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Chat Noir is no longer on planet Earth, there is no ground beneath his feet, gravity has no hold on him. There’s a buzzing in his ears, his skin is hot and then cold, his heart beating so fast so loud, he feels like he is about to throw up.
He tries to move but someone must have attached weights to all his limbs, his vision is a blur of red and black, red and black, red and black.
“..at! Chat! Chat! What’s wrong! Please, please, please, Chat!”
His Lady, his Ladybug has her arms wrapped around him and shaking him, he has to blink a few times before his vision suddenly violently focuses again. He can’t help but flinch and Ladybug immediately steps back from him but keeps her hands hovering over his chest, like she’s ready to catch him.
“Chat, are you okay?” Her voice is steady but her eyes are tearing up, she’s scared for him.
He has to swallow a few times before he speaks, otherwise, his lunch was about to make a reappearance, “Could you please repeat what you said?”
The face Ladybug makes tells him he’s worded that too formally, too much like Adrien, but she nods slowly anyways and repeats herself, “Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth, he was Monarch.”
And well, that’s what he thought she had said, those were definitely the world-ending, blackhole-inducing, soul-crushing words he had heard.
It goes like this, three months ago he was locked in a blinding white room with only a foosball table to keep him company, it’s been two days since he had given up his Miraculous to Plagg when the door opened and The Gorilla is there. The Gorilla leads him out of the building to a sleek black car and hands him a phone. The Gorilla says nothing because he never says anything, but his eyes are so sad.
Adrien stares at the blank screen and waits, he is sorely tempted to call Marinette but he knows he’s got another call incoming.
The screen lights up with Nathalie’s name.
“Adrien,” Her voice is clearer than when he heard it last, “I’ve got some news for you.”
It goes like this, his father is dead, his mother is not.
He lands in Paris and is faced with more cameras than he’s ever seen in his life, which was saying something considering his life.
He is ushered into another sleek black car and taken to a hospital, when they arrive Lt. Raincomprix is there, he carefully explains that his father was instrumental in the defeat of the Monarch but unfortunately did not survive the battle. He explains that Ladybug had discovered his mother in the aftermath of it all. He does not get much more detail than this.
Adrien is brought into a blinding white room with only his mother to keep him company.
She looks at him, tilts her head just so, and holds a single pale hand out to him, “Oh Adrien, oh my little miracle, come here.”
He collapses into her arms, feeling all of twelve years old again, how old he was last time she held him like this, “Mère, mère, mère, mère,” He sobs and sobs and sobs.
Hours later the doctors explain his mother can go home tomorrow, they were just keeping her for observation, and no one explains what they were observing for.
He stays with her that night, unwilling to be without her, and just stares at her sleeping face for so long that he almost misses the window opening. But it’s hard to miss that vibrant shade of red.
“Adrien, I’m so sorry to intrude like this,” Ladybug's shoulders are hunched over in an unfamiliar way, her voice low and careful.
“Ladybug,” He murmurs, he’s about to ask what she’s doing there when she opens her hand, and something silver glimmers in the moonlight. His heart rate spikes for a moment before he realizes it’s not his Miraclous in her hand, it’s his fathers' wedding rings.
She wasn’t here for Chat Noir, she still didn’t know who he was, she was here for Adrien Agreste, the son of the recently deceased Gabriel Agreste.
She puts the rings in his hand and closes his fist around them and keeps her hands there on top of his, “He wanted you to have this,” She takes a deep breath before staring up at him, “I am truly truly sorry, Adrien,”
His voice cracks when he asks, “What happened?”
She breaks eye contact, she stares down at the ground, her grip on him getting a little tighter, “I couldn’t have done it without him, he risked his own life to help me defeat Monarch, his sacrifice stopped him. My Miraculous couldn’t undo all the damage this time, I’m so sorry,”
She drops his hands entirely spins around and jumps out the window, disappearing into the summer night.
He does not sleep that night.
Marinette is in the waiting room in the morning when he and his mother make their way out to the car. He’s so overjoyed to see her he doesn’t even think twice about letting go of his mother’s hand and sprinting over to her.
He picks her up and spins her around, kissing every inch of her face as she giggles, the sound of it brightens the room, “Marinette, ‘Nette, ‘Nette, my love, I missed you,” And then finally kisses her lips.
She leans into the kiss, one hand on his cheek and the other in his hair, she smells like fresh bread and tastes of strawberries.
“Oh, and who is this?” His mother’s voice bursts the bubble, he quickly drops Marinette to her feet but leaves an arm around her shoulder.
“Mother, I would like to introduce you to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, my girlfriend,” He’s so proud of the title, he never wants to let her go again.
“Well, I sure hope she is, and that you’re not going around kissing all the pretty girls you see,” She teases him, his face is almost sore from how wide his grin is, he had forgotten about how his mother always teased him, his heart aches at how happy he is in this moment.
