A/N: Forgot to say thank you to my beta readers! I've had several this time, and I'm so grateful!

Once they were back in the air with Claw leading her through the dark, Marinette began taking in the sad state of the city below them.

As she passed by the rampant destruction, Marinette itched to call up her lucky charm and cleanse this world of the mess left behind after years of troubles.

She couldn't, of course. Not without giving away that she was not who she pretended to be.

The two of them dropped down outside of the Agreste mansion, lingering as they worked through how to move forward.

"This might be easiest if you went in as Adrien," Marinette said carefully, interrupting him as his hand rested on the door handle. "Perhaps he would be happy to see you?" She didn't know anything about their relationship on this side, a fact that she hoped to remedy before she saw them together.

Claw Noir scoffed. "My father doesn't want to see me. He doesn't give a fuck about me. Couldn't wait to kick me out of the house after…" He swallowed, clearing his throat. "After my mom died." Gaze hardening, he continued, "And now I find out he started up all this resistance shit? And didn't even bother to ask me to join? I didn't even have my Miraculous at the beginning of it all, not until later."

Marinette continued to watch him. "Would you have joined? If he had asked?"

Grinding his teeth together, Claw said, "I don't know. I didn't care about anything back then. But I might have. Maybe it would have given me more of a sense of fucking purpose."

Marinette reached a hand out, aiming for his forearm where he still had it perched on the door handle. She let it drop before reaching his arm, however. It was hard to remember that she really didn't know this version of her partner. "I'm sorry, Claw. Maybe you can talk to him about it?"

"No," he said simply. "I'm not telling him who I am. I can't, anyway."

Marinette frowned. "What do you mean by that? Is that the rule you mentioned earlier?"

"Yeah. The Supreme did something—some kind of enchantment on the Kwamis—and made it so none of the holders can reveal their identities to anyone else."

Unease pricked at her from beneath her skin. That didn't sound like something a Guardian should be able to do. "Could you detransform in front of someone and reveal your identity that way?"

Claw shook his head. "No, the glamour stays in effect. At least, I think it does. I haven't exactly attempted it, and the Supreme has always made it clear anyone would be punished if they even tried. But…" he trailed off, his mask creasing at his brow. "But I don't understand, because Shay detransformed in my arms in your universe, and I saw who she was."

Marinette's mind began to whirl as she contemplated it. How would something like that work? "Perhaps being in another universe messed with the magic. And you released yours in front of me just now with no problem either." Her hand reached up to her ears, brushing against her earring. "Maybe it's because my Miraculous isn't from here." She dropped her hand, deciding to leave it alone at the moment. "We'll work it out. For now, I think we need to go in and talk with him." She glanced around before making a quick change, switching to her normal Ladybug version of her suit. "Hopefully this will at least give him pause."

They finally entered the dark mansion, their quiet footsteps the only noise.

They didn't make it far before a voice thundered down at them. "Stop. Why are you here?" Ladybug could just make out Gabriel Agreste glaring down at them from the railing, where he must have already been waiting when they entered. "I've already made my payment. The Supreme has no business bothering me at this time of night."

Ladybug took a few steps forward. "Sir, we aren't here on behalf of the Supreme. We've come to join the resistance."

Lights flickered on then, and she could see the wariness on Gabriel's face. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I demand that you leave at once." He squinted down at her, his brow creasing. "Who are you? You're not Shadybug."

Being careful not to reveal everything in case they were wrong about his identity, Ladybug continued to walk towards the stairs. "You're right, I'm not Shadybug. Hesperia? Is that you?"

When Gabriel's expression remained unchanged, Ladybug knew they were at an impasse. If he was Hesperia, he wouldn't trust them with his identity based on word alone.

She turned back to Claw, who had remained behind her, glaring up at his father. "You said you can't reveal your identities over here to anyone, right?" When Claw nodded, she turned around and released her transformation completely.

Gabriel's eyes widened and he took a step towards the staircase. "How did you do that? I can see beyond the glamour." His tone had completely shifted, the standoffishness disappearing as something more curious was left in its place.

She took a chance. "I'm not from this universe. I've come here to see if I can help Paris get out from beneath the Supreme's thumb."

"You know about the resistance?" Gabriel took a few quick steps down the stairs before his eyes landed on the figure behind her, and the hopeful expression that had been growing quickly froze. "What is he doing here? Claw Noir works for the Supreme." The man remained tense, his eyes narrowed on her partner.

"I can vouch for him," Marinette said. "If you let me explain, I can tell you more. But I'm here because I have reason to believe you are Hesperia, because the Gabriel Agreste in my world also held the Butterfly Miraculous."

The man's eyes didn't leave Claw. "But why would you be willing to help? You're one of the Supreme's favorites. You've single-handedly destroyed half of the city."

A bitter laugh sounded from behind her. "Well, you aren't wrong. But I must have hit my head somewhere, because I don't know why I thought this was a good idea to come to you."

Marinette turned a frown on him. "Claw."

Hesperia had every right to be suspicious of him showing up, but Claw apparently didn't care. He refused to meet her eyes as he let out a murmured, "At least I only destroyed inanimate objects," before going silent again.

