Adrien
He avoided the floor he knew Chloe lived on, and went straight to Grant's. He answered the door, holding a burger from some fast food place, his mouth full.
"Enjoying that burger?"
"You know it."
He stepped aside, and Chat grinned, mumbling.
"Sweet dreams are made of cheese."
Grant cringed, and Chat rolled his eyes. No one around here seemed to appreciate good humor.
"Hey kitty. Glad to see you could make it."
Ladybug commented, sitting on the couch cross-legged. He sat down next to her, and Grant sat across from them. They waited patiently for him to say something, but he just kept eating his burger. Ladybug cleared her throat, and he slowly looked up.
"Give me a minute, I'm starving."
She sighed and Chat turned to her, his heart pounding. He had been wanting to ask her about Chat Blanc, he just hadn't had a chance.
"Tell me about the time I was acumatized."
She flinched, looking upset.
"Why?"
"I feel like that's something I would need to know about."
Ladybug seemed to withdraw from him, and he frowned. Movement caught his eye, and he turned to look at Grant. He had leaned forward in his seat, slowly taking a bite of his burger.
"Uh, can I help you?"
"Oh no, don't mind me, continue."
He glared at him, shaking his head. This guy seriously couldn't read a room.
"Are all Americans this nosey?"
"Most of us, yeah."
Chat rolled his eyes, turning back to Ladybug.
"At least give me a summary of what happened."
She looked at him, and there was pain there. And...guilt? Why did she feel guilty? Was he acumatized because of something she had done?
"You found out who I was Chat. Hawkmoth found out who you were because of it, and you got acumatized."
Grant spit out his burger, and Chat flicked a piece of it off of his suit. How disgusting.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Well, it's what happened."
She said flatly, keeping her gaze away from him. She was hiding something, he could feel it. For someone who held one of the biggest secrets in Paris, she was practically an open book.
"What else?"
"There's nothing else. I went forward in time and destroyed the acuma. That's it."
Why did she have to destroy it? What about the Ladybug of that time? Unless...
"Bullshit. I never would have hurt you."
She closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the couch.
"Can we please drop it? It's technically in the past. Move on."
"Are you kidding me? No. I wouldn't have hurt you. It's as simple as that."
"You didn't do it on purpose."
She mumbled, and he sat back, staring at her. No wonder she was so scared of Chat Blanc. He killed her. He killed the one person in the world that he loved with all his heart. Well, that wouldn't happen. He already knew who she was, and Hawkmoth hadn't found out.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It wasn't your concern."
Grant made an 'ohhh' sound under his breath, and Chat glared at him.
"Could you go somewhere else please?"
"No this is my room."
Ladybug sat up, looking at Grant.
"You said someone was hacking into your computer. Why?"
He glanced between the two of them, before shrugging. Of course she would change the subject. Apparently Chat Blanc had been a complete nightmare.
"Hawkmoth must know I'm on to him. Though he doesn't have much to worry about. His online presence is awful. It's like the guy barely exists."
"Okay, did my suspect list help any?"
She asked, and Grant's gaze immediately darted to him. He slowly shook his head, and Grant turned back to Ladybug. They didn't have proof it was Gabriel. There was no sense in mentioning it to Marinette.
"So far no, but I'm still working on it."
"This is a waste of time. We're not getting anywhere."
She snapped, and Chat frowned. She had been in such a good mood earlier. It was probably from mentioning Chat Blanc.
"Relax doll. Hawkmoth is making mistakes as we speak. He's nervous. We're making him sweat just by digging in to his online profile. Him hiring someone else is a risky move. What I'm doing is working."
"Not fast enough."
She muttered, and Grant was instantly offended.
"Oh I'm sorry, refresh my memory. How long have you been trying to catch hawkmoth? Three, four years?"
Ladybug sunk down into the couch, crossing her arms. Chat reached over and patted her knee, trying to comfort her.
"Stick with the program and you'll see results."
Grant insisted, and she stood up.
"I gotta go, are we done here?"
Grant shrugged, and she gave Chat a small wave, walking out the door.
"I should probably go too."
"No, I'm not done with you. Your father is investigating my business."
Chat frowned, standing up. So? His father wanted to do business with him. How was that weird?
"So?"
"Not my normal business. He's investigating my side business."
"Ah, your hustle."
Grant made a face, standing up. He grabbed his laptop and opened it, turning the screen to Chat. There was a picture of Natalie, standing inside an abandoned warehouse.
"What the fuck?"
"In America I have an address that's listed to my business. It's not even online, they would have had to find it the old fashioned way. It looks lively on the outside, but it's a wasteland on the inside. The fact that she was there, proves that he knows who I am."
"It doesn't prove anything."
He snapped, closing the laptop lid. Grant looked annoyed, and he set the laptop back on the coffee table.
"I only use that branch, for the 'donations'. Only superheros have ever donated to that building. It's not just a coincidence anymore Adrien. This is serious. It has to be him."
"It's not!"
He refused to believe that crap. His father was always working, he didn't have time for Adrien, let alone time to acumatize half of Paris.
"You hired me for a reason. You and Ladybug suspected your father, for a reason. Your denial is hindering my job."
"I don't care. I told you. It's not him."
