Chat Noir ran blindly through the stinging rain. His vision began to blur, not only from the storm, but from the tears that had begun to well up in his eyes. How did he not know? How could he have not seen the evil lurking under his own roof? He had thought his father many things, uncaring, unloving, unemotional, but evil? He skidded on the slippery surface of the roof below his feet and stopped. Chat scanned the roof tops and could see Marinette's balcony ahead of him, but he couldn't make his feet move. What was she going to think? He was her partner, the one who was supposed to protect her, the one she had trusted and now he is about to tell her that his own father was their worst enemy. Will she hate him? Would she break off their engagement and leave? He wouldn't blame her if she did. Maybe he should just run, hide, disappear from the face of the earth. She would be better off without him anyway.

He shook his head, droplets of water flying off from his head. No, no he couldn't do that. He couldn't leave her unprotected when his father was threatening her life. He swore he would always be there to protect her, and he stood by that promise. Besides, his own future self said they were together. Whatever happened, she stood by him. He clung onto that hope. He had to get to her, he had to get to Ladybug, he had to believe there was a way.

"Oh my God girl, I can't believe it! I mean I know you've been in love with Adrien since like forever, but I never thought sunshine would want to jump in to marriage after only a few months."

Marientte had to laugh at her best friend's reaction. It was Alya after all who had spent years trying unsuccessfully to set her friends up. Even though she had hoped her and Adrien could have told them together, when Alya decided to make a video chat with Nino, there was no way of hiding the ring that was now on her finger, and Marientte wasn't about to take it off or hide it from them. 

"Breathe Alya. We're not getting married tomorrow. Besides, Adrien and I have been friends a long time, it's not like we just met."

"And my dude had been crushing on you for like ages. He denied it forever, but we all knew." Marinette had to laugh to herself. Nino was more right than he knew.

"Well why don't you and Adrien come over tonight and check out Nino's new pad? We're getting movies and pizza." Alya waved a few DVD's up at the camera.

"I'm sure we'd love to. I just have to wait and see how things have gone with Adrien's dad. I have a feeling he's not too happy about this." Marinette rubbed her arms. She really should have heard from Adrien by this.

"So what's old man Agreste gonna do." Alya retorted. "Adrien is an adult now, he can get married if he wants and there's nothing he can do about it. Heck, even Chloé is being supportive according to you so don't worry about it. You know we always have your back girl." Alya pointed a finger down the camera with a cheeky wink while Nino nodded along. Marinette really had the best friends.

"Thanks guys, I'll let you know how things go. Talk soon."

Marinette hung up her phone, looking at the time before turning back to her sewing machine.
She had tried to distract herself by starting work on a new jacket for Adrien for his 19th birthday. Tikki sat on the table, munching some fresh cookies that Marinette had made that morning.

"Careful with the crumbs Tikki, we wouldn't want mice finding this before I get to give it to Adrien."

"Sorry." Tikki managed through her chews, wiping the crumbs away from her face. Marinette picked up the sleeve on the jacket, looking at it absentmindedly. She'd been trying to keep her mind occupied, but the silence was becoming deafening.

"I'm worried, Tikki. It's been hours since that last message from Adrien. We should have heard from him by now and I can't help the feeling that something terrible has happened." At that moment she heard the clacking of her skylight open, and a soggy black mass tumble in.

"Adrien?" She exclaimed as she got up from her seat. She'd been expecting him, but through the front door. Chat scrambled down the ladder, collapsing into her arms, the two of them sinking to the floor. "Kitty, what's wrong? What happened?" She could feel his whole body trembling.

"Father...he...he...he's Hawkmoth." For a moment Marinette felt like she had stopped breathing. Chat pulled back to look at her face. He could see she was in shock, his words trying to process in her mind. Marinette looked down into his eyes, broken heartache staring back at her.

"Oh my God." She whispered, pulling him back into her embrace. "My Kitty, my poor Kitty." She whispered, rocking back and forth as she ran her fingers through his sodden hair.

