43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Carapace slipped into the small apartment before Chat had even reached the building. Nerves sparked throughout her body. She was still on edge from confronting Chat and was even more so now that everyone was about to learn the truth.

Her friends and family stood facing the window, clearly waiting for her return. They watched her for a long moment. Her mom's eyes ran over Carapace's intact, non-bloody form and she sighed in relief.

Carapace had no idea what to say. 'Hey everyone, get ready for a surprise of a lifetime,' didn't feel appropriate. Neither did, 'Has anyone ever neutered a cat before?' Despite her anger, she really did want this meeting to go as smoothly as possible. They needed Chat and she needed to conserve what strength she had for Shadow Heart and Hawk Moth, not waste it trying to break up fights.

"Well," Alya blurted out. "How did it go?"

Hearing Chat's soft landing on the rooftop, she stepped to the side, out of the way of the window.

Chat slid gracefully inside, landed in a crouch, then slowly stood while taking them all in. She hadn't spoken one word to him as they ran to the apartment, but he must've expected the group because he didn't seem all that surprised.

Her family and friends, on the other hand, were very surprised. They tensed and their mouths fell open.

"I don't know if it was a good idea to give away our hideout," Nino said out the side of his mouth.

"He's on our side," Carapace announced. "And he's going to stay with us."

Nino shook his head. "You expect us to trust him after everything?"

"No." She looked pointedly at Chat. If they were going to trust him, then he needed to trust them first.

He slowly exhaled, looking like a cat left out in the cold rain. "Claws in."

If they'd been startled before by his surprise entrance, they nearly fainted at seeing Adrien standing before them, head down and eyes lowered. His black kwami hovered nearby.

"Bu—but," Nathaniel stuttered, his jaw practically an inch from the ground.

Nino went so still he could pass for a statue. Alya's gaze swung back and forth from him to Adrien.

Sabine's breath hitched and she snatched Carapace's arm, yanking her slightly behind her with surprising force. Her dad tensed. A vein bulged slightly in his forehead as he watched Adrien.

"I'm sorry," Adrien said.

Carapace released the transformation and Wayzz flew out, nodding at Plagg. Both stayed silent, letting the events play out on their own.

"But you can't be the villain," Nathaniel finally continued. "You were supposed to be the hero."

Alya rubbed Nino's arm soothingly. His furrowed brows drew even closer together as he glared at Adrien.

Nathaniel paled and he turned his stunned gaze on Marinette. "I helped set you up with your nemesis."

Adrien flinched and his head hung even lower.

"You let him akumatize me." Nino's quiet tone was louder than a shout. "I defended Chat Noir because I could understand his reasoning, but I can't understand why my best friend would let me be akumatized."

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, still not meeting anyone's gaze.

"You could've said no to Hawk Moth," Nino bit out. "You could've fought for me. You could've—"

"I was the one who suggested it," Adrien admitted with a wince.

Nino's eyes flickered wide before narrowing. The look of betrayal made everyone turn to stone.

"I needed to focus," Adrien continued. "I kept helping Ladybug against the akumas. And I thought if you were on my side, I—."

"You used me," Nino cut in.

Marinette hadn't thought his sense of betrayal could deepen any further. She was wrong.

"No." Adrien breathed out hard. "I knew I'd protect you no matter what. If anything, I used my care for you."

"You used our friendship." Nino's free hand clenched into a fist and he took a step in his direction. "You abused our friendship."

When he took another step, nearly in Adrien's face, Plagg flew in front of his charge and held up his hands.

Alya tugged Nino back. At first he didn't move, and Marinette thought she would have to intervene as well, but then he forcefully exhaled and separated himself from the group. Alya followed him to the opposite end of the small apartment where they stood huddled together.

"I shouldn't have come." Adrien moved to leave through the window, but Marinette rushed to block his path and gave him a hard look. "I screwed everything up."

"Then make it right."

