She was being a coward and Marinette knew it, Adrien was fine with her telling people that Gabriel had been Monarch, but she still didn't feel right about it, still she knew now that she'd agreed she was expected to actually do it. She'd decided to ask Emilie her thoughts on it, but honestly, even she knew she was stalling for time at this point.
She really should have just told people when it first happened. If she did it now, she'd also be asked why she hid it for this long. There was a lot she should have done differently, but she couldn't change things now she just had to focus on setting things right.
She'd tell Emilie about Gabriel privately and then go public with it, and after that, she wasn't sure what would happen. The people of Paris wouldn't be happy about her hiding; she kept quiet about it, the Police even less so, a masked vigilante protecting a criminal's identity? It's not a good look.
Still, she had to do it. She knew if she sat here overthinking it, she'd talk herself out of doing it in the first place. So here she was atop the roof of the agreste mansion attempting to figure out the best way to get in. She could just knock, of course. She had a feeling they wouldn't turn Ladybug away, but what Adrien said about Nathalie possibly being involved with Hawkmoth had put her off that idea. Would Nathalie even be there this late? She wasn't sure but decided not to risk it.
She had to be more discreet. Thankfully, she'd been here enough times to find a way in without too much trouble. But she had to avoid being seen. It's not easy when you dress the way she does, which was why she'd chosen to come at night. It was around 9:30 pm late enough that any staff would be gone but not so late she'd already be asleep.
She would find Emilie in what had been Gabriel's office, just looking out the window, she looked tired like she hadn't been sleeping. She turned when she heard Ladybug clear her throat.
"Oh, Ladybug, right? What brings you here?" She seemed awfully calm about a stranger being in her home, albeit a well regarded stranger.
"It's about the rumours surrounding your husband. Unfortunately, they're true. I'm sorry." Ladybug closed her eyes she was sure this would be harder for Emilie to accept than it had been for Adrien.
"I hoped he wouldn't use it, but I had my suspicions, that is just like him…" Emile sighed as she sat down, pouring herself a glass of water. "He never was one to accept when he couldn't change something." She watched the water fill the glass before looking back up at Ladybug.
"You knew he had the Butterfly Miraculous?" Ladybug seemed surprised not that it really mattered.
"Of course Nathalie, Gabriel, and myself found them together after all, though if you were hoping for more information about him, I'm afraid I won't be of much use." She added in an apologetic tone before taking a sip of her drink. "For me, it's like I've skipped ahead 2 years. I'm not well informed on what happened in the interim."
Nathalie being with them when they found the miraculous all but confirmed she was involved somehow, Ladybug had been right to avoid her.
"If you knew, why haven't you said anything?"
"Well, why haven't you?" Ladybug didn't have an answer for that one, but thankfully, Emilie spoke up before she had to think of one. "I had a feeling you knew, and I assumed you had a good reason for not telling people, so I chose to keep it to myself. But if you were holding back on account of Adrien and myself, I assure you, you don't have to worry."
"Adrien told me the same thing." Ladybug sighed in defeat. She couldn't keep making excuses for herself, not to tell people part of her had hoped Emilie would ask her to keep this a secret.
"You told Adrien about this?"
"He asked me. He already had his suspicions, though, given the rumours."
"I should have seen that coming he always has been quick," She replied with a sad smile. "I'll have to speak to him about it in the morning."
"He didn't really react when I told him he was right, but I think it's bothering him more than he lets on. Just make sure he's okay for me, okay? I've gotta get going, thank you, Mrs Agreste'' and with that, Ladybug was gone into the night. She had to think about how best to make this announcement. But that could wait until she'd had a night's rest. These past few days had been exhausting.
It was a Saturday, and she had most of her homework done already, so she had the day to herself for the most part. So she had nothing but time to think of how best to tell the public Hawkmoth's identity, but she didn't come up with anything all day, or the next day, or the one after that, a week passed and still nothing.
She may have been procrastinating. Every idea she thought up, she thought of about 10 reasons it wouldn't work. Get Alya to post it on the Ladyblog? Not everyone would see it, Tell Nadja? She didn't exactly trust her journalistic integrity after she tried to push the narrative that her and Chat were a couple.
Maybe if she had someone else's input, her mind initially went to Alya but she decided against it, if Alya knew she was going to go public with it she'd want to put it on the Ladyblog and she'd already rejected that idea. Who else was there? Well, it was a long shot. He was pretty mad at her, but she decided to try and ask Chat.
