A/N: Hopefully you've been able to read the past few chapters, I can't figure out if it's my story specifically or Ffnet causing issues, but if you can't access any, let me know!

Song Rec: Always Been You by Shawn Mendes.

If Marinette thought the plan had been moving slowly before, it was nothing like it became after the failed coup.

The members of the resistance mostly went into hiding, though they all were willing to protect the city whenever someone in the Supreme's circle decided to attack.

Thankfully, however, the Supreme seemed to be keeping his own followers reeled in.

Marinette wasn't sure if he'd been able to figure out how they had recruited all of the holders to their side, but in any case, he apparently was trying to avoid further conflict or a full confrontation at the moment.

In the midst of strategizing, Adrien was able to find Marinette a clinic just outside the city to get checked out, only a few days after the original discovery.

After letting the nurses know the situation, she ended up in the exam room, Adrien waiting outside after she told him it wouldn't be very exciting.

The tech made her feel comfortable—well, as comfortable as you could be when you were about to have an ultrasound wand shoved up your private bits.

Marinette was looking at the ceiling waiting for her to finish when the lady made a noise. "Oh, looks like we can go ahead and switch to a regular ultrasound. Give me just a moment, dear."

Marinette relaxed, though she looked at the woman in confusion. "I thought you had to use this type of ultrasound to see the baby when they're so small?"

"That's true. But it looks like you're far enough along that we can get a view more comfortably this way." By the time the wand was in place on her most-assuredly flat stomach, Marinette watched the screen with curiosity only to be shocked to see a clear form come into view. "Ah, there the baby is; hiding in there, I see."

Not the little blob she'd been expecting at all. Amazed, she looked between her stomach and the monitor. "I…don't understand. Why am I not showing?"

"Everyone carries differently, and it can depend on the shape and tilt of your uterus. You also have very strong abdominal muscles, which tend to play a factor in showing later in pregnancy."

After a bit more discussion and time spent in the office, Marinette walked out, quite taken aback to apparently already estimated to be twelve weeks pregnant.

She met Adrien out in the waiting room, silently handing over the photos she was given.

He squinted at them. "You grabbed someone else's pictures here, Sweetness."

"Nope. That's all ours, Adrien."

He looked from the photo to her stomach and back again, his eyes still narrowed. "Are you sure? This looks like a whole-ass baby. Where the hell is it?"

Marinette let out a laugh. "I thought the same thing. Apparently, they're just really good at hiding right now. She told me I might not even start showing for a few months yet, depending on how things go."

"Huh." As his skepticism fell away, he began looking at the picture more closely, his expression slowly changing into something else. A hint of tenderness appeared as the piece of paper inched closer to his nose, his eyes darting over to look at her again. "This is…wow. Okay, then."

"I'm around three months along," she said, which caused him to lower the photo down completely.

"Three? That leaves…how much?"

"About six months. Give or take."

"Holy shit." He grew more serious then. "Guess that gives us a deadline, huh?"

Marinette grimaced. "Guess so. Let's get back, I want to plan more."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Of course you do." He didn't otherwise complain, however, following her out the door.

The resistance adapted to their new unfortunate position, their members focusing on protecting one another and those close to them before they could refocus on making more headway.

Taking the lead on winning Kim back to their side, Claw Noir found him in his civilian life, and in doing so, discovered that exactly what they'd thought had happened had been what had caused him to remain with the Supreme.

Some additional time spent finding Ondine and subtly easing her away from the Supreme's control was all it took to convince him to try and spy for them.

The Supreme did send out his minions in smaller capacities to try and maintain his power over the city, though they were able to send their own in turn to fight them off.

Marinette found herself naturally taking a step back, as they were working with a more narrowed scope in the first place.

She was surprised not to feel too down about that, realizing her importance when it came to strategizing and setting things right after a fight.

Still, she joined when she could, always with Claw Noir at her side.

They continued to research the other holders, taking time to survey them and learn more about their motivations. The Supreme seemed to be holding even tighter to his strings manipulating the others, but with time, Marinette was able to keep using her knowledge from her universe to get ideas of where to look.

It was a slow process, but thankfully, seemed to be working.

Weeks later, they'd been able to get not only Kim to their side, but also Mylene with the Mouse, and Ivan with the Ox, though they remained visibly working for the Supreme.

