"Come in,"

Margie enters Marinette's office, "The last order of the day was sent out. I'm gonna send some of the drafters home, if that's alright with you."

Marinette barely looks up from her work, her face down on a pile of papers at her desk, "Yeah, no problem."

Margie hesitates by the door, "You wanna go out for drinks tonight? Some of the other girls and I were gonna meet up since it's Friday. We could have a little fun?" She tries to encourage.

Marinette shrugs, "I still have final paperwork to do for the Phillips wedding, I should really get it done."

"Oh. But that reminds me," she ducks out of the office for a second and returns with a magazine, "That Agreste guy got married last week. Apparently Angeline got to plan the whole thing."

Marinette takes the magazine in her hand. The cover is of Adrien Agreste and Chloe Bourgeois kissing in front of a chapel, petals floating down through the frame. She frowns at the bottom caption reading 'Dress designed by Angeline Flur', "Damn, we could really use that kind of publicity. I bet she's already getting calls from all over France." She groans, tossing the magazine to the corner of her desk.

"We'll get her next time. Just because she's more well known doesn't mean she does a better job than us." Margie argues, trying to keep optimistic.

She crosses her arms on her desk, "But fame also pays bills. We don't even have any more events to plan until next month!" Her voice drops to a whisper, "I don't know how we'll make it to the next quarter."

Margie nods knowingly, "We'll get there by being better than the competition. Turtle beats the hare, right?" Mari shrugs. "You sure you don't want to go out for drinks? It looks like you need one right about now."

She shakes her head, "I don't know."

Margie smirks, "We'll be at The Birdcage around 9 if you change your mind."

She nods, "Thanks. Maybe I will."

Satisfied, Margie takes her leave, closing the door behind herself.

Marinette's smile fades as she gets back to her work.

A red blur zooms out from her desk, "Marinette! Marinette!" Tikki cries, flying all around her.

She sits up, dropping her pen, "Tikki? What's wrong?" She asks concernedly.

Tikki lands on her desk and tries to catch her breath. "A minute ago, we were at your wedding, but Chloe, Miz Butterfly, the Miraculous, Adrien-"

"Slow down," she cautions, "what is happening? Why did you say we were at my wedding?" Her eyes briefly glance over at the magazine cover.

Tikki flies onto Mari's open hand, "You were marrying Adrien when Chloe came in using the butterfly Miraculous and wiped all your memories, but Plagg and I were able to escape."

"Marrying Adrien? Agreste? Don't you think that's a bit outlandish?" She remarks.

Tikki sighs, "Tell me what you know about him. What memories do you have of him?"

Mari's eyes narrow, thinking back. "We went to the same high school." She looks back at the wedding photo of him and Chloe. "He put gum on my seat on his first day, and I knew he was just another Chloe. I tried to avoid him as much as possible. He never even tried to explain himself," turning back to Tikki, "There's not much else to say."

Tikki is wide eyed, staring back at her, "We've got to fix this."

"Are you feeling alright? You don't have another Kwami sickness, do you?" Marinette inspects her small friend.

Tikki waves her off, "No, I'm fine!" she assures, "It's you and the rest of this city who need help." Her eyes suddenly light up, "What do you remember about Chat Noir?" she queries.

Mari leans back in her seat, her shoulders slightly tensing, "We fought akumas together for years. Haven't spoken to him since we got Hawkmoth, though. Why?"

Tikki relaxes a bit, "At least that seems the same" she mutters to herself. "You never found out his identity?"

"No, of course not." She swears. "What's with you, why are you asking me this stuff?"

Tikki flies up to her eye level, "I told you. Chloe used an Akuma to wipe Paris' memory of your and Adrien's relationship, so she could marry him." Tikki lifts the magazine so it's facing Mari.

The corner of her mouth turns down slightly, "Okay...I guess I believe you?" She admits tentatively. "Only because I trust you." She redefines. "But why did you ask about Chat?"

Before Tikki could answer, the door bursts open.

~

Adrien stalks through the halls of Agreste Manor; he unconsciously fidgets with his wedding ring.

Plagg zooms up beside him, resting on his shoulder, "What? No honeymoon?" He chides.

Adrien is taken aback, "Plagg?! Wh-where did you come from? My Miraculous is in the safe-" He looks down at his hand and jumps upon seeing the Cat Miraculous on his finger, "When did-?!"

"Things are a bit messed up right now." Plagg waves his paw dismissively, "Don't worry about me. Now answer me."

