"Chat Noir! Your left!"

He dodged the beam of light that the akuma shot out. He had no idea what would happen if he was hit by that light, and he really didn't want to find out.

He and his lady ducked for cover, the akuma wildly slinging its light rays everywhere.

"Any ideas?"

"Lucky Charm!"

A mirror fell into her hand, and she quickly scanned the place for ideas.

Lucky for them, the solution turned out to be a simple one.

"We reflect it back to him. I'll distract him, shoot the beams back at him, and you get that clock hand."

"The one he's using as a wand? Got it."

They sprung into action. They moved in sync as they executed the attack.

Until… they didn't.

Until Ladybug missed.

Until Chat Noir was a step ahead when he needed to be one behind.

Until Chat was knocked off his feet by the beam of light that his ever-wonderful partner shot back at him.

And he was no longer in the fight.

Dizzy and disoriented, he took a moment to beg the world to stop spinning before looking up and scanning his surroundings. It took far too long to realize that not only he was no longer in the fight; there wasn't even a fight going on.

Heck, he wasn't even in the building any more.

He stood, scanning the Parisian skyline. But something was off.

Very, very off.

"How is it that she misses, but I'm the one who ends up in trouble?"

She missed.

How did she miss?

She looked to where her partner lay while the akuma cackled like a madman.

Worse yet, Ladybug was running out of time.

The man reached for Chat's ring, but her partner suddenly stood, grabbing the akuma's neck while snarling.

"Chat!" she cried out, hoping the figure would stop.

He froze, his wild eyes widening and his lips falling out of its sneer.

"Drop him, now!"

He did, causing the akuma to run with fear. Ladybug should have chased him. She should have. But she was far more concerned about her partner.

"Damn," he said, rubbing his eyes.

Even though his face was half covered by his hands, Ladybug didn't need to see his face to know how severely he had changed. This… this wasn't Chat. Chat was not over a head taller than her. Chat did not have a ponytail. Chat didn't leave his suit unzipped to his chest.

And when he let his hands fall from his face, she saw the chiseled features of someone who was older than her partner.

His gaze landed on her, and that infernal smirk that was a hundred percent Chat quirked up his lips. "I forgot how tiny you were, bug."

Ladybug swallowed at the deep voice, one that came out in a sweet, smooth, baritone purr. "E-excuse me?"

"My bug's a bit bigger," he said. "You grow. In good ways, don't worry." He shot her a wink.

She blustered a moment, her cheeks pink as she tried to recompose herself. "What… Chat, is that really you?"

He furrowed his brow, but then realization dawned on him. "Oh. I forgot you hadn't figured out what that akuma's powers were, yet. He just switched your sixteen-year-old Chat for a twenty-six-year-old version."

That got her to look him up and down again.

"Little lady, you'll have plenty of time to peruse me later," he interrupted. "Right now, we should really catch that akuma because I'd like to go home. And trust me: your Chat would really like to come back to this time period."

While flustered a moment, she quickly realized he was actually being reasonable. "Fair enough. Any ideas where he scampered off to?"

"One."

"Then lead the way."

Chat ran across the rooftops of what could easily be described as a war-torn Paris. It was horrible, like a post-apocalyptic scene form a video game.

How did Paris get so bad?

He scampered across the rooftops trying to find a place to hide. A place to burn time until his lady worked her magic and brought him home.

"Chat!"

He froze.

"Chat Noir! Over here."

He turned to see a woman on a balcony waving at him. A familiar looking woman in pink and long pigtails.

Marinette.

He leapt over to her. "Hey, Princess," he purred. "Um, let's just say I got hit by an akuma and—"

"You're from the past, Chat. I know. I've been expecting it."

He froze. And that's when he really gave her a good look over and realized this was not his sixteen-year-old classmate.

She smirked. "Come on in. You can wait out the time in here. Better than you being uninformed and wandering around our version of Paris."

Numbly, he followed her inside and allowed her to shut the door.

"How did you know?" he asked.