"Marinette, are you alright, what was that...Chat Noir?" Sabine stood motionless at the trap door entry gawking at the Paris hero wrapped around her engaged daughter. Chat looked up at Marinette, his face softening into resignation.

"I don't think this is a time for trying to keep secrets m'lady." He said. Sabine watched on curiously as her daughter nodded with a sad smile. "Plagg, claws in." In a flash of green light Sabine saw Chat Noir transform back into her future son-in-law.

"Oh." She breathed out. "Well that explains a lot." Adrien went to stand but stumbled forward, the pain returning to the back of his head. Marinette could see the drying blood where he had been hit.

"Adrien what happened to you? Did he...did your father do this to you?" Adrien nodded his head slowly. Marinette stood up, fire in her eyes. "I'm going to kill him." She breathed through gritted teeth. Adrien grabbed her hand and she helped him to stand.

"It's not that simple m'lady. He's Hawkmoth too, it's going to take more than just the two of us to take him down. Plus there's more." Adrien held his head again, the throbbing pain increasing now that his transformation had dropped. Marinette could see her mother piecing everything together. Marinette was Ladybug, Adrien was Chat Noir and his father was Hawkmoth. It looked like Sabine's was about to say something when Adrien swayed slightly and Sabine rushed in to grab his other arm.

"Take it easy my dear. Let's get you down stairs and look at that bump." Sabine's voice was calm and soothing as she wiped his bangs from his eyes.

"What about Papa?" Marinette asked worriedly.

"It's best we don't leave him in the dark. He'll understand. We were just tidying up and closing the shop when we heard a crash up here." They maneuvered down the stairs and into the kitchen where Sabine sat Adrien down, grabbing an ice pack and placing it on his head. "Now you hold that there and I'll make you some hot tea." Tom rushed over full of concern and confusion. Sabine gave him a very brief explanation of what had happened. Marinette had grabbed a blanket and wrapped it over Adrien's shoulders. He was still shaking, but it wasn't really from being cold, more from the shock finally sinking in. Tom listened to what his wife told him nodding in understanding before coming over and placing a supportive hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"Don't you worry son, you're safe here with us." He said. Adrien looked up at Marinette's parents with a look of awe. Although he knew their minds must have been racing with all this new information, they were more concerned about him being alright and safe. Adrien closed his eyes and breathed out heavily, Marinette holding onto his arm.

"I'm so sorry m'lady. I...I didn't know...I didn't know..." His voice trailed off as he shook his head. Marinette reached out her hand to his face, turning his eyes towards hers.

"Look at me Adrien. I know you didn't know, but it's going to be alright. We'll figure this out I promise. Now tell me everything that happened." Tom and Sabine sat down at the table with the tray of tea and listened as Adrien recounted the events that had taken place that day. The hardest part was when he told them about his mother and what his father had planned for Marinette in order to get his wife back. Tom and Sabine held each other's hands as he talked.

"I'm scared for Nathalie. If he figures out that she helped me escape, I don't know what he might do." He dropped his head on the table, Marinette ran her hand soothingly up and down his back.

"Nathalie is a smart woman Adrien, and she knows your father well enough to know how to handle him. We need to trust her."

"Even after her having been Mayura?" Her mother asked. Marinette nodded.

"I know she cares for Adrien and I believe she never would have gotten this deep in if she had known what would happen. If we are going to take Hawkmoth down then we are going to need her help." Adrien looked up and felt a sense of pride wash over him as he watched the wheels turning in his Lady's head. He could see a plan starting to formulate in her mind.

"But sweetie this is dangerous, maybe we should call the police or something?" Tom suggested, but Marinette shook her head and Adrien could see she was in Ladybug mode.

"We need to get the miraculous back first. The police are no match for magical powers." Marinette said rubbing her chin in thought before she realised the scared look on her father's face. She reached across the table and placed her hand on his. "Papa, I need you to trust me. I know what I'm doing. Adrien and I, we're a team and we were even before we knew who was truly under the mask. We have trusted each other with our lives more times than we could count. The first thing we need to do is form an action plan, and bring some more help from our allies. Besides, I'll always be safe while my Chat Noir is beside me." She smiled at her fiancé and he looked back at her with adoring eyes.

