Author's Note: We are getting close to the end! Only three chapters and a bonus chapter left :) Sorry this one's so short! It took me a fair amount of time to get the inspiration to write- been really busy with a bunch of stuff and trying to ignore other plot bunnies!

ETA: Noticing some confusion on my use of the term demigod! So despite what Rick Riordan might have written in his books, demigods aren't strictly the offspring of one mortal parent and one divine parent. The term can also refer to a figure who has attained divine status after death, a minor diety, or a mortal who is the offspring of a god and a human. :)

FADE IN:

INT. FRANCOISE-DUPONT THEATER - BACKSTAGE

Alya (shocked): Nino!

Marinette (angry): Alya!

Adrien (confused): Marinette?

Nino (cheerful): Adrien!

"So you're Chat Noir, huh?" says Nino. "That's awesome, dude!"

"Um, uh, no, I don't know what you're talking about," Adrien stammers as he warily looks back and forth between a fuming Marinette and a visibly nervous Alya.

"Alya! Did you tell him?! You promised!" screeches Marinette.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" says Alya, shaking her head vigorously. "I didn't say anything!"

Nino laughs and cheerfully waves his arms about, oblivious to the tension in the air. "Nobody told me anything! I figured it out myself! But that was a cool entrance, right? I was waiting for the right moment!"

"Nino!" says Alya in a warning tone, and Nino finally notices the stricken expressions on the faces of his friends.

"I'm sorry guys, did I do something wrong? I mean, you do need help with the two places at once thing for opening night, don't you? I can help with that!"

Alya watches with concern and shakes her head as Marinette breathes heavily and her face contorts into a shape that she has only ever seen in a Looney Tunes cartoon.

She places a calming hand on her friend's shoulder and turns to her boyfriend.

"Before you do any of that, you have to tell us how you found out about Marinette and Adrien being Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Well, so I was on this page on TV Tropes the other day—"

"What does that have to do with anything?!" interrupts Alya. "Don't change the subject!"

"Well after you were talking to me about finding out who Ladybug was a couple weeks ago, it made me feel like reading some superhero comics with really cool identity reveals. And then I went on The Unmasking page and read some of the entries, and I started thinking about a lot of the stuff that's been going on with you guys."

Marinette turns to Alya, confused. She has no idea what Nino is going on about. Adrien stays silent (he knows exactly what Nino is talking about).

Nino's eyes glitter with excitement as he starts listing off everything he's noticed.

"I started thinking about how you guys haven't been turned into akumas, and how you always disappear whenever there's an attack at the same time, and then you've both kind of been sleepy lately. And then yesterday when Chloe tried to take over Marinette's role—I thought it was really weird how the two of you were acting. And I really thought it was weird that Marinette didn't say anything!"

He turns to her, eyes wide. "I mean, you always stand up to Chloe whenever she tries to get in our space. So it was confusing, you know?"

"But Nino…none of that actually proves anything," says Adrien, slow and cautious. "I mean, do you think anyone else knows? Anyone could have noticed what you saw."

Nino shakes his head as he looks back at Adrien. "Well, it wasn't just that…I kind of followed the three of you to the theater yesterday when I saw you were going there."

"What?!" yells Alya. "Nino, I thought you said you were going home!"

"I was, I was! But I left my headphones in my locker, and then when I came back to get them I saw the three of you heading toward the theater. I was about to call after you guys, but you guys looked like you didn't want to be bothered. And, well…I was kind of suspicious. So I tried to be sneaky. And then I saw Marinette transform and it BLEW MY MIND. I still can't believe it. I mean, my best friend and his girlfriend are both superheroes. This is the coolest thing that's ever happened to me!"

"It's not that exciting," drawls Plagg from Adrien's bag. "Not as much as a perfect round of camembert, anyway."

"Who's that?" says Nino, surprised.

"That's Plagg," Marinette and Adrien respond in sync, before looking at each other and laughing. She motions at him to continue, and Adrien grins at his friend.

"He's my kwami—he helps me transform into Chat Noir. If I give him enough cheese, that is."

Nino's eyes boggle as the inky black creature floats out of Adrien's bag and up to his face, peering at him with beady laser green eyes.

"Do you have any camembert on you? Adrien says he won't give me any until we get home, and I'm really getting hungry. You look like someone who carries food with you."