Clearing her throat, she turned back and began to explain more about the situation, including Shadybug's role.

The more she spoke, the more excited Gabriel seemed to get. It was a strange transformation to watch, considering how much she was used to the stoic and cold version of him from her universe.

It was a welcome change, even if Claw Noir remained not fully on board.

Eventually, the man guided them down into a secret basement, one in a very similar spot as in the other Agreste mansion.

The basement was set up as a meeting space with a set of computers on a desk in the far corner. Marinette couldn't help but glance around, noting that there was no glass case holding his wife, a difference from her world. Not a surprising one, considering that this Gabriel was not a villain, but it did fill her heart with melancholy as she realized that Adrien's mom must have actually died in this world.

And somehow, her death had created such a huge rift between father and son.

She looked over at Claw, realizing how surprised he seemed to be at finding this level of his former home.

They followed Gabriel until they sat down around a table, Claw dragging out his chair with a loud screech.

Gabriel folded his hands together on the surface. "Obviously, you can see that your information about me is correct. Our resistance remains small, as my Miraculous is the only one we have been able to use. But if what you are telling me is true—" He looked at Claw with a curious sort of expression, one that was not returned. "Then the other side has lost two of its most powerful followers. And we have a fighting chance." He then met Marinette's eyes, grim determination behind his own. "The Supreme must be taken down. I'm glad you are here to help, Miss…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry, I actually do not know who you are, even though I can tell the glamour did not work as it was supposed to."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Recognition flashed then. "Ah. Dupain-Cheng. The bakers' daughter?"

She nodded, her mind drifting back to the scene she had come upon during her first visit to this world, a scene of her parents—Shay's parents—yelling at each other in the bakery.

Quickly shaking off the memory, Marinette leaned forward. "I actually have an idea about how to use this glamour that doesn't allow holders to be revealed here." Even Claw perked up at that, sitting up a little straighter. She turned to him. "How well do you know the other holders?"

He shrugged. "Not very well."

Marinette frowned. "Do you feel like they're all really dedicated to the cause? Do they like what they're doing?"

He seemed almost embarrassed. "I don't really know. I stuck with Shady most of the time. The times I've seen the others, they've seemed focused, but I couldn't tell you anything useful beyond that. We all pretty much hate each other."

Though she was disappointed by his answer, Marinette didn't let it stop her. It would make things easier if he had known more about the others, but it was what it was.

She moved on. "Alright, my idea is this: obviously, the glamour magic doesn't work on me, and so far, there are connections between the holders in my world and this one. I might be able to lead us to more of the current holders. If we can bring them to our side, one by one, we'll take away the Supreme's pawns and grow our side at the same time."

Claw let out a snort. "Not how chess works, Little Bug."

Marinette rolled her eyes at Claw, but noted that he seemed interested in her plan.

Gabriel did as well. "I've never been able to discover any of their identities. This would be a huge step forward." His excitement grew, though she still noticed that undercurrent of desperation that seemed to ripple beneath. She wanted to ask what had caused Gabriel to fight against the Supreme in the first place, and how he got the Miraculous, but decided it was better to wait until she had gained more of his trust.

The man leaned forward, his eyes going to Claw. "Shall we start with you? Test this ability of hers to break through?"

Claw Noir's interest disappeared, his expression flattening. "No. I don't trust you."

Gabriel's eyebrow rose. "An interesting statement, considering I'm the one that has no reason to trust you."

"I don't fucking care if you trust me," Claw sneered. "I'm not revealing who I am to you."

Gabriel regarded him for a moment longer before, surprisingly, relaxing. "Very well. I suppose I actually believe you, for if you were trying to betray me, one would think you would actually try harder to gain my trust." He turned his gaze back to Marinette. "Miss Dupain-Cheng, I feel I must be cautious with the identities of my own allies as well, for the moment. Perhaps once we have worked together for a time, I will bring us all together."

Marinette nodded, not blaming the man for being careful, especially after Claw's refusal to reveal his own identity. "We will work on more of the plan together and get ahold of you if we make any progress. Is there a way we can contact you, so we don't have to come to your door each time?"

After getting a number to call if needed and returning to her Shadybug disguise, Marinette and Claw Noir left.

"So fucking glad that's over with," Claw grumbled as they went outside.

Before she could say anything to figure that out, he took off into the sky, and Marinette was forced to follow.

He landed in the alley down the road from his apartment building, and when she joined him they detransformed together.

"Alright, listen," Adrien said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I can get you a hotel tomorrow, but it's late. If you give me like, 30 minutes, I'll get the bed decent enough for you for a night and I'll take the couch. Unless you want to go somewhere else, I don't care."

Marinette cocked her head. "You sure you can afford a hotel? I might be here for a while."

He sighed, leaning against the wall. "I have money, alright? I just don't use any of it."

"Why don't you?"

She didn't think he was going to answer more than a shrug, but he surprised her when after only a brief hesitation he grimaced and said, "The money was from my mom."

Oh.

