Inheritance

Marinette is formidable.

Adrien's text history is littered with conversations that begin with some form of Disaster! The nature of his work often keeps him from checking his phone in a timely manner, so these conversations always go the same way: A few hours later, he'll write back What's wrong? only to learn the problem wasn't as big as Marinette thought at first glance and it's already been handled. Usually handling it begins the moment she puts her phone down.

So when he gets a text that reads Just got some bad news. Don't want to talk about it until Louis is in bed Adrien's not that worried. Sure, it sounds ominous. And the fact that she doesn't want to talk about it until their son is asleep implies she expects the conversation to be long and/or emotionally difficult. But Adrien just writes Okay and resolves not to worry about it.

Whatever it is, it'll probably be handled by the time he gets home.

He goes back to the booth to resume recording. That he left modeling for voice acting still surprises people who knew him when he was young and he's yet to find an agent who doesn't try to coax him into live action work. Adrien knows everyone who suggests he could launch a career as a romantic lead is probably right. He's 27, and stardom is about name recognition first. His face hasn't graced a billboard in six years, but he knows he hasn't been forgotten.

After all, being the son of a supervillain is memorable.

But he'd rather just make cartoons. It's fun and it's freeing and most importantly, he's contributing to something that his son can enjoy.

When he's done for the day, there are no more texts from Marinette. Usually, he'd have the play-by-play of how the disaster has been handled by now.

They've been lucky so far.

Maybe the disaster was real this time.

He goes about his day. Picks Louis up from three-year-old kindergarten, admires today's stack of crayon drawings. Lately, Louis's drawings have become recognizable. My house. My family. My hamster. Okay, the hamster is still kind of a tiny scribble, but the buildings and people? Definitely buildings and people.

He tries to remember what Marinette's schedule is today. Operation: Middle Child has been a-go for two months now. Adrien would fear bad news has something to do with a doctor's appointment, but she didn't have one of those. They hadn't had reason to suspect anything yet.

When Adrien and Louis get home, there's a phonograph on the end table.

That is new, but 'Honey, I just bought us an antique record player' is not what he'd consider bad news. Weird news, maybe. But not bad. Even if it had been exorbitantly expensive, they could afford it.

Louis examines it for a moment, but loses interest when he realizes there's no screen. He's into trains these days, anyway, and the rest of the afternoon goes as it usually does—building an elaborate train track in the living room. And then it's stories (Louis likes it when his father reads to him, of course, because his father does voices) and trying to avoid putting the train set away before dinner.

And when Marinette comes in, it's immediately clear that whatever it is, the disaster has not been handled.

She's subdued and frowning and distracted.

But she doesn't want to talk about it yet, not until Louis is in bed. Adrien checks subtly—a questioning glance, worried eyebrows—and she just shakes her head. It's not time. Okay, then.

And the evening goes on as it should.

They eat dinner as a family. They clean up as a family, even Louis standing on his toes to tip his plate and fork into the sink. Marinette is distracted and Adrien is beginning to get anxious, so he gives their son his bath tonight to get it over with quickly. And then it's pajamas and more books and a song and luck is not with Adrien tonight because Louis can tell his parents are agitated. He doesn't want to sleep. Adrien has to lay down next to him and pat his back for twenty minutes before Louis falls asleep.

This is practically unheard of.

When Adrien emerges from their son's room, Marinette is pacing.

The damn phonograph seems enormous now, burdensome.

"Ready to talk?" He intends to sound casual, if not comforting, but Marinette really does not look ready. He puts a hand on the small of her back and guides her to the sofa. "If you're not ready, we don't have to."

"I can't put this off," she answers, and immediately, his worry spikes. What if she did see a doctor today?

"Okay."

She breathes deep.

"When we were kids," Marinette says finally, "I had a...mentor."

Years and grief have dimmed his memories of teenage Marinette. The brief time they were classmates overlaps with his father's reign of terror over Paris. School simply doesn't stand out as strongly as Plagg and Ladybug and losing everything he'd ever known by his own hand. After the defeat of Hawk Moth, he had surrendered his ring to the safety of the Miracle Box, never learned the identity of his partner, lost Plagg, his father and Nathalie all at once, left Paris to live with his uncle and Felix…

It was all a haze for a few years, really.

But he's not surprised to learn Marinette had a mentor. She was a go-getter in those days, too, always knew exactly what she wanted. Adrien remembers best how she aspired to be a designer, and is still impressed with how she's one of the few people he's ever known who knew exactly what they wanted out of life at that age. She really did it, too, because of course she did. She's Marinette.

