Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It happened without warning. There was no build-up, no bad feelings, absolutely nothing to tip them off. It was just a random Akuma who was vanishing people Hawkmoth knew where (well, kind of - he was the one who gave the blasted Akuma its powers), but there was no urgency.

Just cocky surety because Ladybug always got them back.

And then. 

And then, there was a smirk, a flicker of fear that raced down Chat's spine, and a beam of light grazing just past him, a millimeter from his fingertips, so short in length yet so far away-

Ladybug.

The Akuma cackled. 

"NO!" Chat shouted. The scream ripped from his throat like his heart from his chest, and the last thing he saw was Ladybug's dissolving face, her eyes wide and panicked. 

She was gone.

Fury rose up, mingling with the faint cry of desperation, and he leaped at the garishly dressed monstrosity in his path, beating and pillaging at it with more ferocity than he could recall feeling in years. 

They'd grown complacent, he realized belatedly, as minutes later, he sat next to the knocked-out victim, his crushed pen in his hand and a black butterfly fluttering feebly in his grasp. He ached with the intensity of keeping the desire to crush the butterfly at bay, if only because it had torn Ladybug away, but– but he had no idea what would happen. Ladybug wouldn't be able to purify it. (And how could she? She wasn't even here–)

He drew in a shuddering breath. 

They had grown complacent because, for the last few months, they hadn't been challenged. They'd been hit. ‘Hit’ was never permanent, never real . They'd seen Hawkmoth and they'd thought that they could handle him because they were chosen.

Now look at them.

His ring beeped once, twice, and he shuddered again but forced himself up, looking at his surroundings in blurry fear.

Alya - always there, always filming - looked at him in horror, her phone still streaming but her eyes uncomprehending.

Because Ladybug wasn't here and she hadn't fixed it. The Akuma was defeated, but the battle was lost. (The war…)

Chat's lower lip trembled. He extended his baton and jumped away, tears streaming down his face, a hollow pit in his stomach.

Adrien's transformation fell away the second he entered his room, and it hit him, at that very moment, that he had been panicking far too much as Chat. It was weird, but as soon as the leather fell away, the worry receded a little bit. Not all - never all - but it wasn't as all-consuming as he'd felt right next to Ladybug, watching her fade.

He swallowed.

"Plagg?" He asked, and the small black god floated up, his face set in an expression Adrien had never seen on him, not really. Pain. "Plagg!" He yelped in confusion. 

The Kwami zoomed forward and jumped in his pocket, shivering uncontrollably.

"Plagg, what's wrong?"

The creature peeked out, eyes wide and destructive. Adrien would know, he'd seen that expression in the mirror enough times. "Tikki," He whispered hoarsely. "She's gone."

His tiny hands clutched at the edge of Adrien's pocket, and then he zoomed out again, this time to the bed, ducking under the pillow.

Adrien's brow furrowed, and he tried to calm his heartbeat even as he remembered Tikki was Ladybug's Kwami. "But," He said. "Ladybug's been hit by Akumas before, right? She'll be fine this time, too. We'll be fine. Right?"

Plagg looked up and glared. "You don't get it!" He shouted his tiny voice practically a roar. "Tikki and I have a connection too profound for you humans to understand and she's gone!"

Adrien's breath caught.

Plagg didn't seem to care. "She's gone, and I can't feel her! There's more than a wall separating us because she's not even in this world anymore!"

Adrien felt tears well up, Plagg's emotions too powerful to reject.

Plagg flinched and ducked under the pillow again, and despite the fact that the devastation was all too real (TikkigonemeantLadybuggone), the tears stopped, and Adrien realized with a sinking heart that part of it was Plagg influencing him ever since Ladybug had been torn away. 

"Tikki is my other half,” Plagg repeated, voice muffled. “We keep each other in check. And without creation, destruction -" He broke off, but Adrien didn't need any more clarification.

"What about the Akuma?" He asked, pointing to where he'd hastily placed it under a glass, and it perched on the desk so unlike a real butterfly in that single unflinching movement. 

Plagg was silent for a few seconds. "Tikki's creation and purification," He said, tone nearly dead. "I'm destruction. I can't purify the thing."

"And we can't destroy it, either," Adrien said slowly, understanding far too late. "Because it needs to be purified and Ladybug's cure cast to bring everyone back." 

Plagg laughed without humor. "If Hawkmoth had only needed me, this would've been the best option for him," He mumbled. "Tikki's the only one…" He sniffed.

Adrien couldn't help it. He jumped forward and pushed the pillow to the other side of the bed, gathering his best friend (because Plagg was his best friend, just like Ladybug and Nino, and he deserved everything Adrien could give him because he'd always, always been there) in his arms.

Tiny paws curled around Adrien's fingers, and the small body began to shake, wracked with sobs.

Adrien held back his own and hoped he provided some measure of comfort.

It took a long time for Plagg to even remotely calm down, and Adrien spent the rest of the day sprawled in his bed, curled around his Kwami, his door locked.

Nathalie knocked once but didn’t bother him more than that after he grunted some sort of reply that he didn’t even remember. It seemed like the entire household could feel the negativity rolling off of Plagg in waves and didn't dare come near. At some point, Adrien thought he heard his Father's dulcet tones as he yelled about something or the other, but he couldn't hear the words and couldn't bring himself to spend the energy to investigate.

In fact, when he next woke, it was 3 a.m. in the morning and Plagg was still fast asleep. 

Adrien went through the motions of getting ready for school, still wondering if it was worth it.

But although his father had possibly allowed his actions yesterday, he had no doubt that the lenience would not be repeated. 

So he forced himself awake, let Plagg sleep, snuggled in the covers, and powered up his computer, blearily and automatically going to the news sites. 

His sleepiness vanished.

Has Paris's luck finally run out?

Ladybug's Disappearance and What it Means for Paris

Thirty Seven Disappearances Reported;
Heroes Nowhere To Be Seen

He swallowed and turned to the Ladyblog.

Except. Except there was no news article, no journalistic coverage - nothing except a deleted post with two hundred-something comments under it.

Adrien shut down the computer.

He couldn't– he couldn't do it. He couldn't face the chaos that was taking on Paris despite the ironic truth that Plagg was, in fact, the Kwami of Chaos.

He couldn't look at the world and know that he had failed because it was his job. Protecting Ladybug was his job, like it was her's to wipe the slate clean. Compared to her, his responsibility wasn't all that huge - he had to protect one person while she had to protect the world - but he had failed in even this. He had failed and what could he do about it?

Nothing.

He swallowed and bit back the tears clinging to his eyelids.

How many had been lost to the Akuma because he'd been fooling around? The headline had said thirty seven but what if there'd been more who hadn't been counted yet? People who wouldn't be seen until too late? 

(It was already too late.)

There was a short, tired yawn from the bed, and Plagg rose up, slightly swaying but otherwise much more put together than he had been the previous day. "Kid," He said. "Cheese.”

Adrien didn't protest, stretching as he walked to the small refrigerator in the corner of his room and got out a wheel of camembert.

It was a testament to the fact that Plagg was not, in fact, okay, that he only nibbled at the side, not regaling it with odes of his admittedly creepy love.

Adrien missed it, though he'd never say it.

Instead, he just sighed and they remained silent as Adrien stuffed his things in his bag and finally took his phone off of the charging port, powering it on.

226 messages.

7 missed calls.

Adrien blinked. Okay, what?

He shook his head - the disappearances. Of course. He hadn't returned to school, so they must have tried calling him. But since he'd been busy with Plagg…

He pursed his lips, swiped past the calls, and pulled open the messages. 

The first forty or so were from Chloe, her rambling and sickly sweet nicknames making him sick enough that he couldn't focus on the messages themselves, so he went on to Nino, who had sent around ten - and most of the missed calls.

Ni-NO

Wild Akuma dude Chat Noir defeated it but Ladybug was hit

Alya was filming the whole thing and she says she saw Chat almost destroy the Akuma
it was crazy

Ladybug hasn't come back and they're not here Adrien.

Alya is freaking out I really need you here because Mari isn't here either and

Dude?

Hey, are you alive?

Where are you?

Adrien?

Please reply

Voice Call
No Answer

Voice Call
No Answer

Voice Call
No Answer

adrien seriously please tell me you werent hit

…

Adrien grimaced. Nino was going to freak.

He didn't read the rest of the messages, mostly because he was pretty sure they'd be the same and partly because he was starting to feel sick again.

He turned back and realized that Plagg had stopped eating and was staring at Adrien with wide eyes.

Adrien attempted a smile. It didn't work.

Then, there was a knocking on the door, and a crisp voice called. "Adrien, it is time for school."

Jarred from the companionable silence of the past few hours, Adrien inhaled deeply. "Coming," He called back, scooped up Plagg and his bag, the former much more gently than the latter, and flung open the door.

Nathalie didn't say anything else, just watching him blankly as he headed off to Gorilla and the car, not even bothering to eat breakfast.

The ride to the school ended in - what a surprise - absolute silence and Adrien left the vehicle feeling worse than the morning. Still, he trudged inside, pursing his lips at the whispers and conversations that were echoing in the halls.

And then someone leaped at him, grabbing him in a desperate hug.

Adrien couldn't help the automatic flinch, but Nino (and he relaxed once he figured that out) didn't seem to notice. He just pulled back and glared. "Dude!" He exclaimed. "We thought you'd been zapped, too!"

Adrien's eyes lowered . "Sorry," He mumbled. "Yesterday…"

Nino grimaced, but it was Alya who answered. "It was a shitshow," She said, and her voice was dark. No one berated her for her language. 

Adrien nodded. "Yeah," He muttered. "It was."

Alya crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Where were you?" She asked, voice icy. 

Adrien frowned. "... What?" 

“Babe,” Nino said slowly, making Alya grit her teeth and go silent. Then the boy turned to Adrien, and his stomach fell because Nino’s eyes were far, far sadder than they had right to be. Sadder than him, possibly, and that was saying something because- “Adrien, Marinette’s gone.”

“What,” Adrien said blankly, his mind coming to a halt.

Alya growled deep in her throat, but she wasn’t doing it to Adrien anymore, which was a good thing because it was terrifying. “She never came back from the Akuma attack. Her parents haven’t seen her either-” She swallowed, and suddenly, the furor faded away to leave behind a broken, weeping girl. “She’s gone,” Alya whispered.

“No,” Adrien said, hands curling into fists. “It- it can’t be!” It couldn’t be. He and Ladybug had been on the villain since the beginning. Marinette couldn’t have been hit. She couldn’t!

(He couldn’t lose both Marinette and Ladybug in the same go, not when he’d already failed them so much, so many times–)

Nino’s expression softened further, and he pulled Adrien into a hug again, and this time, the realization of what had happened crashed upon the teenager ten-fold, great, resounding gasps pulling through his body, but his mind unable to grasp the simple understanding that he had failed. Again and again and again–

He had failed Paris. He had failed its occupants. He had failed the people he hadn’t saved. He had failed Marinette.

And most of all, he’d failed his Ladybug.

Chat Noir had failed, and Adrien was reaping the consequences.

Nino’s grasp tightened, and he let Adrien cry. It was only the bell that signaled the start of their first lesson that jerked the three of them out of the bubble and towards the class, though Adrien had no doubt he looked like a mess.

Alya, taking pity on his I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry even if she didn’t understand what that was about, had pulled out her makeup kit and offered it to him, but his hands were shaking, and he didn’t even have the slightest doubt that he would make an even bigger mess.

They entered the class a few minutes late, but Mlle. Bustier took one look at them and waved them to their seats, eyes silently sympathetic.

Adrien was about to slip into his when he realized that Lila was still sitting there, next to his designated position, eyes vicious and laughing even as her mouth pulled into a small, sad pout.

It was sickening, and Adrien couldn’t even raise his head to look up and commiserate with Marinette because she wasn’t there.

His heart broke. He shook his head, then, and walked resolutely past the seat all the way back to Marinette’s.

The class stared, apparently horrified at such a radical decision. 

Adrien couldn’t bring himself to care.

He did, however, spare one glance forward, and saw Lila narrow her eyes, glaring at him with a face that spelled trouble. 

