A Miraculous Reveal - Rings True

Post Season Five - Angst w/ a very happy ending

Summary: Ladybug hits send on her text to Chat Noir, telling him who Monarch is. She tells Adrien a very different story. Adrien doesn't know what to make of it, but he thinks he deserves the truth. Thanks to @coffeebanana, @wackus-bonkus-maximus, and @nemaliwrites for the beta read. This hits just a bit harder because of your input.

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A Miraculous Reveal - Rings True

I figured out who Monarch is. He’s Gabriel Agreste. Meet me at the Agreste Mansion . 

Chat Noir stares at the text and then glances up once again at the imposing statue erected in his father’s honor. Because his father apparently sacrificed himself to help Ladybug defeat Monarch. 

He shivers in the winter morning air. 

Both of those realities can’t be true. 

A Miraculous Reveal - Representation

Spoilers for Representation (5x24) Link to Ao3

...

Chat Noir swings wildly at the akuma who is his father. Adrien is almost glad Ladybug has yet to show up. He doesn’t have a plan, he almost doesn’t want to fix this one. It just feels good to lash out, to hurt this man and send him crashing to the ground, for every blow to make solid contact against the man who seems bent on stealing every good thing in his life. 

As Chat Noir, he doesn’t have to listen to his father. He can resist, he can fight. He can cataclysm anything that stands in his way as many times as he needs to! 

He can do all the things he can’t do as Adrien. 

Why can’t he fight as Adrien?!

A Miraculous Reveal: Meddlesome Friends

Summary: Now, that Nino knows Adrien and Chat Noir are one and the same, he's determined to help his best bro heal things with his superhero partner. (Ladynoir)

Continuation of Rocketear

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...

The akuma had been straightforward for once. Except that Ladybug hadn’t been able to keep her head in the game. She was so tired.

Tired of akumas.

Tired of juggling dual personas, lies, and secrets.

But luckily for her, Chat, Carapace, and Purple Tigress had pulled off her plan seamlessly. So seamlessly it felt like they were on the same wavelength. Ladybug felt like a stumbling toddler in comparison. But both Chat and Carapace had covered for her, and purple Tigress had gone in for the strike, and it all ended well, she supposed.

After the battle, Chat Noir’s familiar laugh rang through the air. And she found herself turning towards the sound, realizing she couldn’t remember the last time she heard it. He was cackling at something Carapace had just said, who was smirking, obviously pleased with himself. Purple Tigress was staring at the two, shaking her head in clear fond exasperation.

Their bantering didn’t stop there. Chat’s eyes were bright, open, and carefree. The expression on his face had once been familiar to her, but she couldn’t remember the last time he had looked at  her like that.

Her heart twisted in her chest.

Chat Noir was her partner.

When You Love Someone (Let them Go)

A Miraculous Reveal

Note: This is the one shot Love Square version of chapter 9 of Right Behind You that was edited to stand alone. Break Up Fic. Lots of Love here, but not a happy ending.

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When You Love Someone (Let Them Go)

Adrien exalted in the feeling of vaulting from building to building as Chat Noir. He focused solely on the placement of his baton to guide his movement across Paris’s skyline, and the sensation of the air sliding through his unstyled hair.

It was freeing.

It reminded him that he was alive.

He landed in a crouch at his and Ladybug’s usual rendezvous point half an hour early with only a small amount of trepidation. After working with her for nine years, he knew she wasn’t going to be pleased with him. She never was after he had sacrificed himself in the middle of an akuma battle. It never mattered that it was often the only way to keep her in the fight.

And according to Plagg, this sacrifice had been more terrible than normal. He hadn’t been zapped out of existence or turned into an inanimate object. He had apparently actually died, saved only by Carapace’s endurance and Ladybug’s miraculous cure.

So he settled on the edge of the building half an hour early, prepping himself to reassure that he was totally and completely fine. That he wasn’t affected by this mere setback, that he would always be there at her side. She needed that confidence, even if it was a lie because he knew that she was struggling.

With what, he didn’t exactly know, but she needed something more than she was currently getting, and he promised himself that he would do everything he could to support her.

A Miraculous Reveal - Rocketear

Nino pressed the play button for what had to be the twelfth time just in the past hour. His stomach had long ago turned to lead, so he felt almost nothing when the short clip began again.

Chat Noir dropped to the ground, and then twisted impossibly to the right in an acrobatic move that would have been impossible without a miraculous. Every time, Chat Noir managed to stay just out the past of each explosive blue tear that shot past.