Hell, he owes his marriage to running into her in the hallways of Doir Men after one of his last modeling jobs.

"He died recently."

"I'm so sorry." Adrien puts his arm around her, but honestly, all he feels is relief. He hates that she's hurting, of course, but grief for an old mentor is something they can tackle. It's something she can handle. The only difference between this and the other disasters in her life is that this one can only be helped by time, her ingenuity irrelevant.

"He left me…" Marinette scrubs her face with her palms. "I'm sorry. This is so hard to talk about. I've never talked to anyone about it before."

"The record player?" He's not sure what's so hard about a record player, but okay. There's baggage here, and he will respect it, no matter how strange it seems. She has always respected his, and he knows he has a hell of a lot more of it.

And suddenly, it's his baggage that's at the forefront. "I don't know how much you really knew about your father—the Hawk Moth part, that is."

They don't talk about his father.

He doesn't know how, and until today, she's respected his silence.

"I know enough."

"His powers—" Marinette begins again, and Adrien interrupts her.

"They came from a jewel called a Miraculous. There are several—I don't know how many—but he wanted the ones that gave Ladybug and Cat Noir their powers." He doesn't add 'When united, they could have saved my mother's life' because he's yet to figure out a way to say it that doesn't sound like he's on his father's side.

Marinette nods. "Right. That's right." She takes a deep breath. "Each Miraculous is very powerful, and that makes them dangerous."

"I have, um, a lot of personal experience with this," he says.

"I know, I know, and trust me, I hate doing this to you. You deserve to live out the rest of your life never thinking about Hawk Moth again."

"But?"

"But...for thousands of years, the Miraculous were guarded in a temple in China. My mentor was the last of these guardians." Marinette stands, takes a shaky breath and strides to the phonograph. "Before he passed, he entrusted the Miracle Box to me."

His entire body is on autopilot when he stands and follows her. He's not breathing, not thinking as Marinette removes a panel, presses some buttons that had been hidden behind it. From within the phonograph rises a large, lacquered box. She picks it up and carries it to the coffee table.

"This is the Miracle Box. I've known—I've known for a long time that when Master Fu passed away, he would entrust it to me. I just...I guess I just never thought he'd really die. It sounds silly, I know, but...but he was just that sort of person.

"Master Fu shouldered the burden alone, Adrien. But it's not meant to be done alone. There used to be an entire temple of guardians! You're my husband, and Louis's father and...and having the Miracle Box in our home means our family is in danger. I can't keep it from you. I won't make decisions about the safety of our family without consulting you."

Marinette lifts the lid.

For all the months he spent as Cat Noir, Adrien has never actually seen the full Miracle Box before. He had only ever been privy to the smaller versions Master Fu used to distribute the individual Miraculous. Hidden drawers along the sides extend. More frequently held Miraculous share the central platform behind the main lid. And risen about those, on a dais just for them, is a shared tableau for the Ladybug and the Black Cat. The earrings are gone, but his ring is right there.

His fingers itch to take it.

"The Butterfly Miraculous is missing."

His eyes dart to the purple slot.

It's empty.

"I thought…"

"Ladybug and Cat Noir recovered the Butterfly and Peafowl when they defeated Hawk Moth." Marinette speaks with the steely conviction of someone who knows for a fact this is true. And if she had been Master Fu's protege all this time, he does not doubt that she does. "But that was 12 years ago. I don't know when or how someone could have taken the Butterfly, but they did. As Guardian of the Miracle Box, it is my responsibility to ensure that it is recovered."

Ladybug's earrings are gone.

"You gave someone the earrings." Only Ladybug could purify an akuma. If there is a new Hawk Moth out there, then there must be a Ladybug to oppose them.

There's a question on the tip of his tongue that he's afraid to ask. He's a married man. His teenage crush (obsession?) is a thing of the past. But things had not really ended between Cat Noir and Ladybug so much as they had been unexpectedly torn apart. (Things had also never started, but that's a separate issue...) He had never received closure. He just lost her. He thought the flame of adolescent love burned out as quickly as it ignited, but what if he's wrong? What if seeing her face grace the news again brings everything rushing back? "It's not the same girl, though. Can't be. Her identity was a secret."

"Actually...as Master Fu's protege, I knew the identities of most of the heroes of Paris."

His heart vacates the premises.

She knows.

She knows he was Cat Noir and she never mentioned it?

Not when they were dating? No 'haha, remember the first time you brought me a rose my father was akumatized?'

