Ch19
The next while doing her duties in the bakery Marinette noticed a familiar red head enter. "Hey Nathaniel!"
Her former classmate looked at her and nodded. His gaze had a youthful appearance to them despite looking tired. "H-Hey Marinette. Just a coffee today."
"Sure thing." She quickly rang him up. "It was nice seeing you and Marc at the reunion."
It may have been her imagination but Nathaniel froze for a moment and avoided her gaze. "Uh yeah. It was nice seeing you too."
"How are you guys? Everything ok?" She asked as she handed him his coffee.
Nathaniel nodded his gaze darting around. "Oh they're ok. Marc can be difficult at times."
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? I always thought you two were made for each other."
For a moment the color drained from Nathaniel's face as he avoided her gaze and sipped his coffee. "Oh its just that he can be a little demanding. I um have to go, it was nice seeing you."
"You too!" She waved at him as he left.
A pang of sorrow hit her as she watched Nathaniel leave into the Parisian morning. Whatever is going on with you I hope you get better. It was a small nagging feeling but she had a gut feeling that something wasn't right in Nathaniel's life and it had to do with his relationship with Marc.
They were always cute together. She went back to her morning duties as the memories of her school days came into her head. I guess love really cannot conquer all. She winced at the memories of Adrien that passed through her head. We could've been great together, no know knew you as much as I did.
She sighed as she began to clean the tables, her gaze drifted to the windows and up at the sky. Adrien. Her heart still raced thinking of him, shaking her head she fought the urge to tear up. Were we really not meant to be together?
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. If he knew who I really am he would want nothing to do with me. Swallowing the lump in her throat she cleaned her eyes with her arm as a shiver went down her spine. If only you could know the truth.
But even if she could tell him as Ladybug would he believe her? Would she be able to tell him who she really is or continue to hide it from him in the vague instance they could form a relationship?
She shook her head and continued with her duties. I guess we can only be together in our dreams. It was a bitter thought, deep down she did have some feelings for Adrien and even though he showed little if any interest in having a platonic relationship with her let alone a romantic one. Maybe we were made for each other so well that the universe decided our fates could not be together.
After her morning shift she herself up just as Alya entered the bakery. "Hey Marinette!"
"Hey come on lets go to my room," She said.
Her parents would be taking over for the afternoon so they didn't have to worry about privacy. As soon they entered her room she locked the door behind them. "So yesterday was something huh?"
Alya nodded a wide smile spreading across her face as she took out her laptop. "It sure was. The reviews for last night's episode were great! Many were glad to hear from Cat Noir."
She looked at the comments and read a few. "Wow Cat Noir sure did grow up. I wonder how his relationship with Ladybug is going?" Scanning a few more they mainly expressed their concern about Cat Noir's relationship with Ladybug whether they were friends or not.
"Well I hope their hopes to get up too much," She sighed. "I don't think he wants anything to do with her. I feel like he is barely tolerating me."
She sat down on her bed and rubbed her temples. "I didn't to push him aside in the past, to make him feel so unwanted. He was my partner after all."
Alya nodded. "Well we do know one thing, he is close to Adrien and still monitors him. Maybe we can build some sort of relationship with him and get him to talk." Her friend then leaned in closer. "Besides he knows the wielder of the peacock miraculous, he might have a clue as to what happened to the butterfly."
The mood in the room darkened. "I don't think I can ever forgive myself if Adrien is using it for revenge," she croaked.
Alya placed a hand on her shoulder. "Lets not jump to any conclusions. Do you know if Cat Noir was close to anyone else who might be the new wielder of the peacock miraculous?"
She frowned and shook her head. "No. None that I can think of. Maybe it's someone from his personal life?" At that moment she sort of regretted never getting to know Cat Noir on a personal level. If only I had been open with him. I'll change it here and now, I won't allow for anymore walls to be made between us.
Alya nodded. "He's been known to be a vicious vigilante on the streets and there are plenty of rumors that he hired himself as a mercenary in Africa for a while."
"He wants to make sure nothing like what happened with Gabriel Agreste happens again," she said softly. "That's why he became so cruel."
A shiver went down her spine just thinking of Cat Noir's cold hard glare, the hatred in her eyes was a far cry from his playful younger self who always joked and had fun.
"We'll have to be careful," Alya said firmly. "Just try to get close to him, get an understanding. If he isn't willing to talk about Gabriel Agreste then just set it aside. We can get Nino to get close to Adrien if need be."
"Fine. But lets not push our luck, he hardly sees us as friends anymore. I doubt either of them will be open to us." She looked at one of the few remaining pictures of Adrien she had in her room. "We could've been more, but now things are the way they are."
Alya grabbed her hand. "Marinette you can't the past but you can choose your actions. Will you let fear get in the way of this new Hawkmoth terrorizing Paris?"
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "No."
"Then lets do all we can to make sure Paris is safe," Alya said. "We took down Hawkmoth once we'll take him down again."
She clenched her fists and stood up "Lets do this."
Grabbing a notepad and pen from her desk she began to jot down ideas. "We'll try to get close to Adrien, Nino is our best shot but he'll have to be careful and not direct."
"I'll let him know," Alya said. "Adrien might open up to him more than say us."
She nodded and began to pace her room her mind coming up with various ideas of how to move forward in their fight against Hawkmoth. "I'll do my best with Cat Noir, if either of us see him it might just be a good idea to avoid talking about Adrien unless he brings it up."
Alya sighed. "Yeah it's obvious he is pretty close to Adrien to the point of believing him blindly. Telling him the truth or speaking carelessly could get us hurt."