He still couldn't bring himself to care.

He placed his bag down on the second seat and took the first one, eyes down on the board, not even looking at their teacher. And though, after a few seconds of silence, Mlle. Bustier cleared her throat and started talking. Adrien couldn’t focus, his thoughts revolving around Marinette and Ladybug.

Fortunately, none of the rest of the class had disappeared, so at least there was that. But if Marinette had been hit before he and Ladybug had arrived at the scene, did that mean that there were more people- more victims than the ones they knew of? Than the ones the media was reporting? Than he had assumed there were?

And if there were, how the hell was he supposed to fix it? 

After all, it wasn’t like anyone else could fix it. Ladybug was gone, and Master Fu… well, he was gone, too. Ladybug had been the new Guardian, and she was the one who knew everyone’s identities, other than Chloe, who they didn’t go to anymore. And even if he had known, what was the point? He had none of the Miraculous! Nothing to power up the temporary heroes with, and Kwami help him, he definitely needed them.

He was alone. He was alone, and Plagg was too emotionally devastated to help, and there was a bone-deep chill in his hands that wouldn’t leave.

He spent the rest of the school time, till lunch, wallowing in the same level of cyclical despair that he’d experienced when Plagg had broken down and he’d still been Chat Noir.

Then lunch came and Alya and Nino were at his side in an instant, dragging him out.

He frowned and they slowed down only when they got to the entrance of the school building. “What’s wrong?” He asked. “Where are we going?”

Nino glanced back. “You didn’t notice how they were looking at you?” He asked.

Adrien tilted his head. “Because I didn’t sit next to Lila?”

Alya grimaced. “Let’s just say when you and Marinette didn’t come back yesterday, Marinette being hit by the Akuma wasn’t the first thing everyone thought.”

“Then what…?”

Alya huffed a sardonic laugh. “God,” She muttered. “It took Marinette being fucking kidnapped by an akuma Ladybug hasn’t fixed yet for me to see that Lila hates her.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “You finally noticed,” He said flatly.

The girl winced. “Far too late,” She agreed. “Though I still have no idea why. But I’m planning on trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Nino shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry, dude,” He offered. “I know you were one of the only ones to trust and help Mari.”

Adrien stopped walking right at the edge of the schoolyard. “What happened yesterday?” He asked. “What did Lila say?”

Alya and Nino exchanged glances. “That Marinette had ‘poisoned’ you against Lila,” The former answered, quotation marks gestured and all. 

“And once you came back and didn’t sit next to Lila…” Nino trailed off.

Alya scowled. “Marinette was hit by an akuma and all they can think of are Lila’s problems! Marinette’s gone , and so is Ladybug, and- and-” 

To Adrien’s horror, she burst into tears. 

Nino automatically pulled her into a hug, patting her soothingly and whispering stuff that Adrien couldn’t hear.

But Adrien wasn’t focussing on that, anyway. “You were there when Ladybug was taken,” He remembered. “And you deleted your livestream from the blog.”

Alya sniffed and withdrew from Nino’s grasp. “Had to,” She mumbled. “It was…” She shook her head. “No one has seen Chat since then, and the Ladybug cure hasn’t been enacted - how the hell are we supposed to fix this?” Her lips trembled. 

Nino looked similarly troubled.

Adrien… well. He didn’t have an answer, either. “I don’t know,” He whispered. “I just… don’t know.”

Nino swallowed. “Yeah,” He murmured, then pointed his hand somewhere to the side. “We also wanted to go to Mari’s place,” He told Adrien, abruptly changing the subject. “See if Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Dupain need anything.”

Adrien nodded instantly, the idea taking root quite easily. “Okay,” He said. “Let’s go.”

They walked the rest of the way without speaking, making it fortunate that the bakery was only a few minutes away. When they reached it, however, there was a ‘Closed’ sign on the door.

Alya’s shoulders fell, but she resolutely knocked.

No one replied.

“Doorbell?” Nino asked, and at the other two’s nods, he pressed it, hearing the soft melodic signifier of their arrival echo through the house. 

After a few seconds, they heard faint footsteps over the sound of Parisian traffic, and the door pulled open a crack. “I’m sorry, we’re closed for-”

Sabine Cheng stuttered to a halt, recognizing them. But it wasn’t just her - Adrien and Nino and Alya stood silent, slightly horrified, because her face was gaunt, her eyes had dark circles under them, and her cheeks were slightly wet, no doubt from crying. Her lips trembled. “Alya, Nino, Adrien,” She said in a choked voice. “What can I do for you?” She opened the door more fully.

Alya didn’t hesitate to rush to the older woman and fling her arms around her. “I’m so sorry!” She said, her voice muffled. “Marinette-”

Sabine’s hands tightened around Alya, and she breathed a small, sad laugh. “Please, come in.”

They did, following awkwardly all the way up to the first floor where they lived. 

The lounge was slightly messy and unkempt, but with the current situation, that was more than understandable. In fact, what was more startling was Tom sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the wall.

Adrien exchanged a panicked look with Nino, but Sabine just sighed sadly. “It’s… hard,” She admitted. “We’ve gotten so- so used to Ladybug saving the day and fixing everything that we never- never even imagined-” She sniffed.

Alya swallowed. “Mrs. Cheng…”

Sabine shook her head. “I’m sorry. It must be difficult on you children as well. Did- did any of you…?” See Marinette?

No, Adrien wanted to say, and the shame of that statement, even though no one here even knew he was Chat, coursed through him with frightening intensity. He shook his head.

Nino and Alya did the same. “She always goes to hide when an Akuma hits,” Alya admitted. “She never- she’s never in the front. I don’t even know how she could’ve gotten hit.”

‘Hides’? But… didn’t Marinette always protect others first? Like the time with the Evillustrator? She’d shown more bravery than anyone else Adrien had had the pleasure to work with - not counting his Lady.

Sabine’s shoulders drooped. “I see,” She murmured and turned away. As she spoke then, her voice was thicker, and Adrien had a feeling she was trying to hide her tears from them. “Would you like something to eat?”

“... No,” Nino answered for them. “We just- uh, we just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Marinette’s mother hurried to the fridge anyway. “Nonsense,” She said. “It’s your lunch break, right? I’ll whip up something quickly. You can go sit with Tom or- or in Marinette’s room.”

Alya looked at the two boys, and they nodded, understanding almost instinctively this was a way for Sabine to cope, get her mind off of the situation for at least a little while. Then they looked as one towards the still blank and unresponsive Tom and decided Marinette’s room might be a better destination for now. Plus, Adrien had a feeling Alya needed to see the room.

They headed upstairs, footsteps as heavy as their hearts, and though Nino hesitated at the front before twisting the knob and opening the room, they entered.

And then they stopped.

Adrien was not expecting the sudden wrenching pain as memories assaulted him. He’d only recently started coming over, really, ever since he’d realized Lila’s presence was taking a toll on the girl - ever since he’d started to doubt his own actions - and before that, he’d only ever come for the competition practice they’d set up (the one where he’d been so utterly decimated it was still funny). And yet, he could picture Marinette sprawled on the chaise, sketching something as he did his own work, sitting in companionable silence. He could picture the wind gently flowing in from the window and Marinette’s hair fluttering, just as beautifully blue as his Lady’s, her eyes glinting as she focussed on her work, just as incredibly confident and strong as his Lady’s-

His breath caught. What?

He felt Plagg shifting in his pocket and then phasing out, but through the drowning sensation in his mind, he didn’t even seem to notice because it couldn’t be, could it? Was this the reason no one had seen Marinette get hit?

He spared no thought for Nino and Alya, who were entrenched in their own memories of Marinette and lurched forward, searching for something, anything to prove him wrong, to show that no, he hadn’t failed his Lady twice over, on multiple occasions, that he hadn’t recognized her when he’d promised he would-

And then Plagg zoomed to the right, and Adrien’s eyes fell on a box sitting on the table in the corner of the room, partially covered by a cloth, the drawer under it half open as if Marinette had been in a hurry and had left it that way (and then she’d never gotten the chance to close it).

The miracle box.

He was about to rush to it, about to fling it open and prove to himself he wasn’t seeing things, when the door behind them creaked open, and he stilled, remembering that, no, he wasn’t alone. That Nino and Alya were with him and Sabine too, now. He swallowed, fixed his expression into something that he hoped wasn’t desperation, and turned back.

Thankfully, it seemed as if the other three hadn’t noticed or paid heed to his confusing reactions, if only because they were stuck on their own.

Instead, Sabine placed a platter of sandwiches before them and settled down slowly on Marinette’s chaise, watching them eat with longing in her eyes. 

Adrien found it difficult to swallow the food.

Still, he did his best, and before he knew it, they were walking back to the school, Plagg back in Adrien’s pocket and the miracle box (pleasebethemiracleboxpleasedon’t-) still in Marinette’s room.

The second half of school was no better than the first, though Adrien had the good sense (given to him no doubt by Alya and Nino’s warnings) to stay the hell away from everyone who wasn’t Alya or Nino. Lila especially seemed murderous, though that didn’t particularly affect Adrien at all, considering the villains he faced on a near-daily basis.

Speaking of… He frowned. The Akuma he’d defeated was still fluttering about in the jar at home, still tainted. It couldn’t be purified until Ladybug did the deed, so did that mean Hawkmoth couldn’t make any more Akumas?

God, he wished it was so.

But until he had proof…

He shook his head and returned home to cold stares courtesy of Nathalie and a lonely dinner that was even harder to digest than the sandwiches had been.

And after that was done, after night had fallen and he was alone in his room again with only Plagg for company, Adrien pulled off his blanket, stopped pretending he was sleeping, and guiltily roused Plagg from yet another bout of exhausted sleep. At “Claws on!” the Kwami zoomed in without protest, which, to be honest, really terrified Adrien.

But he had a goal. To save Ladybug and, in turn, save Paris, he had to get to Marinette’s and find out what was going on.

The night was silent as he parkour’d his way through, effortlessly bringing back the very glaring part that was missing - Ladybug’s giggles as she swung past, just out of Chat’s reach, always a little cleverer. Ladybug, in a teasing mood, might say a lot cleverer (and Chat would always agree).

Chat ignored his mind, ignored the double amount of heaviness in his chest, and kept running, the wind tearing away at him more harshly than he’d ever experienced before. Than he’d ever noticed before.

Before it could make much of a difference, Marinette’s home crept up, the lights in almost every room off, just one curtained window bleeding a faint yellow. Her parents, Adrien thought. He hoped they felt better. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing them like he had in the afternoon - almost broken (because of him).

Shaking his head, he gave the lights a wide berth and landed silently on the roof, where the lock slid open without much effort. He jumped inside and headed to the partially covered table he’d seen, grabbed what was (probablyhopefullyhadtobe) the miracle box, and climbed back out, collapsing on the roof as the energy left his legs.

He breathed in deeply and placed the box in front of him, legs crossed as he sat on the ground. It took a few minutes for him to muster up the courage to open the box, if only because he was half wanting this to be true and half hoping it was not. The idea that he had failed his Lady twice… and yet the idea that Marinette was Ladybug…

He opened the box.

For a moment, all he saw was jewelry. And yeah, they looked exactly like some of the miraculous he’d seen before - the fox necklace, the snake ouroboros bracelet, the bee hair comb - but that didn’t mean-

Except it did because the air began to shimmer, the jewelry glowed, and small creatures flew out of their respective miraculous, staring wide-eyed at Adrien.

“Chat Noir,” Wayzz said, the first to speak up. “... Why do you have the miracle box?” He frowned. “I do not mean to be rude; it is just that Ladybug is the guardian, and we were not told she had informed you.”

Adrien swallowed. “No, no, I- I understand.” His shoulders drooped. 

The mouse Kwami, whose name Adrien vaguely recalled to be Mullo from when Marinette had wielded her- and oh, wasn’t that confusing? But it also made sense because that was why Multimouse never wanted to-

Regardless, Mullo looked at him worriedly. “What happened to Ma- to Ladybug?”