Not when he proposed? Not at, during or after their wedding? Not when they are at the pet store to admire hamsters? Would a casual 'That cat looks a lot like you!' be difficult? Not when they are cooking, or watching a movie, or discussing baby names? Not even just to make doing their taxes more interesting?

"The only identity I never knew was Cat Noir."

Oh. Oh, there it is. Heart recovered.

"It's the same Ladybug, Adrien. I don't know what to do. She wants the same Cat Noir to be her partner, but only Master Fu knew who he was. How am I going to find him?"

Adrien feels his face grow red. Oh, no. Ladybug wants him back? He shouldn't feel this way. His wife is right there. His wife! Love of his life! Mother of his son! This is just..flattery? Nerves? A hesitance to Answer The Call that he's never felt before? He's happy now. He loves this life. He doesn't need a mask to say what he thinks. He doesn't need to become someone else.

Except... Marinette needs him to.

Because Ladybug wants him back.

Stall!

"Um...my father had a kwami?" Honestly, Adrien doesn't remember if his uninitiated into the ways of the Miraculous self is supposed to know that. "Can you ask Cat Noir's kwami?"

"Tried it. He laughed in my face."

Well. That was Plagg for you. Constitutionally committed to being unhelpful.

"What if it's someone you know?"

Marinette offers a crooked smile. "Then finding him is either going to be a lot easier or a lot more frustrating."

"But you won't be mad at him for not telling you?"

"If Cat Noir is someone I already know, I will totally and completely understand his reasons for silence. I'm only breaking my silence to you now, and that's only because you're Louis's father and I can't shut you out if his safety is concerned."

Louis.

"You're right." He inhales. Heart beating wildly. Whatever fear he had about the future, protecting their son came first. "Let's do this, princess."

Adrien snatches up the ring as fast as he can, not daring to glance at Marinette. Knowing his father, she's sure to think he betrayed her trust for the scant few seconds it will take to prove he is the man she's looking for.

He can't bear to see it.

The cool metal slides on his finger, fitting as perfectly as ever despite the fact that his hands are larger now. It can only be magic.

Plagg comes out shouting. "I already told you—Adrien!"

There are tears in Adrien's eyes. He didn't expect that. Plagg's open joy is short lived, but it always is. He has too much cat in him for vulnerability. The tiny body of his sorely missed kwami presses against his arm briefly and then ducks away. Adrien's hand follows, scratching Plagg under the chin with one finger. "Before you ask, I don't have any camembert. I didn't know I'd be seeing you today."

"That's no way to treat a guest," Plagg grouses, "but I suppose I can bear it if you get some right away."

Marinette's eyes are as wide as saucers. The corner of his soul that could resist the Miraculous is well forgotten. Adrien smiles widely and transforms.

Cat Noir clicks his booted heels together and salutes with one clawed hand. "Cat Noir reporting for duty, Madame Guardian!" His tail swishes behind him. So weird—it's just a belt. False ears attached to his head by rivets swivel and he can hear his son breathe from his bedroom down the hallway. So cool.

Marinette has not snapped out of her shock. He's a bit offended, really. She had known Master Fu all along, had been privy to every secret no one ever considered sharing with him, yet one transformation and the cat gets her tongue? Is it really so unbelievable that Adrien could be a superhero?

"It's true," he says, slapping his hand against his chest, "I was a teenage catboy."

Scratch offended—he's starting to get worried.

"I'm still me," Cat Noir hurries to add. "This has always been a part of me. It doesn't change anything. I mean, I'm not in any hurry to go run out and tell your dad because I think he likes me better not knowing but…" He laughs awkwardly. This is not going well.

This is going poorly, and in the exact opposite direction than he had feared.

"Marinette, say something. Please. Anything. Tell me we're okay."

There is a very real chance that Ladybug is just going to have to fucking deal with a new partner whether she wants one or not because if Marinette doesn't tell him that she still loves him in him the next .025 seconds, Cat Noir is going to drop dead. All nine lives will expire at once.

But she doesn't say any of the things he's desperate to hear.

No, she says, "Tikki, spots on."

Had he been a little more self-aware and a little less cat-atonic, he would have had a lot of sympathy for Marinette at that moment. But his brain can't quite manage 'oh, so this is how that feels' just then. Where Cat Noir is at looks a bit more like:

Marinette is Ladybug?
Marinette is Ladybug.
How did I miss that for so long?
Marinette is Ladybug.
The whole Master Fu thing makes way more sense this way.

