Chat Noir landed on his feet as the ladybug cure released him. He looked around, confused for a moment before the memories filtered back though.

Relief hit him in a wave.

She did it. She broke free.

It didn't take long for that relief to shift to worry. What if he was somehow wrong? He took off towards the apartment, hoping Shay would be there.

Instead, he found Ladybug exiting the door with a shake of her head. "She's not here. What happened today?"

Chat grimaced. "Some paparazzi found us leaving her appointment. She was nearly akumatized afterwards, but she fought it off. She seemed to be fine afterwards, and insisted I go to class. I shouldn't have listened. But I've been watching the news and the story hasn't surfaced. I don't know if something else happened while I was gone. She said something about my father—"

A beeping noise from his baton distracted him. He took it out, relieved to see it was a message from Shadybug.

"There's another akuma attack," Ladybug said, looking at her own communicator. "You don't think that's still her do you?"

Chat didn't respond, his eyes glued to the screen on the message from Shay.

I'm sorry. I let him get to me, but he made a mistake. Your dad is Shadow Moth. I'm going after him. Go distract the akuma for me.

"Chat, what is it?"

He stared at the words, trying to comprehend.

His own father…

A blinking icon on the screen caught his eye. There was a video attached to the message.

Feeling numb, Chat hit play as Ladybug came to his side.

Blackness covered the screen, but they could hear voices in the background.

As he listened, Chat quickly understood that his father had come to the apartment, apparently to talk to Shay after discovering the photos of the two of them.

The longer his father talked, the harder Chat gripped his baton.

Shay's responses were few, but as she grew quieter, Adrien realized that his father had somehow hit upon actual fears of hers.

By the time the audio cut out, Chat wanted nothing more than to throw the baton across the street, as though that would protect Shay from the words his father spewed out at her.

His hand shook as he lowered the screen back into his weapon, the anger within him quickly growing. "She went after him alone. We have to go."

He looked up to see Ladybug's outraged expression as she looked down where the screen had been. "How fucking dare he? He said all of that to purposefully akumatize her."

Chat growled. "I'm sure he believed every word of it. He's so arrogant to think he knows me, but he doesn't know the first thing about me. Of course he's Shadow Moth."

He took a step forward but Ladybug stopped him. "Let's take out the akuma first. Shadybug is right; we can distract him more by showing up. Then we'll find her."

"I don't like that plan," he responded testily. His father was not only Shadow Moth, but he'd also gone after the woman he loved, and akumatized her. While she was pregnant.

He needed to go after him.

Ladybug pulled up her yo-yo, showing him the message that just appeared.

I found him. Finish the akuma and I'll take him down when he doesn't expect it.

If it had been anything else, Chat would have ignored it. But she was already there, and he had to do the best he could to distract him from here. He reluctantly followed his partner, directing his anger at the akuma instead.

Shadybug barely resisted her urge to bust through the front door of the Agreste mansion to demand that Shadow Moth come out and face her.

Instead, she swung through a familiar window to land inside Adrien's old room, moving quietly through the house.

Though she knew it was possible the man used a different location as his base of operations, she doubted he ventured far from home, given his reputation as a recluse.

Besides, perhaps Bunnilark had indeed placed her in this universe exactly where Shadybug had requested: the villain's lair. She just happened upon Adrien before finding it.

Her anger continuing to roil through her, Shady made her way into Gabriel's office, dodging Nathalie along the way.

Once inside she explored the room, searching for some kind of secret entrance.

After having no luck on her first attempt, she came to stand in front of the painting on the wall. When she had tailed Gabriel long before, he had spent a strange amount of time standing in front of the portrait of his wife. She had thought it very odd, especially since most of the time he spent with his eyes closed tight in concentration.

Shady stood in the spot, looking around carefully. Perhaps the man had just been obsessed with his dead wife?

Something caught her eye: an indentation in the painting that seemed not quite right. Walking closer, she noticed more of the strange spots. She pressed one, but nothing happened. Trying different combinations only increased her frustration, until she smashed them all down at the same time.

The floor moved beneath her.

"Fucking finally," she muttered, crouching carefully on the small moving section to keep a low profile.

She lowered into a cavernous basement, keeping her eyes peeled for any hint of Shadow Moth. By the time she reached the floor, she concluded he wasn't there.

She kept to the walls, moving through the room. A tomb-like object stood at the end of a walkway, illuminated by a spotlight.

