Written for Art_the_f_up's WTIYS 

'Can one moment really change your life? A fleeting glance; an ill timed step; a silence where you should have spoken those words, words which have been on the tip or your tongue day after day, month after month, year after year.

A moment of regret, when you said the wrong thing at the wrong time? Or maybe the right thing but to the wrong person?

Or perhaps a moment where you should have noticed something so obvious that it had been right under your nose the whole time?

Can you come back from such a moment or is it one that will live with you forever; your defining moment which will go down in history.

Is it true that one moment can make your life good... or bad?'

*****

The closing notes of day began to crash against night, the two hitting together making a wonderful pattern of reds and oranges against the skies, coating the bustling city of Paris.

Shadows began to grow to their full length in the most ominous of ways, ways that would lead to their final encore and disappearance as the day merged effortlessly into night.

Night. The perfect time for violence.

These kinds of things always happened at the darkest times of day; or at least it felt that way. It was as though the day was purposefully set up to build emotion, to uncover the truth which was usually hidden by shadows of night.

As the closing bars of the sun's ensemble played out the remaining notes of daylight, the truth would be hidden once more. And, if you couldn't see it, it wasn't real, right? Another fabrication with no proof of its existence.

Adrien sat on the highest point of the Iron Lady, his mask in his hand as he looked out over Paris, over his home. One arm rested on his knee, his knuckles turning white as his mask swung in the high breeze around the top of the Eiffel Tower; his other cupped his head, a pain shooting through his central cortex as he fought the tears threatening to spill.

What kind of hero was he? How could he allow his emotions to run wild in a city where it was dangerous to feel? But at this moment he couldn't care as the events of the day ran again and again in his head.

A comforting thwip cut through the surrounding sounds of late afternoon in Paris; his partner coming towards him; a silhouette of hope against the day's ominous closing moments. He knew he'd have to tell her, to let her know what a failure he was, but at the moment he clung to the possibility that he'd be vindicated.

The soft sound of her feet landing down on the metal was soothing for his nerves; each wound tightly and threatening to snap.

"A-A-Adrien..."

"Surprise," he said without an ounce of enthusiasm in his voice. He sat and watched as Ladybug climbed the tower and seated herself beside him.

"Adrien Agreste. What? Why aren't you wearing your mask?"

He sighed and looked out into the distance, bringing his mask up and fumbling with it between his hands.

"I know," he whispered, "I know why we have to do this, why we're getting battered from pillar to post, why we're having to fight daily for our lives and those around us..." as Adrien spoke he could feel the emotion in his voice building and building, and if he didn't control it he was certain it was going to snap. The tightening of his jaw, the flaring of his nostrils, the overpowering need to shout and scream — the perfect emotion for an akuma.

He kept his eyes out into the distance. He couldn't look at her, not whilst his fist and body tensed to the point of almost ripping apart.

"It was him all along." 'Him' spitting out of his mouth like venom.

"Adrien," her soft voice caressed his ears, her soft touch to the forearm calming him. "Tell me."

"I know where to find Hawkmoth." He turned to face her, finally watching how the shock had made its way into her eyes. Her pacific blues darkened with determination.

Reaching over with a gloved hand, he placed it on top of Ladybug's. "He's my father."

She gasped, the echo combining with the orchestra of sirens, car horns and chatter; a soundtrack he would never forget. A sound track of an uncertain future.

"When did you find out?"

Her question wasn't complicated or complex. It was short and simple, just as the answer should be, the answer that wouldn't leave his mouth. He swallowed past the dry lump in his throat only for it to tickle and cause him to cough. He tried again. A little more moisture passed through that time and relieved the dryness enough for him to speak.

"About an hour ago."

Before he could say or do anything else, the warm, comforting arms of his partner wrapped around his body and pulled him tightly to her. He turned, burying his head into her neck and fighting hard against the prickling sensation taking over the upper half of his face.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I should have known."

"No," she said, holding him even tighter. "That's like saying you should know who I am because we see each other everyday. People can select what people see, his choice was to hide it from you. You're just another victim of his."

Ladybug loosened her hold before moving away, the cool night air hitting him and sapping her lingering warmth. The want and need to pull her back to him was sacrily overpowering, one he'd only ever felt with Marinette.