There were a few troubling holdouts, however, that kept them from feeling as confident as they could have been.

"I can't find any reason for Chloé to budge," Marinette said, two months after the failed coup. "I'm just not sure we can be certain. May need to leave her be."

The others grumbled.

"What about the Fox Miraculous?" Alya suggested. "I still believe it has to be in use, even though no one has seen it. It's too useful for the things the Supreme likes to do. Who held that one in your universe, Marinette?"

Marinette scrunched her nose. "Well, you, for one. Don't suppose you're holding out on us, Alya?" The mirror of her friend merely shook her head, intent on her idea. With a sigh, Marinette admitted, "There was someone else who claimed to hold it for a little while on my side." She honestly didn't even want to suggest it, but Alya seemed to be relentless recently on investigating the potential usage of the Fox Miraculous and its illusion abilities. "Lila Rossi." Looking around at the other member's expressions, she didn't notice recognition pop up anywhere. "She wasn't at all trustworthy in my world, however. She was a great liar."

Murmuring within their members grew louder, until Rose piped up. "Not everyone is exactly the same between your universe and ours, right?"

Reluctantly, Marinette nodded. If Gabriel Agreste himself could be so drastically different between worlds, then anyone could.

Still, she didn't find herself to be jumping at the idea of seeking Lila out.

Claw spoke up next. "It's worth an attempt, right?" Going by his body posture, you'd think he didn't really care either way, but Marinette had only gotten better and better at interpreting the subtle emotions that slipped through from time to time.

He was getting more anxious to take the final steps needed to finish this fight, every moment of delay another closer to their own personal deadline.

As everyone seemed to chime in with a similar agreement, Marinette couldn't do anything but give in. "Fine. I'll give you all a description, and we can see if we can find her.

After the meeting concluded, Claw ended up at her side.

Though they no longer hid the fact that they were in a relationship, a similarity shared between several of their members, they had yet to inform them all that she was actually pregnant.

The time of secrets was drawing to a close, however, as she was finally beginning to show at five months along.

Marinette looked in the mirror of the bathroom—it was a new hotel room as they continued to move around, trying not to be caught by the Supreme—noticing the slight rounding of her stomach that finally seemed to be more than just bloating.

"Well, would you look at that." Adrien swooped in behind her, his hand coming to rest briefly on her stomach as he looked over her shoulder at the mirror. "The little guy finally decided to show up." The reminder that they had recently found out they were having a boy filled her with a warm, floaty feeling. Such strange emotions to have in the midst of a rebellion—but that was life, she supposed.

Adrien shot her a grin in the mirror. "I was starting to think you were merely a gorgeous but convincing scam artist."

Marinette rolled her eyes at him. "What exactly would I be scamming you out of, you dumb cat?"

He shrugged, tugging her along with him to the bed. "Hmm, let's see." He sat beside her, immediately kissing her deeply before moving to her neck. "You could have been a Supreme plant. A talented spy sent to drive me fucking crazy." His fingers trailed along her shoulder and down her chest, before he lifted her shirt up and off of her. "To worm your way into my heart." Pressing her gently back into the mattress, Adrien trailed his mouth along her skin, the scrapes of his teeth sending shivers of pleasure through her. "Perhaps, to get me to finally care about someone other than myself. Use that against me."

Marinette tried to give him a serious look, but a particular nip of his teeth marred her tone with a moan. "Oh, Adrien. You've—nng—always cared for people. Despite what you want to tell yourself."

He slowed, looking up at her as his tongue lingered in the dip just below her hip bone. "Lies," he whispered, but his lip curled up as he resumed kissing every inch of her skin.

As he slipped her leggings off, she breathlessly asked, "Well, did I succeed? If I were indeed this clever, seductive, conwoman?"

He stopped fully then, straightening his head to look at her directly, his green eyes smoldering like emerald fire. "Absolutely." He abandoned undressing her, sliding up to lean on his elbow above her, his hand grazing her cheek. "I don't know what I would do without you, Sweetheart. You mean everything to me." Emotions swirled within her, choking her up as she saw them reflected in his eyes.

