When Adrien followed the older heroes through Pegasus' portal, he instantly found himself transported across Paris, dropped into a narrow, secluded passageway where grey-brick buildings rose above them in the quiet. The only din of noise came from the street at the end of the alley, which opened to a large block that housed one of the city's esteemed hospitals, its green tinted glass panes sparkling brilliantly in the sunlight.

There was no one else around, luckily, as his ring gave one final beep, and his transformation dropped right there in the shade. Plagg swirled up in a flash of light, and Adrien cupped his hands to catch his exhausted kwami.

"Please tell me someone has Camembert?" Plagg whined.

"I am afraid not," Pegasus—or Max? Probably Max—answered, closing the portal behind him. "Camembert has a potent odor that sets off Marinette's nausea."

"Sorry, Plagg." Present Adrien turned to give the past version of his kwami an apologetic smile. "You may have to hold out for a bit. We haven't needed to recharge our kwami for a few years, so none of us carry snacks around anymore."

Plagg groaned and flopped back onto Adrien's palms while his future self transformed in a glow that briefly lit up the shadows. Tikki appeared in the trail of pink light and quickly darted back down to hover over Marinette with a look of concern.

"We'll go on ahead and let you know when you can follow," his future self directed to Max before tilting his head at Adrien, wearing a tight expression that he couldn't decipher. "While you wait, gauge just how much past-me has found out."

Max simply nodded in answer.

Still held in present Adrien's arms, Marinette shifted slightly, as if she expected him to put her down, but then she suddenly squeaked when he bounced her gently to get a firmer grip around her.

"Adrien!" Marinette huffed out. "I can walk."

"Nope." Present Adrien shook his head. "I'm carrying you in whether you want me to or not." His expression then morphed into a teasing smirk. "It worked so well in getting the doctor's attention last time."

Letting out a long, drawn-out groan, Marinette buried her face into his shirt. From his angle, Adrien could see her ears turn a slight shade of red as she mumbled, "Not again…"

While his older self carried Marinette out of the alley, Adrien stood stiffly, following them both with wide eyes. It was definitely an unusual experience to see how he interacted with Marinette, knowing what he knew now.

"So," Max started, clearing his throat to draw Adrien's attention. "How much have you figured out?"

"Uh..." Adrien squirmed slightly beneath Max's scrutinizing gaze, even if it was mostly hidden behind his glasses. At least… He was pretty certain Pegasus was still Max. If so, then his short friend must have hit a growth spurt at some point. Just like with Marinette, he found himself looking up to make eye contact. "That Marinette and... Well… She and future-me are married and there isn't any mold because they were just keeping everything a secret and... umm—oh! They're expecting a baby and she's Multimouse again," he finished with an intake of breath, having let everything out in one go.

Max chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fairly accurate, in some ways."

"Is Marinette going to be alright?" Adrien asked quickly, the anxiety practically eating at him. It was all so surreal, yes, but it was still natural for him to be worried about his friend—his best friend, and the amazing girl that had somehow become his wife.

He wasn't going to dwell on the fact that he had no future with Ladybug—apart from swapping miraculous and continuing to be her platonic partner. There was no question in his mind that he would ever abandon her to fight Hawk Moth alone, regardless of what kind of relationship they had between them.

At least they still appeared to hold the same amount of trust—if not more—considering their identities were no longer a secret with one another. Ladybug was even willing to rely on his future self to take care of things while she rested from… whatever was going on with her. He hoped that whatever ailment she suffered from wasn't too serious.

"She appears to be unhurt," Max continued, dragging Adrien out of his heavy thoughts. "And if there is anything wrong that we can't see, the doctors will be able to help. But back to our questioning. How exactly did you figure all of this out?"

"Oh, well, you see..." And Adrien went into his explanation, starting from when he left the apartment, all the way up until the moment he had noticed the bag. "It was the same one Nathalie had with her when she ran into me, and I put it all together."

Max nodded with understanding. "I see how you came to that conclusion then. Marinette couldn't have known you had seen the bag before, so it was unfailable evidence." He then paused when his glasses beeped, and he pressed two fingers to the side of the dark shades. Adrien noticed a small array of text flash through them, too fast and small for him to read. "Hmm, that was quick. Looks like Adrien and Marinette are already in a room."

"Does that mean she's hurt?" Adrien blurted. The anxious gnawing in his stomach wasn't going away. If he didn't find out soon, he might end up making himself sick.

Max chuckled. "I'm sure Adrien's stunt would have prompted them into action, but I believe they already had a routine examination scheduled anyway. As far as Marinette's current status goes, we can see for ourselves." And at that, he waved his arm out to the side, pulling open another portal on the brick wall of one of the buildings.