At this moment, Ladybug was his strength, and he knew — together — just what they had to do.

Adrien stood, his feet holding him at an angle, using both hands to place his mask back firmly over his face.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Ladybug asked, standing beside him. Her face looked the epitome of caution.

"Us against the world?" He asked in response only to be met with a soft, small smile contorting her lips. It was neither happy or joyous, instead a smile of unspoken understanding and commitment.

"Always."

Adrien shot his web out into the sky, hooking on the towers and rooftops as he moved through the streets of overcrowded Paris. It was busy. Tourist season. People cheered and chanted their names as they headed in the direction of his mansion – Hawkmoth's lair.

He landed on a rooftop opposite the mansion, hiding behind a chimney. Ladybug joined to create their usual formation. He glanced into the distance, grateful that his mask hid his emotions as right now he was barely keeping it together.

A brief examination of his home provided an insight to where his father may be — the atrium to the right.

"How did you find out?" The soft voice of his partner danced in his ears, each word twisting and turning through variations of fear and nervousness.

Had she suddenly become scared of him?

"Gabriel had been hiding out in his study. A lot..."

If she'd heard him use his fathers name she ignored it, instead she remained silent as he continued his story.

"I was..." he laughed humorlessly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I was looking for a screwdriver, I may have, kind of, blown mine up. I was in his work room when he came in; and instead of making conversation I hid like a coward. He began to talk to a little creature before I noticed a brooch reflecting like a diamond, a purple diamond. And that's when I realised he had a Miraculous. The butterfly."

Ladybug moved forward placing her hand comfortingly on his back, her head moving to rest on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. All he could reply with was a curt nod.

"Before we..." His head was jumbled with thoughts and feelings he'd never known were there, each one fighting to try and surface. His brain was trying hard to grasp a hold of the one that meant the most to him. Finally, bringing it to the front of his mind, he turned to his partner and tried to vocalise his need once again. "I want you to do me a favour, if this all goes wrong." He gulped, emotion struggling to get past the thickness in his throat. "I need you to tell Marinette — that I..."

A red glove closed over his mouth, blue eyes glaring into green and reading his soul.

"We're going to make it through this, and you can tell her yourself."

Something in her eyes gave him a renewed sense of energy. An optimistic feeling that there would be an end, they just needed to get there. He'd always been such a loner before, now, with two amazing, strong women by his side supporting him — well... he could take on anything.

He responded with a nod, unsure he could speak with the cocktail of emotions swirling through his body.

Instead, he shot out his web and prayed he wasn't making the worst mistake of his life.

*****

Adrien fell backwards, his legs giving out from the impact of a metal beam striking him in the stomach.

"Spider-Man!" Ladybug screamed, sprinting towards him.

His eyes blurred as he tried to track her movements, each blink brought her closer to him. Closer. And closer. Until he blinked again, and her shriek rang in his ears.

A shadow of purple had materialised behind Ladybug in her haste. Adrien's weakness had cost her by dividing her attention.

"Do you give up, boy?"

Adrien struggled for breath, the pain pressing against his lungs hard, restricting each intake of oxygen. He tore off his mask, gasping greatly. His father — Gabriel — had Ladybug held under his arm, the pointed tip of his staff against her neck.

"You don't want the Bug to get squished, do you?"

Narrowing his eyes, Adrien struggled to stand. He punched the floor, propelling himself to his feet with anger. The effort it took was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life.

They'd been battling for almost an hour, both giving and taking in equal amounts — until now. The last hit to Adrien almost took him out; Ladybug switched to play defence, a defence that was paper thin, and, consequently, leaving her vulnerable to Hawkmoth's attack.

"Let. Her. Go!" Adrien struggled to his full height, equaling that of his father. His arm comforted his upper body. He was certain some of his ribs were broken.

"Hummm... I don't think so son, see she has two things I want. Two things that I need."

"You don't want to do this, this isn't you!" Adrien began to hobble forward; he reached out towards where his father — and his partner — stood.

"Wrong, Adrien. This is me! A broken man who has nothing to live for."

"You have everything to live for!" Ladybug shouted in response.

Gabriel tightened his hold; pushing the staff against her neck and breaking the skin.

Her yelp sent shockwaves through Adrien's body. He couldn't lose her, not when they'd come this far.

