd hugged her father enough, kissed his cheek, gushed over Ladybug, then pranced over to the reporters. She started pouring on the charm in front of the cameras, Lila jumping in when she saw the blonde stealing her limelight while she'd been reuniting with her parents as well. Chat didn't mind not being in the spotlight of the girl's and the city's affections, he got enough as Adrien, though he'd get a little miffed when people referred him as "Ladybug's sidekick."

Pitter-bung!

We better get out of here and recharge our kwami, Chat thought. Watching a second black spot disappear from his partner's earrings.

"I don't know how to thank you enough for all the times you've saved my darling-"

"Excuse me, before you finish that speech, Mayor Bourgeois," Chat interrupted, a clawed hand raised in front of the now scowling man's face, for being interrupted. "Ladybug and I need to leave."

"In an hour, we'll come by your office," Ladybug added. "We wish to speak with you and the diplomat's of Italy. It has to deal with both of your daughters and the Akuma tonight."

Pitter, pitter-bung!

Ladybug's earrings let out their third warning, they both nodded to each other and took off together. Eventually separating to find hiding spots to recharge their powers before they changed back. Both of them knew that neither of the parents were going to like what the heroes had to say about their kids, it was going to be a LONG night.

…..

The outside of the house was white on the outside looking for all the world very clean, with a silver/gray shingled roof that sloped from the top down to the second floor where Marinette's family lived. At around three in the morning, Ladybug gently landed on the roof, so she wouldn't wake her parents who had to be up in an hour or so to start preparing the shop for baking and opening to the early morning customers. The top of the roof was flat with concrete and made for a nice balcony that was decorated with a pink and white striped lounge chair by the skylight, a white tarp was placed above it to provide shade, little colorful bulbous lights lined along the tarp, in case she decided to be outside to sketch at night, which she tended to do on occasion. At the foot of her lawn chair was a small ivy, the leaves on the growing plant creeping their way up a blue and white striped pinwheel that stuck out in the air, making the little sprouts grow up towards the decoration. There was a low concrete partition on each side of the patio, with a wrought iron fence completely blocking a person from falling off the roof to the streets that were busy in the day below, at the front. There was a large white planter on the left side full of red roses that Marinette watered bringing homey, warm colors to the place. In the middle was a wooden table with a traditional Chinese teapot and two cups ready to serve but was presently used for decoration. On the right side of the low concrete wall sat three more plants, small purple budding tulips were in the first one, the second held lavender, the third final pot held a small tree with budded green leaves sprouting from the small limbs. The back wall of the patio was a chimney partition, separating her side of the building from her neighbors behind her.

Marinette's room was at the top of the three story bakery her parents owned. She opened the skylight that was right above her pink room and simple yet stylish pink bed. Wooden beams ran from the ceiling, down the walls throughout the room, two of them one on each side adorning the wall corners of platform of the teen's bed. There was a small book shelf above her pillows at the head of her bed, with a few of her favorite books, as well as a dark trinket box that was a mini lamp with a crescent moon and star on it. The comforter was a light pink with two thin black strips that ran through the middle at the top to the bottom, the top edges had a thick swath of cloth in black with thin pink strips running through them. A pink pillow with a cute brown bow in the center was at the head of the bed, partially resting on a large body pillow cat. The tips of it's face were bright pink, a small smile formed it's cute manner eyes closed sweetly, with short brown stripes running down it's back from the top of it's head to the tail. The girl's bed sat on a platform that surveyed the rest of the room, a thin black railing surrounding her mattress that laid close to the ground on a wooden frame. Colorful paper origami-ed shaped kites, in varying colors of pink, white, and purple, were attached to a strand of twin that decorated the bottom edge of the platform, just above where her desk was housed, winding themselves around a wooden beam that lead to the bottom floor of the room.