"I plan on it, but nothing I do will change anything here." He glanced in Nino's direction, then at Nathaniel and finally at her parents. His eyes couldn't hold theirs for longer than a millisecond. "Besides," he added, his voice barely above a whisper, "this is what I deserve."

Her father cleared his throat. He stood rigidly next to her mom, and the look on his face had Nathaniel backing into the bedroom space.

Adrien slowly faced Tom.

"You hurt my daughter." Her father closed the distance between them and grabbed Adrien's shoulders, fingers curling, digging into the blond's shirt.

Rage roiled like thunderclouds behind her father's eyes, and Adrien seemed to welcome the oncoming storm.

"Hey," Plagg said to her dad...and was ignored.

"Why?" Tom asked, shaking Adrien hard enough to make him take a small step back to catch himself.

"I didn't want to." The simple statement did nothing to quell her father's anger.

"Then why'd you do it?" Face pinched, he shook him again.

Plagg said, "He didn't know he was fighting her."

Tom's sharp gaze cut across the kwami. "The only person he should've been fighting was Hawk Moth."

Plagg closed his mouth in defeat, but he still hovered defensively near Adrien.

"I wanted my mother back," Adrien finally answered her father. "And..."

Tom stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"And my father."

Her dad made no move to release Adrien. "Explain."

"If he akumatized a murderer, then I knew I'd lose him forever."

Everyone's expression turned puzzled. Well, everyone besides Marinette and Alya's.

"Akumatized?" her mom asked.

Adrien's gaze fell to the floor as he stood in silence.

Marinette silently urged him to tell them everything. There could be no more lies or secrets if they were going to move forward.

"My dad is Hawk Moth," he said.

A collective gasp swept through the small space.

Sabine's gaze swung to Marinette. "But you've been working for him. And he came to the bakery. We fed him. Answered his questions."

Her dad's fingers flexed around Adrien's shoulders, knuckles turning white. "Why would you let Marinette near your dad when you knew he was Hawk Moth?"

Adrien's lips pressed together as he focused on her father's hard gaze. It almost seemed like he was willing Tom to strike him...to punish him.

"Dad," Marinette said. This was exactly what she'd hoped to avoid. If they wanted to succeed, they needed to work together, not fight or alienate him.

Her father held up a hand to forestall more words from her. Adrien glanced at the upraised arm and squared his shoulders, as if ready to take a hit.

"Well?" her dad commanded. "Why would you let him near her?"

"I didn't believe my father would hurt someone I love." His gaze darted to Marinette, then to her wound. His jagged posture softened. "But I was wrong about him, about everything." He faced Tom, completely raw and worn out. "I'm sorry."

A plethora of emotions flickered across her dad's face. The air in the room was thick with tension as everyone watched to see what he would do.

Her father's grimace fell, and he wrapped his big arm's around Adrien, pulling him into a hug.

Adrien stood stiffly in the embrace, stunned.

Her father rubbed a hand over his back, no different than how he would comfort her when she was hurting. "We'll figure this out."

Tears lined Adrien's eyes and he let out a long exhale. His tense body collapsed into her father's hold and he fisted his hands into Tom's shirt, his back shaking from his silent sobs. Plagg settled into his blond hair.

When Adrien said something about cold steel, her father looked at her in question. Not knowing what he was talking about, she shrugged, and wiped away her traitorous tears. She was supposed to be angry, and she was, but seeing him break down just from a soft parental touch had her chest constricting so tight it hurt. She couldn't imagine having Gabriel, Hawk Moth, as a father and her only surviving family. What kind of abuse had he suffered?

Her mother stepped to them and hugged their clumped-together forms, then stroked Adrien's hair, offering whatever solace she could.

oOoOo

Marinette held her earrings in one hand as she broke off pieces of bread for Wayzz with the other. "And you're okay with this?" she asked him.

"Yes. I'm sure a Tikki is worried about you."

