Chapter Text
“Ladybug, can we talk for a second?”
The pain began as he called her Ladybug instead of any of the many creative or flirtatious nicknames she knew he had in store. It worsened as she turned to nod at him and saw his face devoid of the usual humor it carried. Chat Noir didn’t seem as carefree as he usually was at that moment, but again, he hadn’t been as carefree around her for a long time now.
“Are we okay?”
The short answer was no, but she couldn’t go with that. Their situation was of her own doing and they both knew that, but she couldn’t just admit it in front of him. They couldn’t talk about what made her feel uneasy about them becoming closer, not without him asking questions she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to answer. The memories of a destroyed Paris and a white blur that laughed and cried with her partner’s voice were still too vivid and the fear of letting it all happen again was still too strong.
“Why do you ask?” She said instead.
Chat Noir flinched and Marinette struggled not to step closer and offer him the comfort he obviously needed. What she said wasn’t really an answer, but it seemed to him it was answer enough.
“I see” He mumbled and she didn’t like his tone. The boy turned to her, a sad smile on his lips. “I’ll see you around, Ladybug”
She didn’t try to stop him from leaving, but she watched as he became smaller and smaller until he vanished from her sight. It was only them that she let a few stray tears fall, unable to keep them in anymore. It hurt to see them fall apart, but she knew it was a necessary evil. They should be partners in crime-fighting, nothing more than that.
Marinette sighed as she looked at the clock on her bedside table. It showed the time accusingly, 10:27 PM. Patrol would begin in three minutes and she was still on her bed, looking at her ceiling and feeling sorry for herself.
“He’ll only get sadder if you bail on him, Marinette,” Tikki pondered from beside her. “Even the strongest relationships have their bad times”
The kwami was right, as usual. It didn’t make the situation any better, however.
“I made this mess all on my own Tikki,” Marinette sighed again “I don’t know how to face him”
“Well, you can start by actually facing him” Tikki flew closer to her face. Her expression was soft, but her eyes were serious “I understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, Marinette, but Chat Noir is still your partner”
Is he? Marinette thought, but didn’t say. Instead, she sighed for the third and final time and turned to her kwami.
“Spots on,” She said softly and let the light cover her body.
The transformation was over in seconds, but the heavy weight on her chest stayed. She didn’t get up still, deciding to let herself feel for a little bit longer. There’s no way she could go see Chat Noir already on the verge of a breakdown, not with how awkward things already were between them.
The clock was showing 10:46 PM when she finally made her way out of the window and to their meeting point. It was the pretty building close to the Eiffel Tower, the one that always smelled like roses. Chat had been the one to choose it, saying the smell reminded him of good memories and that having that boost was always welcome when they kept on fighting literal personifications of bad feelings. Marinette briefly wondered if he still felt like that. It hurt to know she couldn’t just ask.
“Sorry I’m late” She started as soon as she landed on the roof. “I had a-”
She never finished. Standing there, next to a sad-looking Chat Noir was no one other than Bunnyx. Marinette felt herself freeze in motion, her whole body tense up in a matter of seconds.
“I’m very sorry for what I’ll need to ask you both for,” Bunnyx said. Ladybug held her breath and briefly looked over to Chat, trying to make the other girl get the message. She got it. Bunnyx shook her head slightly and Marinette didn’t know if she should sigh of relief or suck in a breath of fear of what was to come. “I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t absolutely necessary” Bunnyx continued. She looked at Chat now. “And you two need to understand that nothing is set in stone and that the things you see won’t necessarily happen”
Her words carried a weight almost too heavy to bear. A glance at Chat showed Marinette he too wasn’t dealing too well with what was happening. The way Bunnyx kept looking at him with sad eyes didn’t help at all.
He doesn’t know Marinette told herself but the ache stayed.
“...Did I do something bad in the future?” Chat finally asked and Marinette felt her heart break.
“It’s more complicated than that, kitty” Bunnyx answered and Chat’s eyes begged her to elaborate even though they all knew she wouldn’t “Just be ready”
Chat nodded. He turned to Ladybug and she could see the questions in his eyes. He knew she knew something he didn’t, but no questions were outright asked. Marinette was once again grateful to have him as her partner. If they could still call themselves that.
“Are you guys ready to come with me?” Bunnyx asked, already opening the portal.
Neither of them was, but they followed her anyway.
+ + +
The night air was cold enough to make Adrien shiver from under his suit, which was really saying something. He usually didn’t have problems with maintaining a comfortable temperature as Chat Noir, unless they were dealing with something like a weather akuma. Adrien briefly wondered if that could be the cause of their sudden trip but was quick to give up on the idea. Bunnyx wouldn’t show up for something as trivial as that. Besides, the cold wasn’t the only weird thing about where they were.
Paris seemed...darker. A quick glance down the building showed no sign of life on the streets and the silence was a bit unnerving. The night sky was a weird shade of purply red. Chat turned to Bunnyx, who was looking up apprehensively, she held a hand to ask them to be quiet.
