A/N: I'm very excited, I just received one of my two planned commissions for this fic. It's from a future chapter (chapter 5), but if you want a sneak peak, it'll be on my Instagram sometime later today after I post this chapter, when I get the final version! Otherwise I'll let you know where to find it in that chapter next week! Insta handle is ao3_ladynoir_fan !

Adrien returned home after his extra lessons, opening the door to his room to find Shadybug reclined on his computer chair, feet up on the desk as she thumbed through a magazine.

He carefully shut the door, pleased that she had indeed returned. He turned on the speaker he kept near his door, playing music to help block out any noise from reaching the hall. "You came back."

She tossed the magazine to the desk, shooting him a grin. "You're actually a fucking model here, aren't you?"

Adrien's eyes darted to the magazine, which he realized Nathalie must have left under his door. He usually threw them directly away.

Cringing with embarrassment, he responded, "Oh. Yeah. Am I…not in your world?"

She snorted out a laugh. "God no. Your dad tried, but you didn't want to, so he let you be."

"Lucky him," he mumbled, walking over to drop his bag down.

Her amusement quickly soured. "You don't like it? Seems like a dream to be so handsome and admired by all."

He grimaced. "No, it's not. I'd rather have privacy." Something warmed within him at her compliment, however.

"Just tell him you quit."

He sighed, running his hand through his hair as he leaned against his footboard. "I can't. I've tried, but he won't let me. He's threatened to take me out of school, and I can't survive without my friends. He wouldn't let me see them at all if I couldn't go to school. So I just have to finish my latest contract and get out after school is finished."

Shadybug gawked at him before snapping her mouth shut and jumping to her feet. "What a piece of shit. Where is he? I'll let my fist talk some sense into him."

Adrien jumped in front of her. "Whoa, no. I appreciate it, but you're hiding right now, yeah? Plus, he's my father. I'll deal with it."

Shadybug looked down, an odd expression on her face. Adrien realized he'd put his hands on her arms to stop her. He dropped them quickly. "…Sorry." He changed the subject. "So, I saw there was an akuma attack today. How'd that go? Was it…everything you expected?"

A maniacal grin spread across her lips. "Oh, it was a fucking blast. You didn't tell me your butterfly holder was a villain."

Adrien played dumb. "I…what do you mean? Is a different holder the villain in your universe?"

"I am, of course. Me and Claw. And others. But don't you worry Blondilocks, I've got my halo firmly in place over here." She took in his bafflement and shot him a wink. "I'm like an onion: lots of layers."

"Do you…make people cry like an onion too?"

She shot him a smug smile. "Only when I want to. People love me in my world."

"They love a villain?" Adrien's voice held an edge of skepticism.

"Of course they do. Claw and I are fucking amazing."

"Uh huh." Adrien made a mental note to dig into that a bit later. "I thought you didn't like your partner."

Shadybug started walking through his room, openly snooping through his things. It was a good thing he didn't have very much he actually cared about lying around. "That's just what I tell him. He's fine. Gets on my nerves but we make a good team." She walked over to his skate ramp. "This is dope. I want a fucking skate ramp in my bedroom."

Adrien watched her from across the room as he struggled to parse through the conflicting emotions within him. On the one hand, this version of his partner clearly came from some type of villainous background. He didn't get the impression that she was straight up evil, but something had obviously pushed her more to the criminal side of life. On the other hand, it didn't feel like all was lost for her to see the good things in life. He wanted to learn more about her, to try and understand where she came from and how she ended up as she did. Perhaps he could peel back said layers, and discover something hidden underneath.

He cleared his throat, coming back to the present. What had she said? Something about the skate ramp? "Are you thinking of taking up my offer to stay here?"

"I told you I don't need your help." Her expression turned casual as she looked around again. "But your room is pretty cool, so I'll stick around until I find something better. You're lucky to have all this."

The happiness he'd just felt at her acceptance dimmed. "It's just stuff. It would be better if my friends could come over to enjoy it with me."

Shadybug whirled on him. "You have all this shit and you can't even have friends over?"

Adrien nodded numbly. He was used to dealing with the very same reaction from all of his friends over the years, the same outrage on his behalf before they all came to accept the unfortunate fact that Adrien was very limited in his ability to hang out after school.

He could nearly feel the anger radiating off of her from across the room. Her eyes traveled between him and the door as though she were about to make a run for it before she finally calmed down. She looked at him with a calculating gaze before walking to his foosball table. "Well, I'm here now, and I say we make up for lost time." She gave one of the controls a twist before leaning against the table, eyebrow raised in challenge.

"You…want to play?" Adrien couldn't hold back his excitement. He'd come to hate nearly everything in his room over the years, all of it a massive waste of money from a father who couldn't be bothered to spend time with him or let him have company.

Having someone to share it with changed his perspective completely.

Shadybug smirked. "Oh, I don't want to play. I want to crush you into the dirt."

He joined her at the table.

Adrien couldn't remember the last time he had as much fun. Outside of his mask, at least.