Something shifted in his expression then, the confidence and desire melting away into something more fragile. Marinette could see just a hint of fear slide through, and she lifted her hand to his cheek. "What's wrong?" she whispered, trying to understand where his mind had gone.

Still leaning over her, he brought his hand up to cover hers as his eyes shut briefly. He let out a slow breath, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a bitter smile. "I'm too happy right now. I guess I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop." His eyes reopened, locking on hers. "Waiting for this wonderful thing to be taken away from me."

Marinette pulled him down, twisting them around until she was on top, trying to distract his thoughts away. "I'm not going anywhere, Adrien. We've got this." Then she kissed him, melting through some of his melancholy and restarting the fire between them.

Small scuffles continued to happen between resistance members and those left on the Supreme's side. Marinette stayed in the fighting as long as she could, but the fights themselves began to grow lower in their intensity, offering her an easy way to take more of a cleanup role to go alongside her major one as lead strategist.

Though they didn't come out and specifically announce Marinette's pregnancy, it soon became apparent, and she began to receive careful congratulations from various members as it spread. She never elaborated on it, nor did she offer up any specific confirmation that it was indeed Claw's child. She preferred to leave it as an unimportant event, and kept everyone focused on their plans.

The resistance slowly poached the remaining members, and the fights became closer to a show, as the turned holders became spies of their own.

The topic of Lila Rossi also continued to float among the resistance, especially as Capri Vex became the last of the known members (that weren't named Chloé Bourgeois, of course) to join.

Until one morning, Max contacted Marinette with news.

They had long since dispensed with holding full group meetings, too wary of leaks or potential issues to keep up the habit. Instead, they passed messages along, and moved in smaller groups to work out plans.

"Hello, Shadybug—or, I mean, Marinette." Max's voice seemed nervous as it echoed from her yo-yo. "I have something I need to discuss with you."

Marinette shared a look with Adrien, who remained untransformed next to her on the couch, though he leaned forward as she responded. "Of course, Max. What's up?"

"Well, someone, uh. Found me. And I think she needs our help."

With a frown, she asked, "Who?"

Max cleared his throat. "Lila."

Marinette stiffened. "Tell me she's not there right now. How did she find you? Is she the Fox holder?"

"She's waiting outside. But she seems really afraid. She said the Supreme has her mother, and she didn't know what else to do. She's apparently been trying to find us for a while. Said she wasn't allowed to meet or see all of the rest of us, which was why none of us knew about her."

Pressing, Marinette asked again, "But how did she find you?"

There was a pause before he admitted, "I sort of…went back to my lab today. I really wanted to get Vokram out, I'm sorry. Apparently, an alert was triggered when I grabbed him, one that she says she intercepted. I didn't know what to do."

Marinette felt tense as she looked at Adrien. She didn't trust the Lila of her world at all. She didn't really want to trust this one either. But if she had shown up, alone, rather than with the Supreme, there was the slightest chance that the story was legitimate.

"We should check it out. Carefully."

Adrien scowled. "Not you. Please." His expression turned thoughtful after a moment. "I'll go. I'll take Cobrax with me. He can check her out."

Marinette nodded slowly. She'd been pleasantly surprised that the animosity between Claw Noir and Cobrax had lessened over the past few months. "Alright. Just, be careful, Claw. Make sure it's not a trap. Max, let me give you a location to take her, but do not tell her where you're going. Claw and Cobrax will meet you there."

"Affirmative."

She hung up, sliding her yo-yo closed as she looked up at Adrien. "I'm serious, Adrien. Please be careful. I'm not sure we can trust her." He nodded, but before he could leave, Marinette stood up. "I can go with you, and just stay back and observe."

Adrien looked at her with a frown. "Pretend for a moment that I'm not trying to be a protective asshole for no reason. If something did go badly, wouldn't it be better if we weren't both caught up in it? Wouldn't want to lose both our Miraculous, right?"

Reluctantly, Marinette agreed, but it was a thought that gave her pause, bringing back musings she'd never quite found answers to.

The Supreme had had control over both the Ladybug and the Black Cat Miraculous for years; why did he hand them out to other people instead of keeping them? Or worse, making a wish with them? Why put them in the hands of others?

It was something to keep pondering, but Marinette dragged her mind back to the present, where Adrien was still speaking. "If you don't think it's worth it, we don't need to risk it. Have Max tell her to fuck off and scram."