“We’re clean” She murmured more to herself than to anyone else and turned to them. “Follow me quickly and try not to look around too much. Come on”
Even if it was difficult, Chat tried to follow her request, looking at the ground more than he looked around. They got down from the roof of the building and started walking on the empty streets, their footsteps, even though light, a loud contrast to the abnormally silent Paris. With the corner of his eye, Chat saw what seemed to be Ladybug’s yoyo graffitied on a wall next to a broken window. He turned his head to look better, unable to stop himself. Under the drawing, only two words: resist and wait.
A shiver went down his spine.
“We’re here” Bunnyx whispered. They were hiding in an empty alley, a few buildings away from where they had arrived. “Be quiet”
Both him and Ladybug complied easily. Bunnyx got closer to a door and knocked quickly into it. A second later, a voice came from the other side.
“How does the bunny lose the race?” It asked, and Adrien couldn’t help but feel he knew that voice from somewhere.
“It lets the turtle use its shoes” Bunnyx answered with practiced ease and a roll of her eyes.
The door is quick to open after that and they are all pulled inside just as quickly. The inside of the building was much warmer than the outside but just as dark. Even then, Adrien could tell that the person standing in front of them was Carapace.
“Follow me,” He said with an easy smile, guiding them up a flight of stairs.
The sound of their footsteps again seemed too loud, but it didn’t bear the same tension as it did before. The building was probably a safe place, Adrien imagined, now he just needed to know what they needed to be safe from. He had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer.
Carapace stopped on the third floor and walked them to a door marked by the number 307. He knocked twice, waited, then knocked another three times. Adrien glanced around as he did so, taking in the corridor they were in. It was a residential building that seemingly had been abandoned, but there weren’t many clues as to why it would need to be.
“Which shoes are you wearing?” A voice came from inside the room.
“The bunny's,” Carapace answered.
The door opened and Rena Rouge ushered them inside. The living room was illuminated by a single lamp, positioned in the middle of the room on a coffee table between two large sofas. Aside from the sofas, there were some chairs scattered around the room and a table off to the side. The windows and curtains were tightly shut, just like they seemed to be in the rest of the apartment. A long corridor showed the way to the rooms and bathroom, but all doors were shut just like the door that led to what was probably the kitchen.
The place was strange but kinda cozy in a way. Something about it made Adrien happy and he couldn’t really tell what it was so he decided not to dwell on it too much. When he finally stopped looking around was when he noticed Rena looking at him with a mixture of feelings he couldn’t really recognize.
“You’re sure they are the best versions for this? They seem too young,” The girl commented, a hand on her hips.
“They’re 16, Rena” Bunnyx answered making her way to one of the sofas. She sat down dramatically on one of them and waved her hand towards them “You’re only five years apart”
“And five years make a lot of difference.” Carapace commented. He stood next to Rena, looking at them as well. His arms were crossed and his posture tense, but his eyes maintained the kindness they always had.
Their stares weren’t exactly uncomfortable, but Andrien couldn’t help but feel awkward standing there next to Ladybug and having essentially three strangers look and talk about him like that.
“They are the ones with the highest chance of succeeding,” Bunnyx said. “I did the math and you know I’m good at it.”
Rena didn’t seem convinced.
“Do both of them know who we are yet?” She asked. Bunnyx shook her head.
“Only one,” She answered.
Adrien tried very hard not to seem affected by that statement, but he probably didn’t make that good of a job if Ladybug’s flinch and Bunnyx's sad eyes were any indicators. He always had more difficulty controlling his emotions as Chat Noir than he did as Adrien.
“Well, that has to change,” Carapace said calmly. All eyes turned to him and although he seemed startled by their attention, he didn’t back down. “They already can’t know about each other, we don’t have to make this any more difficult”
“You’ll mess-” Bunnyx started but Carapace cut her off.
“They’ll know things they aren’t supposed to anyway, Bunnyx, otherwise they won’t be able to help” He turned to Adrien and smiled. “Besides, I trust them”
It was very clear he was talking to Chat and they all knew he was the one out of the loop, but Carapace still said them as to not single him out. Adrien smiled at him as a thank you and wondered if that boy knew who he was.
“You’ll do it even if I say not to, won’t you?” Bunnyx asked. Carapaced just smiled at her. The girl sighed. “Fine, go ahead”
“Wayzz, detransform me please,” Carapace said.
Adrien couldn’t say he was surprised when Nino appeared in front of him. He was a bit different than the Nino he knew: his hair was longer, he had a scar near his left eye and another one above his lips. His tender eyes were the same as they had always been though. It made perfect sense now that Adrien stopped to think about it. Carapace was a kind protector, as brave as they get and always ready to be there for them. Of course he was Nino.
“Nino Lahiffe” Nino introduced himself even though he didn’t have to. Chat looked at the stretched hand and turned his head to the side, a question in his eyes. Nino seemed to understand “I don’t know who you are, dude, sorry” He whispered.
It was both a relief and a pain. Adrien sighed and took Nino’s hand in his.
“Then I’m Chat Noir” He said as he shook it. Nino smiled.