Chat Noir was shouting something at the akuma, and Nino wished for the hundredth time that the security footage had audio. But whatever Chat Noir said had pissed the akuma off.

Which was just par for the course with Chat Noir. Get the akuma blinded with rage and it was just that much easier to goad them into a mistake.

But the next frame was not in the regular Chat Noir playbook. No, in his next move Chat Noir collapsed his baton, held it in front of himself in surrender, dropped it to the ground, and then just stood there!

Nino didn’t let himself look away as the next two tears struck Chat Noir in the chest, sending the hero flying into a parked van. The force of impact was so great, the van was caved inward and almost tipped over. Chat Noir fell face first to the ground, and then didn’t move.

Tears fell from Nino’s eyes.

He didn’t understand. Why hadn’t Chat Noir fought him? Why had he dropped his weapon and just surrendered like that?!

Nino had witnessed Chat Noir take dozens and dozens of hits in footage Alya had collected over the years. And Carapace had seen Chat Noir take hits first hand before. But in all of that, Nino had never seen anything like this.

Because Chat Noir’s sacrifices always served some purpose! He was protecting the team, or Ladybug! Or at very least, providing a distraction or stalling for time.

But here, he had just taken the beating.

Nino’s fist slammed into his desk.

It didn’t make any sense!

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A Miraculous Reveal: An Unintended Confession

When Marinette left her house this morning, she had no intention of confessing her love to Adrien. None at all. She had given that up months ago. 

Not her feelings! Never those! Adrien’s mere presence could still twist her into a blushing bag of mixed up words when he caught her off guard. 

But she had given up on the idea of confessing because she couldn’t act on any feelings she had. Her whole fiasco with Luka had more than proved she couldn’t actually date anyone - at least, not while she had to keep half her life a secret.

But Adrien had looked so sad, and completely dejected when she found him. His words alone would have broken her heart. She had to do something.

And confessing definitely had not been her first idea, but like, her brain and her mouth weren’t connected. Not when within a two meter radius of Adrien Agreste. 

She had found him slumped on a park bench next to what had obviously been a photo shoot that was in the process of being torn down.

“Adrien, are you okay?” she asked, taking a seat beside him. 

He started, jumped a good ten centimeters off the bench before his wide green eyes landed on her. His whole form relaxed when he recognized her. 

“Hi Marinette,” he said, flashing her a smile as bright as the sun. 

And she realized in that moment that he was really good at faking smiles. Which made sense with him being a model and all. She just hadn’t ever thought about it in those terms before. 

How many bad days had she missed? 

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A Miraculous Reveal: A Gift of Responsibility

It had seemed like an ordinary day. Except that Marinette had been on time for school. That, like, almost never happened. But here she was in her seat ten minutes before class was to begin, snacking on a croissant her father had handed her on the way out the door and chatting idly with Alya about nothing remotely important. 

Her classmates filed in slowly in clumps until finally everyone except Adrien was in their seats. She watched his empty seat with a hint of worry. She always hated when he wasn’t there - knowing he was either trapped in a photoshoot he cared nothing about, or was home in bed with illness. 

But before her anxiety could spiral too deep, he slipped casually through the doorway. But he paused, facing the whole class. He smiled softly as his gaze swept the room, but there was something sad and wistful about his expression. 

“Are you okay?” she asked him. 

His spring-green eyes whipped back to her, and his smile grew. “Yes, of course. I just… I have some changes coming up, and I just wanted to savor this normal morning.” 

“What changes?” Nino asked. 

“Oh… ummm…” Adrien’s hand flew to the back of his neck. “I’m going to go back to home schooling in a week.” 

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The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 6 - Miraculous Abuse

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chapter 4: A Thank You

Chapter 5: Unwanted Revelations

Chapter 6: Miraculous Abuse

If Adrien had avoided using the snake before, he now was operating on the other extreme. Ladybug had told him to abuse it, and he’s not sure she would have meant it quite so literally, but well… he and Nino had come up with a list. 

It had started with his homework. If he could finish his homework in far less time, he’d  have more time to visit Nino and Marinette. Not that it took a lot of time to visit Marinette as it was usually a loop, so even if he spent hours with her, it never took longer than ten minutes as far as the rest of the world was concerned. 