Ladybug: Can we talk?
She decided to message him, but she wasn't convinced he'd respond, and he almost didn't but decided he could at least ask what it was about.
Chat Noir: About?
Ladybug: Gabriel Agreste, you were right, and I've decided to tell the public his identity, but I'm struggling to think of the best way to do it.
She was making an effort, at least Chat Mused. He was still a little angry with her about hiding it, but he felt obligated to try and meet her halfway.
Chat Noir: When and Where?
They agreed to meet up on a rooftop in the quieter side of town just after 9:30, that late hopefully nobody would see them, she wanted this conversation to be as close to private as possible.
When Ladybug arrived, Chat was there first. He didn't move to greet her outside of acknowledging that she had arrived. He didn't seem to be here to talk. "So you wanted my thoughts on how to announce it?"
Ladybug nodded, but she was hesitant to approach she didn't want to overstep, but still, at least, he was talking to her. "It needs to come from a reputable source that everyone will see."
"Right." Chat's remark was quick and lacked his usual friendly tone. He sat down on the edge of the rooftop dangling his legs over the edge. "How about Mayor Bustier? I'm sure she'd agree to let people know. She'd probably even let you do it."
"That could work, but do you think this new Hawkmoth might try to crash the announcement? Can we take that risk?"
"Have some of the other Heroes on standby then." Normally, he would have made some cocky remark about being enough to scare off any Akuma's, but he wasn't in the mood.
"And after that… What about me and you? Can we be friends again?" She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.
He narrowed his eyes at her before getting up. "I don't know." He understood why she'd hidden it from people, of course, but that didn't mean he thought she'd made the right call.
"Do you hate me?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper as if she was afraid to ask.
"I don't think so." He wasn't really sure. Did he hate her? No, that was too strong of a word. It was more like irritation. Things he used to like about her now seemed to annoy him to no end, and he hated that feeling.
Her confidence that he used to admire? Now, it felt like she thought he was better than him. Her clumsiness he once found endearing? Now, it felt like incompetence. Even her voice started to grate on him.
But no, he didn't hate her. Perhaps he couldn't hate her?
Ladybug was just relieved that he had said no, or he didn't think he did? Still better than a hard 'Yes'
"Sixto Rodriguez said 'Hate is too strong of an emotion to waste on someone you don't like' I don't hate you Ladybug, you had your reasons for hiding it, even if I don't agree, they were understandable, but strong Friendships are built on mutual trust. So until you're ready to trust me, we can't be friends." He said his peace before turning to leave, looking back at her for a moment. "Get home safe, Ladybug."
Once he was out of sight she sat down on the rooftop just thinking, she thought about how she got her miraculous, she thought about meeting Fu and how she'd wanted to tell Chat about it but she was told not to. Maybe that was when it had started?
If Fu hadn't insisted she keep everything a secret maybe she wouldn't be having these problems now, No it wasn't fair to Blame Fu he was only teaching her what had worked for him, it had taken her a while to realise that sort of thing wouldn't work for her.
She needed to be more open with him, not about her personal life obviously but anything concerning the miraculous, he has a right to know he's the only one who'd been doing this as long as she had.
What neither of the pair had realised was that there had been a third party observing the conversation from afar.
A young girl clad in a purple suit with a silver mask, Lila had decided to be a little more… proactive than her predecessor. She wasn't going to actually try and fight them herself for the time being. Oh no. That would be foolish.
They both had far more experience than she did. She couldn't win even with the element of surprise. But she could spy on them and look for any points of weakness in this 'infallible duo'
So when she started to see chatter on social media about Ladybug and Chat Noir skulking around the rooftops of this part of the city, she decided it would be a good opportunity to gather some information and she was confident what she'd found would be useful no doubt they wouldn't be as effective a team if they couldn't get along. She just needed a way to drive the wedge even further between them.
Still, her benefactor would not be happy about Ladybug going public with Gabriel's identity; she really would have to interrupt that announcement somehow.
And that's it for now. Who's this benefactor Lila mentioned? Spoiler is an already established character, I personally don't like to insert Oc's into stories, and I especially don't like giving Oc's important roles
Anyway, I kinda got off topic there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Be sure to leave a review. I'll be sure to read it, and I may respond to them if that's something you'd be interested in? Let me know anyway, that's all C Ya.