Despite knowing it could easily be a trap, Shady swung over to it, dropping down and pressing a button.

The object lit up, the glass covering clearing to reveal a woman inside.

Shadybug hissed out a curse and backed up several steps.

Fuck. This was a level of obsession Shady hadn't been prepared for. Keeping your dead wife preserved in the basement?

She quickly hit the button again, obscuring her figure. She desperately hoped that Adrien didn't see this if he ended up following behind.

Spotting an elevator in the corner, she headed for it, prying the doors open with her hands. Then she scaled the walls as she headed up.

She began to hear a voice as she approached the top of the shaft, Shadow Moth's angry tones filtering through the metal.

Got you, dickhead.

She climbed back down, waiting out of sight. She typed out instructions quickly on her yo-yo as she waited.

Some time later, the elevator began moving and Shady prepared to attack. When the doors opened, however, no one walked out.

Then Shadow Moth darted forward, catching Shadybug by surprise with his speed. She blocked his attack with her yo-yo string, redirecting his cane out of her way.

"I thought I heard someone sneaking around," he said, voice incensed. "How did you find me?"

Shady attacked relentlessly, her anger erupting out of her. "You're a fucking piece of shit," she snarled, trying to swing behind him only for him to use his cane once again to snag up her string.

"I can feel your hatred, but it only strengthens me." As if to prove it, he brought down a heavy hit on her, catching the edge of her hip before she jumped away again. She shook it off, used to dealing with minor pains. The moment they were separated by distance, he narrowed his eyes at her. "Hold on, you're the one who's attached herself to my son, aren't you? That's how you found me. Why didn't I sense that when I had you in my control?"

"Because I'm better than you, obviously. Had my earrings within your grasp and you still managed to lose them as you always do. Because you're the failure and the drain on Adrien, not me."

They closed in on one another again, his skill with his cane continuing to keep her from trapping him.

"I'm the one trying to bring my family back together," he snarled. "You're the one trying to destroy it."

"Seems like you did a fine job of fucking up your family long before I arrived to kick your ass. Why do you keep your dead wife locked in your basement, you fucking psycho?"

"She's not gone," he hissed. "I need the miraculous to make my wish and bring her out of her magical coma."

It took Shadybug a moment to process that one. "And the fact that someone would be taken in her place doesn't bother you I guess?"

They circled one another, both hesitating to make another move.

"I would do anything for the good of my family."

She let out a laugh that echoed through the basement. "He will hate you when he finds out what you've been doing."

"When I succeed, he won't even know what I had to do. What I'm doing is right. Just as everything I told you earlier today was correct. You're wrong for him."

Shadybug steeled herself, not allowing the attempted mental hit to land this time, reattacking with her yo-yo once again as she continued her plan to make him underestimate her. "Even if you are right about me, it doesn't matter because he'll still hate you for it."

Shadow Moth caught the string once again and pulled hard on it, yanking her forward. A manic grin appeared on his face. "Then it's a good thing I'm going to take you out now and remove the problem from his life and my own in one fell swoop."

Another voice interrupted. "I don't fucking think so."

Chat Noir leapt off the lowering elevator, landing with a loud thump next to them, Ladybug following close behind.

Shadybug used the distraction to take the final step of her own plan, abandoning her yo-yo to rush at and take down the surprised villain in a Jiu-Jitsu move.

With the man cursing but immobilized beneath her, Shadybug looked up at her teammates. "Thanks for the help, but I had it in the bag."

When Ladybug walked over, Shady felt a moment of hesitation as she held Shadow Moth down.

Was it really too late to go back to doing villain shit? Because her desire to kill the man was at an all time high.

Reluctantly, Shady turned him over to her, despite wanting to smash in his face with her fist for good measure.

Ladybug tied him up with her own weapon, taking both of the miraculous jewels off his suit.

Chat came to stand beside her, the barely-contained fury in his expression making it clear that he shared her desire to punch the man. Instead, he gripped her hand tightly in his as the two of them stared down at the now-detransformed Gabriel Agreste.

Ladybug roughly yanked the man up to his knees. "Your days of terrorizing Paris are over."

"Why?" Chat demanded. "Why would you do all of this?"

Faced with his defeat, Gabriel had gained a crazed and desperate gleam in his eyes. "I did everything for my family! I deserve that wish." His eyes snapped to Shady and Chat's hands, his expression derailing further. "I knew you were only manipulating my son."