With Max following close behind, Adrien practically jumped through the opening and stumbled into the middle of a pristine hospital room. Polished wood paneling made up the floor beneath him, with warm, tan walls sparsely decorated by relaxing photos of scenic hillsides and flowery fields. There was a couch and some chairs around a fairly large table over by the full-glass windows, and since there was only one bed set against the wall and no track on the ceiling for a privacy curtain, he guessed it was a private room.

A low murmur of strained voices reached him, and though they weren't being very loud, the tone of their words gave Adrien the impression that he had walked into the tail-end of some kind of argument.

"—too far back." Marinette's arms stretched out in front of her, hands swiping through the air as she tried to grab something from Adrien's older self. He held what looked like a small remote out of her reach, while his other hand pressed her shoulder into a small mound of pillows at her back. "I'm going to fall asleep if the bed is reclined this much, Adrien."

"If you need to sleep, then you should sleep," present Adrien insisted, a firm frown setting his mouth in a straight line. "Even if you feel okay now, you still shouldn't push yourself too hard."

Marinette glared back with just as much stubbornness. "And how am I supposed to be a part of the conversation if I'm asleep?"

"Ugh… You two…" Tikki flitted back and forth above their heads before she appeared to notice Adrien and Max's entrance, the portal swirling shut behind them. She flew across the room and stopped to hover above Plagg's limp body, who was still lying in Adrien's cupped hands. "There's cheese on the table that Plagg can use to recharge."

Plagg's head shot up, his wide eyes flicking around. "Cheese?"

Without waiting for a response, his kwami shot toward the window, immediately disappearing inside of a small basket set out on the table. The cheese in question obviously wasn't Camembert, but that didn't appear to dissuade Plagg's eagerness.

Tikki rolled her eyes before focusing on Adrien with a smile and a quick shrug. She then returned to hover above the hospital bed where Marinette sat. Whatever outcome of her and his older self's disagreement, both of their attentions were on him as he scrambled over.

Adrien grabbed hold of the bed's railing and quickly blurted out, "Are you okay?"

"She's okay, I promise," present Adrien chuckled in answer before Marinette could respond, giving him a knowing smile. "I had a feeling you would want to see her for yourself, considering what you found out today." An unusual gleam suddenly appeared in his eyes before he playfully announced, "Guess the cat's out of the bag."

Marinette dropped her head into her hands and groaned from exasperation. "Adrien, please. How many times have you used that?"

"Approximately two-hundred and thirty-two times since his identity was revealed," Max answered, stepping up to stand just behind Adrien. "And those are only the instances when I have been around to tally it."

"Huh..." Present Adrien blinked. "Maybe I do use that one too much."

"'Maybe?'" Marinette shot him a stern look, and when she folded her arms, Adrien noticed her holding the remote she had been fighting to possess. "Even if you only said it once a day, that's every day for half a year."

"Then I won't say it again," his older self quickly promised, eyes flitting over her as if in assessment. "And don't forget what the nurse said about your blood pressure." His gaze narrowed when she seemed to ignore him and started fiddling with the remote. The top half of the bed started to rise until it reached more of a sitting position, and Marinette sighed while flopping against the pillows. "I still think you should be resting."

"I agree with your husband," Max said, and Adrien felt his heart stutter at that. He was probably just trying to differentiate between Adrien's two selves being in the same room, but it was still unusual hearing it out loud. "While it's quite obvious what the cause of your stress was, you should be taking extra precaution. The miraculous cure can fix damage from battle directly, but it doesn't appear to prevent any enduring complications considering what has happened before."

"What's that even mean?" Plagg floated lazily over Max's shoulder, his voice slightly garbled from the wedge of cheese he was chewing on.

"It means that Marinette should be more careful!" Tikki zipped up in front of Plagg and folded her arms. "It's true that Ladybug's power can fix anything caused by the miraculous, but the strain from lasting effects might still harm the baby!" she exclaimed, her expression tight with obvious concern.

"I didn't mean to make you worry, Tikki." Marinette's eyebrows scrunched together. "But what I have to say right now is important, so I think you'll want to hear it sooner, rather than later."

"Fine," Tikki sighed, tilting her head against her paw with a half-lidded expression. "But only because I know you won't rest until you tell us."

Marinette smiled apologetically before turning to Max. "When you were fighting Foresight, did you notice anything unusual? Because Paon was definitely acting weird."

"Acting weird?" present Adrien yelped. "He tried to kidnap you!"