Adrien grimaced his suspicions - which he’d known to be true the moment he’d seen the miracle box but hadn’t wanted to face, not really - confirmed. “Marinette… she was hit by an Akuma.”

“You finally revealed your identities!” Trixx squealed.

Sass narrowed his eyes. “Marinette or Ladybug?”

Adrien looked down. “Ladybug.”

Wayzz inhaled sharply. “That’s why you’re not fixing it with Tikki.”

He nodded. 

“Well,” Fluff piped up. “I’d love to help!”

Adrien hadn’t even asked, but the sudden idea that yes, he could go back in time and fix it all was so enticing, he didn’t even notice as his transformation fell away and Plagg floated up, still utterly exhausted - enough for the kwamis to notice.

“Plagg!” Quite a few of them gasped.

Plagg didn’t seem to pay them any mind, looking directly at Fluff. “Tikki’s gone,” He told her. “I can’t feel her.”

“No!” The Pig-themed Kwami said. “That’s impossible! Tikki- Tikki can’t-”

“Is she…?” Sass asked. 

Plagg looked pained. “I don’t know,” He whispered. “I just… can’t feel her anymore.” He began to sway and shake and Adrien immediately pulled him down to settle in his lap, hoping that this might provide a modicum of comfort. “She’s not here.”

Wayzz turned to the dog-themed Kwami, prompting the creature to nod. “I will search,” He promised in a small, squeaky voice, and before Adrien could ask, flew back into the necklace.

Sass frowned even more. “The Akuma that hit Ladybug?”

“The butterfly is in a jar,” Adrien replied.

Longg, the dragon Kwami, floated closer. “That might be the best place for it,” She agreed. “For now. No other Kwami holds the power of purification; much is the shame.”

Fluff seemed to be frowning as she floated to Plagg and Sass. “But why can’t I go and save Tikki before she was ever… hit by the Akuma?” She demanded. “I have time travel. My holders have time travel.”

Adrien tried not to show he was desperately curious as well.

Sass sighed, “Fluff…” He began, then trailed off.

Plagg shifted. “Tikki and I are the oldest Kwami,” He said from Adrien’s lap. “She is creation and order. I’m destruction. Chaos. We were here long before all of you… we are each other’s soulmates.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. He had known Tikki and Plagg meant something to each other, but to this extent…?

Wayzz nodded. “And because they’re the original Kwamis, they have a bond that connects them to each other. A bond that, if broken, creates a fixed point in existence that cannot be changed by the power of any other Kwami.”

“Because there is no Kwami powerful enough to affect them when they’ve gone beyond the protection of the bond they have together,” Sass finished. “An Akuma should not have had the power to do so, but…”

“You know the saying stronger together?” Plagg asked bitterly. “It’s wrong. We were made to be weaker together because we balance each other out. And because we’re weaker together, we don’t destroy the world as we know it.”

“But you’re weak right now!” Adrien burst out. “If you’re supposed to be stronger without Tikki-”

“Not me,” He corrected. “My powers.”

Adrien paled.

Fluff gasped. “That’s why I can’t go save Marinette,” She concluded. “My powers won’t work.”

“Not in that exact moment,” Wayzz agreed, and then, pre-empting her next question, added, “And if you choose to change something before that, it will not matter because it has already become a fixed point in reality, and reality will bend over itself to make sure it happens… no matter the cost.”

Fluff flinched. 

Adrien’s hands tightened into fists. “Then what are we supposed to do?” He asked faintly. “We don’t know where Marinette and Tikki are, or if they’re- they’re-”

“They’re alive!” A small voice yelped, and the dog Kwami zoomed out of his necklace. “I can faintly sense their existence from the multiverse.”

Everything came to a screeching halt. “... Multiverse?”

Plagg perked up, something close to a sparkle finding life in his small eyes. “She’s okay?”

The Kwami nodded eagerly. “She’s safe,” He agreed. “Her powers smell stronger, like yours, but she is with Marinette, and they are alive.”

Wayzz breathed a sigh of relief. “That is a relief,” He said.

“But how do we get her back?” Adrien asked urgently. “We have to.” And not just for Paris… they needed to get her back because- because-

The Kwami did not look at him. “We must hope we find a way,” Sass said slowly.

Adrien frowned. What?

“We cannot hurry this,” Longg added. “It would be disastrous if done incorrectly.”

What would be disastrous?!  

But Adrien didn’t ask because Plagg’s small hands curled around his clothes and tugged. “Find him,” He ordered, his voice dark and cold.

The Kwamis flinched, and before Adrien could question them about who, exactly, they sought to find, they jumped back into their Miraculous and the lid swung shut, leaving behind a calm night and the tapping of feet as someone walked up the-

Adrien swore. “Plagg, claws on!”

It was not a second too late because the opening to Marinette’s room was pushed open, and her father looked out, eyes still half unseeing, even as they fixed upon Chat at the edge of the roof.

“Chat Noir?” He asked hollowly.

Adrien hesitated. “... Yes,” He agreed. “Mr. Dupain.”

The large man stalled for a second, then followed the superhero out and sat down near the edge of the roof, staring at the dark, starry skyline. “You knew Marinette,” He whispered. “Did you see her… get hit?”

He hadn’t, yet he had, and-

And he couldn’t lie. “Yes,” He whispered. “I couldn’t save her.”

Tom’s shoulders began to shake, but there was no sound of crying. Still, as he spoke a few moments later, his voice was choked. “Did you- did the Akuma…?” He broke off. “Was she in pain?”

And Adrien broke because he hadn’t even thought about what Marinette’s parents might have been feeling. He hadn’t even imagined that- that they might not know she was alive, might not believe she was alive because he might have trusted in Ladybug, but no one else knew she was her.

For his Ladybug would never die because she was too strong because he would always protect-

But he hadn’t. He hadn’t protected her.

Tears slipped from his eyes as well and he looked the opposite way, vision blurring. “No,” He told Tom. “She wasn’t.” Then he took in a deep breath and got up, still not looking at the man. “I’ll save her,” He promised. “I’ll save them all.” Then he jumped off the roof and away, the miracle box in one hand and his baton in the other, hoping he wouldn’t crash into the side of a building.

Chapter Text

Almost A Day Ago

Gabriel Agreste stared in disbelief through his akuma’s eyes as Ladybug was ripped from existence itself and thrown god knew where - not even him. “You idiot!” He screamed, though it didn’t look like the Akuma was hearing it.

Because he could return the Akuma, take away his powers, take away the taint on his soul… but he could not purify it, cleanse the damage that had been wrought, bring back Ladybug.

And without Ladybug, his plan was completely and utterly destroyed.

“YOU IDIOT!” He roared again for good measure and then had to forcibly detach himself as Chat Noir tore the Akumatized object in half and grasped the butterfly before he had the chance to demand answers from the Akuma, effectively removing any chance of Gabriel finding out where Ladybug had ended up because the stupid A kuma now had no bloody memory!  

Gabriel wrenched himself away, letting his transformation fall. Nooroo flew off instantly, cowering somewhere in a corner, but Gabriel couldn’t care, because right now he was in a rage that could topple civilizations with its potency.

A rage he could not control.

“THAT STUPID-!” He screamed, throwing the only table in the attic-like room across the floor. It fell to the ground with a barely satisfying crash. “CHILD! ALL THOSE BLASTED CHILDREN!”

He heaved. What the hell was wrong with these idiots? Unable to get him the Miraculous, unable to serve as good puppets, unable to do anything but mess things up every single time!

And he’d had such high hopes.

He slumped against the wall and slid down, ignoring the way his clothes crumpled and creased, though no doubt that would agitate him to no end later.

He’d had such high hopes for this one. Other dimensions, the child had pleaded, power to throw people into other dimensions because blah blah blah superhero stories would no doubt teach everyone around him that comics weren’t stupid or time wasting.

Throw them into other dimensions and they wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

What the hell, Gabriel had thought. At least in this way, there would be minimum interference for civilians.

And then the moron had to go and hit Ladybug!

Goddammit! The fact that she hadn’t returned immediately or right after Chat Noir had destroyed the Akumatized object was telling - there was a chance she wasn’t coming back on her own at all.

So even if he managed to get Chat Noir’s miraculous now, alone as he was, it wouldn’t matter one iota because Ladybug’s wasn’t there. He couldn’t make the wish he so desperately needed to make. He couldn’t bring back the one good thing this world had left, and he couldn’t have a happy family again.

“Nooroo,” He snapped, voice under control and completely cold. 

The Kwami flinched. “Yes, master?”

“How do we get Ladybug back?”

Nooroo trembled. “I- I don’t know,” He whispered. “I don’t know, Master!”

There was too much desperation in his eyes for it to be a lie, but Gabriel narrowed his eyes anyway. “Follow me,” He told the creature in clipped tones, and went back to his office, where Nathalie was waiting, fear and curiosity warring in her eyes. 

“Mr. Agreste?” She asked.

Gabriel scowled. He didn’t have the time. “Cancel all appointments for today,” He said. “I need to fix the problems of the children of Paris, apparently.”

Nathalie frowned, but nodded.

Chapter Text

Marinette wasn’t quite slammed to the ground, though, admittedly, that would have been easier, considering she was used to that. No, she was just torn from her world and time and space and whirled through a damned somewhere that wasn’t anywhere at all because all she could feel was blankness. She flew through it at alarming speeds, whizzing through something that felt like thin fabric, through and through and through-

And then she slowed, landing on her feet with her knees automatically bent to break impact, somewhere in the middle of a dark alley. 

Her transformation fell away with a flash of light and Tikki collapsed, Marinette barely managing to catch her before she tumbled to the ground. “Tikki!” She cried, feeling somewhat distressed but mostly just confused.

The small creature curled up in Marinette’s hands, small whimpers escaping her. Her body was almost freezing and the color of her skin seemed to be vibrating.

Marinette could do nothing but keep watching, mild horror rippling across her body even as she hurried to pull Tikki close, offering her as much warmth as possible. She would be okay. She had to be okay.

“Tikki? Marinette whispered.

The Kwami still did not reply.

Swallowing, Marinette deposited her carefully into her pocket because the bag she was luckily still wearing was no doubt not warm enough, and kept one hand tucked inside with her, stroking her every few seconds and making sure if Tikki even shifted, Marinette would know.

Then she allowed herself to focus on where she was, if only because the trip to this damned place had made her sure it was nowhere near her world.

Her world! Even a few hours ago, she hadn’t even considered the multiverse might be real, and now she was stuck in a place that was not even slightly her home. 

Did a version of her exist here? Did Tikki? Did Plagg and Chat and-

Chat! Marinette wanted to slap herself. Chat… he’d looked at her with such horror when she’d been hit, and since she obviously wasn’t back there already, the battle was either still going on (doubtful. An enraged Chat Noir was much more vicious - he had destroyed the world in that alternate future timeline, hadn’t he?) or Chat hadn’t been able to reverse the spell. Which made sense, considering it was always her who did so. In fact, could the entire thing even be reversed?

She highly doubted it. 

It had obviously been a fluke, and a bad one at that, which trashed Hawkmoth’s plans, too, considering he needed both the creation and destruction Miraculous to do whatever he needed to do.

… Bright side, the big old supervillain wasn’t getting what he wanted.

Not so bright side, Chat had to deal with whatever fallout came next on his own.

Even less bright side - Marinette was stuck in a damn world she had no idea about and had no way to get home because her Kwami was sick and there was probably no Master Fu here.

Master Fu! On the other hand, maybe there was a Master Fu in this world. Or the order of guardians! If she could find them, they might be able to help her. They might be able to get her back home. And if not that, at the very least (and most definitely Marinette’s first priority), they’d be able to help Tikki.

Marinette allowed herself a short, decisive nod.

She had to find the guardians of the Miraculous.

Of course, she realized as soon as she started walking to one end of the alley, that meant she needed access to a computer to figure this world and possibly book tickets to Tibet.

Right. Fun.

She pursed her lips and walked decisively out of the dark. And then she stopped still… because she was not in beautiful, perfect Paris anymore. There was no Eiffel Tower in the distance, no friendly joggers or pedestrians waving hi, no somewhat manageable traffic. No, it was the dreariest place Marinette had ever seen, with skyscrapers on every corner and gothic architecture lining all the buildings. 