"True. We can't afford him seeing us as enemies." She scratched her head and looked at her friend. "I have a feeling he'll do that if we do something he doesn't like." A shiver went down her spine. "Please promise me you won't do anything rash again."
"Don't worry I won't," Alya said firmly.
"I can't afford to lose anyone close to me," she said softly.
Tikki then appeared from her earrings. "Oh Marinette I didn't have time to tell you this morning but Plagg contacted me."
"What is it?"
"Plagg said it is important that me or you talk to Cat Noir and tell him the truth. Immediately." There was an urgency in her voice that put her on edge.
"Go!" She said firmly. "We have to be honest with him from now on."
"Just be careful," Alya said. "We have to be careful with this opportunity."
Tikki nodded firmly. "I will."
Adrien passed his room as he looked up at his window anxiously. So much happened back then. He didn't want to admit it but he knew things might have been overlooked.
How did Felix that miraculous? His cousin had said nothing more the entire day and he himself had been debating about what could Felix be hiding. Yet a part of him was honestly scared about finding the truth.
"Adrien she's here," Plagg said softly.
Looking up he saw Tikki fly through the window. The small kwami smiled at him. "Hello."
"Hey," he said as he sat down in a chair. His heart raced in his chest as he looked at the kwami. "So um what do we need to talk about."
Tikki looked at him sympathetically. "Ladybug did not target your father out of malice. Your father was not who he seemed."
He could tell she was choosing her words carefully as if trying not to step on a mine in a minefield. "What do you mean?" His heart raced in his chest as he fought down various emotions.
"Your father did love you but that doesn't mean he was perfect," Tikki said softly. "Ladybug was very sorry for what happened, if you wish to know the truth from her she'll say it or if you wish to hear it from me I'll say it."
He paused as he looked at the kwami. "No more secrets?"
Tikki nodded. "No more secrets. Just the truth."
Looking down at the ring on his finger he slowly turned it. "We were partners and if we are going to work together I want to hear what she has to say. You have my word that I'll listen and not attack but I want the truth, the whole truth, and just her." His stomach turned, personally he knew their relationship had seen better days but he needed answers.
"I understand," Tikki said firmly. "I'm sorry again for everything."
She then left as quickly as she came. Plagg came up to him his expression worried. "Are you ok Adrien?"
He looked down at his hands as a numbness filled his insides. "I'm going to bed."
Plagg looked at him with concern but said nothing as he fell onto his bed. That night his mind thought about his father, was he harsh and cold at times? Of course. His father did show him kindness even if it was in his own way but he was still harsh with him and kept him in his gilded cage. He wanted freedom while his father wanted to box him up.
Despite everything he was my father and Nathalie was basically family. They weren't perfect but nobody was. Yet despite him telling himself that something deep down in his conscience was telling him something wasn't right about his father. He kept to himself a lot, even though I don't know every detail of his life.
The next morning as he was getting ready for the he saw Felix in the living room reading a book. "Good morning Adrien," Felix said casually.
"How did you get it?" He asked firmly.
Felix slowly set his book down and looked at him calmly. "I found it."
He paused and looked his cousin over. "Where?"
Felix's face turned guarded as he stood up. "Lets just say it was in a safe place."
Before he could ask anything else Felix exited the room. Just what do you know? He frowned and shook his head, why would Felix hide something from him? His mind tried to think of what Felix knew and how he got the peacock miraculous. Yet as he arrived at his office and tried to focus on reviewing the plans for his gala he couldn't focus on anything.
Resting in his chair he looked at the photo of his father on his desk. What were you hiding? Father what were you up to that year? The more he thought about it something wasn't right about his father that year, he was a bit more reserved than usual and busier with whatever he was doing. I need to clear my head. Shaking his head he stood up and clenched his fist. "Plagg claws out!"
His mind was clouded as he raced through the city of Paris passing by various buildings his mind fighting with his heart about his family. I loved him as a father yet I can't deny he was a good person, but he wouldn't do something evil. He didn't know if he was telling himself that to make himself better or not. Even in the fashion world, he knew his father had a cold and cutthroat reputation. He heard stories of how his father made people cry and how he made sure those who crossed him never had a chance in fashion.
Lading in an alley he nearly stumbled as he thought of his childhood. I love you father I really did but at times I wished you were kinder. His eyes grew heavy as he cleaned them. I still love you though.
The sound of footsteps snapped him out of his thoughts. Turning around he saw a man in a butterfly mask with a club in his hand followed by a group of men wielding similar weapons.
Shit. He quickly disarmed the man and kicked him to the ground as the others charged at him.
"Take him down!" The men roared.
You people never learn. He quickly drew his baton and knocked the first few men to the ground. His instincts took over as he blocked the enemies' attacks and countered them with his own. With each man that he struck down another came up. He punched a man to the ground just as one struck him on the head with a crowbar.
He frowned and turned to the thug. "That almost hurt." He then kicked the man and sent him flying against the wall just as the sound of a gun firing reverberated throughout the area.
The first bullet bounced off his armor while he blocked the second bullet with his baton. His eyes narrowed on the shooter in the distance, he quickly jumped into the air and kicked the man to the ground as he tried to run away. "Hawkmoth is really foolish to send this fodder." Staring at the men on the ground he thought of Ladybug and all of their times together. She wants no more secrets between us. He sighed as his mind and heart fought. I'll hear what she has to say first. The sound of police sirens in the distance caught his attention. He stabbed his baton into one of the assailants. "Oh no you don't! If any of you decide to move I'll use a cataclysm." The men on the ground freeze as fear filled their eyes.