She sighed. "Chat, you have to understand that this is the future, and now that you're here, it's an unstable one. The less you know, the better."

His ears drooped, yet, he could understand.

"Trust me," she said. "There's nothing more I'd like than to tell you everything. But I can't. The most I can offer you is a chunk of camembert and let you stay here for the time being."

He blinked a few times.

She grinned. "There was one time you needed a recharge, and I was close by. It was an emergency."

"Oh. Okay."

She led him down the stairs. "Thank you for trying to take that at face value. Even though I know your curiosity wants to get the better of you."

"I see you've become an expert on me."

Her laughter was out of place. "You could say that, kitten."

They got down to the kitchen, and Marinette directed him to sit at the table while she got out a whole ring of camembert.

"You really were prepared for me," he noted.

She opened her mouth to respond, only for a cry to get all her attention. "I'm sorry," she said. "Give me a moment. You can detransform. I won't come back until you give me the all clear."

With that, she set the camembert on the table and hurried up the stairs to what could only be a baby.

The thought struck him hard. Marinette was a mother.

The more he thought of it, the less surprised he was. Marinette would be a great mom, without a doubt. But when he recalled the outside world, his heart broke for her. She was a mom in war-torn Paris, having to raise her baby in this mess.

And where was her husband? The hour was late, one would think he'd be home by now. Was she a single mom? Chat didn't recall seeing a ring, but he wasn't exactly looking for one. Or did her husband work night shifts? Or was he out for another reason?

Was he good to her? Did he deserve having wonderful, strong, talented Marinette as his wife?

He had to stop before he overthought the future of his classmate.

"Claws in."

With a flash of green light, Chat Noir turned to Adrien, and Plagg appeared.

Adrien held out the fresh tub of Camembert. "Don't eat it all. We're in the future and Marinette was kind enough to give it to us."

"Oh, is that all?" Plagg asked flatly.

"Plagg," Adrien exasperatedly said, "be respectful, please."

Plagg sighed. "Fine."

As Plagg recovered his strength, Adrien tried not to be nosy. But he was a cat, and curiosity was killing him. He glanced over the homey townhouse, taking in the colors on the walls and the decorations placed all around. It was cute, quaint, warm, and welcoming.

He liked it.

He glanced down at Plagg, only to see crumbs of cheese everywhere. "What did I say about making a mess?" he chastised.

"That wasn't me!"

He scoffed. "Whatever, Plagg," he snipped, sweeping up the crumbs up off the table and the mail into his palm. "I told you to be—"

And that's when he caught sight of it.

He hadn't meant to, really. It wasn't like he was looking for it, but when you see your name, you kinda have to do a double take.

Agreste.

But Adrien wasn't in front of it.

He stared at the letter. A bill, from the looks of it. Marinette Agreste.

Marinette Agreste.

Adrien's heart stared to race faster. Did… did he…?

Curiosity was going to kill him if Marinette didn't first, but he started digging through the mail, searching for his name.

He found it on the third letter. Adrien Agreste.

He looked toward the stairwell Marinette disappeared up. He and Marinette. Married. That was enough to send his heart pounding.

It flat out stopped when he realized they were married with a baby.

Slowly, a fond smile took over and his heart started fluttering. He had a family. Paris had gone to hell in a handbasket and all he cared about was the fact he lived in this small, cozy townhouse with a wife and baby.

"Wipe that lovesick grin of your face."

Adrien snapped out of it with the realization that Plagg was there. And that's when he realized his future self was a superhero with a civilian wife. He'd probably told her; there would be no way he'd keep that secret from her. She'd have to understand he had to interrupt dates for akumas and leave at night for patrol. If anything, Plagg wouldn't stay hidden, and Marinette would definitely have questioned why they burned through camembert at such a ridiculous rate.

The sound of feet descending the stairs interrupted his thoughts. "Kitten," Marinette said. "Can I come in the kitchen?"

"You know who I am, don't you?"