It was, suffice to say, disgustingly dark.

Marinette hated it immediately.

She swallowed and wondered if Paris even existed here, wherever she was. Did she? She’d thought about it just five seconds ago, but even the idea of thinking of it now made her sick to her stomach and- and-

And, she realized with hilarious aplomb, she was sick to her stomach because she had just realized what her being here meant. Everyone who had been hit by the Akuma would stay gone - and Kwami, she didn’t even know if their destination had been this world - and they’d be filed as missing cases, and everyone would worry and-

And her Maman and Papa.

Marinette felt her stomach, still reeling from the realization, begin to churn, her mouth curling down into a frown she couldn’t quite control. Her parents would have no idea where she was. Her friends wouldn’t, either, because she wasn’t hit in front of any of them. Marinette wasn’t hit at all. She was worried about Chat, too, but her partner was strong enough that he wouldn’t break down. Strong enough that he would at least wait and try and find a way before he had to do that. 

Her family and friends? They were strong, but not that strong. She never would want them to be, to be so stoic about losing anyone. But the fact that they’d have no idea…

She wasn’t worried about them realizing she was Ladybug, not with all the other disappearances, too. But.

She swallowed. 

And the other Kwami, she thought belatedly. They’d never know, not unless someone opened the Miracle box to let them out. Chat had known she was the new guardian, but not that she was Marinette. He’d have no idea how to find the box, no idea how to get the mirculouses to get the backup he would need, especially with her gone. 

God, how could everything be so messed up?

Tikki trembled, and Marinette stilled, holding her breath. Tikki didn’t seem to realize.

Instead, before Marinette could even think about what to do for Tikki now, there was a shrill scream piercing the air a few minutes away from her and she flinched. Then, sending a quick apology to her unconscious Kwami, she sprinted in that direction, through the alley and closer and closer-

And she came across two women being accosted by two men, though a third one stood some ways away, hissing as he rubbed at the upper half of his face, turned away from Marinette but nearly weeping. 

Marinette felt viciously proud because that was most certainly from the can on the ground a few feet away from the two women.

One of the women stood in front of the other, with dark hair and dark eyes glinting wildly under the flickering light of the street. “Leave us alone!” She spat, and Marinette realized, with a sinking heart, that she was speaking English.

So were the goons. “We were tryna be nice,” The bigger of the two idiots replied, trying to be intimidating.

Not France, then. 

“Bat- Batman will get you!” The second girl mumbled, voice low.

(‘Batman’? Chat would be proud. Then again, they’d both named themselves in the most generic ways possible. 

Hmm… was there even a Bat Kwami? That might be interesting.)

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and focused again on the situation at hand. There would be time to speculate on the existence of Kwamis later. Right now, she had to help these two women, and she had to do so without the help of Tikki because of obvious reasons.

She let her eyes flicker over all of the surroundings and tried coming up with a plan. There was no lucky charm, but she’d have to make do with what she had. And that meant…

“Batman don’t care ’bout bitches like you, sweetheart. He goes after the big guns.” The relatively smaller man taunted. “Face it. You’re alone. Might as well-”

Marinette darted out of the shadows, leaping up behind the bigger man first and kicking him between his legs with all her might. A strange shriek ripped from his throat and the other man instantly turned, pointing his knife at Marinette, but she ducked down and sidestepped, easily picking up a rusted rod she’d spotted on the ground earlier (refusing to think of how many tetanus shots she’d need after this) and swept the knife away, then hit him on the side of his head. He swayed, blinking, and Marinette automatically hit him behind the knees, making his legs buckle.

The bigger man had somewhat recovered by now, and the third person was also looking up from the far corner of the street because of the commotion, so Marinette fell to the ground, swept up the pepper spray, and as the enraged idiot kneeled down to punch her, maybe (who even knew at this point), she sprayed, waving so it was in his eyes, his nose, and his mouth. Triple the hurt, she reckoned, triple the reward (for her).

He roared and flung out his hands, and, not expecting it, Marinette wasn’t able to dodge. His fists hit her in the face, and without her suit, she was sent careening away, her shoulder hitting the wall hard enough for instant pain to shoot through her body. It wasn’t as bad as some of the scrapes she and Chat had gotten into over the years, but they’d also gotten those fixed with Lucky Charm, and without that–

But she had no time to think about it because the other two had recovered; one of them had grabbed the taller of the girls, even as the other one had disappeared (At least she got away, a small voice said in Marinette’s mind), and they were now advancing on her. 

“A do-gooder,” One said. “How saintly.”

“You can take the oth’ one’s place,” A second sneered. 

Marinette bared her teeth, feeling surprisingly calm in the face of such a situation, even though, as Marinette, she hadn’t ever experienced it before. As Ladybug? Sure. But Ladybug had a magical armor that absorbed most of her injuries, gave her superstrength, and, most importantly, superpowers. Marinette had none of that. 

But, she also noted, she still had someone to protect. 

“Let her go,” She said in her strongest voice. 

One of the men perked up. “An outta townie, huh?” He said. He sounded disgustingly delighted. “No one’s gonna–” Out of the blue, he collapsed on the ground and screamed, hands reaching out to clutch his knee as he swore faster than Marinette could keep track and even attempt to understand, and though she had no idea what had hit him, she could make a guess – there had been a glint of metal in the low light and the thwip of a blade.

“What do we have here?” A smooth voice asked, and Marinette’s head snapped in that direction, only to see a slender man come out of the shadows, his face covered is a dark red domino mask. He was wearing a costume with a cape, though she wasn’t able to make out much of the design in the darkness. “I guess you forgot this is Batman’s city, didn’t you?”

One of the men stepped back. The one on the ground whimpered some more. It was only the last one, who was holding the woman, who didn’t move, though whether it was by fear or choice stood to be confirmed. “Do– Don’t come near!” He shouted. “This ain’t your place to interfere, Robin!”

“You’re hurting someone,” The new guy said. “That’s all the justification I need. Let the lady go, and maybe I’ll be nice.” He smiled, and it was so polite that it would have been terrifying if he hadn’t been on Marinette’s side.

“Shit,” The man in the back swore. “I ain’t messing with the bats!” He spun on his feet and made for the opposite exit to the alley, only for Robin to throw the same bladed weapon that had felled the first guy – who, surprisingly enough, was cowering silently next to the wall – and he crumpled, a scream leaving his mouth with enough pain that it almost satisfied Marinette. 

The hostage-taker seemed to realize that his friend had fallen and glanced behind him in a knee-jerk reaction. In that second, Marinette darted forward, taking the chance to punch him in the throat. His hands loosened as he choked, and she yanked the woman away, pulling her back and rushing to where Robin stood. 

The man lunged forward, but before he could reach her, Robin stepped forward and parried, knocking him away with a fluidity of punches and kicks that made Marinette almost jealous. She’d never learned martial arts professionally, and for all of Chat’s fencing skills, neither had he. So seeing someone with actual skills in the department…?

She gasped lightly, and Robin, who had now moved on to dragging the now-felled man to the other two and tying them up, looked back at her and the other woman. “Are you two okay?” He asked. “Sorry I was late. Your friend out there flagged me down and told me you needed help.”

“Lara!” The black-haired woman burst. “Is she okay? Where is she?”

Robin straightened and came closer. “Don’t worry,” He assured her soothingly. “She’s fine. You can go get her. And if you need me to, I can help you home. These guys won’t hurt anyone else.” His expression darkened – what they could see beyond the mask, at least. “I’ve already alerted the Gotham police, and they’re on their way.”

“Oh,” The woman said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Red Robin.”

So not just Robin, then, Marinette mused. 

“It’s okay,” The woman continued. “Lara and I’ll get back fine. Our place is close by.”

Red Robin smiled charmingly. “Alright. I’ll have some more patrols around this area for the next few days, just to be sure.” 

The woman nodded, smiled, and rushed off, sparing no glance behind, leaving Marinette with a stranger. A hero, of course, but a stranger. 

… then again, at least she knew how to refer to him. She didn’t even know the woman’s name. 

“Um,” She said, remembering to translate mentally. “Thank you. For helping.”

Red Robin tilted his head. “You’re welcome,” He said distractedly. “Are you from out of town?”

The French accent, Marinette thought deprecatingly. “Oui. Yes.”

“Right,” He said, sounding perfectly controlled. “Tourist?”

Marinette wondered how she was supposed to explain that. 

She seemed to have hesitated a moment too long because Red Robin’s frown grew pronounced. “Do you need help getting back to where you’re staying?”

Marinette bit the inside of her cheek and decided to tell the truth. “I don’t– I don’t have anywhere to stay,” She said. 

“Ah,” The man said, and then he was silent for a few seconds as if thinking something over. “Do you–” He stopped and rubbed the back of his head. “I can help you get in touch with your family,” He offered. 

Marinette shook her head. “It’s fine,” She said thickly. “I don’t– I don’t have anyone.” Not in this world.

If anything, this just made the hero frown even more. “How did you…?” He trailed off, looking at her with critical eyes. 

Marinette said nothing, carefully tugging at the base of her shirt.

He sighed. “Look, I know CPS isn’t all that great, but you shouldn’t be out here. Not at night, and especially not these days. There was a breakout at Arkham recently, and it won’t be pretty if you end up anywhere near the impact radius.” He spoke slowly as if he knew she was struggling to understand.

Marinette winced, even as part of her wanted to rant at the man that she was a hero, too. “Not CPS,” She said immediately because she knew what that was from learning about America, and she did not want to be caught in that mess before she attempted to get home. Besides, she already had parents, even if they were in another world. 

Red Robin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay,” He said. “Fine. You should at least stay off the streets, though. I know about a shelter a while away. You can stay there for the night, and we can see what else to do tomorrow.”

Oh, Marinette was definitely going to vanish before that. But for now, he was right. She nodded. “That works,” She said. 

Red Robin’s shoulders untensed. “Good,” He said. “I’ll take you there.” He spared another moment to confirm whether the goons were tied up, cocked his head until even Marinette could hear the telltale sounds of a siren, and then led her out. “I’m taking you to a Wayne shelter,” He explained as they walked. “Unfortunately, they’re one of the few legitimate ones.” He grimaced. “Some of the others tend to be fronts for trafficking.”

Marinette’s stomach rebelled at the thought, and her hand immediately went to where Tikki was still curled up, the only modicum of relief in this strange, dark world. “Oh,” She said limply. “I didn’t–” She shook her head. It’ll be fine, she told herself, and somehow, she felt better. 

Red Robin looked sympathetic. “Gotham… takes a little getting used to,” He admitted. “I can guess why you’re… well, anyway,” He said. “It’ll be fine. The shelter will get you what you need, and we can see what more to do tomorrow, okay? You don’t have to worry. You’ll be fine.”

Marinette nodded. 

They continued walking. 

“So,” Red Robin asked a few minutes later. “France?”

Marinette nodded again. “Paris,” She said, and her voice went soft in a way she had no idea how to hide. 

“Mmm,” He said. “That’s got to be interesting. Big city, that one. I’ve been a few times.”

Marinette perked up. “Really?” She asked. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Not like–” She reddened slightly. “Pardon, I did not mean to say bad about this place.”

He chuckled. “No, it’s fair,” He said. “Like I said, it takes time.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’ve fallen off many a gargoyle trying to do that,” He joked. “Though the other guys might argue it was my lack of sleep.”

Marinette wrinkled her face. “Other guys?” She asked.

He hummed. “Right, out of city.” He slowed his pace. “There are a few other heroes in the city,” He explained. 

“Like Batman?” 

“Like Batman,” He agreed. “He’s got a sidekick and a few other partners–” He winced. “Okay, don’t mention that I called him a sidekick.”

Marinette nodded, a small bit of amusement flickering through her. 

He shook his head. “Anyway,” He said, coming to a stop, and pointed at the building a few doors down. “That’s the one. We’ll talk more tomorrow, okay?”

Marinette gave a short nod, even as guilt at the lie – a necessary lie, she consoled herself – wrapped around her shoulders. “Bye,” She whispered, and he melted back into the shadows. 