Marinette tried to decide on the best follow up question to ask, but he squinted at her and sighed. "Don't give me that look. I'm really not all that complicated. My mom died, it was my fault, and my father blames me for it. So I took on the hobby of destroying things for fun. The end."

A beat of silence passed.

Hesitantly, Marinette said, "I'm not sure 'uncomplicated' would be the word I would use to describe what you just said."

Adrien snorted, looking away. "Well, I would."

Her heart squeezed with pain as she took in the man in front of her. "I'm so sorry, Adrien. Do you want to talk about it? I'm happy to listen."

"No." His answer came just a tad too quick for her to believe him. Pushing himself off the wall, he began to walk out of their hiding spot and down the road towards the apartment. "Look, I'm not used to actually talking about any of this, okay? Come on, let's just get back."

Hurrying to catch up, Marinette looked over at him. Sure, she knew that he and Shay had never been on a personal level of partnership, but he really hadn't talked to anyone about it? Realizing that he wasn't going to say anything else without her prompting, she asked, "What happened to her? To your mother?"

Adrien glanced briefly over at her, his shaggy hair falling in front of his eyes. "Five years ago, I got really sick with the flu. The fucking flu. Got pretty dicey for a little while. But then Mom caught it. It was bad for me, but worse for her. By the time I was coherent again, she was gone." His voice remained steady, nonchalant. Marinette didn't know this Adrien well enough to know how he was really feeling, but the situation he'd presented sounded like a terrible thing to experience.

She nearly reached out again for his shoulder, but changed her mind, letting her hand drop. "That must have been awful, I'm so sorry. But why would you think your father blamed you for that? It's not your fault—"

"It was my fault." They reached his door and Adrien shoved through it, strolling inside. Marinette thought she could hear more emotion in that sentence, but it was overshadowed by the bitterness that followed. "And what else am I supposed to think? He wouldn't look at me afterwards, and kicked me out as soon as I turned 18."

Marinette tried to put some pieces together as she followed him, stopping in the kitchen and sitting at the tiny table. "Is it possible he was already Hesperia back then? Could that have played a part?"

Adrien sat down across from her, throwing his feet up on the table as he leaned back. "If he was, he should have just fucking told me. So fuck him, I'm not telling him who I am. He can keep pretending I don't exist." In what she was quickly realizing was a habit of his, the irritation disappeared from his expression swiftly, a sly grin falling in its place. "Well? Is my pathetic story getting me any closer to a kiss?"

Marinette huffed. "Any points you might have gotten would be wiped away with that attitude of yours, Claw."

He grinned more fully at her. "So I did gain some sympathy points then?"

Marinette wanted to laugh, but held it in. This man sure seemed to have an issue with remaining focused on important things.

Unsurprising, really, considering how long he had worked for the Supreme. What was it, three years now? If she was remembering what Shay had told her correctly?

She leaned back in her own chair. "You're not seriously asking, are you? You know there are more important things we could be talking about, like our plan to take down the Supreme?"

He seemed unphased, continuing to stare at her with a glint in his eyes as he let out a quiet laugh. "Of course it's not serious. But I do enjoy making you blush, Sweetness."

"What?" she asked, trying not to sputter. "I'm not blushing, you stupid cat."

He stood up, winking at her as he walked away, towards the bedroom. "Uh huh, sure. Just keep telling yourself that."

Marinette briefly considered throwing something at the man's retreating back, but decided against it.

His place was messy enough without her adding to it.

Eventually, he returned with some clothes folded in his arms. "All clear." He waved back at the room, and she moved past him in the small hall, getting a whiff of his scent as she did so.

Surprisingly, he didn't smell like a dumpster, as she would have presumed by the state of his living situation.

He smelled pretty good, actually. Something woodsy stood out to her—maybe cedar?

Marinette shook her head, trying not to think about it, before she glanced at the bathroom she was passing and paused. "You don't happen to have a toothbrush I could have, do you?"

Adrien shrugged. "You can use mine."

She scrunched her nose. "That's gross, Claw."

"More gross than not brushing your teeth? Your choice, Little Bug. I'll buy you stuff tomorrow." He stopped at his couch and, without warning, stripped off his shirt, revealing the toned muscles of his back.

Marinette turned away abruptly, entering the bathroom as red tinted her cheeks.

Clearly, despite not being a model in this world, Adrien was still in quite good shape.

Leaning up against the closed door, she closed her eyes.

Alright, Marinette, focus.

She had once had a crush on Adrien—the Adrien in her universe, at least. Marinette had forced that away several years back, determined not to lose sight of her role as Ladybug.

But she had originally fallen for Adrien because of his kindness and the selfless way he cared for his friends and others.

This Adrien was not the same. So there was no way that she would fall for him. She merely wanted to help him, perhaps help repair the relationship between him and his father.

All in the name of succeeding on their mission. She couldn't be distracted by anything else.

But your own world is safe now. You're almost done. You could finally afford a little happiness.

She huffed out a breath and shushed the little voice in her head.

When she left the bathroom, the living room was dark. She made her way into the bedroom (small, but surprisingly tidy), and quickly fell asleep.

A/N: Would love to know if you're enjoying the dynamic so far!