Marinette shyly shakes his mother’s hand, “It’s wonderful to meet you Mme Agreste, your son is truly wonderful, I’m so grateful you’ve come back to him,” Then her face crinkles up, “I am so sorry to hear about M. Agreste, I’m so sorry,”
His stomach drops at her words, of course, his father, did he just forget about his father? Adrien has cried quite a bit in the last day, but he isn’t sure how many of those tears were shed for the man. The last they saw of each other his father had been downright cruel in taking him away from all his friends and loved ones, and then locking him in a room. And his behavior before that was barely fatherly either.
But it was hard to be mad at a dead man, but it was also hard to forgive one.
Marinette squeezing his hand brings him back into the conversation, both of the women looking at him quizzingly.
“Sorry, tired,” He suddenly couldn’t summon the energy for much else.
“It’s okay, it’s time to go home now,” Marinette gives him a small smile and starts leading them towards to exit. She stops suddenly to open an umbrella he hadn’t noticed she was carrying.
“Oh, is it raining? I didn’t notice,” Mother remarks, but Marinette just shakes her head before they step outside.
“It isn’t.”
How he didn’t notice the dozens of paparazzi before is a wonder, but thankfully the umbrella blocks out the absolutely blinding amount of flashes that are aimed at them for the few steps it takes to get the car.
It doesn’t block out the endless questions though.
“Adrien, Adrien, can you comment on the-”
“Adrien how are you feeling about-”
“Mme Agreste, Mme Agreste, where have you-”
“What about the Alliance-”
“What’s happening to the Gabriel brand now that-”
“How did Gabriel-”
The Gorilla speeds off the moment the door is closed.
“Oh, an umbrella, what a smark trick Marinette!” His mother praises her, and Marinette blushes and ducks her head modestly.
“That’s my princess,” He picks up her hand and kisses her knuckles, “The best problem solver around,”
They arrive back at the Agreste Mansion, someone has placed tarps over the gate so it can no longer be seen through but the paparazzi are there as well.
Nathalie is waiting at the bottom of the stairs for them, her leg braces are gone for the first time in months, her skin is no longer a sickly pallor and she’s dyed her hair red again.
Her stoic demeanor crumbles as soon as Mother steps out of the car, they meet each other halfway and hug each other tightly.
“Gabriel, he-”
“I know,”
“He did what he thought had to be done,”
“I know he did,”
“I tried to help,”
“You did, you did, you were there for my boy, I wouldn’t have asked any more than that, thank you, Nat,”
The conversation is spoken in a hushed tone, barely understandable but Adrien hangs onto every single word.
They finally part and Nathalie glances over to the two of them, her face pales when she locks eyes with Marinette, she straightens her jacket and starts tapping on her everpresent tablet.
“Mlle Dupain-Cheng, I’ll organize an escort home for you, we weren’t expecting you today,” Her voice is unexpectantly strained.
“I’d rather not, Mme Sancoeur, I think I’ll stay with Adrien for a bit,” Marinette’s tone is oddly cold, her arms folded across her chest.
“I must insist, Lady Graham de Vanily is expected this afternoon with her son, this is a time for fam-”
Mother cuts her off, “Thank you Nathalie, but I’m feeling a bit tired, would you escort me inside, I want to see if Gabriel’s interior design skills have improved beyond white paint and marble,” She links her arm through Nathalie’s and walks them inside, looking back at Adrien and shooting him a wink.
Marinette deflates against him, resting her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around him, he returns the hug, enjoying her warmth.
“I’m sorry, Adrien, I don’t know what got into me, that was rude, I never want to intrude on you,”
“It’s hard for everyone at the moment, emotions are running high, I feel like I haven’t slept in days, and just with my mother and father and then Monarch and Ladybug, and and and, I feel like I can keep going on forever,” His head buried in her neck, “I don’t think I can do this without you ‘Nette,”
“I’m here, Adrien, I’m not going anywhere,”
The day keeps going on and on and on, his aunt shows up, noticeably without Félix, more tears are shed and eventually The Gorilla drives Marinette home. Adrien kisses her one more time and promises to call her before he goes to bed.
His mother is sleeping in one of the guest rooms, nobody wants to enter the Master Suite just yet. Adrein’s room feels as large and lonely as it always does.
Ding .
What was that sound?
Ding .
He looks up his window and eyes a familiar black pest.
Plagg!
Plagg phases through the glass once he knows he’s been spotted, zooming straight to Adrien, he wraps the little Kwami into a hug and inhales the familiar scent of smoke and cheese that he has come to associate with the tiny god.
“Kid, I’m sorry this happened to you, I’m sorry,” Plagg is uncharacteristically serious for once, before dropping the Miraculous into his hand, “I understand if you no longer want this, but it’s yours if you do.”
He stares Plagg dead in the eyes as he slips the Ring back onto its rightful place, “I’m sick and tired of apologies and sorrows, Plagg, I just want to be free, I just want to run. Claws out!”
And the Parisian summer night welcomed its black cat home.
The months passed by, the weather growing hotter, Mme Bustier had her baby and then was elected Mayor. Many plans for the city were drawn up and his mother had started renovating the Mansion, insisting they needed a pool.