Adrien continues down the hall, eyebrows furrowed, "I-it had to be slightly postponed, Chloe is working on a new trip for us." He says neutrally, no emotion in his voice, but still a bit on edge by the sudden appearance of this Kwami.

"You, uh, feeling alright, bud? Shouldn't you have a post-wedding glow, or whatever you humans say?" He says, tugging on a strand of Adrien's hair.

He shrugs, "Yeah, I'm good." He looks down at his wedding band, "I'm just a bit tired. More like a post-wedding slump." He says, putting on a smile.

Plagg rolls his eyes, "Mmmhmm, yeah, so, what do you know of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

Adrien stops suddenly, scooping Plagg off his shoulder into his hands. "What did you say?" he eyes his Kwami.

Plagg doesn't make eye contact with him, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng. What do you know of her?" Adrien opens his mouth to protest but Plagg cuts him off, "Don't ask why. Just answer."

He's slightly taken aback, "Marinette? I think she was in a few of my classes in school? She was friends with Alya and seemingly everyone," He looks away from Plagg, "besides Chloe and me."

Plagg sighs, "Yeah, that sounds about right," he shakes his head, "and by 'right' I mean, totally completely wrong!" He snaps.

Adrien drops him, "I don't have time for this." He stalks off towards his office.

Plagg catches up with him, "The reason you're a miserable poo head is because this isn't how things are supposed to be!"

Adrien closes his office door in Plaggs face.

Plagg groans, phasing through the door as Adrien leans against the wall and looks out over the Parisian streets. Plagg sits on the frame of the window sill, "Okay... so, why did you marry Chloe?" He asks almost sincerely.

He doesn't respond to the question for a moment, but gives in, "She has been my only friend for a long time, and we're both in the industry; it just seemed inevitable, expected." He explains, never looking down at Plagg.

"I guess I understand, but what I'm sayin', and you gotta believe me, that there's like a parallel universe where you actually end up happy, and with the girl of your dreams!" Plagg encourages.

Adrien's eyes narrow, "Yeah, that's how the theory goes, infinite possibilities and all that. And who said I'm not happy?" His tone gets a bit defensive.

"Don't kid yourself. I've never seen you so miserable! This timeline is not what's supposed to happen to you! It was an Akuma-"

"Akuma?" Adrien cuts him off, "Hawkmoth, my father, is in prison, there hasn't been an Akuma in nearly 10 years."

"Yeah, until Chloe got a hold of the butterfly Miraculous and wiped the whole city's memories!" Plagg starts getting in Adrien's face.

Adrien recoils from his persistence, "Why, why would she do that?"

"She was jealous! Why else? You broke off your engagement when you reunited with your true love..."

"Marinette?" He asks, finishing the sentence. He focuses back on the city, looking into the distance. "That doesn't sound like me. I would never drop a commitment like that." He states, losing ground with Plagg.

"Mmhmm, what if it was for Ladybug, for example?" He casually flies over to Adrien's desk.

He immediately looks to Plagg, following him, "Ladybug? We haven't spoken in years,"

"So, you do remember something after all," Plagg teases, resting on the back of Adrien's office chair. "And you still love her."

Adrien straightens up, "I mean, that was just an old crush, a childhood crush, what makes you think..." Adrien tries to convince, but meets the unmoved gaze of Plagg, "...I still love her,"

Plagg smirks, "You've still got it bad for her, and you know it. Why don't we pay her a visit? Talk over this Akuma business," He shrugs nonchalantly.

His eyes widen, "You know where she is?"

Plagg nods slowly, "The fastest way to show you is if you transform, which I know you wanna do..."

"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien shouts, and in a flash of green, Chat Noir appears in his place.

He checks his locator and sees a waypoint on the other side of Paris has been added. He rolls his shoulders before leaping out his office window into the sunset.

He doesn't miss a step, all his muscle memory working smoothly as he leaps over Paris for the first time in a decade. He feels his muscles stretch in ways they haven't been tested since he locked up his Miraculous.

The waypoint leads him to a wedding boutique; the interior lights dimmed for the night. Chat checks his map again and tries the door, finding it unlocked.

He cautiously walks towards the back of the boutique, keeping an eye out for any bystanders.

His ears perk up at the sound of a voice, leading him to a closed office door. He leans against the wall and listens: "-Only because I trust you. But why did you ask about Chat?"

A shiver runs up his spine at the mention of his name. He bursts into the office expecting Ladybug, but instead is stared at, wide-eyed, by a young woman with short black hair.