"Aside from that." Marinette calmly waved it away. "It was almost as if he wasn't expecting to see Chat Noir at that fight."

"The akuma also seemed to be surprised when Ladybug showed up." Max rubbed his chin, sharing a curious look with Marinette over the rim of his glasses. "Foresight included."

"Wait, really?" Present Adrien jolted at that. "So they didn't use her ability to look into the future?"

"No, I think she did." Marinette pursed her lips in thought. "I was supposed to be at my parents' house, but Paon knew where to find me, so they must have used Foresight's abilities to see that." She then pointed at Adrien. "And Paon definitely panicked when Chat Noir appeared. Then when he surprised us in the foyer? It looked like he came from your old room."

"He probably used the window to get inside," Adrien pointed out. "I think we left it open."

Marinette nodded, but her brow furrowed with something else. "I don't think it was just that though… It was like he knew I was in your room, specifically. If you hadn't shown up, I probably would have still been in there."

"Then… Chat Noir's presence altered the future that Foresight saw? Or does he operate outside of time-line parameters?" Max mused out-loud. "It heavily indicates that she cannot accurately predict a future where Ladybug and Chat Noir are concerned."

"It definitely felt that way." Marinette nodded in agreement.

"So, wait…" Adrien tightened his grip on the bed rail, an idea forming in his mind. "Does that mean I'm invisible to Foresight's powers?"

"If it is the case, then I guess you could put it that way..." Marinette's gaze flicked back to his older self, and Adrien's attention followed hers when she narrowed her eyes. "Okay, I know you two are technically the same person, but whatever you're doing, it's a bit creepy, because you both have the same look."

"That's because we had the same thought, right?" present Adrien said. "If Paon can't predict where Chat Noir will be, then we'll just have to take advantage of that." He gave Adrien a wide grin and nodded. "And from the looks of it, you agree."

"It's a great idea!" Adrien hopped up before folding his arm over his waist and bending forward in a smooth bow. "Since this Paon fellow can't predict where I'm going to be, it looks like I'll be your escort once again, princess."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but Adrien caught the gentle smile that tugged at her lips. "The two of you together? I don't know if I can handle that."

"While I've got no problems against this plan, there's something that's still bothering me," Adrien started hesitantly while straightening up. "Why is Hawk Moth targeting Marinette in the first place? I mean—akuma victims aside—but Paon wasn't trying to akumatize her or use her for a sentimonster."

Present Adrien grinned as he leaned against the bed, propping his head up with an arm. "Probably because she's just as much of a thorn in his side as Ladybug is."

"What? Really?" Adrien's wide eyes turned to Marinette, whom he couldn't help but notice turned a slight shade of pink beneath his gaze.

"That's not—I mean— Adrien." Marinette leveled a stern look at his older self. "There's still another issue here, isn't there? What happens now that past-you knows so much? You don't remember this at all, right?"

"Time is not so linear," Max answered before present Adrien could say anything. "It is possible that by failing to keep future knowledge in check, we have created an alternate route. Either that, or when he returns to the past, our current time will change to reflect it, or nothing will happen at all, because a new, parallel future has been created based on these events."

"So there's a fifty-fifty chance we'll either be safe or screwed?" present Adrien grumbled, his mouth turned down in a sullen frown.

Max adjusted his glasses. "Well… Not exactly fifty-fifty—"

Marinette waved her hands to interrupt, giving Max an apologetic look. "We don't need to go over all of the statistics. With time travel, the probable outcomes could be infinite. What we really need to figure out is how to prevent the past from changing the future."

"Of course." Max nodded. "That being said, do you remember facing a villain like Foresight before?"

Marinette turned to present Adrien, who answered quickly, "I don't know, but we've fought so many over the years, can we really keep track?" He shrugged. "Outside of our classmates, the only ones I remember are victims like Mr. Ramier, because they've been akumatized more than once—or several dozen times. If it happened, it was a quick fight, so we won't really know for sure what the situation is until past-me returns to his time."

"Alix mentioned that it might be self-fixing?" Adrien offered up at the pause in conversation, that detail having slipped his mind until Max had mentioned parallel time-lines. "It's… why I left the apartment in the first place. I thought she was trying to be discreet in hinting that I needed to go…"

"Wait…" His future self stared at him a moment before jumping up and shouting, "She did that on purpose!"

"Adrien, calm down." Marinette gently clasped his arm to get him back into his seat. "We don't really know what she was trying to do yet. There are certain guidelines that she has to follow as holder of the rabbit miraculous."