Ladybug explained what Monarch had done to the other Miraculous jewelry and had spent the summer recreating the jewels, explaining her new plan to prevent all the Miraculous from ever being stolen by a single person ever again.
Chat was happy to have the team around, and he was delighted he got to spend the whole summer with all his friends and family. With the passing of time, he falls more and more in love with Marinette. It had truly distracted him from thinking about his father too much, from questioning it as much as he wanted to.
He could tell that his Lady was hiding something from him, but he trusted her and knew the recreation of the Miraculous was a stressful undertaking, so he didn’t bug her like he wanted to. But summer was drawing to a close and everything was coming to a head.
And it goes like this, Ladybug comes to him after patrol, she’s been fidgeting all night, muttering to herself and picking at her gloves.
“Race you to the top of the Tower?” He asks her, she looks grateful for the distraction.
“You’re on kitty cat!”
The brief moments of levity and the swing and shout and banter are not enough to completely dispel the heavy air that surrounds them.
Chat reaches the top only seconds before Ladybug does, and only knows he beats her because she lets him. He doesn’t sit down like they normally do as she continues to pace back and forth. He lets her gather her thoughts, he has rarely ever seen her so worried and serious.
“Chat,” She grabs his hand but can’t look at him, “I’ve wanted to tell you this since it happened, but I just didn’t know how,”
“Tell me what, M’Lady?”
“About the final battle with Monarch,”
He lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in, she suddenly lets go of him and starts pacing again.
“We know he wanted a wish, but we didn’t know what it was, and it was an accident, I was just trying to find my friend and then I found all this stuff about the Miraculous and then he came into the room, and detransformed and it was him! And then everyone was getting akumatised and we fought and I thought I got through to him, I thought I had convinced him that we could work together and fix everything, but he tricked me and he got both Miraculous and then he did it! He made his wish! But he asked me, he asked not to let his son know, what he had done, he didn’t want to ruin his image of his father. And I couldn’t do that to him, I couldn’t tell anyone.”
Ladybug had told him a similar story before but hadn’t told him she knew Monarch’s identity or his wish, or his promise to his son.
“I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to explain it, but it’s eating me up inside, these lies are killing me,” She grabs his hands again, “But I can tell you, kitty, please don’t think badly of me, please, I didn’t mean for it to turn out this way, I didn’t mean for everyone to think of him as a hero.”
A lightbulb goes off above his head, the lightbulb explodes, his skin feels itchy, he feels like stone, he feels like dust, he feels like he has Cataclysmed himself.
“Who was he?” The words feel like ash on his tongue.
“Gabriel Agreste, he was Hawkmoth, he was Monarch.”
Chat Noir has been knocked off his feet too many times to count, but it has never felt like this. His father was Hawkmoth, was Monarch, was the villain terrorizing all of Paris, the man who haunted his dreams, the man who had locked him in his room so many times, who stole his freedom from him, who hurt his friends, hurt so many people, the man who nearly ended so many lives and for what, some wish!
He hurt so many people and for what!
“Chat! Chat! Calm down, calm down,” Ladybug was trying to hold onto him but he hadn’t even realized he had started moving, hadn’t even realized he had been shouting.
“Why did he do all this? Why?!” He feels like there wasn’t enough air left in the world to fill his lungs, his blood boiling in anger.
“He wanted to bring his wife back,”
And there it was the final puzzle piece, everything clicked into place, his mother. Nearly every argument, every disappointment, every joy, everything always comes back to his mother.
He always felt like all the love his father possessed disappeared the same day his mother did. It doesn’t surprise him that she is the reason he did all of this.
He sinks to the floor. Ladybug immediately pulls him into a hug and he can tell that she’s crying, he cries too, “Don’t hate me, kitty, please don’t hate me, I didn’t mean for it to be this way,”
They spend a few more minutes curled around each other, the sounds of their misery and agony lost to the winds above Paris. Then it hits him, she told him about Monarch because she didn’t want to break her promise, to go back on her word, it suddenly feels cruel that she doesn’t know what she has admitted to, that she doesn’t know who she’s talking to.
Finally, Chat manages to speak again, “I could never hate you, Bugaboo, but I’m tired, I’m tired of the lies and the secrets,”
“I know, me too,” She sounds exhausted, the bone-deep kind of exhausted.
“I trust you more than anyone you know, well almost,” He gives her a knowing smile, she knows his love for Marninette even if she doesn’t know it's for Marninette.
“Me too, well almost,” She returns the smile, he knows she loves her boyfriend with all her heart too.
“Haven’t we suffered enough, sure the Butterfly Miraculous is missing, but we are no longer haunted by a villain, whose lives are at risk if we let each other in now? I’m sick of the lies M’Lady, isn’t it time?”
She doesn’t argue anymore, it seems she doesn’t want to anymore, her eyes soften and she brings one of his hands to her mouth to kiss his knuckles, “On the count of three?”
“One, M’Lady,”
“Two, Kitty Cat,”
“Three, guess the cats out of the bag now,”
“Chat~!”
It goes like this, there are two teenagers on top of the Eiffel Tower, they are in love, there are no secrets between them, and there is nowhere else they would rather be.