He unfortunately couldn’t do all of his homework in a time loop because that would leave whatever he had completed in the last five minutes erased. But he could do all the reading, researching, planning, and studying in a loop. Anything that didn’t require him to write anything down. 

Nathalie had only walked on him transformed once. 

“Yes, Nathalie?” he had asked, without looking up from his textbook. He hadn’t even thought about it. 

She stood stock still and was dead silent. He glanced towards her with a frown - her eyes were comically wide, but that was the only sign that she was shocked. He glanced down, and remembered he was transformed at Aspik. 

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The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 5 - Unwanted Revelations

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chapter 4: A Thank You

Chapter 5: Unwanted Revelations

“You okay, dude?” Nino asked. They were sitting on his bed, watching an anime, but Adrien had no idea what was happening in the current episode. 

Adrien’s head shot up from where his cheek had been pressed into his propped up knee.

“Yeah, of course,” Adrien said. “Why wouldn’t I be?” 

Nino frowned, and paused the show. “You’ve just been quiet tonight. 

“I’m just tired,” Adrien said, which was mostly true. “The photo shoot this morning went seven ways to hell after it was disrupted by that akuma.” 

“That akuma sucked!” Nino said.

Adrien nodded in agreement. It had taken Ladybug, Chat Noir, and five temp heroes (Carapace included) hours to deal with. “And once it was cleared up, father insisted the shoot continue even though we had already lost our lighting. Then afterwards he lectured me for an hour about not being professional enough because none of the shots came out to his satisfaction.”

Adrien trailed off, noticing that Nino had his lips pressed tightly closed. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Adrien said. 

Which had been the wrong thing to say. Adrien knew it as soon as the words left his mouth. 

“Not that big a deal?!” Nino repeated. “Dude, he runs you ragged, doesn’t let you have any fun, puts you in situations where it is literally impossible to succeed, and then he yells at you when you fail.”

“He doesn’t yell,” Adrien defended.

“I don’t know why you defend him!”

Adrien shrugged. “He’s my father.” 

“Is he? Seems more like he’s your boss.” 

Adrien sagged on the floor, and Nino wilted a second later. 

“I’m sorry, dude. I don’t mean to make you feel worse. He just… makes me so angry!”

Adrien smiled then. “It feels good to have you on my side.” 

“How would you feel about me borrowing the Snake?” Nino asked, casually. 

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The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 4 - A Thank You

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chapter 4: A Thank You

For the most part, Adrien stopped using the snake miraculous. Because now that Nino knew, Adrien wanted him to remember whenever Chat Noir came to visit.

They played video games, listened to music, ate junk food, and talked about their experiences as teenaged superheroes.

In short, everything was amazing. Ladybug had been right. He hadn’t realized how much just the secrecy had been weighing on him until there was a place where he didn’t have to have them.

But Adrien couldn’t help but wonder how things might be different now if he had gone to Marinette that night instead of Nino.

He didn’t regret going to Nino. Nino was his rock. And he didn’t even want to think about a world where Nino didn’t know now.

But Marinette, she had a way of just making people feel warm, and he wanted to know what her brand of comfort would’ve felt like. And she seemed to finally be relaxing around him, and he liked spending time with her.

But he had gone to Nino and now he would never know.

Except he was only too aware that he had access to a power that would let him see exactly how Marinette would react to just about anything he could tell her without any consequences.

But now that he was in a better mental place, he really didn’t want to abuse the privilege of the miraculous. He didn’t want to use it for selfish purposes just to satisfy his curiosity.

And yet, here he was sitting on her balcony transformed as Snake Noir hoping she was home so he could talk to her. And simultaneously praying she wasn’t so he couldn’t fall to the temptation of risking more secrets.

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The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Ch 3 - Best Laid Plans

Chapter 1: I Want It To Be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Chapter 3: Best Laid Plans

Chat Noir was wearing the snake miraculous this evening as he always did now, but he hadn’t activated it. Tonight, he needed Alya to remember he had been there. He landed on the balcony of Alya’s bedroom and peered into the room cautiously. He had never actually been here before, and wanted to confirm he was in the right place. 

Sure enough, Alya was sitting at a computer across the room. 

He tapped on the glass. She looked up, and her amber eyes widened when they landed on him. He waved. She got up immediately, and slipped through the sliding glass door. 

“Sorry to drop in on you like this,” Chat said.

She smiled warmly. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Chat Noir?”