"No," she said firmly. "No, if there's a chance she's in the same spot as all of you, it's worth the risk. If her family is in danger, I want to try and help. Plus, it would be one less person working against us, when it comes down to it. Go."

Adrien finally left her there, and Marinette proceeded to go to one of their safe spots in the city to watch her yo-yo, keeping an eye on the GPS connection they had both turned on between their communicators. She watched Claw eventually approach the place she had told Max to go, hover in place for a longer time than she had expected, before finally heading away, taking a long and winding path back to her location.

Marinette felt relieved as Claw and Cobrax landed beside her. "Well?"

The two holders shared a glance before Claw shrugged. "I couldn't really figure out anything either way myself. She seemed terrified that the Supreme was going to find her there."

Marinette shifted her gaze to Cobrax, who shook his head. "I tried everything I could think of, but nothing seemed suspicious to me. Seems like everyone else, except she's been kept more isolated than the rest of us, so there's a lot more fear there." His gaze went distant. "The rest of us grew hard edges having to do all the shit the Supreme has made us do. But for her—it's almost like she broke, instead."

A piece of Marinette felt guilty for doubting Lila so harshly without even knowing her in this world, especially after hearing Luka explain further that she said she would try her best to get them information, if they might be able to help track down her family.

Claw spoke next. "We were careful, scoped out the whole area first. Didn't see anyone following, nor did anyone ambush us there. Also separated when we left, just in case we were wrong and someone did try to follow us after."

Marinette nodded, resolved. "Let's see how it goes, then. We'll keep the contact limited, as we do with the others still under the Supreme. Just in case."

"She seemed comfortable with Max," Cobrax said. "Unlike the two of us. Maybe he can take the lead with her."

"Sounds like a plan. Thank you both."

After Cobrax left, she and Claw snuck through a nearby park to take a shortcut to their current home. "This could be it, Claw," she said, trying to keep the wistful air out of her tone. "This could be what finally pushes us over into winning this. Even without Chloé."

He took her hand and tugged her behind a tree as he kissed her quickly, his hand trailing down to brush against her stomach, even though her bump wasn't visible while she was transformed. "I hope so," he said, his eyes on alert as they resumed moving. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get the fuck out of here."

"Just a few more people to save, Claw. And then we can take him down."

"Whatever you say, Sweetness."

Intel from Lila began trickling in, and Marinette found herself relieved once again that it was actually good info. It was nothing too noticeable, but they were able to get advanced warnings out to civilians that were the target of some of the Supreme's plans. So while they didn't move to stop him completely and reveal the insider knowledge, they were able to protect some more civilians.

Though she didn't meet Lila in person, Marinette did spend some time speaking to her through Max's communicator, and it struck her just how much Lila seemed affected by everything she had gone through.

"It's all my fault that my mom is in danger," Lila's distraught voice echoed from her yo-yo. "If I were only stronger, I could have done something about it. But I'm so weak. I don't even know why he makes me use my Miraculous. I can't stomach the violence."

Marinette felt an urge to reassure the woman. "You're not weak, Lila. Coming to us shows just how strong you can be. You risked a lot by doing this. We're going to find her. Did you find out anything with the information we found so far?"

The woman sniffled. "I…think I did find something. A hint. I'm going to try and keep following it. Will you help me get her out if we find her? I don't think I can do it on my own. I'll just fail her again, like I always do."

They heard Max's reassurances start up from her end, comforting her. Marinette spoke up anyway. "Of course, Lila. You're not a failure. We'll figure this out."

When she hung up the call and detransformed, Claw Noir looked over. "She's…really quite pathetic, isn't she?"

Marinette smacked him against his arm. "Claw—"

"What?" Claw said, unperturbed. "I'm not trying to be a dick. I just don't understand why the Supreme would bother with someone like that."

Marinette frowned at him, but she had to admit she agreed with him there. "Well, considering none of you ever found out about her for sure until recently, maybe she wasn't actually involved very much."

His eyes narrowed, but he merely pulled her closer, his gloved fingers falling to graze gently against her stomach.

A/N: Appreciate the reviews! Love hearing if people are enjoying it so far. Events will pick up next chapter!