Nino laughs. "Yeah, I have popcorn! Do you like popcorn?"

Adrien grins. "If camembert is the love of Plagg's life, popcorn is his best friend."

"Great!"

Nino pulls a small bag of popcorn out of his duffel bag and Plagg hungrily dives in, surfacing only to announce "I like this one," to Adrien before returning to his feast.

Nino smiles before turning back to his friends, suddenly even more excited than before.

"Oh wait, man—so that makes me a secret keeper, right? And I'm gonna help you with the tech for the show! Oh duuuuude so does that make me Alfred? And Alya, that makes you Lois Lane! Wait, so how long have you known then? It can't be long, right? Or you wouldn't have been running the Ladyblog and tried to figure out who Ladybug is—UNLESS—that's all your way of keeping suspicion off Marinette and Adrien! Oh damn, you're even cooler than I thought—that's so hot—"

"Nino, buddy, calm down!" says Adrien, placing his arms on his friend's shoulders as Alya sighs with fond exasperation.

Marinette nods. "It's really important for you to keep this a secret, okay? You can't tell anyone!"

"You can trust me! I'm great at keeping secrets."

Alya and Adrien exchange glances and smother their laughter.

"I swear, I am! You can trust me, I promise."

Tikki floats out of Marinette's bag and up to Nino's face, peering closely into his startled eyes.

"I like this one too!" she announces, turning back to Marinette and nodding with satisfaction. "I believe him. He's trustworthy."

"Is this—what's her name—your name…?" stammers Nino.

"I'm Tikki!" replies the little kwami, smiling brightly. "I help Marinette transform into Ladybug!"

"Wow Tikki, it's—it's nice to meet you. Do you, ah, like popcorn too?"

Nino looks over to Plagg and sees that he has already eaten all of it and is taking a cat nap in the empty bag, his little stomach puffed out as it slowly rises and falls.

"Sorry about that…I think I have some more in my bag if you really want some," he responds, sheepish.

Tikki giggles. "No, it's fine! I already ate one of Marinette's cookies. But thank you!"

Nino shrugs. "Okay!"

He turns back to his friends as Tikki floats down and settles back into Marinette's purse.

"Wait, so I saw Marinette transform into Ladybug, but I didn't see you transform into Chat Noir. Can you show me? That would be so cool!"

Marinette slides her eyes towards Adrien, whose entire being has lit up with excitement. She smiles fondly at her boyfriend as he nods ecstatically and pokes at his kwami to wake up.

"Plagg, get up!"

Plagg opens one eye. "Can't a 5000 year old demigod take a five minute cat-nap without being bothered?"

"Plagg, I'll give you two rounds of camembert if you listen to whatever Adrien says," says Marinette, laughing.

Plagg narrows his eyes at her before nodding. "You picked a good Ladybug, Tikki," he says. "She knows how to strike a good bargain."

Adrien rolls his eyes. "Now that you've got your cheese, can you please help me transform?"

"What's the hurry?"

"NOW."

Plagg sighs and finally acquiesces as Adrien yells "Transforme moi!"

Nino and Alya are dazzled by the spectacle, clapping wildly. Encouraged by their applause, Chat Noir shows off a few tricks with his baton, grinning brightly. After the show, Marinette jumps up with a loud cheer and kisses him on the cheek, causing Chat to blush a sweet shade of bright red that elicits a series of wolf whistles from both Nino and Alya that get even Marinette blushing.

After Chat's show, the four friends realize that they've been away from rehearsal for over a half hour, so they rush back to the others, who thankfully, have been too busy to even notice. After it ends, they walk out of the theater together, when Marinette realizes that they've forgotten something.

"Wait, so Nino, you never actually told us how you were going to help Adrien and me be in two places at the same time. How is that even going to be possible?"

"Oh, it's simple! Holograms."

"Where on earth are you going to get holograms from?"

"I've got connections."

Marinette turns with raised eyebrows to Alya, who shrugs. "Nino has connections with some weird people. DJs have a lot of crazy hobbies."

Nino laughs at the skeptical expression on Marinette's face. "Don't worry, trust me! This guy is solid. Nobody's even going to realize that they're sitting next to a hologram on opening night."

Marinette sighs and stops to look at a large bus shelter poster advertising the play.

"I hope you're right!"