"Self-fixing could mean the past will have no effect on ours, or that they'll simply forget everything when they return," Max added, continuing on the conversation as if present Adrien's outburst hadn't happened.

Adrien jolted, and an uncomfortable sensation squirmed through him at Max's words.

He would just… forget… everything?

His eyes moved over to Marinette, who's hands had slipped down her husband's arm to weave their fingers together in a gentle grip. As he watched them, a heavy weight seemed to press itself within his chest.

He loved Ladybug—that was unquestionable.

But seeing his future with Marinette, how happy they were…

He lowered his gaze to her stomach, hidden beneath the thin sheets of the hospital bed. Right there, inside of her, was an innocent life that hadn't yet experienced the world.

His child. His and Marinette's.

"So I'll forget everything that's happened here?" His grip tightened around the railing.

Everything about the future was so different from what he had imagined, and he shouldn't have known anything about this time anyway.

But why did it hurt so much to think that he might lose it?

He wasn't aware of what his older self was doing until he'd already reached across and laid his hand on his head, then shook it a little to muss up his hair. "Don't worry too much about it. For all we know, you might keep your memories of this future when you go back. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to make sure this future happens."

"B-but how?" Adrien's voice rose with a hint of panic. "I don't know how to get here? And besides, Marinette—my Marinette—doesn't like me at all." His eyes widened when he quickly realized what he had just said. "Not that she's mine! I mean—in my time-line—we're just friends!"

Marinette let out a sudden groan and covered her face before flopping back against the cushions. "This is a disaster!"

"We could just tell him—" present Adrien started, but Marinette lowered her hands and shot him a glare.

"Don't you dare! I think we need to discuss this with Alix first. It's gotten to the point where she needs to give us some guidance." She then sighed and lowered her hands, rubbing the sheets right over her stomach. "And after all this, I'm going to need a very long nap."

Adrien's attention moved down to her stomach again, eying her fingers as they gently grasped the bedsheets. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Marinette turned to him with a soft look and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

She honestly looked anything but. Her face seemed pale, even though her cheeks were flushed almost red in the soft light of the hospital room. Despite her reassurances, he felt far from convinced that she was 'fine.'

His doubt must have shown in his expression, because Tikki floated lower and landed on top of the sheets. "The baby should be okay. Mother and child share a special bond, so if Marinette is alright, the baby is too!" Tikki then curled up over the blanket and closed her eyes. After a quiet moment of confusion, Adrien realized that she was listening to something. He held his breath, and she eventually flitted up with a giggle. "It sounds comfortable in there!"

"What? You can hear it?" Plagg drifted down from Adrien's shoulder, and without waiting for an invitation, burrowed beneath the sheets over Marinette's stomach. A second later his kwami shot up as he phased back out. "You really can! I heard a heartbeat!"

Adrien leaned over the railing toward his kwami, mouth hanging open slightly. "Really?" The weight from earlier seemed to dissipate, replaced completely by curious awe. It was one thing to hear news about her pregnancy, but another entirely to actually have something a little more tangible thanks to Plagg's observation.

Marinette's giggle broke him out of his daze. "Would you like to see?"

"I…" Adrien's heart stuttered nervously, and his eyes widened when he turned to her and breathed softly, "I can?"

"I make no promises with the results." Marinette nodded in affirmation before brushing the bed sheets aside and pulling up her shirt a bit. "Our kwami have better hearing than we do, especially Plagg."

He had certainly never looked at Marinette's figure like this before, and she was obviously several years older than the version he was used to—but there was a distinct, unmistakable roundness to her that didn't seem like the normal shape of a flat stomach.

Adrien lifted his arm hesitantly, but quickly glanced up at his older self when hit by a sudden realization. Marinette had been the one to invite him, and he had no inappropriate intentions behind his actions, but that didn't mean present Adrien, who had been quiet throughout the exchange, might have been okay with it.

Much to his surprise, present Adrien simply wore a smirk on his face, and gave him a look that seemed to say, 'I'm only allowing this because we're technically the same person.'

So he reached forward and lay his hand gently against her skin. His fingers must have been cold, because he felt Marinette flinch beneath him before relaxing. It was… unusual, to say the least. There was a softness to her, but he could also feel a firm build of muscle just beneath his touch. And right below that... a tiny human life developing within her. Not that… not that he could actually feel that part. But just the idea...

"It's hard to believe the nurse said you're starting to show," his future self said with a warm expression. "I guess I didn't notice since the growth was gradual."