As she dropped to the bed, the window closed behind her, and she released her transformation. Tikki flew out of her earrings in a flash of light, but was too weak to stay afloat on her own like normal because she'd used up so much energy that night. The noirette caught the barely conscious kwami, pulled out a secret stash of the chocolate chip cookies she'd made the day before from behind the moon box lamp above her bed, took out two of the biggest ones of the batch, and placed the creature on her soft decorative cat pillow. She then took out a small-scaled pink blanket and pillow with little flowers and ladybugs all over them, that she'd made for her tiny friend, covering her tiny body with them. The little god chirped her appreciation to the sweet girl that wore her Miraculous. The kwami normally would sleep in the shelf above her bed or behind her computer, but when Tikki transformed more than once or the girl was feeling insecure, she'd sleep on the giant cat pillow, to be closer to her Chosen.

"You did great tonight, Marinette," the little god squeaked quietly, feebly grabbing at the treats left for her to consume with her nubby paws.

"So did you Tikki, thanks. You deserve a break," she said gently, meaning every word to her little friend, gently brushing back the thin antenna's on the red creature's head while petting her. The kwami hummed, and smiled while munching on the piece she bit, closing her crystal blue eyes.

"I think you should take a break too. Maybe you and Chat can have a holiday?" The girl chuckled shaking her head.

"That day was three months ago and it was just another holiday they tacked on so everyone else could get out of work for the day, even the banks were closed. The only way we'll get a holiday is if Hawkmoth doesn't send one of his Akuma out or if he suddenly decides to quite." After finishing the first cookie, the little red bug looked up at her Chosen with her wise blue eyes, feeling the girl's sadness and frustrations. Marinette had stopped petting her little friend partway through her explanation. Tikki picked up the second confection and chewed the treat thoughtfully, before she could form her words the girl shook her head.

"Get some sleep, Tikki. I'm not tired enough to snooze just yet."

"Is it because of our chat with the Mayor and the diplomats from Italy?" The pint-sized ladybug god eyed her charge while she munched away on the rest of the cookie.

"Partially, yes. But I'm more worried about Chat Noir right now. He didn't seem alright after the attack, even the one hour reprieve we had didn't seem to help, if anything he looked even more upset. We were both so tired after going at it with Chloe and Lila, that I didn't have the heart to ask him about it. I feel bad, it looked like he needed someone to talk to."

"It's alright, Marinette. Just send him a message through your e-mails, asking to meet up. Don't do it tomorrow though, you need to rest up. Set it for the next day and ask him then."

"Thanks Tikki," she smiled down at her friend. "I'll do that now, you get some rest."

She kissed the creature's forehead goodnight, and dragged herself to her desk towards the rest of her pink bedroom. Marinette walked down a set of stairs, the metal railing that surrounded her bed platform, connected to a curled end that lead to the bottom floor of her bedroom. The girl was completely exhausted but since she couldn't shut her brain down, she lugged her feet down the white steps. The left side that had no railing was right next to one of her bedroom windows, two big bright red decorative flowers adorned high up on the wall near the window, a mannequin with one of her designed hats sitting on the neck, with a full length mirror next to it. In front of the mirror sat her chaise with a medium sized pink oriental styled umbrella , the mattress of the lounge was covered in a pink with white polka-dot material, the headrest was striated in white, the lines going vertically, the back of it done in a red-velvet color. That same color was on a square pillow with light pink material adorning the edges of it, the legs and the rest of the chaise was created in a modern style and painted white. Under the stubby legs of the furniture was a pink, white, and black flower designed rug over her light wood floors. In the middle of the floor of the room was the trapdoor that lead up to the teen's humble abode and a set of stairs that lead down to her family's living room.

Marinette, then plopped herself on her bright pink computer chair with flower print decals that looked similar to the shirt she wore for school. Her desk was a long L-shaped piece that ran from under the stairs in front of her window, to end at the wooden beams holding up the platform and her bed. Along the top of the desk sat her white flat screen desktop, a couple of school books sat piled next to the machine on the right side, where she faced the presently blank screen. Farther back, was a bendable pink desk lamp that she'd turned on, giving the room a gentle glow. Perched near the lamp was a small mint colored cubby with hearts cut out of the wood, it held some more of her books, a brown grinning cat head rested on top of the small furniture, and a couple more books next to it, leaning against her small black and pink cupboard. The two large pink doors on the front of the black cabinet were opened, revealing six small pink and black drawers with little black knobs for handles to store many of her sewing supplies. In front of the cabinet, was a squared green-gray mug that housed some of her pens and pencils. Along the back wall behind the computer screen, were various pictures and post-it notes, as well as inspirational pieces, for the designer to look at when her head wasn't bent over one of her sketchbooks.