Adrien had claimed the small dining table where he currently sat. His kwami hovered nearby, looking longingly at them in the kitchen. She could've sworn she'd heard Plagg's tummy rumble.

Part of her wished everything could go back to the way it had been before Chat switched sides. That way things could be easy again.

Even after her parents' forgiveness, he still chose to keep to himself. Probably because mostly everyone was ignoring him. Nathaniel was back to drawing, not paying anyone attention, especially Adrien, and Nino and Alya were downstairs. Her parents had gone to talk to them. Hopefully to help smooth things over so living together wouldn't be completely painful.

"I'm going to talk to Tikki now," Marinette said to the green kwami.

Wayzz smiled. Despite trying to play it cool, her desire to see her kwami was probably written all over her face. "Tell her I said welcome back."

She nodded and unlatched the bracelet, making Wayzz disappear into the Miraculous. In a split second, she had her earrings on and was beaming at Tikki.

"Marinette," her kwami squealed in delight, flying to her and squeezing her nose. "Are you okay? You look okay."

"I'm...recovering. Wayzz has been a big help. He said welcome back, by the way."

"It was good you kept him apart from the others."

"The others?" Adrien asked.

"That's what's in the gramophone your father stole," Marinette answered. She hadn't meant it to sound accusatory, but he winced nonetheless.

"And that's why he's desperate to open it," Adrien wondered aloud.

Marinette walked to him and sat down. "He never said anything? Like what his plans are?"

"No." His gaze dropped to the table. "He didn't tell me a lot of things."

Instinct had her wanting to place her hand over his and give it a soft squeeze. Instead, she asked, "What do you think he wants them for?"

"I don't know. Only our Miraculouses can grant the wish. So maybe he wants an army. Maybe it's plan B."

"Or a distraction. The akumas, especially this new one is hard enough, but if we had to deal with more evil Miraculous wielders…" She shook her head in inevitable defeat.

He clenched his hand into a fist. "It won't come to that."

"It could. Master Fu can't hold out forever."

"Then we free him and steal it back."

Her eyes widened. "You think we can?"

"If we can keep the akuma distracted, thereby distracting my dad, I can do it. I know the security system, the mansion, and I know where he's keeping him and I have a pretty good idea of where the gramophone is."

Her buoyant chest deflated. "I can't take on Shadow Heart while I'm still injured. I barely escaped the last time."

He looked at the bracelet in her hand. "Then give the Miraculous to Nino and have him help you."

"He's not trained. He—"

"He's strong and capable. I trust him completely. And even if he hates me, he'll still help you."

"Dude."

Marinette and Adrien jerked their attention to the doorway where Nino and Alya stood.

"I'm pissed," Nino continued. "But I don't hate you." He walked fully inside the apartment. "And I'll help because that's what friends do when they're asked."

Adrien winced. "I'm sorry."

Nodding once, Nino sat opposite of them and asked, "What's the plan?"

They explained how the Miraculouses work and what to expect. Nino absorbed it all, nearly bouncing in his seat, fingers reaching toward the bracelet in her hand. But before she would give it to him, they went over a few scenarios of how to distract Shadow Heart and keep Hawk Moth busy. Her parents had joined them, along with Nathaniel.

They were all huddled around the table working together and Marinette couldn't help but smile.

"Got it," Nino declared. "Now, can I put it on?"

She handed over the bracelet and he clasped it on nearly as fast as she had with her earrings. Wayzz flew out and dipped his head to his new wielder. Nino thrust out a hand. "Nice to officially meet you, little dude."

The kwami chuckled and returned the greeting.

Nino looked at all of them. "Can I try out the transformation?"

Marinette shrugged. "That would be for the best. You need to get acquainted with the suit before we can approach Shadow Heart."

"Sweet." He stood and moved to the couch. "Shield on!"

