"If he is Chat Noir, what is he doing with this new… look?" Marinette's question was more of a demand toward Alya, who could only shrug while she thought through possible ways to answer. Nino opened the trapdoor and when the two boys entered the room, it was just like Adrien was used to, the only difference being there was a picture of Cat Walker pulled up on the monitor.

It was on the Ladyblog and he wondered when Alya took the picture. After years of heroing, he'd done his best to be aware of where she was so that he could protect her, but he hadn't seen her at all. The photo wasn't the highest quality, so he could deduce that she had zoomed in from a distance to take it.

"Mari," Alya responded, desperate to calm down her best friend, "we don't know if this is Chat Noir. Even if that's what you think you heard, it could be a trick. This wouldn't be the first time he has used a Sentimonster to try to get to one of the heroes." Alya placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Alya's right," Nino agreed, "you're Chat's friend. I know you're worried about him, but it's possible that you're just falling into Monarch's trick by believing that this is Chat Noir." Alya had found out about Marinette being friends with Chat Noir after the two of them went to the movies together. Since then, all three of the friends knew that Marinette was close to the hero.

Adrien felt his breathing stop when he thought about it. He knew that he was hurting Ladybug by joining Monarch's side, but he hadn't even considered how Marinette would feel about it. She was the person who was closest to Chat Noir, aside from Ladybug. He wanted, desperately, to apologize to her, but he knew he couldn't.

"I'm sorry," the words slipped out regardless, "I know this is probably hard for you to deal with, but maybe there's a reason he's doing this." He forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat, "if that even is him." He knew, for certain, that it was the same person, but if believing they were different would help Marinette, he was willing to lie for her.

She looked like she was going to cry and that made his heart split. If this was how Marinette felt, as someone who was friends with Chat, he didn't want to think of how Ladybug felt, as the person who was dealing with the loss of her partner . He had seen almost every emotion cross Marinette's face through the course of their friendship, but this was the first time he'd seen this particular expression.

Usually, Marinette would be bright and cheerful, not to the point of being a nuisance, but enough that it felt almost contagious. Anyone who experienced her brightness would be better as a result. Sometimes, that meant having a good day, sometimes it meant something as simple as smiling a little more, but it was always inherently good .

Today, though, the brightness was gone- replaced with something he couldn't quite place. It wasn't darkness, he had seen her darkness before and that wasn't an experience he was eager to repeat. There wasn't any darkness, there wasn't any brightness, there wasn't any emotion, and that made him feel sick.

He wondered if this was a defense mechanism. He'd seen her almost be akumatized when they were younger and he wondered if this was the strategy she'd developed to stop Monarch his father from taking advantage of her emotions and turning her into his 'champion'. Apathy, Adrien quickly realized, was his least favorite expression on Marinette.

He found himself desperate to give her a hug, but he wasn't the first to come up with the idea. Alya stepped over and gave Marinette a hug, quietly whispering to her all the while. Adrien wished he'd had his powers so that he could hear what Alya was whispering, but he knew that was probably none of his business.

He saw Marinette nod almost imperceptibly. "Let's go up to the balcony," Alya suggested, which Adrien realized was probably what she had whispered to Marinette. Marinette was the first to go up and through the trapdoor, followed by Alya, then Nino, and Adrien was the last.

When they got up there, Alya and Nino shared one chair while Marinette and Adrien both sat individually. It was already past sunset, but with the bright lights of the streets, the teens could see for blocks in every direction. This also left the four of them able to see if there were any butterflies around, just in case.

Marinette was looking around more than the rest of them and Adrien was certain that she was looking for Chat Noir. Whether she would yell at Chat or cry if he showed up wasn't something he could tell. He figured that didn't matter, though. Chat Noir wouldn't be able to show up to see his princess anytime soon.

He looked at her and could see the reflection of the lights of the city on her. There was a glassiness over her eyes and it didn't seem like she was particularly focusing on anything. A few tear tracks ravined down her cheeks, but they looked old. She hadn't been crying since he and Nino arrived, but it didn't take someone as smart as Max to figure out she'd been crying earlier.

Marinette hugged her knees to her chest and he had never seen her look so small. He had always admired her being brave and her strength, so this contrast was striking. This entire experience felt like it was a nightmare he was just hoping to wake up from- everything since Gabriel found out his identity.

Surely, that was the only explanation. This was a nightmare, that was the only reason he betrayed Ladybug, the only reason he hurt Marinette, the only reason he was letting himself be used by Gabriel, to do his bidding. Adrien was confident that he wouldn't have chosen to be allied with Monarch, but here he was.

He wished he could explain to Marinette, at least, what was happening, but the short answer was that he had no idea what was happening. It felt like he was able to experience this nauseating guilt, but that didn't stop him from betraying Paris. He saw Marinette shiver out of the corner of his eye and wondered why they decided to come outside instead of being warmer in her room.

He wondered until he watched her eyes dance across the lights of the city skyline toward the Eiffel Tower. It would normally be a patrol night and he wondered if Ladybug would still go out, even if her partner wasn't joining her.

Alya was sitting on her chair with Nino and the two of them were comparing a picture of Cat Walker to a picture of Chat Noir. Alya was looking for evidence of them being different people, but she could only see similarities, or the few differences that were clearly from the magic of the Miraculous, like the hair color.