* * * * *
He sat down on the bench, waiting for Marinette. He needed to talk to her about last night, and not somewhere where someone, like her parents, could listen in. He could wait for them to catch hawkmoth. All he had wanted last night, was some semblance of hope for their relationship. And Marinette had unwittingly given it to him this morning. It was a chance, and he wasn't going to let it slip. She walked through the gates, and he stood, smiling at her. She paced over to him, her features hard.
"I'm sorry."
"For?"
Oh how nice, he was going to have to spell it out.
"For last night. I shouldn't have gotten drunk, or jealous. I shouldn't have said what I did, and I apologize for that. I just don't want to lose you."
Her features softened, and he reached out, taking her hand.
"I don't want to lose you either Chatton."
He pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. If finding hawkmoth was what it took to keep her, he would go through every single building and room in Paris. He would hunt down that maniac like a rabid dog if he had to. He would do anything for her.
"So what's the plan? You said we had to do something. What are we doing?"
"Tsk tsk tsk. First things first."
He grinned, unzipping his pocket and pulling out her scarf. She laughed, shaking her head.
"Seriously?"
"Oh I'm dead serious princess. I have a suprise for you."
She sighed, closing her eyes. He reached around her, tying it tight around her eyes.
"You're not taking me to some strip club, are you?"
He chuckled, kissing her forehead.
"Very funny. Hold on to me."
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Up we go."
He murmered, extending his baton. They flew through the air, and she held onto him tighter.
"Scared?"
She shook her head, grinning.
"I know you wouldn't drop me."
"Not on purpose anyway."
"What?"
He chose then to go into a free fall, and she clung to him as if her life depended on it. He was taking her to a specific rooftop, one he had spent an hour on getting it ready. He used the baton again, safely landing on the roof. It was golden with candle light, and he wondered if she would remember it.
"You can take the blindfold off Mari."
He released her, and she lifted it off of her eyes. He had set out a blanket, and a picnic basket, mostly stocked with goodies from the bakery.
"Chat... what is all this?"
"This my dear, is our very first date. A real one. I think it's finally time for one."
She laughed, looking around the rooftop.
"It's beautiful."
He smiled, sitting down on the blanket. She sat down next to him, leaning over and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"You're such a romantic."
He grinned, pulling her against him.
"Anything for you."
She lifted the lid of the basket, peeking inside.
"Macaroons?"
"You have no idea how sexy you are when you eat one."
She scoffed, before slowly turning to look at him. The confusion on her face made those warning bells ring again.
"When have I eaten a Macaroon in front of you?"
Uh-oh. He forgot that was with Adrien.
"Uh... a few months ago. You probably don't remember, because I wasn't all dressed up."
She nodded, and he picked up a rose, handing it to her. She smiled, and his heart swelled. He'd buy a thousand roses, for a single smile.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me."
She smirked, and he chuckled.
"Well, the nights still young."
She laughed, turning to the basket. She hadn't said anything about it, like he thought she would have.
"Do you remember this rooftop?"
She paused, before slowly nodding.
"It was where Ladybug stood you up."
He smiled, at the time it hurt, but now it just seemed funny. They had danced around one another like blind idiots.
"That's not why I brought you here. No, this was where I told you I loved Ladybug. It was where we connected, if only for a moment. I understood your pain, and you understood mine. I think this is where it all started. It took years in the making of course, but it started here."
She turned to him, and he could see sadness. She didn't have to feel guilty. They both made mistakes. They both overlooked each other.
"Chat..."
"I'm okay. With waiting. I saw Adrien today, and he told me that you didn't want to know, because you were worried about hawkmoth. I can wait for that."
She leaned away from him, her mouth hanging open. That didn't seem like a good sign.
"Y-you talked to Adrien? Why?"
He knew that would come up, and he already had the perfect excuse.
"I went over there to apologize for showing up to his party drunk. He told me about your talk."
"I told him that in confidence."
Well, it didn't really matter, she had literally told him.
"Are you mad?"
"No. It just wasn't his place to tell you."
Mhm, she was totally mad. So he had just put Adrien back in hot water. Oh well.
"Marinette? Did you mean it? Would you want to know if hawkmoth was gone? Or was it just something you were saying?"
"I don't know. It would all depend on the situation, on how things would be then."
He could live with that answer, for now.
"I love you. And I'm going to keep that up. You're my one and only Marinette."
"And my parents told me I wasn't allowed to take in stray cats."
She teased, poking his chest. He scoffed, knocking her hand away.
"Please. Your parents love me."
"I do too Chat. I'm going to fight for us too. I deserve to be happy. We both do."
He smiled, leaning over and kissing her softly.
"I'm glad I got to steal you away for a few hours."
"Actually... I told my parents I was going to Alya's. So if you want, you could steal me away for the whole night. We could wander around Paris. Check out the clubs."
She winked, and he laughed out loud. Yeah, Marinette was totally the club type.
"I may have a better idea."
He stood, holding out his hand to her. She slowly took it, standing with him.
"Come home with me Mari."
"Wh-what?"
Her face turned crimson, and he ran his hand over her cheek.
"My... uncle, isn't home. I could blindfold you to get us there. No one to interrupt or over hear us. Complete privacy."
"Kitty, I-"
"I'll be careful, I promise. Now that I know that you'll eventually want to know who I am, I'm not rushing. I'll wait for you as long as it takes. Please. Come home with me."
He could see the hesitation, before she closed her eyes, giving a small shake of her head. So, it was a no.
"Okay. I'll go."
She whispered, and it felt like a step in the right direction. It felt like they were finally getting somewhere.