"I don't deserve you m'lady." He said quietly, lifting her hand and softly kissing the back of it, his thumb running over the diamond ring on her finger.

"I'll always be here beside you Kitty, you and me against the world." She touched his face gently. Tom and Sabine quietly watched the tender display before them.

"Adrien." Tom spoke, the young couple turning their heads towards him. "Remember you're part of this family now. When this is all over, you'll always have a home here with us." Adrien looked between Tom and Sabine, who was nodding in agreement. Tears formed in the blonde's eyes again, but this time it was because he was so overwhelmed by the love he was receiving from Marinette's parents. He thought they might hate him for who his father was, or angry at the enormous secret they had kept from them all these years. Instead they understood and accepted and he didn't know how he would ever repay them for that.

They were interrupted by an abrupt banging on the bakery door. All four looked at each other before they heard a cold voice call out. "Adrien, are you in there?" It was Gabriel's voice.

"Quickly Tom, I'll get them out through the skylight, you hold him up." Sabine said in a hurried whisper. Adrien grabbed Marinette's hand and raced towards her room, Sabine following behind.

Once upstairs, Marinette ran into her wardrobe, grabbing out the Miracle box. She knew there would be no way to hide Hawkmoth's identity when the time came, and she needed people they could absolutely trust with the truth. She grabbed the Fox, Turtle and Bee Miraculous, poking them into her bag. Tikki and Plagg floated around them with a look of urgency as Tom's raised voice could be heard down below. "If you don't leave my bakery right now, I will ring the police."

"I'm so sorry. I've put you all in danger." Adrien said, Sabine grabbed his hands in her's.

"Don't worry about us, you just take care of my baby girl." She said, taking his face in both her hands. "I know what she means to you, and I trust you to protect her, like you always have...Chat Noir." She said softly before Adrien wrapped her up in a hug. "Now go, quickly."

Sabine watched the two call on their transformations. She had to hold back a tear of pride at the sight of her sweet Marinette transforming into their hero Ladybug. She hugged her daughter tightly before following the hero's up onto the balcony. The rain had tapered off, and the hero's had the cover of darkness on their side.

"Keep her safe." Sabine said to herself as she watched Chat take Ladybug's hand in his and disappear over the horizon.

It didn't take long for Adrien to find the apartment Nathalie had directed him to. Dropping into a nearby alley, they de-transformed before entering the building and going up to the 3rd floor. Adrien realized that he didn't have a key, but Tikki made short work of the lock, letting them in.

It was a fairly small, modest apartment with a kitchenette, sitting area and a bedroom with an en-suite, but it was clean and tidy. The Kwamis darted out ahead of them to inspect the room. Marinette looked in the fridge and saw Nathalie had stocked it with food. "I can make us some dinner." Marinette said cheerfully, but when she turned back she saw Adrien sitting on the couch hunched over his knees. She sat beside him, quietly taking his hand and lacing their fingers together. He lifted their joint hands, kissing the back of hers.

"I know what you're thinking Kitty, and this is not your fault." He scoffed slightly, shaking his head.

"I should have known Bug. You even suspected him once and I just wouldn't believe it. I convinced myself that under that hard exterior there was someone who still cared, but I should have known better." Marinette wished she had some amazing words of wisdom to give him, but she didn't. So she wrapped her arm around his back and snuggled into his chest. He held her close to him, breathing in her vanilla and cinnamon sent. "Maybe I was just being selfish."

"What do you mean?" He rubbed her back, resting his cheek on top of her head.

"Luka loved you, and I stole you away from him. You wouldn't have been caught up in this mess if I hadn't been selfish." Marinette sat up, cupping his face with her hand.