He feels a sudden rising shame for every time Marinette made his heart pound and he'd thought, 'I am really over Ladybug,' so proud of himself for moving on. Every smile had been Ladybug's smile. The hand he held all these years was Ladybug's hand. Every awkward Getting to Know You All Over Again conversation, every Looking Up Old High School Friends, every coffee date, dinner date, movie date, lazy evening at home—she was Ladybug. It was Ladybug who told him she wanted three kids, and he'd never thought about a number before, but in that moment, the idea of a house so crowded had seemed so exceptionally perfect, so everything he'd always wanted, so I'm going to marry her the second she lets me.

He says, "Marinette," like he can't breathe, and to be fair, he doesn't think he can.

And that's when she finally, finally says, "I think we're okay, kitty."

Cat Noir staggers with relief and then hauls her into a tight hug. A low rumbling purr builds in his throat. Her arms come around him just as fiercely, a familiar embrace and desperate dreams of a lovesick teenager suddenly coalescing. She tucks her head under his chin, like she always does. He's so much taller than she is. "You scared me, Marinette."

It feels so good to say it.

"I was scared, too," Ladybug answers. "When I opened the Miracle Box and saw the Butterfly missing, I knew I'd have to face the Hawk Moth of Bunnyx's time soon. I didn't want to face him—her?—with anyone but you. I didn't know how to tell Adrien that there's another man in my life, one who's irreplaceable. And here you are! Already my partner in everything! I didn't want to face anything without Cat Noir by my side and I didn't even know it!"

Cat Noir presses a kiss in her hair. "I'm beginning to understand why Plagg just laughed."

Beneath his lips, he feels her nod. "Tikki was more helpful, though I didn't see it right away. I missed her so much, I put the earrings on the second I had the Box and told her everything—about you and Louis and my career. When I said I didn't know how to find Cat Noir if Plagg wasn't going to help, she's the one who reminded me that the guardians used to be an order. She said to be honest with you, and start my search at home."

"Which went against your instincts, I'm betting."

"It really did. I mean...I always wanted to tell you. It wasn't easy for me to keep you at arm's length when we were kids. I regretted so much that we never made some kind of If We Lose Our Miraculous pact to meet up at a certain day at a certain place. If I'd known when that fight started it was going to be the last, I would have."

Cat Noir nods, because the same thought has tumbled through his mind innumerable times. From a romantic daydream where they run into each other's arms in slow motion to a passing curiosity about an old friend who used to be the old friend to the current realization that they could have had precisely what they have now so much sooner.

"Adrien-you, I was terrified to tell. You'd always said you were on Ladybug's side, but I was scared that that wouldn't be true if you really came face to face with her. He's your father."

He swallows the lump in his throat. "And a shitty one. I'm with Ladybug. Then, now, always." Confessing that he lived and breathed pure wanting to tell her every moment of his life feels unnecessary. Maybe someday, he'll say so for the sheer joy of saying so, but Marinette knows already. She knows him so much better than he had ever dreamed possible.

It's heady and wonderful.

"Telling you today felt so counter to everything Master Fu ever warned us about. But if I'm going to be the Guardian of the Miracle Box, I have to do it my way. I don't want to repeat his mistakes."

"Does that mean you want to start a new order?"

Ladybug leans back to look up at him. "I think we have to? Neither of us are immortal, and we probably won't live as long as Master Fu—who was almost 200, so I wasn't kidding when I said I thought he wasn't actually going to die. We have to have proteges of our own."

"It's a big ask, Marinette."

"I know. How do you begin to find people you can trust with something this important? I definitely want to be more rigorous than he was."

"Yeah. For me, he just fell down in front of me."

"And that worked out more times than it didn't…"

"But when it doesn't work, we get a Hawk Moth, so. Not great."

"No." She frowns. "You're going to have to work on not calling me 'Marinette' in costume, by the way."

"Right, right. M'lady." It doesn't roll off his tongue the way it used to. "Oh, that's weird now! You're just so Marinette."

"I am exactly the same degree of Marinette that I was before!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a doofus. Even when we were kids, you were so very Marinette."

She giggles.

"See? How very Marinette of you."

She rolls her eyes.

"All right, that's a little bit more Lady—!" He shifts his weight from foot to foot, utterly delighted. "Bugaboo!"

"No Bugaboo calling!"

"Yes Bugaboo calling!" This was going to change everything. They'd need a hell of a babysitter, for starters. Operation: Middle Child would have to be put on hold until the Butterfly brooch was back where it belonged. "Call Alya! Fire up the Ladyblog! Ladybug and Cat Noir are back and this time they're married! Take that, Bunnyx, and your stupid wavy square—hey, I just got that!"

I know exactly one thing about the French education system and is kindergarten starts at age 3.