Shadybug had a competitive streak that made her vicious (more so than she was usually, that is). She goaded him constantly, though he took it all in stride.

He'd never gotten much chance to hang out quite like this with Ladybug, so he couldn't compare the two of them exactly. The only other person she reminded him of was Marinette, who also had a competitive side when it came to playing games.

After squashing him in foosball —

"How the fuck are you this terrible, Goldie?"

"It's not like I get a lot of practice with another human being!"

— they moved on to his climbing wall. Adrien was quite good at it, even without the advantages his suit provided him.

"Shadybug, you can't leap from the bottom to the top, that's cheating."

"Ugh, fine."

And then the skate ramp, where she teased him for wearing a helmet.

"Hey, safety is important! We don't all wear impervious magical suits all the time."

Eventually Shadybug checked out the books on his bookshelf. "Wow, I'm impressed. You have some of everything here."

Adrien leaned against the side of a shelf, watching her eyes soften as she ran her hand down the line of books. "You like to read?"

"Of course. What else am I gonna do with my time?"

Adrien's heart wrenched at the reminder that it was possible she had no friends. "Shady–"

"Ah-ha!" She ignored him, snatching a book off the bottom shelf and marching past him to jump off the railing to the bottom floor.

Adrien sighed but joined her, heading for the stairs.

They ended up on opposite sides of the couch, Shadybug with her book propped up against her legs and Adrien with the portfolio his father had left in front of him.

As Adrien flipped through the pages, he found himself having trouble staying focused, glancing up at her often to watch her engrossed in the book. She'd refused to show him which one she chose.

The room had grown dark as the sun had set, reminding Adrien that he needed to be a good host. "What can I get for you that you'll need while staying here?"

He received no response from her, though her expression made him think she hadn't heard him. "Shadybug? Hello?" He said the last bit louder, and she jerked her head up.

"What?"

He smiled at her. "You really get focused when you read, don't you?"

She scowled at him. "Yeah. Learned to drown out the chaos around me. What of it?"

Another thread he wanted to pull.

He resisted again, for now. "I asked if I could get anything for you while you stayed here. Clothing? I have some spare toiletries in the bathroom. Do you have a phone or anything with you?"

"No," she said shortly. "If I need anything I'll go get it."

"...Do you have money with you?" She gave him a 'you're being stupid' look, and he sighed. "You mean you'll steal it?"

"Of course."

"...Shadybug, let me help you. It's no trouble. You're here to help Ladybug and Chat Noir, right? They might not be happy if they found out you were stealing in their city."

She scoffed. "They wouldn't find out." The guilt must have shown through on his face, because she took one look at him and groaned. "Oh great, I picked a snitch to stay with."

"I'm not – it's – listen, Shay."

Her voice came out clipped. "Don't call me that."

Taken aback, Adrien tried again. "Okay, what about…Bug?"

"Ew, no."

"Shady, then?"

She relaxed back against the side of the couch. "I'll accept it."

"Shady, maybe it's better to start out on the right side of things here. This is easy for me; I can help you. And hey–" he interrupted her attempt to protest again, "–think of it as a way for me to get at my father. It's mostly his money I'd use, anyway."

She perked up at that. "Well in that case, I'm all in, Buttercup." She yawned. "Not tonight. I'm beat." She snapped her book shut, hiding it behind her body as she leapt over the couch and sauntered away. "I'll take the bed." She dove onto it, immediately getting beneath the blankets.

Adrien nearly laughed at the audacity of it. "Sure, but don't you need to detransform? I can stay away if you do."

Her face peeked out, something mischievous shining through. "You mean if I don't, you'll come join me?"

He felt himself go red. "That's not… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply–"

She snorted out a laugh before winking at him and disappearing again. "I don't detransform to sleep anyway."

"You…don't? Doesn't your…I mean…" He stumbled on his words, not wanting to reveal that he knew Kwamis needed to recharge at times.

"My Kwami and I don't get along very well. I have to keep her shut up most of the time. I'll detransform when you're gone."

"...Oh." That made a sad sort of sense. If the Tikki in her universe didn't approve of her actions…

But he started wondering what her life looked like. Was she in school, or working, or…something else?

More questions to be added to his mental folder.

He opened his mouth to ask her another question, but the sound of soft snores reached his ears, changing his mind. He walked to the bathroom instead.

Plagg finally came out of hiding as Adrien turned on the shower just in case Shadybug woke up. "Well?"

Adrien leaned his forearms on the bathroom sink, staring at nothing in particular. "I had a lot of fun with her today. You should have seen her during the fight; she was amazing."

"This sure sounds familiar," Plagg grumbled. "I was asking if the evil Ladybug might stay on our side, not about your lovey dovey feelings."

Adrien scowled at the Kwami. "There was nothing lovey dovey about what I said. And she's not evil, Plagg, just…misguided, I think. I need to figure out how to get her to open up to me. I don't believe she's in a good spot back in her world. I think I can help her see things can be better on the side of good."

Plagg groaned. "Yep, you're a goner. She hasn't even been here a day and you're already head over cheese for her."