"You have a son. A wonderful son. Just look at him Gabriel! Look at him!" The anger radiated off her, and he could feel the pressure building between his own eyes. Ladybug was his partner, one of his best friends. He couldn't lose her.

Gabriel's laughter built up and ricocheted against the walls of the atrium, the metal bouncing it in the most nefarious of ways.

"Nothing will happen to him, it's you who will face the consequences. You've fought a gallant battle Ladybug; but now it's time to end this once and for all."

Adrien willed his legs to work, stumbling forwards, one leg dragging behind as he headed towards Ladybug.

"Adrien," she squealed, throwing something in the air.

It was black and circular; the movement lowered Hawkmoth's defences. Ladybug attempted to strike out at her attacker, the main aim was to set herself free.

Adrien shot a web towards the object sailing through the air; pulling it in, the split second distraction caused him to miss his father's vicious attack as he ripped an earring from Ladybug's ear. He jammed the ring on his finger as he ran towards them.

Ladybug elbowed Hawkmoth hard in the stomach and knocked them both off balance. They stumbled towards the pit of nothingness beneath the walkway.

Adrien dove towards them, placing his mask back over his face and firing web after web, praying to reach her in time.

"No!" Adrien screamed as watched the two fall backwards into the vast abyss. His hand hung uselessly, reaching out for Ladybug as she fell down. And down. Over the edge and into the depths below.

He sent out another dozen webs, praying it would be enough. Firing them out again and again until he finally felt a resistance on the end of it. Two to be exact.

Web Fluid low. Web integrity at 80%.

Plagg's voice sounded from within his mask, the web slowly dissolving in his hands.

"How long, Plagg?" He asked, clinging hard.

You have approximately 5 minutes.

Adrien trailed his gaze down to where he'd sent the webs; one from each wrist holding onto someone.

One was Ladybug, a pink glow began to form over her outfit and began to fade, returning her to her civilian self, only the glow of her mask remained.

His other web held his father's ankle. The man's movements to pull himself up shook the web, causing it to slip in Adrien's hand.

Web integrity at 70%.

Adrien could feel the webbing slipping. The strands stretched and slipped between his fingers. Both Ladybug and his father dropped several inches before he could recover his grip. More threads snapped.

"Adrien."

Ladybug's voice pulled him like an oasis in the desert. A pale pink glow lingered about her tear-filled eyes. It was the look of a hero resigned to fate.

"Let me go."

"I can't," he gasped, pulling hard on the webs. He arched his back, straining against their combined weight.

"Just let her go, Adrien! We can work together; we can bring your mother back." Hawkmoth shouted, once again attempting to pull himself upwards. He swung his arm in an attempt to grab the web. The movement twisted the webbing in Adrien's hands and dropped them a little more.

Ladybug's voice was gentle, yet firm. "You need your father, Adrien. Just let me go. He's right. He can bring your mother back. You need her more than me."

The decision lay in his hands. Did he protect his partner, who was willing to give up her own life for his family? Or his father? The one who wanted to take his life — as he knew it — away from him. He couldn't do this. He couldn't choose.

"Plagg, help me."

The weight is too heavy. Web integrity at 60%.

"Can I pull them both up?"

The web is deteriorating, Adrien. You will only be able to pull one.

Adrien switched his grip and tried to send another line down. His web launchers clicked over, empty.

"No!" he screamed. He closed his eyes and tried to pull them both up again. His worst nightmares becoming reality.

Weight too heavy, Plagg warned once more. Web integrity at 50%.

"Adrien, please, you have to let me go." Ladybug's sobbed words hit him hard. He'd never heard his partner sound so defeated. She was ready to die, and it hurt him more than he ever could have imagined.

"I'm not letting you go, Ladybug."

"Yes, you are," she spoke again. The pink fading away and leaving her bare, familiar eyes vulnerable to him. "You have to."

Bile rose up his throat. His whole body began to shake from the sight before him. His blood ran cold.

"M-M-Marinette." This couldn't be right. He had to be dreaming.

She smiled. A soft, sad curve upwards at the corners of her lips, joining the trail of tears cascading down her cheeks. "Hi," She whispered.

"I can't let you go... you said... you said..."

"I know what I said, Adrien, and I'm sorry. But please, save your father, he's your family."