Taking a deep breath, Marinette squared her shoulders, walked to the building and up the stairs, and then she rang the bell.

A few minutes passed without any reply, but just as Marinette was about to give up a bad day to a bad end, the door creaked open, and a woman peered out, something Marinette couldn’t see clutched in one hand. The woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Who are you?” She asked.

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Er… isn’t this the shelter?” She asked weakly in reply.

“Yeah.” The woman said, softening. “What d’you need?”

Marinette nodded. “I was wondering if you… had space?” She wrung her hands in front of her. “I don’t… I don’t have a place to stay,” She swallowed again. “Red Robin told me that you took in people.” 

For a moment, the woman stared at her, eyes narrowed, and Marinette knew she was seeing her clothes and her general Not Homeless™ (probably) demeanor. But then she nodded and pulled open the door, ushering Marinette in quickly. “We don’t have a lot of space left these days,” She explained as she locked the many multiple locks on the front door. “But you got yourself a spot on the floor if you want it.” She hesitated. “Got rugs coverin’ everything.”

Marinette didn’t hesitate. “Yes, thank you,” She said instantly. 

The woman hummed, then stopped and pulled open a door, ushering Marinette inside to what seemed to be a kitchen. “Reckon you’re hungry,” She said, changing the subject. “We might have a bit left from dinner.”

Marinette’s eyes widened, and she nodded jerkily. “Thank you,” She whispered.

The woman smiled. “It’s my job,” She said automatically.

Chapter Text

Marinette had chosen Nino and Alya and Luka and Kagami, and Adrien couldn’t help but be impressed because she had definitely made the right decision. The Kwamis had decided to inform him partly because he was serving as interim guardian and mostly because he really, really needed the help. 

He’d thought, a few days after the fight, as there was a lull in the Akumas, that maybe Hawkmoth couldn’t make another one, but then the Butterfly in his jar was white again, and there was a roar from the middle of the city.

Chat Noir was instantly on the case, but this new Akuma had apparently already served to destroy a portion of a park, heaping it with ‘lost things’.

The battle had been… devastating. Not because Ladybug wasn’t there to support him and he kept hanging off of two-person plans that he enacted as if they were second nature (though that certainly played a big role), and definitely not because he hadn’t been able to defeat the person under the Akuma - because he had. It took a little longer than it would have with Ladybug, but the villain was gone soon enough.

No, the devastation was the fact that when Chat Noir rose from the rubble, the Butterfly in his grasp and being stuffed into a jar, his gaze fell into the eyes of the civilians standing at the edges, some holding their arms as if hurt, some their ribs, some leaning against others and limping, but, all with horror on their faces at the fact that this park that Chat Noir had fought Lost-and-Found in was destroyed. And there was nothing he could do to fix it.

There was horror and betrayal and fear in their eyes, and Chat hadn’t been able to bear it, hadn’t been able to bear the fact that he’d fought without abandon and all it had done was cause destruction. He was Chat Noir. He was destruction… and without Ladybug, There was nothing he could do to fix it.

He’d wallowed for a while but then realized (ignoring the sudden barrage of articles on the internet saying Kwami knew what about his failures as a superhero - did they really think he didn’t know he was a hopeless cause?) that all he could do was try to be less destructive the next time. But he couldn’t be, not without Ladybug. Not without support to help him defeat the Akuma. So he had to have a backup.

That was when the Kwamis had told him who the temporary holders were, and with their suggestions, he’d decided Luka as Viperion would be the best option if only because of his second chance ability, and though Adrien loathed putting anyone through that hell he had experienced when he’d lived through countless chances trying to save Ladybug, he knew he couldn’t fix anything without this.

Luka, he decided, was a must, and Sass agreed.

Kagami he vetoed mostly because her alter ego was probably going to be destructive, too, and with him already there, he really needed to make sure that didn’t happen. Plus, Longg told him to keep the heroes to a minimum if only because they had no way to reverse any problems caused by their being out in the open.

So that left either Nino or Alya as the second hero. 

Adrien almost decided neither of them should be one. He’d seen how broken they were after Marinette. How they were holding on with thin, combustible threads to normal life. Dare he ruin that by forcing them into a situation that would probably end up with them being hated like he was? Because he didn’t have to read articles to know they were ripping him apart and leaving him at the ends of the earth. No, he learned that enough through the whispers that followed him during school, through Lila’s poisonous words, and through the way only Alya or Nino even defended his alter ego in class.

Dare he?

But he had to.

He’d give them the choice, he decided, and for that, he chose Alya because Rena’s illusions might just help them figure out ways to pull the Akuma to places where there were minimum civilians, minimum properties to destroy, minimum everything.

It was weird, he thought blandly as he jumped off the side of a building towards where Luka was probably practicing his music on his boat. The fact that he and Ladybug had never actually thought about that - about the possible consequences of fighting in places where there was too much of anything. They fought without abandon, without care, and without seeing the possibilities of what could go wrong.

Now everything was going wrong, and there was just no way to fix it.

“Chat Noir?” A voice piped up, and Chat jerked, almost fumbling into the water. He hadn’t even realized he’d reached the boat, but he had, and Luka was standing on the deck, staring at him with wide eyes.

Chat grimaced. “... Luka,” He greeted weakly, then wondered whether the musician blamed him, wincing at the thought because he hadn’t even considered that before coming here. “Sorry, this was a-”

“Are you okay?” The other boy asked. “You sound… sad.” He tilted his head as if he could hear him even as he wasn’t speaking, and Chat suddenly recalled how Luka professed to hear the music of people’s hearts (or something like that) and almost flushed in embarrassment.

“I- I’m fine,” He said, but he knew it was a lie, and apparently, so did Luka.

Luka sighed and gestured to one of the deck seats. “I don’t blame you, you know,” He began conversationally, settling into his own seat. “For what everyone else is blaming you, I mean.”

Chat’s throat dried, but he forced his legs to move as he jumped from the roof of the room to the deck and then settled awkwardly in the proffered seat. “You don’t?”

“Nope. I hear your song of protection whenever you battle the Akuma, and that’s nothing if not pure.” Luka blinked. “Why are you here, though?” I don’t think it’s to discuss your innocence, his eyes screamed.

Chat swallowed. “I…” He hesitated. “Ma- My Lady’s gone,” He said weakly.

Luka listened.

“And I need help.” Chat inhaled deeply and gained that little bit of courage he had left. “I can’t fix the things I break and the parts of Paris I destroy… I can’t even minimize any of the damage that happens because of the fight between the Akuma and myself.” 

Luka’s eyes widened. “Are you…?”

Chat gave a sharp nod and held out the box, holding Sass. “Luka Couffaine, are you willing to help me? For until Ladybug returns, I need your aid. I need Viperion’s aid.”

Luka opened his mouth, but Chat wasn’t done.

“I can’t promise it’ll be easy,” He said quickly. “I can’t promise that Paris won’t hate you like they hate me, because Ladybug isn’t here to fix it. But- But I want to help save as many people as I can and…” He took a deep breath. “And Second Chance is the best way to help them. The best way to make sure the least people are hurt and the least destruction wreaked.” His face fell. “I know I’m asking a lot,” He whispered. “I’ve used this power before, and it’s- it’s terrifying-”

“I’ll do it,” Luka cut in, and as Chat snapped his head to look at Luka’s eyes, he was struck with the confidence that was within them. The acceptance. The good. “I’ll help, Chat Noir.”

Chat couldn’t speak.

Luka only smiled. “I understand the risks,” He told him. “And I understand the pain that comes with living a bad ending so many times.” Chat flinched. “But I also understand the need to help people and the beauty in saving the world. I will help, Chat Noir, as long as you require it.”

Chat exhaled softly. “Thank you.”

Luka smiled and accepted the box. Sass zoomed out, smiling widely at the holder. “Luka!” He said. “I am so happy to see you again!”

“Happy to see you too, Sass,” Luka greeted back, then turned hesitantly to Chat. “Are you… giving this to me?” He asked. “Ladybug gave it to me only temporarily while the Akuma was a problem and had it returned after that.”

Ladybug had me, Chat wanted to say. Ladybug didn’t have to worry about the Akuma destroying that which couldn’t be fixed every time she left it alone to give you the Miraculous, he didn’t say. “Yeah,” He murmured. “I’m giving this to you until Ladybug returns.”

Luka smiled softly. “Yeah,” He said. “Okay.”

Mouth dry, Chat extended his baton and jumped away. He had another Miraculous to present.

It took a bit of time to swing over to Alya’s house, where Chat was sure she was, because Nino had mentioned she almost never left these days - other than school, of course - but when Adrien looked in the window, he had to stumble to a stop because Nino was there, too. He swallowed. He should wait, shouldn’t he? Wait until after Nino left because he wasn’t here to offer the Miraculous to Nino, and only giving it to Alya in front of Nino was just rude.

And if they did know each other’s identities, as Trixx and Wayzz had revealed, that would make it even more awkward… right?

Except Nino would find out anyway once Rena Rouge came on record as fighting against the Akumas, and, more importantly, if Chat didn’t do it now, he was pretty sure he’d lose the motivation to pull yet another person into the mess that was currently the superhero industry of Paris. 

So he took a deep breath and knocked on the window.

It took seconds for Alya to push it open, and then her eyes widened. “Chat Noir?” She asked. “How- What…?”

“What’re you doing here, dude?” Nino asked.

Chat stepped inside and grimaced. “I- I’m here…” He inhaled deeply. “I’m here because I need your help.”

Alya and Nino exchanged looks. “Our help?” Nino asked.

Chat grimaced further. “Alya’s,” He corrected. “I’m sorry, Nino, but-” He shook his head. “Sorry, I’m messing things up.” Instead of continuing, he took out the box with Trixx’s necklace inside and offered it to Alya. “Alya Cesaire, will you take this Miraculous and help me for as long as Ladybug is not here? I need Rena Rouge’s help in- in saving Paris.” He swallowed. “It won’t be easy,” He repeated, taking what he’d said to Luka because that was what he needed to say. “Paris will probably hate you like it hates me now, and if you would refuse, I would understand. I would never think less of you,” He added because he wouldn’t. Alya was incredible, and that lure of not having the world hate you? Chat had the urge to rip off his ring growing inside him, too. “But… I asked Viperion to aid me as well, and though he’ll be a great help, I just thought that maybe- maybe Rena’s illusions would be useful in pulling the Akuma to a place where it’s safer to fight.” 

Alya’s eyes were dark and thoughtful. “Because none of the damage caused is being fixed,” She concluded.

Chat cringed but nodded, sparing a look for Nino and almost breathing in relief when he only looked curious, not betrayed. 

Alya stared at Chat.

Chat waited. 

“Okay,” She said finally. “I’ll do it.”

“If you don’t want to-” Chat began automatically.

Alya rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t what I was thinking,” She said easily. “I was just cataloging my schedule and making space for excuses so I can be available at all times.” She grinned. “You are giving me Trixx semi-permanently, right?”

Chat nodded, dumbfounded.

Nino chuckled. “I can be your excuse, babe,” He said.

Alya smirked. “You already were, but thanks for offering.”

Chat couldn’t help the surprised laugh. “Just like that?” He asked, then sobered. “If something happens to you now…”

Alya stopped smiling. “I know,” She said seriously. “It can’t be fixed like magic because Ladybug’s not here. I understand Chat Noir, and I will be careful. But being a hero always comes with a trade-off, and the possibility of being hurt in comparison to saving people who need it? I will always choose to help.” She shrugged. “You and Ladybug always do.”

“Ladybug has the ability to wipe the slate clean,” Chat mumbled. “She can fix any problems we create.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Nino chimed in. “You two still protect Paris. And you’re continuing to protect it despite that do-over button being gone right now, and you’re doing it while Paris is raging on you. That, my dude, is the definition of a hero.”

Alya nodded. “Don’t worry, Chat Noir. We’re on your side.”

Chat’s lips trembled, and it was only because of his costume and his alter ego that he didn’t collapse in absolute relief. That he felt he could breathe again. Because he might have lost Ladybug, but maybe these new allies of his would help him save her. And in the meantime, all they could do was carry on.

