Chapter Text
“Hold up, Pigtails. We need to talk.”
Marinette paused, her hand on the fridge, and turned to look at Plagg. “Why am I not surprised?”
Plagg grinned, showing a little fang. “I need to make sure that you’re going to be nice to my kid,” he explained. “You may not realize it, but Adrien is a lot more fragile than he lets on. It’s really easy to buy into the polite, nice kid act, or even into Chat’s cocky jokes, and think there’s nothing more to him.”
“And you think I have. Bought into them, you mean,” Marinette said, not sure whether to take that as an insult or not.
“To some extent,” Plagg said. “Most people do. Except me.” He preened. “I saw right through it from day one.”
“What are you getting at here, Plagg?” Marinette asked, folding her arms. “Adrien and I talked. We’re getting on the same page.”
“I know you are, but you’ve also shown that you’re not very good at saying what you mean,” Plagg said flatly. “Also, literally anyone else would’ve figured it out ages ago.”
“It was safer not to know!” Marinette said defensively, and Plagg rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, I get it. Look. You seem to be under the impression that Chat flirts with everyone. He doesn’t. It’s only ever been you, no matter which form you were in. He was serious when he said he was in love with you, he just doesn’t know how to show it. He learned everything he knows about love from those dumb shows and comics.” Plagg twitched his nose in disgust. “And since he insists on loving a girl, not cheese, I’m not very much help when it comes to advice.”
Marinette could feel a blush warming her cheeks. “It was just always so much. He told me he loved me like two days after he met me,” she said, leaning against the counter. “And then he flirted with civilian me too. How could I take him seriously?”
“The kid isn’t very good at articulating what he wants, much less what he needs. Comes from a lifetime of growing up with parents who are control freaks.”
She stilled at that, looking up at Plagg. “I know his dad is, but his mom too?”
“I didn’t know her, and Adrien always speaks well of her,” Plagg said slowly. “But sometimes the stories he tells aren’t great. I can tell that he thinks she was amazing, but let’s be honest. Adrien never attending public school wasn’t solely because of his father. I’m pretty sure his mother had a hand in that too. His life was just as restricted before she died, but he was happier because she spent so much time with him.”
“As opposed to his father,” Marinette muttered. It was impossible to miss what kind of impact Gabriel had on his son. Adrien was pretty good at hiding his disappointment when Gabriel failed to show up for things, but Marinette had always been able to see it anyway. When she compared Gabriel Agreste to her own parents, the difference was painfully obvious.
Plagg nodded. “And then, once she was gone, his father never paid him any attention. He still doesn’t. It’s just that, now that he’s Chat Noir and has you, Adrien cares a little less.”
“Me? I…” Marinette bit her lip, then whispered, “I shouldn’t be that important.”
“Shouldn’t but are. Black cats and Ladybugs always have a bond.” Plagg gave her a critical look. “It’s frequently more weighed to one side than the other, though. Secrets don’t help.”
“We had to keep our identities a secret,” Marinette said, exasperated.
“I don’t mean that. I mean things like not telling him who your teammates are, or not telling him about Master Fu, or even refusing to share anything about the other miraculouses… He almost gave up being Chat because of that, you know,” Plagg said.
Marinette froze. “W-what?!”
“Yup. During Syren, when you ran off to find Master Fu. I had to beg him to put the ring back on.” Plagg’s green eyes bored into her. For the first time, Marinette realized that Plagg was angry with her.
“I didn’t know that. He never told me,” she breathed, shocked.
Plagg sniffed. “Well, he wouldn’t. Adrien always thinks that you know best, even if you don’t. I know Master Fu was the reason you were keeping all those secrets. That part isn’t your fault. Ever since everything happened, he’s been gun shy about letting too much information leak out and trusting the wrong people. But there’s a reason there used to be more than one Guardian, and there’s a reason it wasn’t usually Ladybug or Chat Noir. You two need to be balanced. Master Fu is forgetting about that.”