Adrien heard Marinette's chiming laughter in his ears, as well as felt the vibration of it beneath his hand. "We're entering the second trimester, so it will definitely be more noticeable soon enough. The baby's going to start doubling in size before we know it."

He didn't feel any movement, but against his palm, Adrien thought he could feel a gentle pulse.

"I-is that…?" he stammered softly, his fingers twitching a bit against her. "A heartbeat?"

"Probably not." Max leaned over his shoulder with a frown. "The blood flow increases to help with development, so it is most likely Marinette's own pulse. It's a good indication that the baby is developing well, but the mother might be the only one who can feel anything at this time."

"Max," present Adrien grumbled. "You're ruining the magic."

"Heh, sorry."

"Buuuut, it really is hard to feel anything right now. They say that the baby's about the size of a lemon at this stage." His older self grinned back at Max. "Marinette will officially be in week fourteen in a couple of days."

Though they were right next to him, Adrien had a hard time listening to the rest of their conversation. The two of them simply droned on about baby facts, his older self proudly rambling off information about the baby's current and imminent development while Max corrected or added to his comments with his own knowledge.

He was too distracted by the thought of a growing baby hidden right beneath his hand.

Adrien's fingers pressed a little more firmly against her stomach before he fully realized what he was doing. Future-wife or not, he was touching Marinette. He quickly snapped his hand back and opened his mouth to apologize for his forwardness, but he froze when he caught present Adrien's expression instead. He had a finger over his lips, and his eyes flicked quickly to the side.

Adrien followed the motion to stare at Marinette, surprised to find her eyelids closed. Her head gently listed to the side against the pillows. With soft and rhythmic breaths, she appeared to have nodded off while he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Looks like she couldn't fight the exhaustion anymore," present Adrien whispered. "She has been through a lot today."

Adrien nodded silently while Plagg plopped down on top of his head. Tikki beamed at him with a knowing smile from where she perched on Marinette's shoulder.

"Max?" his older self addressed their friend quietly. "Can you take him back home?" He leveled a stern gaze at Adrien. "And this time, no leaving the apartment."

"I've learned my lesson," Adrien whined, gently waving his hands and taking care not to disturb Marinette. "No more running around on my own. Although... Knowing this isn't really... bad?"

"I know how you feel," present Adrien mumbled, stealing another glance at Marinette. A serene expression crossed his face. "We'll discuss everything else later. For now, the doctor shouldn't be back anytime soon, since our actual appointment was set for later, but a nurse may come in to check on her."

With assurances that he wouldn't step foot outside again, Max opened another portal, allowing Adrien to step from the quiet and sterile hospital room to the warm, open living room of their apartment.

oOo

Alya's eyes followed each and every one of Marinette's stiff steps as her young friend tensely paced over the floor of their apartment with Tikki quietly tucked against her shoulder. She hadn't asked a single question or raised any concerns since Alya and Nino had returned with her to their apartment after the akuma attack.

Marinette paused, shook her head, and then started up again. Alya glanced down at Trixx, who was uncharacteristically quiet in her lap, her kwami's large eyes restlessly following Marinette's every movement. Alya turned and shared a quick look with Nino, who sat on the couch beside her mumbling something to Wayzz, but when he noticed her attention, he only offered a small shrug.

She knew her friend, regardless of her age—past or present. And it probably wasn't a good idea to let Marinette stew over anything by herself for too long. Her thoughts had a tendency to get away from her. But with Marinette's silence, Alya was completely in the dark as to where those thoughts were, exactly. At least, considering what had happened on that rooftop, she was certain she knew a little bit of what topic her mind was currently stuck on.

Clenching her fingers around her phone, Alya tapped at the screen and fired off a quick text to Adrien's cell before glancing back at Marinette as she finally came to a halt in the middle of the living room.

"Okay…" Marinette took a deep breath. "Chat Noir and I are together?" She only paused for a brief beat before starting up again without giving them a chance to even answer. "Of course we are! I'm pregnant—I mean—she's pregnant! Her—me! And…" Marinette turned to them with an odd look. "Chat Noir is the father? Wait!" She grabbed at her pigtails and ducked behind the arm of the couch, as if that might hide her. "Are we married!?"

"Alright." Alya stood up and held out her hands while Trixx leaped off her lap to hover beside her. "Let's slow down for a moment and calmly discuss this. Why would you think you're married to Chat Noir?"

"Because…" Marinette lowered her arms and wrung her fingers together. "He kissed her? I mean, it was just on the hand, but... This time it didn't feel... like his usual thing? And-and future me—err, present-me didn't stop him like I normally do. Although, the situation was serious…"

"Ugh…" Alya rubbed her forehead, trying not to dwell too much on the damage this might have caused. Of course Marinette had picked up on that. She was used to the way Chat Noir flirted, and whether or not her pregnant friend was completely aware of her actions, she most likely would have reciprocated her own husband. "They can't hold themselves in check for five seconds!?"