The other end of her long table was her light pearl pink sewing machine, some material rolled off to the side to work on at a later date. Next to that was another cubby that was black, it housed a few more books as well as a small lamp, the small shade making the light glare up towards the back wall and her bed platform. A small pile of colorful cases of varying sizes that housed more of her trinkets and sewing supplies were erected, next to a purple cylinder that housed her knitting needles and crotchet hooks. Along the back wall were various images of Gabriel Agreste's designs that Marinette had found the most inspirational or were in her opinion, the designer's best work. Strangely, most of the designs were modeled by his son, Adrien Agreste. Some of the smaller images were pinned to her large pink cork board hanging on the wall near the sewing machine, which had even more post-it's canvasing it.

Marinette's mind wouldn't let her get some shuteye, not with all the information and questions swimming in her head like a tornado, destroying any possibilities of rest. The good thing was that tomorrow, she didn't have school since it was a teacher work day, the bad thing was that she had to help her parents at the bakery most of the day which meant she'd get little to no sleep. The screen of the computer was turned on and she tapped away at the key board and made a few clicks with her white mouse. One tab to the internet was set for the faulty e-mail to Chat and sent a quick message to see him in a couple days, the other to Alya's Ladyblog. Pulling out a set of headphones, she plugged them into the player/charger for her i-pod where she normally played her songs while she worked on her artwork and designs, so she wouldn't awaken an exhausted Tikki.

Well, she thought. It looks like Alya wasn't there at this attack. As often as I've told her not to go, this is the one time I wish she had been. She might've had a better chance at figuring out what had happened to the other victims.

LB: r u awake?

Marinette wasn't sure he'd still be up but wanted to at least let him know she was concerned about his well being. So, she was surprised when the e-mail showed she had a new message.

CN: yes, y?

LB: r u ok?

She waited a full two minutes before she got a reply, he never took long in his replies unless they were long flirty lines or compliments.

CN: y do u ask?

LB: u looked off, after I used ML.

CN: I was frozen. I'm fine, my Lady.

Marinette looked at the messages, none of them had his puns anywhere in them, he always tried to wriggle one in no matter how bad or forced it was. She knew something wasn't right and wanted to get to the bottom of it.

LB: do u wanna talk about it?

CN: r u offering?

LB: yes.

CN: not through e-mail.

The girl rolled her eyes at that one. Part of one of the basic rules they'd made when they decided to go by e-mail like this: don't give out too much information. Just in case someone decided to hack.

LB: not 2nite, 2 tired.

CN: Agreed. 2Morrow?

LB: can't. Civ life. Next day?

CN: yes.10pm?

LB: yes, meet near LM?

CN: can't wait. :3

The noirette took out her sketchbook after turning her computer off, a new design was coming to life under her ministrations, based off of the latest Akuma. The lines swirled a blossomed, the music she played caused her foot to lightly tap, her tongue stuck out in concentration, making sure she captured the pride of the ensemble. While out in the night sky, towards the Eiffel Tower, inside the Agreste Mansion, Adrien broke...

...

Well, this is what I've come up with so far, I think it came out pretty well. It's similar to CursedRedRose's story in his mother dying in front of him, but I had no intention of outright copying her creativity with the scene she'd created in "Shadow." (I'm not about to spoil that scene for those who haven't read it ;P) I had fun writing the Akuma Pere Temps and writing the fight scene. I plan on posting an extra tidbit for you guys later on, it's the conversation that Ladybug and Chat Noir had with Chloe and Lila, so keep an eye out for it. ;) Let me know what you guys think of this second chapter, REVIEWS ARE WELCOME!