He couldn’t help the hand that went to the back of his neck. “Well, this might seem like it’s out of nowhere, but I was… kinda worried about Nino?”

Her eyes popped out of her head. Whatever she had been expecting, that had not been it. “What? Why?”

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The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: Chapter 2 - Best Friends

Chapter 1: I Want it to be You

Chapter 2: Best Friends

Free running across rooftops as Snake Noir wasn’t as effective in easing the heaviness on his mind as he had hoped. And the more time that passed, the more Adrien realized that he was getting worse - not better. He came to a stop on a rooftop, and huddled against a chimney, clutching his head in both hands. His akumatized self had destroyed the world .

The whole world. He was capable of that.

He fought for air in shallow rapid breaths, but it didn’t work. The needed oxygen continued to elude him.

He needed help, and he needed it five minutes ago. He forced himself into a standing position, even as his limbs began shaking. He glanced around the skyline trying to triangulate his own position from landmarks. The mansion was too far away - he’d never make it in time. So it was either Nino or Marinette.

Nino was closer.

He called for his second chance right outside his best friend’s window without slowing down or coming to a stop. He jumped through the thankfully open window. Nino was sitting with his back to Adrien with his headphones snug over his ears clearly lost in a world of music. Adrien wasted no time in pouncing across the room and seizing Nino in a hug.

Adrien had never clung to anyone so hard. He was shaking like a leaf in an autumn storm, and salty tears came down over his mask in torrents.

Nino stiffened, turned around within Adrien’s embrace, and dropped the headphones around his neck. “C-c-chat Noir?”

“A-Adrien,” he choked out.

Nino’s arms immediately tightened around him. He asked no questions, he didn’t react at all except to hold him tighter as Adrien let out violent sobs. Nino just held him until the snake miraculous signaled Snake Noir was out of time.

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The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir: I Want It to be You

Summary: After Ladybug admits to Chat Noir that she told someone her identity, she insists that he do the same. He wants it to be her. She insists it has to be anyone else. He suggests they use the snake. She finds this to be a reasonable compromise. (Season 4 Spoilers)

Per the advice of this post, I only wrote the part that was fun to write. It’s a 90 minute speed-write. They’re on a roof somewhere. Please enjoy! 

...

“I understand needing to tell someone. I do!” Chat Noir insisted for the third time that night. “I just don’t understand why it can’t be you!”

Ladybug wouldn’t look at him.

“Do you not want to know?” he asked, his heart had fallen into his gut. 

She wilted. “I want to know more than anything.” 

“Then what’s stopping you?” 

“I can’t explain it,” she admitted. She looked at him with glassy eyes. “Can you trust me on this?” 

He met her gaze, but he didn’t have words. She was almost crying and he didn’t know if it was because of the thing she couldn’t share or if he had upset her with his pushing.

“I understand if you can’t. I understand if you’re mad.” 

He looked away. “I’m not mad,” he insisted. “I just don’t understand.”

They fell into an unhappy silence. 

“I can respect it, LB. You know that I can. I just don’t want to tell anyone else. I want you to be the first to know.” 

And then to his horror she started crying. 

“LB?” 

“I don’t deserve you,” she sobbed. 

“You deserve everything,” he countered. He held her then. And they didn’t say anything. Just sat together overlooking the city that they fought to protect. 

“What if we used the snake?” he interjected into the silence. 

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A Miraculous Reveal - New York

Ack! Apparently, I remembered to post this one to discord, but not to tumblr. I apologize to my tumblr followers if they only get stuff here. But here it is now! It’s a Ladynoir angst to happy ending reveal based on the New York Special. Please enjoy. 

___ 

Adrien slipped into the silver limo and the door thudded closed behind him with a finality that made Marinette flinch. A moment later, the car pulled out onto the road. Watching the vehicle fade away into the grey haze of drizzly rain, two things were suddenly very clear to her.

She didn’t want Adrien to go. He was precious to her in a way that she could not define. He possessed an unending patience, he had the sweetest and softest smiles for her even when she was babbling or stuttering incoherently, and he was kind. She just didn’t know a lot of boys who were just so genuinely compassionate. She clearly had never really gotten over her crush on him despite her best efforts.

But in that moment as the car turned around a corner and completely out of sight, it was surprisingly easy to imagine her life without him. If Adrien disappeared she would grieve, but she would heal, and she would be okay.

No, the gaping hole in her chest had an entirely different source.

It was Chat Noir that she did not know how to live without.

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