"C'mon, Alya, give them some slack?" Nino tried hesitantly. "Marinette was in danger and Mr. Bug was just worried."

"Fffff-ine," Alya groaned before turning back to Marinette. "And… I guess there's nothing we can say that will change what you heard. So, yes." She clapped her hands together and pointed both index fingers in her friend's direction. "Adult Marinette is pregnant."

"Straight to the point?" Nino grumbled quietly while Marinette blinked slowly and appeared to look perturbed, almost as if it was her first time hearing the news. Tikki made a quiet squeak from Marinette's shoulder, looking like she was trying—and failing—to hide her obvious elation.

"What?" Alya shot him an annoyed glare. "How would you have put it?"

"Seriously? You missed such an obvious opportunity." Nino shrugged while giving her a playful smirk. "Marinette's got a bun in the oven."

"Nino," Alya growled, kneading her forehead. She was definitely getting a headache. "If I didn't love you, I would punch you."

Wayzz sighed, "It was clever, if not ill-timed."

"I am… Future me…?" Marinette mumbled softly, still lost in the information revealed to her, even if it was simply a confirmation of what she had witnessed. "And Chat Noir is... the father?"

Alya exchanged a nervous glance with Nino before nodding. "Yes…?"

"What about Chat Blanc?" Marinette asked meekly, lifting a hand to her mouth. "Do you know what… Do you know about that?"

"We do." Alya nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "There were a lot of things you told us once we all knew each other's identities."

"It didn't make much sense before…" Marinette mused softly. "But Chat Blanc said that… That our love destroyed the world? If that's true, then how did it work out this time?"

Alya pursed her lips together, firmly resolute about not dropping that bomb. Chat Blanc had come about due to Adrien's asshole of a father—but she just couldn't blurt out THAT kind of information!

"Is it because Hawk Moth is gone?" Marinette's question broke through her thoughts.

"What!?" Alya started while Nino's jaw dropped open. "H-how did…? When did you find that out!?"

"You hesitated when I mentioned him yesterday." Marinette moved slowly over the floor, her eyes distant with a far-away look while she rubbed at her chin. "And the only way you could all be heroes again was if Hawk Moth were gone somehow, since he knows all of your identities." She stopped and turned to them. "The future is… really different from how I imagined it."

In the thick quiet of the room that followed, Alya practically jumped to the ceiling when a convincingly human, robotic voice startled them all. "Incoming video call from Alix Kubdel."

"Really, Alix? Now?" Alya groaned before turning toward the speaker in the wall. Obviously, things were getting out of hand with how much her friends' past-selves were finding out, but as annoying as the interruption was, Alya had questions for their time-hopping friend. "Francis, answer that."

"Yo!" Alix's face immediately popped up on the TV screen in the living room, looking like she had not a care in the world—a stark contrast to the jumbled feeling that weighed down over Alya's shoulders. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Nope," Alya grumbled. "You missed all the fun, actually."

"Not doing so hot, keeping all the top-secret future stuff to yourself?" Alix said, an almost playful tone to her voice.

Alya paused at her friend's unusual joy before narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "What do you know that we don't?"

"I mean, I know how to organize a bunch of ancient texts—"

"Alix!" Alya shouted heatedly, agitation tossing out any of her patience, especially when it appeared that Alix knew more about the situation than she was letting on.

"Alright, alright!" Alix winced, but she was grinning, much to Alya's annoyance. "So, I may have figured out that we're all in a very serious time-loop."

"Can you clarify that a little for those of us who don't understand all this timey-wimey stuff?" Alya huffed.

"Urgh, okay. It's like this," Alix said while pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's a bit confusing, since I've been all over the place, but secrets keep getting out, right?" She pointed at the screen, then started up again before Alya could answer. "I thought we had to keep fixing all the issues. Well, not every little detail, but obviously the big stuff like Marinette's baby and such. But no matter what I did, things just kept getting worse."

"'Worse?'" Nino repeated, leaning forward with a worried look. "Worse how?"

Alix pursed her lips together. "Well, nothing was great to begin with… Basically, events would just repeat themselves, and the secret would be out again in no time. Sometimes it was no big deal, others…" she suddenly quieted, scratching at the back of her neck. "Let's just say it wasn't pretty. You'll have to trust me when I say we're on the best path."

