Chapter 11

It had been days since Marinette last saw or heard of Chat.

After Hawkmoth took his life to defeat Serpentina, her partner (and still to her disbelief, boyfriend) had been in the dark.

She was getting worried.

Not only that, but it took days for her to process the fact that Chat Noir was secretly Adrien. After all those years, the truth had come out a couple days ago on that fated night. She was shocked beyond belief.

It felt like she was living a lie all those years. It's almost as if... the person she had been dating was just a figment of her imagination. He wasn't the true Adrien like she thought he was.

But that didn't matter. None of her thoughts mattered, because Adrien was hurt. Who wouldn't be? You just find out your father was actually a supervillain, and then he goes and sacrifices himself. So Adrien couldn't even get an answer as to why Gabriel did it all in the first place.

It was unfair.

And Adrien still had no idea Marinette was Ladybug. Which made her heart hurt even more.

But she couldn't tell him. Not yet anyways. It was too soon.

The thing she could do, though, was check up on Adrien. She had distanced herself long enough, it was time to see if he was okay even though she already knew that answer.

News had gotten out about Gabriel's disappearance and the media outlets were buzzing. Paparazzi stood outside of the Agreste mansion, day in and day out.

If it were up to Marinette, she would transform as Ladybug and shoo all of the reporters away. But she couldn't. She had to let this chaos unfold, unfortunately.

In preparation of visiting Adrien, Marinette called Nathalie early Tuesday morning to request a special visit. Gabriel's former assistant obliged and that was that. Marinette was allowed to stay home from school and once she got dressed, she made her way over to the residence.

The plan seemed so easy, but once she saw the crowd of paparazzi in front of the giant metal gate, she knew it would be a bit of a struggle.

"Excuse me," Marinette urged, maneuvering her way through the giant crowd.

"It's Adrien's girlfriend!" a news reporter exclaimed, shoving his microphone in Marinette's face. "Any words on the famed fashion designers disappearance?"

"No," Marinette shook her head, avoiding the camera. She kept pushing past. She was halfway to the gate.

"Any words?" another reporter yelled, catching on.

"No thanks!" Marinette yelled, starting to get annoyed. These reporters had no respect!

Suddenly, a chorus of questions started erupting from the crowd and camera flashes blinded the girl.

"Stop, please! Don't you have any respect?" Marinette yelled, shielding her eyes while pushing through.

But they didn't listen. They were like a hungry pack of hyenas, starving for a new story.

Marinette was getting annoyed. She was getting shoved around and microphones were being forced in her face. She was being harassed bad enough, imagine if Adrien were out there. They would tear him apart!

"Can I just-- ow!" Marinette yelped as someone stepped on her foot. True, maybe it wasn't her brightest idea to force her way through a crowd of hungry paparazzi, but what else could she do? It's not like the mansion had a back door. The only way in was through the gate.

She had almost had enough when suddenly, a loud voice boomed, silencing everyone.

"Hey!" the deep voice yelled.

A single shutter of a camera went off, but other than that, the crowd went silent. What a daring paparazzi. Marinette felt bad for whoever did that, they could've seriously angered the body guard that Adrien hired.

Except the brooding and deep voice did not come from a newly hired body guard. The voice belonged none other to her boyfriend, Adrien.

The blonde approached the gate, giving all the paparazzi a death glare. He looked so pissed, it even scared Marinette.

"Get out of here before I have you all arrested!" Adrien yelled threateningly, reaching for the gate.

Slowly, the crowd dispersed, grumbling some not-so-nice words in response...

Once enough of them had left, the stern look disappeared off of Adrien's face, and he opened the gate.

"Hey," Adrien said quietly. He smiled subtly, though his eyes were full of sadness and pain. "Sorry about them... they're assholes. Are you okay?"

"Nevermind about me," Marinette whispered. "Are you okay?"

Adrien shrugged, looking at the ground.

"Let's go inside," Marinette suggested, holding Adrien's hand and guiding him away.

They sat together on the couch in Adrien's room, with Marinette's hand placed firmly on top of his.

"I know this must be so hard," Marinette mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Adrien answered numbly. "My father had critics... so it makes sense why he would suddenly... disappear."

Marinette remembered that she had to pretend to be clueless about the situation. As far as Adrien knows, she is only aware that Gabriel is missing. Not that he was actually dead.

What would a supportive girlfriend tell her boyfriend whose dad went missing?

Think... think...

"I'm sure they'll find him soon," Marinette smiled reassuringly. She felt horrible as soon as the words left her mouth because she knew. He wouldn't be found.

"Y-yeah," Adrien stuttered, shaking his head.

Idiot, Marinette thought. You probably just made him feel worse!

She reached out to him. "Adrien, I-"

Nathalie suddenly appeared in the doorway, adjusting her glasses. Her usually dull, uninterested eyes were visibly replaced with pain. But she was better at hiding her emotions than Adrien was. She spoke firmly. "Will you please excuse Adrien for a moment?"

"Sure," Marinette quickly said, standing up. She felt so horrible! Adrien looked even more sad than before she got there. Maybe she should just go.

"I better get going, I don't want to intrude," Marinette continued, crossing her arms.

Adrien stood up with her, lightly squeezing her arm. He gave a little smile. "Thanks for checking up on me."

"Of course. Anything for you," Marinette nodded. "I'll always be here if you need anything."

He pulled her into a hug, and squeezed tight. After a few seconds, he pulled away. "I'll walk you out," he offered.