The two new, semi-permanent superheroes weren’t the only new plans being brought into action in Paris. No, Gabriel Agreste was doing some of the same. Lost-and-Found may have failed, but he had a lot more ideas to try and bring back the pesky Ladybug and her Miraculous from whichever universe she had found herself in. After all, Nooroo had confirmed that her Miraculous still existed and so did the person under it, which meant they could be brought back the same as they were sent. All he needed to do was find the right ability and the right universe.

In the meantime, he had seen the disparagement routine the people of Paris had begun against their loyal cat, and he’d started to grin, because this was the exact thing he’d been waiting for. While Ladybug cooled her feet in that other dimension, Gabriel Agreste would be the ‘Lucky Charm’ Paris needed. He would fund the construction processes and the relief-and-aid, and he would slowly build up the reputation to counteract Chat Noir and Ladybug. The disparity between their actions would lead to an even blacker reputation for the black cat, and then… then he’d strike. 

The trick to a good defeat was, after all, in the build-up. And perhaps his stupid Akuma throwing Ladybug away to another dimension might have been the best decision yet.

After all, why trust a hero who wasn’t there or a hero who didn’t help?

Yes, Chat Noir being hated by Paris would serve Gabriel Agreste just fine.

Chapter Text

Marinette didn’t know how she was able to sleep, but she was knocked out for the entire night. When she did wake up, though, she was groggy, and for a few seconds, she had to wonder why she felt so uncomfortable. It was like she’d taken part in the exhaustion Tikki had no doubt experienced, considering she’d obviously been knocked out. 

Tikki. America. Not her home.

She jerked up and realized her hands were clutching at her purse - which was what had made her uncomfortable since she’d been squished up against it, but she was guessing that’s what had even saved it since she was pretty sure some of the other people were staring at it, and not all of those gazes were benign.

She swallowed, hoping they hadn’t realized she’d caught on, and sped out of there, almost crashing into the woman who’d welcomed her in last night.

She took in the sight of Marinette clutching protectively at the purse that held her one and only friend in this dangerous new world and sighed. “Sorry ’bout it,” She murmured gruffly. “Can’t stop them lookin’ or stealing if I don’t catch ’em redhanded. That’s Gotham for you.”

Marinette forced herself to relax minutely and nod. “No- no problem,” She squeaked, barely managing to understand her with the accent. “Thank you for… giving me space. Last night.”

The woman smiled slightly. “That’s what we’re here for,” She replied. “You’re welcome to stay for’s long as you like,” She continued. “You seem like you need it.”

Marinette perked up, almost about to say yes as relief crashed through her for a kind word in a strange land, when she remembered exactly what her situation was and drooped because there was absolutely no way she could actually stay. Even now, Red Robin might be on his way to get her and throw her at the government, at which point she wouldn’t be able to keep on the down low and search for a way home. 

And she had to search for a way home because right now, she had nothing - no Akuma she could purify, no Kaalki to portal her back–

She swallowed, her fists clenching and her mind almost hazily forcing her to wonder how Chat Noir was doing. How he would manage without her. She had no doubts about his capabilities, but he had just lost her, and he had no way to get to her. He had no way to know if she was even safe, and nor did he know who she was or even where to find the other Miraculous in case he needed help. 

Part of her, so far away that she could barely consider it herself, asked why she’d been so stupid and secretive. 

The rest of her moved on from the conversation and back to the present. “Thank you,” Marinette managed to say with real sincerity, even as her throat attempted to constrict. “But it’s fine. I just… needed one night.”

The woman frowned, staring at her with a level of understanding that Marinette didn’t really expect. “If you’re lookin’ for work,” She added abruptly. “There’s always some businesses in Crime Alley and East End that’re searchin’ for workers.” She grimaced. “Not the best of jobs, but beggars can’t be choosers.”

‘Crime Alley’? Marinette shuddered to think what the other alleys were named. 

Sadly, if she was trapped here for any length of time, she would need work. Especially if there was no way back or to Paris because she still had to talk with Tikki and see what was going on. “Um, could you- could you tell me which businesses those are?” ‘IF’ was a big decision. But if there was one thing Marinette knew, it was how to be overprepared.

The woman shrugged. “No idea. They fill up fast and open up faster. I’d say goin’ to the job agencies out in the City Hall or Little Italy is your best bet. They’re a little far, but I’d suggest checking ’em out if you’re serious about the job.”

Marinette nodded eagerly, said a loud goodbye, and rushed out. She’d need a map, obviously, if she wanted to navigate all these areas, but first things first - Tikki.

Outside the building, she furiously looked around for an alley that might keep her covered and hidden from a certain interfering vigilante and then went into one a little distance down the road, ducking down next to a mountain of boxes that looked like someone lived in them. Which was weird since there was a literal shelter down the street, but honestly, she wasn’t in the right mindspace to care right now. All she could think about was the fact that it was empty and she could finally talk to her friend.

Tikki peeked out of the bag.

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Tikki!” She exclaimed as loudly as she dared.

Tikki came out, and Marinette had to hold back a small frown at how haggard the Kwami was looking. There was nothing obvious - she didn’t look thin or anything. No, the issue was with her too-wide eyes and the unnatural feeling surrounding her existence. “Marinette,” She murmured and then flew into Marinette’s chest with a speed and strength that almost made Marinette topple back. 

“Tikki?” She asked. “What- what’s wrong?”

Tikki hovered back, but though everything around her said s-h-a-t-t-e-r-e-d, her voice was simply dull and dead. “Plagg,” She said leadenly. “I can’t feel him. I can’t feel my soulmate.” 

Marinette inhaled sharply. She’d only talked to Tikki once about the soulmate business, and only after days and days of begging for answers and only because Mullo and Daizzi had slipped up about it. And what she’d found out… she swallowed. “Because he’s in another world,” She completed and Tikki practically collapsed, hanging limply in the air until Marinette scooped her up in her hands, bringing her close to her face. “Tikki… I’m so sorry.”

Tikki didn’t reply, and for quite a few minutes, she was only buried in Marinette’s chest, not crying so unnaturally that Marinette didn’t even know what to do. 

“We’ll fix this,” Marinette continued when she couldn’t bear it anymore. “We’ll get back to Plagg.”

Tikki looked up into her eyes, and her frame trembled, but she nodded. “Thank you, Marinette.”

Marinette smiled softly.

Tikki shook her head and pulled out of Marinette’s hold, trying to be strong even as she kept shuddering, unsteady in the slightly cold air. “I- this universe feels… different,” She said. “It doesn’t….” Her eyes flickered to Marinette. “I don’t think it has Kwamis.”

Marinette grimaced, but considering she’d been trying not to think the same thing, it wasn’t overly surprising. Adding that to the fact that the Akuma had been bragging about sending people to her comic book worlds, it hadn’t been difficult to put together. Though considering this was a real living, breathing world, Marinette was assuming that the magic that pulled her here had thrown her into the comic’s equivalent or the world that closest resembled it. “We’re also in America,” She said gloomily. “Somewhere called Gotham.”

Tikki frowned. “That sounds familiar,” She said. 

Marinette shrugged. “Maybe we came over it at some point, and I just don’t remember.” She shook her head. “The problem is how we’re going to get back.”

Tikki flinched. “I don’t know,” She mumbled. “I can’t fix this.”

“Why about Lucky Charm?” Marinette asked, despite knowing exactly why that wouldn’t work.

Tikki looked down. “It’ll work wrong,” She admitted, and Marinette frowned. Wait, what? What was that supposed to mean? Before she could ask, though, the Kwami continued. “My powers… Plagg and I are separated, and my powers will be far stronger than they ought to be. I won’t be able to control them. Not like-” She swallowed loudly. “I’m barely able to control them without them being used, I can’t-”

Marinette bit her lip. “You mean I won’t be able to transform?”

Tikki’s eyes widened. “No, no,” She said quickly. “You can transform - that ability is not based uniquely on creation. I won’t let you have to go through this world without the protection my suit provides, anyway.” She squeezed Marinette’s finger. “I’m talking about Lucky Charm and the purification and reversal spell. And it’s not like you can’t use them-” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Marinette.”

Marinette melted. “Oh, Tikki,” She said warmly. “We’ll get through this.”

“Are you… are you going to get a job?”

She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ll have to. I have no money here.”

“Oh.” 

Marinette tried to smile reassuringly but something just felt wrong, even as the panic she was expecting to engulf her at these thoughts trailed away without a fight. “It’ll be fine,” She said. “We can find someplace to sleep, and I’ll get a part-time job to make up for the next few days so we can try and find a way back. See what sort of magic this world does have and maybe contact someone who can help us.”

Tikki hovered, staring at Marinette with still-dull eyes. “Every world has some kind of magic,” She agreed, and then her frown became more pronounced. “Why can’t you stay at the shelter.”

“Right,” Marinette remembered. “You were unconscious last—” She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I ended up trying to help someone and got the attention of a local hero. Since I’m not local, and nor do I have guardians here…” She trailed off. 

“Oh,” Tikki said. “Okay.”

Marinette nodded, helped Tikki climb into Marinette’s bag amidst her random assortment of belongings - none of which included her phone, and she’d checked twice (she’d apparently left it back home. Either that, or it was stolen, and Marinette really didn’t want to think about that), and she once again cursed her clumsiness - and then exhaled, hoping to circumvent the catastrophizing thoughts that would take over any second and force her down a near anxiety attack she couldn’t afford to have. 

Tikki curled around her finger in a small hug, and instantly, Marinette felt a little more relaxed, a little more calm, and she smiled.

“Alright,” She murmured to herself. “Time to find a place to stay.”

She wasn’t stupid enough to believe it would be easy, but over the next hour, she got intimately associated with not easy. The people of Gotham – at least the ones she met on the streets - were either scared, apathetic, or downright hostile, and more often than not, they scurried away before she could even manage to get out a word. A few street kids told her she smelled like an outsider and then proceeded to almost manage to pickpocket her stuff, except, of course, for the part where she had nothing except Tikki, and that was a bad idea for that particular hellion, who yowled at her bite and ran away swearing. 

Mariette decided to stop meeting new people after that. Instead, she took to weaving in and out of places, the fact that she was dressed relatively okay (for Gotham, apparently) making it easy for her not to be kicked out on charges of public disruption. 

The prices seemed pretty high - though what did she know about comic money? - and though not many people asked her to bring in guardians, that just made it all the more shady. 

Other observations revealed quite a few people sleeping in the streets, and the one memorable point where she saw a practical legion heading into a building a few stories high which was caved in in a corner and marked off as hazardous. 

“Isn’t that… dangerous?” She muttered in awe.

Tikki peeked out and looked at the place. “We can check it out,” She said, not sounding worried at all.

Mariette raised an eyebrow and looked at her friend, who still looked a little too dead for it to be Tikki (Tikki with life blazing in her soul, her words bursting with love, her being trembling with emotion). “It’s hazardous,” She pointed out. 

“Purification,” Tikki replied.

Marinette tilted her head, surprised she hadn’t thought of that but able to picture it quite easily. “You did say your powers would be overpowerful.”

Tikki nodded. “It will help the residents.”

“If we get a space,” Marinette pointed out. “And what if they ask?”

Tikki pursed her lips and crossed her tiny arms. “You can transform. Check the upper levels.”

Mariette’s mind flashed back to Tikki’s previous comments. “Are you–”

“Yes,” Tikki said. It was only because she didn’t sound concerned at all – which in itself should have been concerning, but Mariette only realized that in retrospect - that Marinette gave in, backtracked to find a relatively hidden area, and allowed Ladybug to come out to play. 

Almost immediately, everything flickered and changed, the throbbing of something inside her fading to a muted background, her mind rushing to consider all her options. “Good idea,” She told an immaterialized Tikki.

Tikki didn’t reply. 

Marinette didn’t wait. 

Instead, she slid out into the open, sticking to the sides so she wouldn’t stand out, though it was a stupid consideration since she was literally in the flashiest costume possible if the hero she’d seen was any indication – he’d been red, too, but he’d been muted and to the theme of the city. She was flashy and uncharted. 