Of course the prick would choose to believe she was fucking over Adrien rather than the obvious truth that he stood beside her.

For the fun of it, she merely smirked at him, causing the man's face to turn purple.

Chat took a step forward, but Shady squeezed his hand causing him to look back. "It's his wife, Chat." Her eyes darted to the coffin. "She's down here."

Chat's face drained of color. "What?"

Grimly, Shady walked over to the machine, Chat and Ladybug following and leaving Gabriel tied up behind.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to Adrien before she hit the button, revealing the frozen woman beneath the glass.

Ladybug gasped. "Oh my god."

"He told me she's in a magical coma," Shady said, her eyes on Chat's unmoving form.

As he continued to stare, Ladybug twisted back around. "What happened to her?"

Gabriel struggled uselessly against his bindings. "Just give me your miraculous and I can bring her back. I've sacrificed everything for this moment!"

"Including your own son." Chat's voice was low.

"My son won't know what I've had to do to bring his mother back." The man finally went still, slumping forward slightly. "She used the broken peacock miraculous too many times and fell into this state. Nothing I've tried has worked."

Ladybug's voice was angry as she responded, "Didn't it ever occur to you that you could just ask us for help? That you didn't need to attack Paris?" She met Shady's eyes. "Let's get him out of here." Directed at Gabriel, she said, "We'll do what we can for your wife, but you must be held accountable for your actions."

Shady put a hand on Chat's shoulder. "We'll take him in. You should stay with her, if you need a moment." She found it easy to forget her own problems as long as there was something else to focus on. Chat squeezed her hand before she turned and followed Ladybug.

As the two of them escorted him out, Shady conjured up an unlucky charm. She stuffed the gag that appeared in Gabriel's mouth to shut up his ranting, only removing it once they had left him at the police station.

Landing back in front of the mansion, Ladybug turned to Shady. "Hey. Are you doing okay?"

Shadybug continued moving forward, heading inside. "I don't know. Not ready to unpack any of my shit right now. Let's go help Sunshine first."

When they re-entered the basement, Chat Noir was sitting on the ground against the machine.

Ladybug walked up to him first as he stood, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Adrien, I'm so sorry."

He hugged her back and then moved away, his eyes red. "Is there anything we can do for her?"

Ladybug looked determined as she moved towards the glass case.

Chat turned to Shadybug, some of his desperation disappearing. He took two steps forward before she was against his chest, his arms securely around her. "Shay," he whispered. "Are you–"

Before he could say anything else, she cut in. "Let's talk about it later, Buttercup. This is more important."

"I'm not sure I agree," he said, looking down as he let her go, "but I won't argue." He leaned down and kissed her quickly but intensely. "I love you, Shay. Don't forget that."

"Tikki, spots off." Shadybug turned around as Marinette detransformed. She and Adrien walked over to stand beside her next to the glass. "What do you think, Tikki?"

Adrien's mom seemed as though she was merely asleep, on the verge of opening her eyes at any moment.

The Kwami flew directly through the glass to land lightly on the woman's chest. After a few moments, Tikki floated back out, a somber look on her face. "Her soul is too damaged for my power alone to heal."

Chat slumped beside her, his hands leaning down on the glass to keep himself up.

Shadybug frowned at the Kwami, who was giving her a peculiar look that seemed at odds with the disappointing statement. "What do you mean, your power alone?"

"This type of deterioration requires a magical fix that is beyond my own ability. The power of the wish is unfortunately one possibility, as Adrien's father suggested."

Tapping the glass absently, Shady looked between Adrien's defeated expression and the Kwami's strangely-innocent one. "When you say yours alone… what about me? What if Ladybug and I both could combine our powers?"

A small smile appeared on Tikki's face. "I'm not supposed to make suggestions regarding the mixing of multiple universes, at least not when it comes to the powers of the twin miraculous."

Adrien's head shot up. "Are you saying it might work? You both could wake her up?"

Marinette stepped forward, meeting Shady's eyes. "If one miraculous cure isn't enough to heal her, perhaps if we tried both of ours together…" Tikki didn't answer, but her smile gave Shady hope. Marinette leaned down, taking Tikki in her hands and bringing her to her cheek. "Thank you, Tikki."

"I have made no suggestions," Tikki said cheerfully.

Marinette transformed and together, they both called for a lucky charm. Ladybug caught a small first aid kit, and Shadybug a handheld mirror.