Marinette followed Adrien out of the front door. Before she left, he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. She blushed and waved to him before exiting through the gate.

She could still see Adrien was in pain. There was no doubt about that. His typical bright, emerald green eyes were a pale green. And they were full of sadness.

Marinette deduced that she had most likely made it worse.

*

The next day at school was a blur. Marinette couldn't get her mind off of Adrien. She imagined him everywhere. But the sad reality is that his chair was always empty.

Alya patted her bestfriend on the back during lunch. "Cheer up, girl. They'll find Gabriel soon enough."

"I can't stop thinking about Adrien," Marinette mumbled, her cheeks cradled in between the palms of her hands.

"I know. Nino has been wanting to go and check on him but he just doesnt know what to say. You know he's never been the best with his words," Alya said with a sigh.

"I visited Adrien yesterday," Marinette confessed. "He was in pretty bad shape. And I feel like I was the one who made it worse."

"That's impossible. He lights up whenever he sees you!" Alya exclaimed. "Not to mention you two have been dating for what, 2 years now?"

Marinette shifted in her seat. "Still, I feel like I overstepped my boundaries. He just lost his dad, Alya."

"We don't know that," Alya replied. "Like I said, Gabriel is bound to show up. He probably went on another trip again."

No. He's never coming back.

"Yeah," Marinette answered with a fake smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like I thought he was dead. Because he totally isn't!!"

Alya blinked in confusion. Instead of pressing on, she patted Marinette's shoulder and continued eating her lunch.

Marinette wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it. This was killing her. The secrets. The death. Everything.

"I have to use the restroom," Marinette said, standing up.

"Okay," Alya replied, chewing on her sandwich.

It was kinda funny in a way. Alya didn't know how much this was killing Marinette inside. And she couldn't tell her bestfriend what was up because... secret identities and such.

Marinette fled the cafeteria and headed down the stairs to the nearest bathroom.

On her way down, however, she bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" Marinette apologized, holding her hands out.

The brown hair and blue eyes revealed it all. It was Louise.

Marinette froze. She retracted her hands and folded them awkwardly behind her back. "Hey Louise!" she grinned superficially, unsure of how her archnemesis would react to her.

Marinette didnt really get to interact with Louise after she was deakumatized by Hawkmoth. The police arrived quickly afterwards and whisked her away. If anything, she was shaken up. However her attitude could've reverted back to normal the past few days.

"Hello," Louise nodded quietly. She avoided eye contact, and brushed past Marinette.

This secluded behavior that former akumatized victims portrayed was not uncommon. Almost every one was a little stunned after being returned to normal. Their minds had been messed with and twisted. Then again, none of them had broken out of Hawkmoth's control before, so who knows what she may be experiencing.

Slightly concerned, Marinette decided she would keep an eye on Louise to see if her behavior changed over the next few days. And if not, then she might have to ask Master Fu for guidance.

Marinette was on her way back up to the lunch room when an alarm blared loudly in the school. It was the sound that went off for a lockdown. Meaning, there was an intruder.

Immediately, she went into full superhero mode, fleeing to the girls bathroom. Locking the door of the stall, Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse.

"Wait," the kwami said urgently. "Are you sure you want to-"

"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette exclaimed, a brilliant pink light flashing.

She exited the bathroom as Ladybug, surveying the school for the intruder. She walked down the hallway near some classes, spinning her yoyo.

Her senses were on full alert; she was on the lookout for any little sound. The intruder could be carrying a weapon and she would not let them hurt anyone.

The sound of footsteps caught her attention, they were coming down the hall from around the corner. They kept pushing on each locked classroom door.

Yep. That was the intruder.

She pressed herself up against the wall and waited for the criminal to come around the corner. From there, she would hogtie them with her yoyo and wait until the police arrived.

The footsteps got closer... and closer...

A gloved hand swung past the corner and she went for it! She flung her yoyo at the intruders wrist, ignoring their gasps of pain and dragged them to the ground. Once the person was on the ground, she immediately wrapped their limbs together with the yoyo and rendered them immovable.

"Ouch! Let me go!" the heavyset person whimpered.

"Nope, you arent hurting any innocent people today!" Ladybug declared proudly.

"A drill! It was a drill!" the person screamed, wincing in pain. The voice sounded... familiar.

Ladybug blinked and looked down at the man's face that was covered with a black ski mask. She lifted the mask off and it was none other than her principal, Mr. Damocles.

"Mr. Damocles?" Ladybug asked in confusion.

"Yes!" he yelled, his face twisted and red. "Please untie me!"

Oh. Oh.

This wasnt real. It was--

"A drill! Yes, let me go! I can't feel my hands," he whined.

Ladybug pulled the yoyo string off her principal, feeling horribly guilty. "I'm sorry! I thought you were--"

Mr. Damocles breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his wrists. His eyebrows were furrowed in annoyance. "An intruder? Definitely not. This was a practice drill for our students!"

"I'm so sorry," Ladybug repeated, crossing her arms. She felt like an embarrassment.

"You know, I appreciate your concern Ladybug, but Paris doesn't need superheroes anymore," Mr. Damocles sighed. "Hawkmoth has been vanquished. The police can handle these matters now."

He walked away, leaving Ladybug stunned in silence. Her heart ached because he was right. She hadn't realized it yet, but Paris didnt them anymore. There were no akumas to defeat anymore.

And now she had just hurt an innocent person because she overdid it and wasn't thinking. And with Adrien no longer appearing as Chat Noir anymore, perhaps he had gotten the memo as well.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were no more.

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