“That’s…” Marinette put a hand to her head. The realization that she’d almost lost Chat without even knowing it hit harder than she’d anticipated, leaving her reeling.
She could function without him. They all knew that. Just like Chat could function without her. But to be her very best? To be the Ladybug that Paris really needed? To be able to do this for an extended period of time? To be able to do this with no potential end in sight? She needed him. She couldn’t fathom doing this without him. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold.
“I’m not trying to guilt you,” Plagg said, easing up slightly at her reaction. “I’m telling you this because you needed to know. All his life, decisions have been made for Adrien. People have always kept him in the dark. His father never gives him a reason; he just expects Adrien to fall into line and obey.”
“I know,” Marinette said softly.
“Then you know that you can’t do the same thing. You have to talk to each other. Talk to Master Fu. Be a team. You’re partners. That has to mean something,” Plagg said. “As both Ladybug and as Marinette, you mean everything to him.”
Her cheeks warmed again, but Marinette couldn’t deny that it helped to hear that. “I care a lot about him too. I love him.”
Plagg narrowed his eyes. “Chat too?”
“Yes, of course Chat too. Chat is the whole reason I’m Ladybug. Without him…” Marinette exhaled, shaking her head. “I always thought that if it weren’t for Adrien, then maybe Chat… It was just coincidence I met Adrien first. And things with Chat, well… they’d be complicated since we couldn’t exchange identities. I guess we don’t need to worry about that anymore, though.”
“Good,” Plagg said, looking satisfied. “You treat my kit good, Bug, got it? That loyalty between you needs to go both ways.”
“I will. It does,” Marinette said, her mind spinning with everything. She suddenly like she needed a year of sleep just to come to terms with it all.
But of course, she didn’t get that because Adrien came downstairs with Tikki just then. He was looking at her like he’d never seen her before, and it occurred to Marinette in a flash that Tikki must’ve had a similar chat with Adrien. She narrowed her eyes at Tikki, but Tikki just grinned and giggled quietly without saying a word. Typical. No one had ever warned her that kwamis were so sneaky!
After taking Adrien downstairs and getting some snacks – and after a quick stop at the fridge to finally get Plagg some cheese – they went back up to Marinette’s room. She sat at her desk and Adrien sat back down on her chaise, and for a few minutes everything was quiet and relatively peaceful as everyone munched away on their snacks. Or at least, it was outwardly quiet.
Inwardly, Marinette was thinking hard about what Plagg had said. Trust was a precious commodity when you were a miraculous holder. Yet, if anyone were to ask Marinette who the person was that she trusted most in the world, it wouldn’t be her parents. It wouldn’t be Alya. It wouldn’t even be Master Fu. The answer would unquestionably be Chat, and that hadn’t changed after she found out who he was – if anything, those feelings had only intensified.
“Adrien, what are you gonna do about your dad?” she asked.
He looked over at her in surprise, then finished his mouthful of macaron before responding. “I’m gonna tell him I got sick and that one of my friends took me back to their place to look after me. I think I can get the Gorilla to back me up. He’ll still be mad, but it’s not like he can do very much. He’ll probably ground me for not going right home to the doctor… but oh well.” Adrien shrugged nonchalantly and popped the last bit of macaron into his mouth.
Marinette nodded. “That makes sense… though I still don’t think he should be mad at you when you didn’t even want to go in the first place.”
“Don’t worry, My Lady. I’m used to it,” Adrien said, giving her a small smile. “Unless I do every single thing that he wants, I’m going to get into trouble sometimes. And since that would mean I wouldn’t be able to be Chat Noir, or spend time with you…”
“Right,” Marinette muttered, finishing off her last cookie. “Okay… then what are we gonna do about Alya and Nino? Did they hear what I said?”