"You never stole me from anyone." She said firmly, but gently, Adrien turned his eyes away. "Look at me Adrien, I never loved Luka. When I thought you were with Kagami, I tried to let you go and give Luka a chance, but it never felt right. No matter what my head tried to tell me, my heart always came back to you. Then there was Chat slowly but surely creeping into my heart too. Luka never really stood a chance between the two sides of you." She smiled at him and he chuckled a little. "You're my other half Adrien, my Chat Noir, the person I'm going to marry and I never want to be with anyone else." Adrien ran his fingers across her forehead and down the side of her face.

"My last name is going to be mud by the time we are through with this you know." He said. "The tabloids are going to tear shred when they find out. I doubt anyone is going to believe I wasn't involved." Marinette just smiled at him.

"You have Ladybug to defend you, remember. I'll be proud to have your name Adrien, proud that our children will be Agreste's. We will start a new legacy that's yours and mine." He ran his thumb across her cheek.

"I had a visitor last night you know." He said. She looked at him questioningly. "Bunnyx came and brought me, well future me as Chat, to bring me a message from you." Marientte was surprised.

"A message from me? What was it?"

"It was to warn me about the meeting with my father. That I needed to trust Nathalie, I had to not react to what was going to happen, and that I needed to get to you." Marinette nodded as she listened but then Adrien dropped his head. "I...I wanted to use my cataclysm on him." He closed his eyes tight. Marinette didn't say anything, but rested one hand on his chest, while holding his hand with the other. "I'd never wanted to use it against a person before, but I was so angry and hurt. He'd terrorised our city, he's lied to me, he let me think my mother had left us and was threatening to take you from me. Does that make me a bad person?" He looked at her pleadingly. Marientte shook her head.

"You're not your father Adrien. Being upset and angry is natural but you didn't act upon that anger. I'm sure that's why Master Fu chose you. You're the holder of a great power but he could see the good person that is inside you." Adrien sighed, he was still unsure, but hearing her say it was making him feel a little better.

"I could almost feel it coursing through my hand you know, even without being transformed, but it was the only thing that stopped me going through with it." Marinette touched his face again gently.

"What stopped you Kitty?" Adrien looked into her bluebell eyes, he could already see that future he'd heard about shining in her eyes.

"I asked future Chat why you hadn't come to deliver the message yourself and the reason the future me had come to see me and not you was because you were, ah...well." He smiled to himself before looking up at her through his bangs. He was pretty sure Marinette had already figured it out judging by the adorable blush blooming across her face.

"Oh." She said, resting her head back against his chest. "And, um, how long until that happens?" She felt him shrug.

"Not too long I don't think, I didn't really look that much older than I am now, but my hair was longer, enough to tie it back at least." He grinned, knowing how much his father would hate that. Marinette looked up and reached to the ends of his hair. It was just past his collar now. Adrien lent down and kissed her softly. "It kept me grounded though, thinking about you and our future baby. I think Hawkmoth was intending to try and make me an akuma out of me at that moment, but I wasn't going to let that happen. I want that future with you Marientte, I wasn't going to jeopardise that."

"I want that too, Chaton." She whispered. He kissed the top of her hair and laid his cheek on top.

"Why don't you go and freshen up. I'll have to borrow your phone to message Nathalie, my father confiscated mine." She kissed him again before getting up and grabbing her phone for him. There were several missed calls and messages from Alya and Nino. They would just have to wait for now.

Looking in the kitchen she found a packet of cookies and some Brie cheese in the fridge. Putting some on a plate, she called the kwamis and sat them up on some pillows next to Adrien on the couch. "I'm sorry it's not your usual, we'll get you some better foods tomorrow."

"It's alright Marinette." Tikki said, passing the cheese to Plagg.

"At least it's not that plastic processed stuff." Plagg said between munches.

"You'll be fine while I shower?" She asked Adrien. He nodded as he read Nathalie's text.

"We'll keep an eye on him for you pigtails." Plagg grinned.

"Yeah, I'm good. Nathalie will come later. She said she'll grab some clothes for you on her way. Apparently she got some of my stuff over here earlier and put it in the bedroom." Marinette smirked.