Adrien responded with exasperation. "That's ridiculous."

"Says the guy who fell for Ladybug the first time you met her, too."

"...Fair." Adrien started getting ready. "I'm not an idiot, Plagg. I can handle myself."

"Uh huh."

Adrien tossed a towel at his Kwami.

The next morning, Adrien woke up curled on the couch. He stood up to get ready for school, glancing over to see his visitor still asleep, sprawled amongst the blankets.

Hiding in the shower, Adrien transformed to check his communicator.

One message from Ladybug that morning. "Let's meet up for a patrol tonight at nine. Shadybug, here's the location; we can discuss more tonight."

Transforming back, Adrien returned to the bedroom and realized he was going to have to wake her up to make sure she knew where things were when he went to school.

He coughed a few times, hoping that would be enough. When she didn't stir, he got louder, calling her name, until he finally reached over the end of the bed to find her foot to shake.

She woke with a disoriented motion, her arms flailing slightly before launching something right at him.

Adrien managed to dodge to the left, but the yo-yo clipped him in the side. He winced slightly.

Her eyes looked wild for a second, like she didn't know where she was, before awareness finally creeped back in. "Oh, it's just you." Her hair was a wreck, though her magical makeup remained flawless.

"I have to head to school," he said. "I wanted to show you where your things were and where I keep some extra food, plus give you money for clothes and whatever else you needed."

She let out a groan, collapsing back to his pillow. "Whatever, I don't care."

Adrien walked to the side of the bed. "The toiletries are in the top drawer in the bathroom, as well as some money. I'll bring you something to eat when I get breakfast. What would you like?"

She didn't respond right away, making Adrien think she might have fallen back asleep. Then her voice came out in a grumble. "What do you have? Surprised your dad gives you more than gruel."

"Gruel has too many calories for a model's diet," he joked.

Apparently she missed the joke as she sat back up, her eyes narrowed. "You're on a diet?"

His humor died away as he lifted a hand to the back of his neck. "I was kidding, but I mean, yeah I am. Part of the job."

"A job you hate."

Adrien didn't answer.

She glared at him before getting to her feet, striding for the bathroom. "Get me a muffin or something. The more carbs the better." She slammed the door shut.

Shadybug listened to the sound of the door to the room closing.

"Tikki, spots off."

Marinette glared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a rat's nest, even more so than it had been a moment ago. Her face was streaked with old black makeup, dark rings underneath both eyes and filling out the hollows beneath her cheekbones.

Tikki collapsed onto the counter.

Ah, fuck, she forgot to grab something for her Kwami to eat before detransforming. Now she'd have to wait for Blondie to come back.

She opened up the drawers on the vanity, rifling through until she remembered he'd said the top one.

Inside was a tube of toothpaste, toothbrush, hair brush, deodorant, and a small pile of snacks. Ignoring the money beneath the pile, she looked through the food. She saw peanut butter crackers, sunflower seeds, an energy bar…

…and a small pack of cookies.

She tore the package open, tossing one down on the counter beside the exhausted Kwami, who rolled over and immediately started in on it. Marinette ate the other one and followed up with half the energy bar, guzzling water from the tap to wash it all down. Her stomach protested, so she threw the rest of the energy bar in the trash.

Apparently energized enough to talk, Tikki spoke up. "Marinette, you should shower. Look how big it is!"

Marinette heard the cajolement in her tone, but couldn't resist a glance at the admittedly impressive shower.

She was almost tempted.

Slamming the drawer shut, she avoided looking at the mirror again as she turned around. "Are you done yet, insect?"

Tikki picked herself up and flew over, her expression pleading. "You need to take more breaks, Marinette. You can't handle this. You need to eat more—"

"My name is Shadybug. I don't give a shit about Marinette."

Tikki sighed before perking up. "I'm so proud of you for fighting with the heroes here in this universe!"

"Don't get used to it. I'm only doing it to have fun kicking another butterfly holder's ass."

"Hmm." Tikki landed on the towel bar across from her. "You've been here a day and seem to be doing better than you have in a long time." The Kwami gave her an innocent look. "I like that boy. You should stick around him."

Shady heard the door open outside the bedroom and quickly transformed again, pulling the Kwami back into her earrings. She waited, listening at the door.

After a couple minutes, she heard his voice. "Hey, Shady? I'm heading to school. There's a spare phone out here with my number, if you need anything." It went quiet for a few seconds, as though he were waiting, but then the sound of the door closing reached her. She let out a breath, confusing thoughts swirling within her that she promptly pushed away before walking back in the room, seeing a blueberry muffin and a pancake on a plate.

She snatched the muffin. "Blueberry? Gross." She took a bite, followed by another, and another, until she had demolished it. Not that it helped her much, since she was transformed. But it tasted delicious.

Shadybug contemplated her plans.

After following Blondie the day before, she knew where his school was and didn't bother to trail him again. Instead, she decided she would do something else with her time; following his piece-of-shit father.

A/N: Starting to delve more into things now. What do you think of this chapter?