Shay stared at her reflection for just a moment before wrapping her fingers around it, covering her face from view.

They threw them up in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A swarm of ladybugs surrounded the three of them, passing over the glass coffin and disappearing out of the room.

A moment passed as they all stared down at the motionless woman.

Nothing happened.

Shadybug clenched her fist, staring down at her empty hand. She'd used her lucky charm, but it wasn't really her true power. Lucky charms had always brought her something that Tikki had chosen and thought would help out in whatever situation that came up.

Shadybug had discovered her own version of the power early on, a way to create exactly what she wanted. She'd always been good at that, good at at picking out exactly the tool she needed in the moment. Not that she was better than Tikki, not at all. More that it was a version of the power that had allowed her to tap into the one area of confidence she had developed for herself over the years.

Perhaps it was this version of created luck that was needed instead.

She met Ladybug's gaze. "Again. Unlucky Charm!" A black umbrella with red spots fell into her hands as Ladybug called hers once more beside her. Shady gripped it tightly before meeting Ladybug's gaze. "Ready?"

This time when they called for their cure, the mass of red ladybugs combined together with Shadybug's black ones, filling up the case before heading upwards through the ceiling.

Beneath the glass, Emilie Agreste's eyes opened.

"Mom!" Adrien choked out, scrambling to open the control box. The glass top slid away as Emilie blinked, her hand slowly moving to her head. Adrien reached in, taking her hand and helping her sit up.

"Adrien? Sweetheart, is that you?" She reached up to touch his mask.

"Mom, I can't believe you're alive!" Tears streamed down his face as he hugged her.

"Oh, sweetie." Emilie moved her hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to leave you. You're wearing a miraculous, aren't you?"

Chat froze for a moment before moving back to help her get out of the case. She stood easily, no signs of her years-long coma showing through thanks to the cure. Chat turned toward the two of them waiting behind him. "Mom, this is the rest of my team. Ladybug–" she offered a small wave, "and this is Shadybug." Shady gave a nervous smile.

Emilie gave both of them warm smiles in return before looking back at her son. "And you?"

He stood just a little straighter. "Chat Noir, at your service."

Ladybug stepped closer. "Mme Agreste, we are quite shocked to find you, to be honest. Everyone thought you died years ago. Unfortunately, there are some things you need to be made aware of. Your husband, Adrien's father, he…"

When she hesitated, Chat took over. "Father has done some awful things in his attempts to save you. He's hurt a lot of people. We finally caught him today; that's how we found you and were able to bring you back."

Pain filled Emilie's face. "Oh no, I told him he needed to let me go. I'm so sorry."

Chat let out a huff of air. "He's been terrorizing Paris with the butterfly miraculous for the past five years. I didn't know it was him until today. I still haven't really processed it. Sorry to throw it at you, but you need to know why he's not here right now. He still doesn't know about me, that I've been using the black cat miraculous."

A smile made it through the sorrow in her expression. "Of course my boy would be a hero. I'm so proud of you."

Chat lips trembled slightly as they turned up at the corners. "There's a lot to tell you, Mom. So much has happened." He looked over at Shady, who met his glance with a tight smile before crossing her arms and turning away, a lump in her throat.

"Let's get you back upstairs and comfortable, Mme Agreste."

"Please, call me Emilie."

Ladybug led them all back to the small platform which they rode back up in pairs.

As Shady waited with Ladybug, she asked, "We're sure she's not on the same side as his dad? You think it's safe?"

Ladybug frowned. "I think we may need to follow Adrien on that one. There are no other miraculous unaccounted for, so I don't think there's a huge risk."

Upstairs, Chat fussed over her for a few minutes before they left her in her old room, which apparently hadn't been touched very much since her supposed death. "I'll be back, Mom. I have some things to work out after today. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

He shut the door, letting out a deep breath as he turned to face the other two.

Ladybug walked over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to go back to the station to figure out what else we need to do about your father. You two should stay for now. I'll let you know if anything pops up."

Chat brought his hand up to hers and squeezed. "Thanks, LB."

Ladybug walked over to Shady, surprising her with a quick hug. "I'm glad you're okay, Shay. Don't take any stock in what he said to you, alright?"

Shady stayed quiet until she released her. Ladybug nodded seriously at her before turning around and leaving.

Chat walked to her, taking one of her hands. "Hey. Can we talk?"