Still, she put that thought to the side and extended her arrow, propelling herself to the windows of the floors above. 

Most of the rooms were already filled with either people or belongings, and Marinette could only frown at the unfortunate circumstances of all of them. She could see mold in some of the walls, dark patches in others. She could feel the dankness, and the magic around her made her curl away from the worst, hissing at her, for while it was creation, it was a creation that invited destruction. It was something that her magic could not expect. 

(She didn’t notice the trail of unnoticeable sparkles she left behind, burrowing into the walls and the ceilings and settling on the unwanted parts of the place, pulsing with energy and life.)

At the very top of the building, though, where a corner of the building had been bludgeoned in – how, Marinette would never know because, unlike Paris, this place didn’t have a regularity of giant babies, gorilla monsters, or the thousand other Akumas who could probably do this on a daily basis - she did find two rooms empty of people. One was obviously the broken one, and since it got a great view of the city (yeah, right), it was discarded since it would serve no safety from the elements. 

The other one was actually perfect. Other than similar problems to the rest of the building, it was fairly okay from what she could see from the window, and, she realized as she went in from the other side – from the broken room – the only reason it wasn’t occupied was because there was a ton of concrete piled up in front of it that even she might have difficulty moving. Oh, who was she kidding? She could move it in a second. She left it as is, though, because it would keep others from coming in, probably. She’d be able to get in via the window, and, well. 

She bit the inside of her cheek. 

She’d have to buy a blanket, she told herself. A mattress. A pillow, though it wasn’t that big a deal. Tikki wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her, not from stuff like mold or animals, but…

No, she told herself. This will all work out. 

“Alright,” She said to herself, psyching up with energy she couldn’t particularly feel. “Let’s go get hired!”

After all, she rationalized, she couldn’t very well go into stealing when she’d already started squatting. It would just make it far more easy for Red Robin to get to her, and that would be a mess she wanted nothing to do with. She had more important goals than finding her place in this world because she didn’t need to be in this world. 

So yes, she’d need a job. And if she got a job, she could find a way to get access to a computer or something and figure out what magic this world had. 

“Yeah,” She murmured and turned back to the window, looking out into the gloomy city that still looked like it was welcoming the night, and let herself breathe - amidst poisonous fumes and broken walls in an unfriendly city and a strange world, alone. 

So, so very alone.

Chapter Text

Marinette really didn’t want to go to the job agency. She tried a few other alternative options first, checking out various storefronts that then ran her out, even as they hesitated seeing her at first – probably, Marinette later realized, because she was dressed more nicely than other kids out on the street. But the second she mentioned wanting a job, they either started ignoring her, told her to get out, or started leering at her and she ran herself out because no thank you. She might not be able to use her powers to their full extent, but understanding that someone was a creep wasn’t one of her instincts that had been flattened by the dimension travel and subsequent problems. 

So, in the end, the job agency it was. 

She was a little worried, in the beginning, that they would look a little too closely at her ID, maybe demand her passport – which she didn’t have – or report her. Or something. Heck, she’d even thought about using Lucky Charm to make a passport, but she had no idea how that would go and on what kind of visa she was even allowed to work in the first place. And, of course, the fact that Tikki had cautioned her against it. 

But desperate times and desperate measures, and maybe she wanted to put her hope in the fact that the whispers she’d heard about this operation were true, that they were here to help people get off their feet, not ask questions. 

So she went to the job agency in the Little Italy district since - according to a grand total of One™ non-dismissive person she’d managed to ask - it was closer than City Hall (and very much so less stringent in checking IDs).

It wasn’t difficult to get there, though with no money and a very not-understanding of the city and its routes, it certainly took a lot of effort. It was quite some time after noon by the time she and Tikki got there, and considering she’d woken up at around seven, that was saying something. To be fair, it probably didn’t help that she’d stopped and gawked every other minute. 

But could you blame her? The place was so different from her Paris, it wasn’t even funny! Where Paris boasted color and life, this Gotham seemed to swim in despair and darkness. There was a perpetual shadow over the town, even when the sun was out, and she was pretty sure there was something bad in the air, and the only reason she wasn’t suffocating was because Tikki’s magic was still affecting her.

Still, Marinette made it to the job agency in one piece, and it turned out the whispers had been correct. They were a little more relaxed at seeing the ID, despite it being French and not American, and definitely not from this world, and though they didn’t scan it, but they didn’t ask, and she didn’t say anything beyond showing it to them in the first place. 

Marinette felt simultaneously guilty and relieved at that, and quickly grabbed a copy of the handout provided to her so she could peruse over her options without blocking up the queue behind her.

And then, sitting in one of the corner seats, she pored over the list with Tikki peeking out of her side bag, which was admittedly looking a little worse for the wear, something Marinette only noticed because of her attention to detail and bad life choices.

Um. 

She turned back to the list.

“Not the delivery jobs,” Tikki whispered instantly.

Marinette nodded. “I don’t know the city enough,” She agreed.

Tikki seemed to vibrate. “Yes, but I was talking about you possibly being in danger,” She admitted. “And if you are, that’ll mean you need my magic, and while transforming isn’t a problem-”

“The more I do, the higher the chance of me needing to use lucky charm,” Marinette realized.

“Yes. And that would not be good.”

“Because you don’t have control,” Marinette finished under her breath.

Tikki looked down.

“Which totally isn’t your fault!” Marinette hastened to add, and then, just to distract Tikki from her self-pity, asked, “What about Plagg? Is he going to face the same issues back home? Will…. Will Chat be alright?” And it wasn’t a distraction anymore because the worry was real. 

Tikki’s shoulders drooped. “He’s going to be the same,” She said morosely. “A little less out-of-control, maybe, because there’s a lot of residue creation energy in the ambient atmosphere back home. My creation energy. But it’s going to taper off soon, and his magic will be really, really problematic-” She cut herself off. “It’s going to be harder for me because even though there is actually a lot of chaos energy in this place, it’s purely organic. It’s not Kwami-related or even remotely close to the destruction that balances me out… I’d be expending even more energy than that which will balance me if I try to utilize it.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Marinette.”

Marinette shook her head. “Oh no, Tikki!” She assured her friend. “It’s perfectly alright. You’re not at fault, okay?”

The Kwami didn’t reply, only turning back to the sheet. “No deliveries, and I doubt you’ll want to work as a janitor, so…”

Marinette made a face. “I mean, I can, but I’d prefer not to,” She agreed and joined her friend in looking through the options, her eyes brightening. “There’s a job at a cafe that’s open!” She said. “I’ve got experience working in Maman and Papa’s bakery!”

Tikki smiled a small smile. “It would be easier,” She agreed. “And it does seem to have a little higher pay than some of the other options.”

“Plus,” Marinette added, though she needed to force the cheer. “This says it’s in the East End district of the city, which sounds way better than that Crime Alley place the lady back at the shelter was talking about!”

Tikki giggled, and it was incredible how relieving it was to hear it after so long of only seeing Tikki mindlessly muted. “We should probably get a map before deciding what’s a great location,” She pointed out.

Marinette shrugged. “We’d need money first,” She said.

Tikki nodded and turned back to the job sheet. “Maybe after getting the job, we can go to the Library. They’ll have a map and information about this world.”

Marinette looked down to where Tikki was pointing, and sure enough, there was a position open at the ‘Gotham Library’ in the ‘Old Gotham’ District. If Marinette hadn’t already decided on choosing-slash-applying for the cafe position, she would definitely have chosen the Library. But it seemed more of a grunt job and offered very little pay for what seemed to be more glorified errand-boy, so Marinette was assuming it wasn’t actually a job, only a way for the library people to help out the neighborhood. Which was nice of them, but it also meant Marinette was not applying for that position especially since it would seem suspicious if she went there to work and ended up being more interested in reading stuff instead.

But Tikki was right. The Library would probably have the information she needed, and maybe stuff in French, too, if only because it wouldn’t be so straining. She constantly had to keep translating in her mind right now, and though it was doing wonders for her English comprehension and pronunciation (Adrien would be proud considering he was her English teacher, and, honestly, so would Audre), it was definitely taking a chunk out of her mental capacity. 

Though it wasn’t like she could go before she started the job - the two girls had mentioned the computers were free only if she had a library card, which meant membership, which meant money. ‘Public’ Library likely cut down on the cost of the membership, but she’d still need to confirm that. Of course, there was the slightest chance the card would be free, but Marinette wasn’t going to risk going the whole way before she had a little bit of money because she knew the libraries back home, at least, only provided the ‘free’ membership for Parisian residents only. Out-of-towners? They needed to pay.

Shaking her head, she went back to the desk and asked about the job she had narrowed down, getting directions to both there and the Library. The bakery, it turned out, was actually quite near since East End was practically the next neighborhood over, and Marinette didn’t really have anything to lose, so…

She went to the bakery.

She also got lost a little bit again and ended up reaching the place an hour or so before closing time. Then she stepped in and was assaulted with the smell of home, and it almost made her cry again because it had been one full day since she had seen her parents, and she was forcing herself not to think about it this whole time, but- but-

“What can I get you?” A slightly frazzled voice asked from the counter, and Marinette blinked, finally realizing she was the only one standing. There were a few other customers here, but they were sitting in their separate booths, paying no attention to the weird kid who’d just entered.

Marinette almost blushed and shuffled closer. “Um, may I- may I talk to the manager?” She asked.

The cashier raised his eyebrow. 

Marinette held out the envelope with the sealed recommendation letter from the job agency. “I’m here for the job!” She said. “They said it was- that it was open at the job agency, and I figured since my parents owned a bakery too that I have the background to help a little bit and that I’d try out, but if you think–”

The cashier almost stepped back, cutting Marinette off. But before she could melt into a puddle of embarrassment, his shoulders sagged. “Oh my god, thank you,” He whispered. “I’ve been waiting for someone to take up the position for days and let me tell you, I am not happy behind the counter having to face a million people with the social skills of a-” He coughed. “I’m sorry, yeah, uh. I’m the manager.” He managed a weak smile. “That was… one way to greet a potential employee.”

Marinette couldn’t help the startled laugh.

“Am I to assume I haven’t scared you off?”

Marinette nodded hesitantly, letting the man take the letter and lead her back into the employee area after ensuring none of the customers wanted anything, and then began speaking. “I’m Marinette,” She introduced. 

The man blinked. “French, huh? What’re you doing in Gotham?” He flushed. “Which might be an insensitive question-”

“But probably one an employer should ask,” Marinette finished for him, remembering that time her parents had gone over their hiring procedures in great detail when she’d started showing a tiny bit of interest in their jobs. It had not panned out awesomely, but hey! She had the extra knowledge, and it was totally coming in handy now. “I actually didn’t intend to come here, but…” She sighed. “I can’t go back for a while.” And then, because she felt guilty, and potential employers should know this, right? “I don’t know how long I’ll be here,” She said apologetically but honestly. “But I am here for now, and I can promise I’ll do my best.”

For a moment, the man kept frowning, his eyes narrowed as he peered at her. Then, to Marinette’s relief, he huffed an amused laugh. “Honest,” He said. “I like it. And you’re not alone, kid. Almost no one sticks around Gotham if they can help it.” He winced. “If they have sense.”

Well, that sure was a shining endorsement.

“You’re fifteen?” He asked, looking at the letter from the job agency.

Marinette nodded. 

“... Okay. Got a place to stay?”

Marinette’s mind flashed back to the broken, poisoned room she’d claimed, and she nodded slowly. 

The man inclined his head sharply. “Good,” He said, though he mostly just sounded like he didn’t care. “We can hold a trial run tomorrow. If you can manage to keep my customers for the day, you’re in. I’d be honestly relieved to hand the job off. I’ve been kinda shortstaffed since my last worker left me hanging.” He shook his head. “Hey, did I ever introduce myself? Probably not. The name’s Liam. Liam Rogers.”

“Marinette,” She said again, even though she’d already introduced herself. But, to be fair, a name in return for a name was an automatic reaction. “Dupain-Cheng.”

Liam smiled. “Nice to meet you, Marinette. Hopefully, we’ll work together well.” 