A green light shot up from his toes and encapsulated him, changing him into Carapace. He hooted in joy. "This. Feels. Amazing!" He jumped around, light on his feet, and did a couple lightning-quick kicks. "I could take on the world!" He hooked his arm into the turtle shield and swung it side to side. "Woah, he's in my head. He's talking to me right now."

Marinette laughed. "Our kwamis help guide us. They've been around a long time, seen a lot. If he offers advice, you should listen to him."

Adrien's smile fell and he glanced at Plagg who was stuffing his face with cheese. Had Plagg tried to talk him out of the decisions he'd made?

Eventually, everyone started yawning, at least the ones who'd stayed awake. The hours had slipped by and early morning had snuck up on them. Alya finally convinced Nino to release the transformation and they made their way to the small bed. Her parents had already fallen asleep downstairs.

Nathaniel stood from the couch, stretching his hands and back from all the drawing he'd done. "Sofa is yours, Marinette."

He walked by them, pointedly not looking at Adrien, then went downstairs where his cot was.

"I think he feels a little let down," she said to Adrien as she moved to the couch. "He really did have you on a pedestal."

Staying put at the table—the boy hadn't moved from that spot all night—Adrien just nodded.

"So, um, you can sleep wherever." She looked around the cramped space. "I should've thought more about this."

"I'm fine here."

She eyed the table with doubt.

"I've fallen asleep while doing homework plenty of times. I'll be fine." He offered her a half smile.

She wished she could use her Ladybug magic to fix all of his problems and change the past, but she couldn't. He had to deal with what he'd done. She settled back and pulled the blanket over her.

While it hadn't taken long for her to fall asleep, a restful night eluded her. She tossed and turned until, out of nowhere, her body relaxed and let her slip into a deep slumber.

Slowly waking up, brain fuzzy from sleep, she tried to stretch her arms and legs and noticed her hand was caught in something.

Her eyes flew open and she saw Adrien's fingers intertwined with hers as he slept leaning against the couch. Heart suddenly hammering against her ribs, she froze.

He must've come over to help her sleep...and it had worked. She didn't know what to think about that or about how his hand felt good in hers and how she desperately wanted to keep holding onto him, but she couldn't. She was still hurting too much.

Separating herself from him, she carefully sat up, trying to avoid waking him. The sun filtered in through the blinds, softly lighting the room. The shower was on, probably her mom, but everyone else still seemed asleep, their breaths flowing in and out smoothly. The drone of cars and the chattering of birds meant the rest of Paris was definitely awake. She'd have to check the news later to see what damage Shadow Heart had done overnight.

She gritted her teeth in frustration. People were depending on her, possibly dying, and here she was, hiding.

Tikki flew to her from the kitchen where she'd been holed up with Plagg. "Time to change the bandages."

Marinette nodded, then made her way to the kitchen. Cleaning the quickly-healing wound was routine now. It'd gone from clearly pulled-together flesh, red at the edges, to pink, the cut less obvious. She gently patted the soapy water over the wound, focusing on not disturbing the stitches.

A shadow came into the corner of her eye, and she looked up to find Adrien staring at her, specifically at her stomach. She glanced down and remembered she had bruises from her fight with his dad and Shadow Heart. Those, coupled with the stab wound, made for quite a sight.

Eyes glassy, he slowly stepped to her side, as if afraid she'd run away in fear.

She held her breath, not moving an inch.

He placed a hand on one of the clean bandages and looked at her, silently asking for permission. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She stared unblinking at him. He wanted to help her, and she wasn't certain if she could let him. He was Chat Noir. They'd fought and fought...and a tear leaked from the corner of one of his eyes. It slid down his cheek untouched.

Breathing out slowly, she gave a nod so slight it was barely a twitch.

He waited a moment, then peeled off the packaging and lowered to his knees. She nearly took a step back in surprise, pulse quickening.

With trembling hands, he gently placed the bandage over her wound, but stopped to steady himself before smoothing out the edges with light strokes. Warm fingers grazed over the tender flesh of her bruises. She tensed, but didn't stop his ministrations. Each touch was careful, reverent. A prayer for forgiveness.