Shady nodded, following him across the house into his old room.

Adrien detransformed, sitting on his mattress. Shady sat beside him, and he immediately took her hand in his. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with my father today. I should have been there."

She shook her head slowly, carefully prying open the barrier behind which she'd shoved all of her problems in her mind. "Maybe he was right."

Adrien responded quickly, with a hint of desperation. "No. You have to believe I love you—"

"That's not the part I meant," she said. "I know that you do, for whatever reason. I meant that there are better people out there for you than me. People that won't make your life as complicated as I would. I'm not exactly a media-friendly girlfriend."

Adrien took both of her hands in his. "I don't care what anyone else thinks about us."

She sighed. "That seems a bit naive, Blondie. We won't be able to live in a bubble." She stared down into her lap. "You're one in a million, Sunshine. I know you think you love me, but part of me is waiting for you to realize you scraped the bottom of the barrel with me."

Intensity filled his voice. "You don't have an accurate view of yourself, Shay. You're incredible, even if you don't see it. You're tough, courageous, relentless when defending those you care about. You pushed me to stand up for myself when I didn't think it was possible. You're inspiring, Shay. It's all part of why I love you." He reached over, tilting her chin up to meet her gaze. "I'm not perfect. Not even close. We all have our flaws. It's just about finding someone who's broken pieces match up with our own."

Shay felt her emotions building up within her at his words. She finally detransformed, leaning over to lay her head on his shoulder as he brushed his fingers through her hair.

Whispering against Adrien's neck, Shay said, "I thought I was doing better. But all it took was a few reminders of my own feelings I've kept buried and everything came back out." Adrien's hands continued their soothing movements. With a sigh of defeat, she finally said, "I think I may need that shrink after all."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Think I need to figure out how to like myself before I can finally accept that other people might, as well."

He leaned back, smiling down at her. "That seems like a good plan."

Shay let her hand drop to her stomach, cradling the bump. "Might as well do what I can. Gotta be the best version of myself for her, too."

Adrien's hand joined hers. "My father wasn't completely wrong, you know." Shay tensed slightly before relaxing as she looked over at the soft look on his face. "He was wrong about you, but not about her. I do love her, already. There isn't a lot I wouldn't do for her. But she's an unexpected surprise and did nothing to change how I feel about you. I wouldn't be happier with anyone else than I am with you, Shay. I'm never letting you go."

"So sappy." She unsuccessfully fought back her grin. "But you're my sap, Buttercup, so don't ever change that."

He pulled her against him, holding her tightly.

Shay stayed in Adrien's room after he left to go spend time with his mother. There wasn't much point in going back to the apartment, so she picked out a book from those that remained on the many bookshelves and read.

The police came by and took Nathalie away for questioning, from what Marinette informed her via text. They had apparently wanted to speak with Adrien's mother as well, but Ladybug had convinced them to wait until the next day to give her time to reacquaint herself with her son.

After a few hours of reading, evening fell and Adrien came back into the room, a nervous expression on his face. "Shay, I'd like to introduce the two of you. Would that be okay?" Despite the nervousness, he seemed eager, and Shady didn't want to disappoint him. Even if the last thing she wanted was to face another parent after her meeting with the first had gone quite poorly earlier that day.

She placed her book back up on the shelf. "What did you tell her about me?"

"That I fell in love with someone and we're having a baby together."

"Nothing about who I am?"

He shrugged. "I didn't want to tell her anything else without your input."

They made it to her door. Shay took a steadying breath before holding herself straight and following Adrien into the room.

Emilie was sitting in a comfortable-looking chair in a small sitting area of the room. As soon as she met Shay's eyes, the woman's face brightened, her smile wide and eyes crinkled. "Oh my, you must be her. What is your name, my dear? I am so thrilled to meet you."

"It's good to meet you, Mme Agreste." She glanced over at Adrien, who nodded in encouragement. "I'm Shay."

Emilie beamed at her. "Hello, Shay. I am so excited to get to know the young woman my son has given his heart to."

Shay couldn't help but smile back.

A/N: And to think I originally thought about cheating my way to defeating Shadow Moth by having Shay just discover him while following Gabriel around. XD I'm really quite satisfied with this way instead.

I really wanted Adrien to have more of a hand in taking down his father, but Shadybug would hear none of it haha.

Only one chapter left! Can't believe it, shoot me a review if you like so far!