Chat turned to look at Wayzz, the turtle kwami. He had only ever seen Plagg, but he imagined other holders would have a kwami as well. He smiled at the creature and Wayzz smiled back.
“Well, I guess this is settled then” Rena mumbled from behind Nino. “Trixx, if you may”
Alya was also different and the somber look she carried in her eyes made her seem even older. She didn’t seem as receptive to the reveal as Nino was but stretched her hand to Chat anyway.
“Alya Césaire” She said.
“Chat Noir” Adrien answered
“Oh, I know” She took her hand back.
Adrien frowned. There seemed to be...something between them. Something not very good. If not even Nino knew who he was, Alya for sure didn’t, so her problem was with Chat Noir, not Adrien, which was weird. Chat and Rena weren’t the best of friends, but they had never seemed to have problems between them. Trixx, Alya’s kwami, didn’t seem to share that feeling. He smiled at Adrien from his place next to Wayzz and Adrien smiled back.
Neither kwami seemed too eager to join the conversation as Plagg would be if he had been there. It was weird, seeing kwamis be so different from his own. The little creatures floated close to each other and their holders, but only talked between themselves.
Adrien looked away from the scene and back to Alya. The girl stared at him expectantly. He could only stare back in confusion. She sighed.
“You guys have no idea on what’s happening here, do you?” Alya asked.
“No, not really” Ladybug was the one that answered.
Chat risked a glance at her. She seemed even more uncomfortable than he was and Adrien wondered if it was because of whatever had happened the last time Bunnyx took her on a future mission. He didn’t have any details, but, as they waited for the other hero to show up, Bunnyx had told him that Ladybug had made a not-so-nice visit to the future. He hadn’t asked why he hadn’t gone with her. Somehow felt like it was better if he didn’t know.
“Long story short, Hawkmoth is a big asshole” Alya answered bitterly. Nino stepped closer to her, putting a hand on her arm for comfort. It was good to see they still had a good relationship, but it didn’t make the dread that what Alya had just said brought go away.
“So he’s still a thing even now?” Ladybug asked. She sounded as defeated as he felt, but he made no move to get closer to her. They weren’t like that. Not anymore.
“He’s even more powerful than the Hawkmoth you know” Bunnyx explained “That’s why Paris is like this now. He’s in control”
The atmosphere in the room grew tenser and although he felt bad for contributing to making it worse, Adrien couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room.
“What happened to us?” He asked.
The three older heroes looked down sadly. The kwami’s had stopped their chatting. He could see how rigid Ladybug was next to him. They waited.
“Ladybug is hiding for now” Alya finally explained and she didn’t sound happy about it. “Hawkmoth has everyone looking for her and the fights were getting way harder to win so she decided to hide”
No one missed what Alya meant and Adrien risked a glance to the Ladybug at his side. She seemed conflicted, torn between thinking she would never do something like that and understanding why she actually would. It was weird to think of her giving up like that, but he too could see why she could think hiding was the best plant, especially because he didn’t know where future him fitted in that story.
He waited. Alya didn’t continue. Adrien felt his panic begin to rise.
“...What about me?” He asked.
Nino scratched the back of his head and looked around the room. Alya was very deliberately avoiding his gaze and that angry look had returned to her face. Bunnyx seemed to be ignoring that conversation entirely. Neither kwami seemed very keen on talking. Finally, Nino looked at him and sighed.
“We don’t know for sure” He began but was interrupted by a sharp laugh from Alya.
“Oh we know what happened,” She said and Adrien had only ever heard her sound so angry when she was akumatized. Alya pointed an accusing finger at him. “You’re working for Hawkmoth!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Adrien felt something inside him break.
“Alya we don’t know that-”
“Of course we do! You think Hawkmoth wouldn’t have let the world know Chat Noir was defeated?”
“Maybe he has other plans-”
“There are no other plans, Nino!”
The rest of the argument was lost to Adrien’s ears. He stared at the ground blankly. Everything felt heavy, especially the ring on his finger. He barely resisted the urge to take it off and throw it across the room. The feeling of inadequacy was not one he wasn’t familiar with, but he never thought he would be able to fuck up so badly. He blinked to stop the tears from coming and took in a shaky breath. It was not the time to break down. Not yet.
“What did I do?” He whispered. No one answered. He took a deep breath and raised his head. From the corner of his eye, he could see Ladybug looking at him worriedly. He wondered if his downfall was what she had seen. It would explain her uneasiness around him. He was now uneasy around himself. “What did I do?” He asked again, louder.
Everyone was looking at him. He refused to break.
“Hawkmoth has your miraculous” Nino explained before Alya could. “No one knows how he got it”
“But we can take a wild guess” Alya huffed.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Adrien felt the familiar urge to apologize, but apologies meant nothing if he truly had done what Alya accused him of. He was beyond redemption. He was the villain .
“So we’re here to defeat Hawkmoth” Adrien finally said “And maybe defeat me too”
Silence.
“Yeah” It was Bunnyx who broke it “That’s basically it”