How was he meant to let her go? The girl he loved so dearly, who he thought he'd have time with? Who he thought he'd have a chance to declare himself to?

Though his father was still screaming and kicking, the moment only belonged to him and her. The deafening thud of his heartbeat overtook his senses.

Web integrity at 40%

"Marinette, there's got to be something you can do. Call a lucky charm, please, anything." His voice was hoarse and thickly coated in desperation. But she just shook her head in response.

"It's just me now. I can't do anything without my other earring."

Web integrity at 35%. Do you want me to cut one web to maximise strength?

Adrien's jaw clenched once more as he looked between Marinette and his father. Could he really make this decision?

"You can do it." Marinette smiled. "I'll be okay, you know why? Because I got to spend my life loving you."

"Please," Adrien sobbed once more. He didn't know if he was asking her to continue or begging her to stop.

"I could never tell you how much I loved you, which is silly really. But I do. I love you and I've loved you every single day since that first class where you proved you were the world's biggest geek." Her small laugh was sorrowful and only hurt him more. How dare she do this now!

Web integrity at 30%. Web will detach in approximately two minutes. Do you want me to cut one web to maximise strength?

"No!" Adrien screamed, pulling hard against the remaining strands. "Marinette, I can't..."

"I wish I had said it sooner. But it's good that I'm saying it now, right? That you know how I feel. We've missed out on so much Spidey. But it's time. You need to let me go. Use the ring and my earrings to get your mother back. You just need to say 'claws out', Plagg will direct you from there."

He dug for strength and gave an exhausted heave. "Just hold on, please, Marinette!"

"There's nothing left to hold on to, Adrien. Save your father. He's all you have left."

Marinette plucked off her remaining earring and threw it up towards him; she followed this by reaching for the web and pulling.

"Marinette, don't do this! I can't live without you."

"You can and you will. Once your father does what he needs, you won't even remember me." She tore the web free from her wrist. Her face registered the shock of freefall as she began to fall down into the darkness.

"No!"

With one arm free from weight, Adrien yanked the other line, sending Gabriel flying over his head before diving after Marinette.

"Plagg, claws out."

A green flash took over him. His suit effortlessly blended and wrapped into a second skin. The black spider on the front changed into fluorescent green, the blue and red of his suit darkening to black, the webs melding with the spider in green streaks across his body. A zip trailed up the front into a high, open collar; his boots thickening into a heavy weight. His mask lifted from the lower part of his face, framing his eyes and freeing the tears which had been constrained.

The sudden surge gave him strength. He fired green webs from his wrists by instinct more than intent. They struck home on what he hoped was Marinette. He couldn't lose her. He just couldn't.

There's a baton attached to your lower back.

Plagg's usually robotic voice had changed, a nasally undertone coating the words, almost as though there was someone else in his new mask. He grabbed the baton, extending it and thrusting it into the side of the pit, speeding his descent, shortening the distance between himself and his goal.

Marinette suddenly came into view out of the depths. He pushed off the wall once more, swimming through the air towards both his best friend, and love of his life. Until...

"Gotcha!" Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her against him. "Hold on!"

She wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. With both hands free he jammed the baton into the wall again, this time using its extension to fling them back up to the walkway.

Landing, he let go of Marinette and scanned the area with only one aim in sight. The man lying on the ground, beaten and injured.

"What's my power Plagg?"

Say cataclysm to destroy objects. The power will come from your ringed hand.

Adrien looked down at his hand before looking back at Gabriel. Leaving Marinette behind and stalking over like a lion after his prey.

Shooting a web, Adrien pinned one of Hawkmoth's hands to the wall behind where he sat before shooting a second directly at his cane.

Adrien's voice was surprisingly calm and monotone, considering the anger bubbling and burning inside him. A deep lava ready to explode. "Cataclysm."

A bolt of black shot along the web, hitting the cane and turning it to ash before their eyes.

Before Hawkmoth could react, Adrien sent another web out, pinning his other hand to the ground.

Adrien halted. The sound of his deep breathing was the only thing left to be heard in the atrium as he glared down at his father.

"I'm done. This is done."

"It'll never be done! Not until I bring your mother back." Hawkmoth spat out. Adrien walked forwards once more before bending down and ripping the butterfly Miraculous from his father's chest.