"'Best. Path?'" Alya barked as her patience suddenly snapped. "You knew all this was going to happen?"

Alix shrank back from the screen with a wince, her expression tight with what looked like sincere remorse. "C'mon, Alya, our very existence as we know it is on the line. I had to let certain events happen—"

"Marinette could have lost her baby!" Alya furiously shouted, stomping closer to the TV, concern for her friend's safety igniting the heat of her anger. "In fact, she probably did before the miraculous ladybug fixed everything!"

"Hey! I'm not happy about that either!" Alix snapped back. "But the Miraculous cure did fix that, so the baby's good."

"And how can you be so sure?" Alya growled skeptically. "Ad—Mister Bug only just took Marinette to the hospital to make sure."

"Well, it's simple—I know from The Burrow knowledge." Alix wrinkled her nose and shrugged. "But you'll find out from the text."

"What—" Before she could hardly get her question out, Alya's phone dinged.

"That one," Alix said smugly. "You wanna check that?"

"He says Marinette's okay," Nino announced with a smile, having picked up Alya's phone before she could reach for it. "Baby's fine too."

"See," Alix pointed out with a grin. "Good time-line."

"Is there a time-line where I strangle you?" Alya growled. "Because this might be it."

"Babe, I'm not telling you to chill out, but it might not be a good idea to do that," Nino said with a nervous look. Alya turned her glare on him, but when she didn't say anything, he averted his attention to Alix. "Can I ask a question? If this is all just one big time-loop, how come our Marinette doesn't remember any of this happening before?"

"It's most likely because of Foresight," Alix explained. "Once past Marinette uses her Miraculous Ladybug after purifying the akuma, everything should be reset. It makes sense because their past-selves only learned all of this thanks to the akuma's powers. That's the working theory anyway."

"So… I'll just forget everything?" Marinette asked.

"Well…" Alix hesitated.

"'Well,' what?" Alya asked sharply, crossing her arms and arching a single eyebrow.

"I mean, it just feels like a coincidence that it all happened now, right?" Alix motioned toward Marinette. "There might still be some subconscious stuff, even if everything gets erased. Because, y'know, time things happened? Marinette was more cautious after Chat Blanc, because once our Marinette found out who Chat Noir was, she didn't immediately jump into a relationship and destroy the world."

"Jump into a relationship? What makes you think I'd fall for Chat Noir so quickly?" Marinette planted her hands on her hips. "He's not irresistible underneath that mask!" she exclaimed with a huff. Her eyes then shifted to the side, losing a bit of confidence. "Not that… I would know," she mumbled quietly.

Alya immediately covered her mouth with her hands as she struggled to withhold her laughter at the irony of Marinette's statement, her agitation from before subsiding. "Girl! He is totally your type!" she blurted, failing to keep her overwhelming laughter in check.

"No he's not!" Marinette shouted defensively as she spun toward Alya, looking offended that any version of her friend would even think that.

"But thanks to that fight with Chat Blanc, you found out that you fell for him, right?" Alix drawled with a half-lidded expression.

"I… I wasn't sure if that was entirely true," Marinette stammered softly. "It was a different time-line, and he didn't seem to be all there when we fought…" She restlessly tapped her fingers together. "Are we really a couple?" Alya couldn't help the quirk of her lips as she watched a pale blush spread over Marinette's cheeks. "How could he just give up on Ladybug like that?"

"Uh." Nino pointed at her. "Because you are Ladybug?"

Alix laughed. "And you were confusing the poor guy."

"Okay, so now what? Do we just keep looking for Foresight?" Alya asked, trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous topics. Regardless of what Alix mentioned about the futility of keeping their secrets, they couldn't just let anything slip so easily. "Because in all that mess, she managed to get away. Again. How do you catch an akuma that knows you're coming?" she asked curiously.

"That's a part of the time-line Fluff's not too sure about. We don't normally make it this far." With a grimace, Alix turned to look over her shoulder, appearing to be listening to someone else in the room. There was no one there, but Alya suspected Fluff might have had something to say when Alix responded to the silence. "Yes, thank you, I realize we're in a blind-spot."

"What's the situation?" Alya asked, unable to hear or see the kwami on the other end of the call.

"Well..." Alix's eyes moved to Marinette, and everyone else's in the room followed suit. "We might need Mini-bug and Kitten to meet without the masks."

"What!?" Marinette yelped and tugged at her hair in shock, her eyes nearly as wide as saucers.

"Really?" Alya said a little more calmly as she crossed her arms, turning back towards the TV. "That's your big plan for luring out the akuma? To have Ladybug and Chat Noir reveal their identities to each other?" she asked with a dead-panned look.