“Yeah, they did,” Adrien replied with a wince. “Both of them were trying to ask me questions when we left the airport, but I was too shocked to answer them. I shut my phone off before I transformed so that neither they nor my father would be able to text me. I’m actually a little afraid to turn it back on…”
“I haven’t looked at mine either,” Marinette admitted. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and got up, moving to sit beside him again. They both looked at the screen together.
“Two hundred text messages?!” Adrien said in disbelief.
“I would bet good money that almost all of those are from Alya,” Marinette said with a sigh. “She’s too smart for her own good, and I wasn’t exactly thinking when I yelled at you…” She couldn’t even remember exactly what she’d yelled in her state of pissed off exhaustion, but it had definitely been telling. She scrolled slowly through the long list of messages, grimacing. It definitely looked like Alya was starting to put things together. And if Alya knew, then Nino definitely knew.
“What do you want to tell her?” Adrien asked, looking at her.
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” Marinette asked.
Adrien seemed surprised by the question but responded quickly. “If she knows, or is about to figure it out, we might as well admit it. Otherwise, Alya will put herself into increasingly dangerous situations trying to prove that she knows the truth. We don’t have time for that, Bugaboo. We spend enough time rescuing Alya as it is.”
He had a point, Marinette realized, and it was one she hadn’t considered. She leaned into him. “You’re right. I… I’m sorry, Adrien.”
“What? Why?” Adrien said, confused.
“This is all my fault. I’m the one who got mad and started shouting in front of everyone. I didn’t even think about the fact that we were in public. I lost my temper.” Marinette clenched her hands around her phone, ashamed.
“Hey.” Adrien wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a sideways hug. “It’s okay. Everyone messes up. I had my part in that too. And I’m pretty sure no one else would’ve figured it out. It’s just because Alya and Nino have so much context.”
Marinette nodded and confessed: “They’re Rena Rouge and Carapace.”
Adrien stilled, and she turned to look up at him. He was watching her with wide eyes. She stared back.
Finally, he said softly, “I guessed, but thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome,” Marinette whispered back.
“Adrien’s right, Marinette,” Tikki piped up, and they both jumped and hastily looked away as Tikki landed on Marinette’s knee and smiled knowingly.
“Uh, what?” Marinette said.
“It’s not ideal that Alya and Nino know, but it’s not the end of the world either. You’ll just have to make sure both of them are as careful as you and Adrien are,” Tikki explained. “They already have their own secrets about the miraculous to keep, so at least you know they can be trusted.” She paused. “Well, Nino can. You might have to lock the Ladyblog away from Alya for a day or two.”
“A day or two?” Plagg snorted, landing on Adrien’s opposite shoulder. “Try a week or two.”
“A week or two sounds about right,” Adrien said.
“I think we can trust them,” Marinette said. “I wouldn’t have given either of them a miraculous if I couldn’t. Though… I have to admit I am a little afraid of how much screaming Alya’s gonna do.”
Adrien, Tikki, and Plagg all winced simultaneously.
“I’m sorry, Bugaboo, but that is one thing I’m not going to protect you from,” Adrien told her with another smile.
“Rude,” Marinette said, trying to frown at him. “What kind of knight in leather armor are you?”
He laughed. “I will gladly insinuate myself between you and any enemy… except for Alya Césaire on a mission. I love you, but I’m not that crazy.”
Marinette tried even harder to pout, but her smile broke through. “Well… I guess that’s understandable. I love you too and I can’t promise that Alya isn’t going to hands down murder me.” She flushed as she spoke, but kept her eyes trained on his. So she saw the moment in which he processed her words, and it was like someone had switched on a light: his whole face brightened up, eyes shining, a grin stretching from ear to ear.
“Are you going to be gross all the time now?” Plagg complained.
“Yes,” Adrien said, still grinning, leaning forward to gently touch their foreheads together. “We’re gonna be the grossest.”
“Can confirm,” Marinette said, smiling helplessly back. If Alya killed her later tonight, at least she could say she was going to die happy.