"Even with the wish, you would have had to give up something in return." Marinette's beat and broken voice sounded behind him, his feet wanting to turn and run to her. To scoop her in his arms and tell her nothing like this would ever happen again. That he wouldn't let it.

"That something was meant to be you, Marinette."

Shocking himself, Adrien sent another web out cementing his fathers mouth shut.

"Save it for the police," Adrien hissed.

His eyes studied the man in front of him... the man he called his father. Never again. Gabriel Agreste was nothing to him — not anymore.

"How do I get out of this?"

Marinette was scurrying around the floor, in what he guessed was a need to find her earrings.

"Claws in."

Stumbling and falling to his knees, Adrien repeated the words. Broken. Beat... alive.

"Claws in." The black left his body in his trademark blue and red.

He couldn't breathe.

In a search for air, Adrien ripped the mask from his head, throwing it on the floor beside his knees. He hung his head low, closing his eyes and fighting against the pounding headache.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?" An unconscious steeliness laced his words.

"Adrien, I –"

"Don't! Do you know what the hardest part of saying goodbye is? It's having to do it every single day!" He lifted his head to stare at the uncovered hero in front of him. "Did you not consider how I would feel? Did you think about what I wanted?"

"You deserve your family –"

"You are my family!"

A silence stretched between them, both being warped by the emotions of the past hours.

"You, Marinette, are my reason for breathing! Do you not understand? Without you, there's no me, and I don't want there to be. I can't live without you."

Time moved slowly between them, every second feeling like an hour before she threw herself into his lap, wrapping her arms around him and breaking down into his shoulder.

A tight embrace was nothing compared to the unspoken realisations between them. To the change in their relationship.

"I'm so sorry, please," she whispered, "believe me. I'll do anything."

The sob shook her body, Adrien's arms tightening around her shoulders as he breathed in the sweet smell of sugar and coconut.

"You can give me your heart. That's all I want. I adore you Marinette Dupain-Cheng. To think I could have lost you back then without you knowing exactly how much I have always loved you, I..."

As his hold increased in strength, he didn't need to say anymore. Fingers digging into flesh, faces pushing against each other in a need for contact.

"We have a lot to talk about," Marinette whispered into his ear.

"Tomorrow, my love. Tomorrow."

He knew she loved him and he loved her, and for this moment, right now, that's all that mattered.

*****

Epilogue

'And I am flawed

But I am cleaning up so well

I am seeing in me now

The things you swore you saw yourself'

Loneliness had always been a friend of his. An unwanted yet oddly comforting feeling. Sitting opposite the mansion, Adrien watched the blue flashing lights come to take his father away. He knew tomorrow was going to be a day of fight or flight, but right now he just needed to absorb.

Siren's filled the night sky, passersby and news reporters crowding around the gated building each trying to get a sharable photo for whatever social media they were part of, each claiming their five minutes of fame.

They'd be searching for him. They'd want to talk to the son of the villain. Quiz him. Probe him. Belittle him. He knew that, from the moment he'd watched the unfolding of his father, his father who Office Raincomprix was leading out the mansion in new fine piece of jewellery.

But Adrien knew he'd be okay...

'Like hope dangles on a string

Like slow spinning redemption'

Over the distance, a shadow grew closer. One of hope. One of redemption. One of survival; because that's what he would do. He'd survive and live to tell the tale, only a few battle scars to show in regards to the malicious double life he was living.

Each breath hurt, he'd need to go and get himself checked out, positive his ribs were broken and god knows what else, but that could wait for tomorrow. For tonight, Adrien Agreste would hide away with night's contentment.

The moving shadow covered over him, and unlike his earlier thoughts, this shadow was different. It was relief. It was protection. It was unconditional love. Reassurance passed through him as he discovered he was forgiven; from the slow intertwine of their fingers to the gentle squeeze of red glove to red glove.

He could have let his father die. He could have let her die. But instead he chose life and love. There would most certainly be consequences, there always were.

Softly spoken words caressed his ear before moving down to his heart. "You're going to be fine."

Warmth spread through his body as a head rested on his shoulder. A promise of commitment and support. Yes, they'd have a lot to talk about tomorrow. But for now, he could bask in the fact he would be vindicated.