"Nothing is okay," he whispered into the deafening silence. "It can never go back to the way it was. Not my mom, my dad, Nino." He looked up at her, still kneeling, eyes full of sorrow and regret. "Us."

"You're right."

He dropped back, sitting on his feet, head hanging.

"It will be different from before," she added.

With furrowed brows, he lifted his gaze to meet hers.

She lowered her shirt. "There's no more secrets now. Nothing to hide. No lies. And Paris will be free of Hawk Moth. We will finally be free of him."

"It doesn't change what I've done though."

"I know. You'll have to earn back the city's trust. You'll have to earn back everyone's trust." She nodded to where Nino slept with Alya.

"How can you have so much faith in me? Why didn't you ever give up on me?"

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and shrugged. "Because I love you."

"You shouldn't."

"I know." She sighed, letting her arms fall to her sides. "I keep forgetting and then remembering that you gave me bruises, akumatized those people, kidnapped Master Fu. It's jarring. And...painful."

He sat before her, face filled with misery. Each word seemed to cut him. She didn't want to hurt him, though. She wasn't going to replace his father as someone who claimed to love him, but was just using him, lording his failures over him, merciless and cruel. No. She wanted—needed him to heal.

"I know you're sorry," she said. "I know you didn't want anyone to get hurt, even me. It's why you're here. But I can't forgive you yet." She wiped away a tear as it escaped free of her hold. "I need more time."

He rose to his knees, tentatively took her hand in his, and looked into her eyes. "I'll do whatever it takes, give you whatever you need to be worthy of you again."

The tight band around her chest lessened just enough to let her finally take a full breath.

AN - this was another hard chapter to write, partly because I'm balancing so many different expectations, but in the end I went with my gut. For example, I just couldn't have Nino punch Adrien. It didn't feel right for him to do so. He's angry and hurt, but Adrien is his best friend. He loves the guy, and I see him as a more laid back character, not a hot head with a penchant for getting into fights. For him to express his anger as much as he did, shows how upset he is.

As for Plagg, while he may think the kid is an idiot, he's been through everything with him. He knows what's in his head, experienced his pain. He's going to be a little protective, but at the same time, he's not going to coddle him, because that's just not Plagg. Lol

Her father was the most important reaction for me, though. I've shown how protective of his daughter he is, their love and care for each other. So, naturally, he'd be the most physical, grabbing Adrien and shaking him, but as a genuinely kind person and as a father, he sees this kid, how he's hurting, and realizes he hasn't been so lucky in the family department. And that Adrien's father is no father, just a cruel man who shares some genes with him. That's why I had him be the first person to really show forgiveness, to show what a good father is and to let him feel that.

As important it is for me to show a strong character who has self respect and healthy boundaries without being hard and bitter, e.g. Marinette, it is equally important for me to show that even if you screw up, there's still hope for forgiveness, especially if you do what Adrien is doing: admit you screwed up, show remorse and apologize, and work your ass off to do what you can to fix it, even if it's honoring the person's need for space.

This story has so many themes, please forgive me.

One more thing: The earlier example of trusting your parents and letting them help you was the first lesson (for a lack of a better word) I wanted to include. This was the second. That even if you have crappy parents and can't trust them, there are good parents out there who can help you and love you.

Okay, okay. Ted talk is over.

Thank you for reading! I enjoy all of the comments and all of the reactions. So even if you're not entirely happy with how I've handled Adrien and everyone's reactions, that's okay. Seriously. Everyone has a right to their opinion. It is, after all, based on your truths from your life experiences.

Thanks to my sister too. I couldn't do this without her.

The healing has started, plans have been set. Next up is the rescue mission. Onward!

(And I thought the last AN was long. Phew)

To the same guest from the last chapter, yes. I see you. I see all. I know all. Muwahaha. XD