"Well then I guess I'm borrowing one of your shirts again." She winked as she left. Adrien sat back into the couch and sighed as she walked to the bedroom. He was sure that girl was going to be the death of him, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

Once Adrien had gotten out of the shower himself, he wandered into the kitchen where Marinette was making them some dinner. She was wearing one of his white button up shirts. She had rolled the sleeves up, and had the first few buttons undone, the left side hanging just off her shoulder. He walked up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and dropping a kiss onto her exposed shoulder. "That smells amazing m'lady." He spoke into her shoulder. "Have I ever told you that you look better in my shirts than I do." Marientte giggled.

"I like your shirts, they're comfy. I'm afraid the meal is kind of basic, but it should be alright." She said, leaning her head back into his.

"I think anything you make would be amazing." He said kissing her cheek as a key opened up the front door.

"Nathalie, you made it." Adrien exclaimed, stepping over to give her a hug.

"Your bodyguard kept your father busy on a wild goose chase to all your friends' houses. I took advantage to see Marientte's parents and gather a few things for her." She held up a small overnight bag that Marientte took gratefully.

"I've made dinner, there's plenty of you'd like some. If Duusu would like to join us too..." she pointed over to where Tikki and Plagg were. Duusu poked her head out of Nathalie's jacket before dashing over to her Kwami companions.

"Thank you Marientte, I'd love dinner."

The three sat down at the kitchen table. Nathalie explained over the meal that she had made it look as though Adrien had snuck out his window using a knotted bedsheet while she was in the bathroom. Nathalie laughed at how ridiculous it seemed, but was certain Gabriel bought it. That was when he then went on the hunt for where Adrien had gone. She said that after Marientte's father refused to let him in, Gabriel was convinced they had run off together, so he started interrogating their friends. Satisfied no one knew where Adrien and Marinette were, he downed several glasses of cognac and promptly fell asleep. Adrien looked at her stunned.

"Since when did he start drinking like that? I've never seen him downing glasses of alcohol before?" Nathalie shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"It started not long after your mother fell into that coma. He had kept it well hidden from you, but it has slowly got worse over the last 12 months or so and I often had to get your bodyguard to help me move him back to his bed at night. I think that may have been one of the reasons he had me move into the mansion."

"Won't he wonder where you are if he wakes up?" Marinette asked. Nathalie shook her head.

"I told him I would keep searching for you, as Mayura, and would report back to him in the morning. So we have between now and then to formulate a plan." Marientte stood up and picked up her bag, taking out the three Miraculous boxes.

"I grabbed these before I left. We are going to need help, and it has to be people we can trust. Luka and Kagami aren't here, and I'm not sure I want Kim or Max knowing about your connection to Hawkmoth." Adrien watched as she sat the three boxes on the table.

"I could have merged the snake with Plagg, I've done it before." Marinette nodded.

"I know Kitty, and you were my hero that day too, but I need you focused on being just Chat in this battle, not on using second chance. I also didn't want Alix involved because it might become complicated with time travel being involved." Adrien looked at the Miraculous on the table. Alya, Nino and Chloé.

"You're going to trust Chloé with Pollen again?" He asked. Marientte placed her hand on top of his on the table.

"These are not only our oldest team members, but they are our closest friends. Chloé and I might have our differences, but I know she can be trusted with this. There is no way we are going to be able to hide the fact your father is Hawkmoth so we need to be upfront right from the start. I need a team who will be willing to not just defeat Hawkmoth, but will fight for you too." Marinette thought she could see a tear form in his eye. She squeezed his hand. "They are your family too Adrien. Like I am and Nathalie and my parents. You are not alone in this."

"Don't forget us too kid." Plagg chipped in, Tikki and Duusu joining him. Adrien held out his hand and hugged his Kwami to his cheek who began to purr. "You're still by best Kitten ."

"Thank you Plagg." Adrien smiled at his Kwami who gave him a nod before turning to Marinette.

"Okay pigtails, so what's the Ladybug plan?"