"Can we talk about how that's a bad idea first?" Marinette tried, shifting uneasily on her feet. "Did everyone forget the conversation we just had about Chat Blanc!? You do know what happens, right?"

"Well, the working theory is that Foresight can't predict the future with Chat Noir and Ladybug," Alix explained while rubbing her forehead. "So trust me, we've got to get you two together, and the details to that are excruciatingly annoying to follow, even for me."

"So the fate of the future rests on whether or not we're dating?" Marinette folded her arms, clearly flabbergasted.

"Not together, together!" Alix threw her arms up. "Just in the same room!" She then shook her head. "Look, I know it doesn't make much sense, but I've seen a few bad-outcomes already. Believe me when I say we're in the best time-line."

"Wait, 'a few?'" Alya asked softly. "How many times have you used The Burrow?"

Alix raised her hands and waved them with a shake of her head. "That's not something I really want to answer, and I'm not going through all of the lousy outcomes just to explain why this is the best option." Her expression grew serious. "Chat Noir and Ladybug together will be stronger, because otherwise, Marinette—our Marinette—will be in serious trouble. Farfalla's really gunning for her this time."

"Is it possible to explain why the villain is so dead-set on attacking me, or would that be too revealing of future information?" Marinette asked, frowning.

Before Alya could even answer, Alix jumped in with a response. "Oh, that's because Lila's super jealous that you're happily married. She was even more upset when news got out that you were pregnant."

A thick silence settled over the room as Alya bristled, her eyes shooting over to Marinette, who wore an expression of complete confusion. "Lila…?" she questioned softly.

While Alya was trying to process a way to steer this into a safer zone of conversation, much to her shock, Alix spoke up again.

"Yeah, she calls herself Farfalla with the butterfly miraculous."

In the absolute stillness of the room, Alya could have heard a pin drop.

"WHAT!?" Marinette's shriek split the quiet.

Tikki mirrored Marinette's alarm, a pure look of dismay and concern spreading across the kwami's face. She zipped closer to the television and demanded, "What do you mean that girl has the butterfly miraculous!?"

Alya spun around to shoot Alix a furious look. "Was that really necessary?"

"What?" Alix raised an eyebrow. "Some of these are like ripping off a band aid."

Alya groaned. "You couldn't have warned us!?"

"B-but…" Marinette stammered, obviously still disoriented by Alix's disturbing news. "How did Lila get the butterfly miraculous!?"

"Félix stole it and gave it to her." Alix looked irritatingly smug while Alya jumped up with a yell, but her friend continued on despite the interruption. "After taking the peacock for himself, of course."

"W-what?" Marinette's face seemed to pale, looking as if she were about to faint. "Isn't that… A-Adrien's cousin…?"

"Yeah, but I can't really explain why he's involved." Alix gave her a simple shrug.

"Sure, good," Alya drawled while massaging her forehead. "It's nice to know you draw the line somewhere."

"Hey, I'm not evil!" Alix shot.

"Uh, Alix? Think you short-circuited her." Nino waved his hand in front of Marinette's face, and for a moment, she didn't react. Not until Tikki flew back around to hover next to her did Marinette suddenly shake her head.

"No... no." Marinette covered her face before dragging her hands down. "I'm just… just trying to process all of that."

"How are you holding up?" Alya asked, stepping around Nino to lean closer to her friend.

"Honestly?" Marinette looked up. "I'm not surprised." She lowered her hands, her shoulders sagging slightly. "So you all… You know about Lila?"

Alya shrugged. "Her lies started to fall apart once I knew who you were. Your best friend spot was already taken, so it was kind of impossible to claim to be Ladybug's when Marinette hates her guts." She pointed at the television screen where Alix quietly observed. "Same goes for the rest of our class once they all knew Ladybug's identity."

"Really, Alya?" Alix snorted. "Way to give that away."

"Oh, bite me!" Alya snapped, spinning toward the TV. "She already knows who she has in mind for the miraculous, because she's the one who picked them all! Luka and Kagami are like, the only ones not in our college class!"

"Alright, alright," Nino stood up and quickly interjected, probably because he didn't want everything to just devolve into another argument. "So we need to get Marinette here and Chat Noir in the same place. Are we doing this tonight?" he asked.

"Not tonight." Alix shook her head. "We'll give our Marinette time to recover, because we're not out of the loop just yet. I'll call them up tomorrow and explain." There was a mischievous glint in her eye that Alya didn't like. "Then the fun begins."