Marinette was hoping for the same thing.

Chapter Text

It had been almost two weeks since Ladybug’s disappearance. Since the disappearance of those thirty-seven people. Since Hawkmoth had apparently redoubled his efforts to destroy Chat Noir, even though it meant the destruction of Paris right alongside him. Even if it meant the villain wouldn’t get the Miraculous he was looking for.

Two weeks, and Adrien had lost the support of the citizens of Paris faster than one could say Akuma - and trust him, people said Akuma pretty fast these days.

Especially since Akuma now really meant go and hide because a hit from one of them could mean anything from permanent injury to death. Disappearance. Destruction.

Hating the heroes was easy. After all, what kind of heroes would allow their city to be consistently devoured by an egomaniac supervillain without having the slightest bit of success in catching him? In figuring out who he was so they could stop him forever?

Adrien had never noticed it before – not when everyone had (in relative comparison) treated the entire thing as a daily annoyance more than an actual villain because after every fight, Ladybug fixed everything up anyway, and everything else was just fun experiences during the event, right? But it wasn’t. Not anymore. Now it was life and death and a bloody damned horror fest, and the world hated him for it. 

He broke inside every time he saw the latest news report claiming Chat Noir wasn’t a hero, or that he was nothing without Ladybug, or- or-

He was nothing without Ladybug. And from the way he’d made a section of the city into what was practically ruins the last time he’d been forced to use Cataclysm - despite Plagg’s warnings, Luka and Alya had needed his help. Luka was out of second chances, and Alya had been knocked unconscious by an Akuma far more vicious than Hawkmoth had ever sent out against the tag team that was Ladybug and him – he was on the way to becoming that not-a-hero they were claiming he already was.

But what else could he do? He wasn’t about to leave the city in the hands of a villain bent only on his own desires with no care for what happened to the world around him. And he couldn’t very well hand out the Miraculous willy-nilly either. Not only were they not his to give out - for all that he’d felt sidelined when Ladybug had been busy with Guardian business, he was actually glad it had been her because he was already hyperventilating and it had barely been half a month - but giving out too many of them might as well lead to yet another Hawkmoth if they fell into the wrong hands. Plus, with almost everyone around him speaking those exact words, Chat Noir isn’t a hero, how was he even supposed to trust anyone?

The only ones who stuck by Chat were Nino and Alya and Luka and, silently, Kagami, and that was only because he’d talked to all of them about the Miraculous. Alya and Luka were helping him out with every Akuma attack, and so were Nino and Kagami in every way they could. He’d already told Kagami exactly why he couldn’t activate her for now, which she’d said was perfectly understandable right before she’d proceeded to slash the Akuma’s weapon in half, showing exactly why she didn’t need a Miraculous to be useful , and Nino he was already thinking of activating because his was all about protection, right? It could work?

… He was exhausted, and it didn’t help that Plagg was growing more and more depressed by the day. Not to mention his powers going out of wack. He’d almost destroyed Adrien’s rock wall the last time he’d zoomed into it on accident , and he hadn’t even been trying to be destructive! It was going bad really, really fast, and if Adrien wasn’t careful, his secret would come rushing out.

Especially now that his dad was in the public eye again, and this time specifically to disparage the heroes. He’d never kept his dislike for the superheroes a secret from Adrien, but now he wasn’t keeping it a secret from the press, either, and without the buffer that Ladybug’s fix-all provided…

Well, it was Gabriel Agreste’s fix all that was getting him the title of the ‘savior of Paris’, and Adrien was happy for his father, don’t get him wrong. But did he really need to blacken Chat Noir and Viperion and Rena Rouge as he rose to prominence? Did he need to be an ‘outright b**tard’ about it, as Alya had so quaintly put it? He was only able to get through school without dying because Alya and Nino, who were co-incidentally ground zero for stay the hell away because of their open support for Chat and his fellow supers, kept him surrounded.

Lila had tried to get him out of their ‘evil’ clutches, as she was terming it, and the rest of the class had agreed, even getting Gabriel to lay down the law about it to Adrien. But Adrien was way too tired to deal with that and way too exhausted to be able to pretend in any part of his life, and he’d decided not to. What was a little rebellion? Paris already hated him. Why not add his dad to the list?

Alya and Nino and Luka and Kagami were enough. They had to be.

Plus , Chloe , when no one else was there, had also come and slipped him a keycard to what was an empty room in her hotel, and Adrien had almost sagged in relief at the thought. He’d ended up telling Chloe he’d given it to Chat so he could have an excuse for collapsing their mid-patrol or coming with Rena and Viperion, and she’d only looked at him weirdly as if to say why else do you think I gave it to you? Which was honestly pretty strange but not something he had time to think about.

Not now when everything was a monster of a mess and nothing was going his way and–

He inhaled sharply, gulping in huge breaths in an effort to stay calm.

“Kid?” Plagg’s voice asked, and though it was small, it was also worried, and Adiren felt yet another rush of affection for the person who was his closest friend other than Ladybug. 

Adrien managed a smile as he settled down on the seat Marinette’s parents had set out on the roof for the vigilante when they’d realized he ended up there more often than not. 

They were apparently the fifth and sixth people in Paris who believed in his innocence.

And, honestly, the kindest ones. They always left out a platter of food for him, and it was starting to include all the favorite flavors of the Kwami ever since they’d realized he wasn’t alone and had asked what they needed. It made him so incredibly grateful, too, because though he had them come out every night so they could hold strategy meetings to figure out where the Marinette search was at, he hadn’t remembered he needed to feed them. Hell, with the way Plagg wasn’t eating, it was a wonder he even remembered to feed his own Kwami, either.

It didn’t stop him from feeling guilty, though, even if the tiny creatures had assured him it was perfectly fine and that he didn’t need to worry about them during this 'period of great stress’. Ha! More like the worst time of his life. And this was counting the time he’d been told his mom was missing. 

He swallowed again, his throat feeling raw. “Yeah, ” He managed to say, finally. “As well as can be, I guess.”

Plagg shot him a side-eye but couldn’t say anything without being a hypocrite (it wouldn’t have stopped him before Tikki disappeared, Adrien mused sadly).

“What’s the update? ” Adrien asked instead, as he had done so for the past two weeks. 

Barkk’s ears were drooping. “I have not managed to narrow down the location of Marinette and Tikki, ” He said in a sad, low voice. “The distortions between dimensions are impossible to penetrate, and there are many that are vibrating at a similar frequency. It is impossible to focus on one long enough to find out if they are in that universe. ” He sniffed. “Something is messing with my powers.”

Powers of a dog-themed Kwami, Adrien finished in his mind, but though the answer was the same as it had been for the past week, he didn’t snap. Plagg had already done that yesterday, and they did not need a repeat performance of the food crumbling away into nothing because a tiny god of destruction decided to get irritated. 

Longg cleared her throat. “Marinette and Tikki are out of range, ” She said slowly. “But… we managed to discover where Wulfe might be hiding.”

Adrien stilled, but it was not because he had any idea about this person whom they seemed to be looking for. It sounded like a Kwami, but what did he know? No, the reason he’d stopped was because the temperature around them seemed to spark and dive, and Plagg was zooming over to loom in Longg’s face, and there was life in his Kwami after so damn long-

And Adrien knew something had finally, finally gone right.

This Wulfe held the answer to their problems, he was guessing, and that meant he could help them bring Ladybug home. And when he did, everything would be okay again, and maybe, just maybe, Adrien wouldn’t have to be so alone anymore. He had Luka and Alya and Nino and Kagami, sure, but Marinette was his Lady, and she would be the first one he told about his identity. Because he knew hers, and she deserved to know his, and he, well, he just didn’t want to be alone anymore.

“What do you know?! ” Plagg demanded, cutting off his thoughts. “Where is he?”

Longg looked down, and her visage was practically melting in worry and concern.

“Longg! ” Plagg snapped.

Barkk whizzed closer in worry. “I found him, ” He admitted. “But Fluff was the one who confirmed he was there. He’s… well, he’s- ” He swallowed and turned to look at Fluff, who shrugged.

Wayzz sighed. “He is currently in the home of the Guardians, hidden under the sigils of protection, and he has been there since before the order’s destruction.”

Plagg practically snarled. “I’ll kill him! ” He shouted, and Adrien was shaken at how desperate he sounded. What in Kwami’s name had this ‘Wulfe ’ even done? But before he could ask, Plagg continued ranting, and part of Adrien’s question was answered for him. “He was there and he didn’t even bother to tell Fu? He didn’t give a damn when Duusu and Nooroo were taken? When we all almost died because all the Kwamis weren’t there? That fucking bastard!”

Adrien had never heard Plagg swear.

Then again, these two weeks had been weeks of absolute discovery for Adrien. 

Mullo squeaked. “Plagg-”

“ No! ” He shouted. “You don’t get to excuse him like you always do! He doesn’t get excused. ”

Adrien blinked. “But… ” He whispered, and Plagg snapped his head to look at him, apparently just now remembering he was there. “If he can help us find Marinette and Tikki, won’t it be worth it?”

And Plagg opened his mouth, but nothing came out, and from his shining eyes, Adrien could see he knew it. He knew he could say nothing, do nothing. And though Adrien didn’t know even a little bit what was wrong with this Wulfe, he didn’t think for a second Plagg wouldn’t banish it to the other end of the multiverse if it meant getting Tikki back.

“He betrayed us! ” Plagg protested. 

“You wanted us to find him, ” Longg pointed out.

“That was before I knew that bastard stood and watched as we almost died! ” Plagg hissed.

None of the Kwamis replied though Adrien could see quite a few of them were in support of Plagg’s sentiment.

Then Mullo sighed and hugged herself. “I’m not excusing him, ” She said softly. “But there’s more to this story. ” Plagg glared, but the mouse Kwami didn’t back down. “We betrayed him first. ”

“ We did not! ” Xuppu yelped. “The Guardians did! ”

“W e didn’t protest, ” Mullo pointed out.

There was stilted silence, and Adrien couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Who’s Wulfe? ” He asked, and the Kwamis exchanged heavy glances.

“... An old friend, ” Wayzz said finally as if Adrien hadn’t just heard the entire damned conversation about the damn Kwami. “He used to be one of us. ”

“ And now he’s not, ” Plagg said through gritted teeth.

“But he might help us out! ” Fluff added in, much to Mullo’s warm approval.

Plagg snorted.

Adrien blinked. “But… how would he help us out? ”

“ Oh, ” Kaalki murmured, speaking for the first time during the conversation, though she had long looked invested. “I’d forgotten you don’t know. ” She stepped a little back, closer to the miracle box. “Wulfe’s the Kwami of dimensions.”

Oh. Adrien felt blood rush to his brain. “That’s why you’ve been looking for him, ” He breathed. “He’s who you’ve been trying to find since the beginning!”

Longg nodded. “His power is limited, but we have a much higher chance of finding Tikki and Marinette if we have his aid, for he understands the multiverse much better than any of us could fathom, except perhaps Barkk.”

Barkk shook her head. “I can only smell Tikki all the way there. I don’t know how to understand or explain it. ”

“ And as you can see, ” Mullo said for all of them. “We have a… complicated history.”

Adrien took a moment to think, but, in the end, there was absolutely nothing that mattered - not in the way Marinette and Tikki did. “So what? ” He said, and all the Kwami flinched. Adrien would probably feel bad about it later, but right now, he was hyped up on hope that he’d thought had drowned under a vat of despair and hatred. “He might as well be the only choice we have. So let’s go. I don’t care if you hate him… if he can help us save Mari and Tikki, then– then he’s who we’re going to find.”

Plagg scowled but nodded once. “I’ll punch him once everything is over with, ” He growled under his breath. 

Adrien, frankly, didn’t care. “Where’s that secret order’s base you were talking about, then? We should get this over with as quickly as possible.”

Wayzz smiled and hovered closer to Adrien. “Very well, ” He said calmly, on behalf of all the Kwamis. “The secret order had its headquarters in Tibet. Shall we?”

The funniest part was, Adrien didn’t even care about the place. “Let’s go.”