There was a pause, then a sigh as Marinette rounded the corner. "Yeah," she said. "How'd you know?"

His cheeks burned as he rubbed his neck. "I… I didn't mean to." He pushed the mail towards her.

She cocked her head in confusion, but then her eyes widened. "Dang it," she said, hitting her forehead with her fist. "That did not cross my mind."

"I'm sorry," he said. "Please don't be mad. I didn't mean to."

"No," she assured, taking a seat at the table. "It's my fault. I remembered to take all the pictures down, but not hide the mail."

Adrien still didn't meet her gaze.

"I know it's a lot to take in," she said. "I know you were totally besotted with Ladybug at your age."

"I'm s—"

"If you complete that 'sorry' I'm going to smack you," she quickly interrupted. "There's nothing to be sorry about. You and my version of you have a ten-year age gap. A lot can happen in that time. You mature. I mature."

He finally looked at her. "But you understand why I like her, right?"

"Ladybug is kind of amazing," she admitted with a shrug. "I know you love her for her strength, resourcefulness, and creativity. You still hold her in a special place in your heart, and I'm perfectly ok with that."

He tried to smile, but his mind was trying to process so much information that it was beginning to get overwhelming. "You don't mind that I'm Chat? That I likely have to work our life around that?"

She grinned, but there was a certain amount of knowing it held that he couldn't quite place. "I'm married to the most wonderful man in the world," she said. "I'm married to a man who prioritizes me and our daughter above everything. I understand you're a superhero. I understand that it's not easy and it causes some havoc every now and then. But trust me: you're worth it."

Adrien could only stare, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Slowly, Marinette's smile grew. She stood from the table, but not before ruffling his hair affectionately. His mind was completely fried at this point, but not enough to miss a certain detail.

"We have a daughter?"

With a groan, Marinette tossed her head back in frustration. "I should just keep my mouth shut."

Ladybug was having a really hard time not staring at Chat Noir. She hated so say it, but he looked good.

"I know you're staring, Little Lady."

Ladybug turned her head and blushed. Hard.

He snickered. "See, why don't you look at my sixteen-year-old self this way?"

She felt like she was about to die of a heart attack. "I… um… uh…"

He turned to her and flashed her an apologetic grin. "I'm kidding."

She shot him a scowl. "You're horrible and you don't get much better when you're older."

At that, he outright laughed. "I know exactly how much you mean that."

She pouted.

He just laughed harder. "I'm sorry," he said, calming. "I'll stop. Really. I just forgot what it was like back in the day."

At this, Ladybug rose a brow. "Have we changed that much?"

"Ten years changes a lot," he said. "Especially when that ten years spans from teenager to young adulthood."

She couldn't argue with that.

"We both mature. You maybe a little more than me," he said with a wink. "But we grow closer. More in sync."

"And… do you still have a thing for me?"

He made an 'x' with his arms and made a buzzer sound. "No future secrets. My future is pretty darn bright. Far from perfect, but I happen to like it. I'm not about to go messing anything up if I can help it."

Her brow furrowed. "Fair enough."

He nodded.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not curious."

"It's the cat's job to let curiosity kill him. Not the bug's."

"Cat and bug are partners."

"Cat protects bug so bug can save the city. Partners as we may be, we have different jobs." He looked down at her. "Equals doesn't mean the same. Just means equal. You'll learn that soon enough. Now we have an akuma to find."

Chat lead her to one of the storage units downtown. "The akuma's hide out. Don't ask."

She heard the warning in his tone, so she bit her tongue.

He crouched down, grasping the handle on the overhead door. "Call your lucky charm."

She didn't argue. Instead, she did as asked.

When she caught the prism, he lifted the overhead door to the unit.

Only the akuma was waiting for them. He got off a shot, which Chat quickly dodged.

Ladybug scoured the interior, trying to fit together a plan, but nothing was coming her way, leaving her distracted and confused and an easy target.

The akuma took a shot. Chat launched at the akuma. Ladybug tried to dodge, but the light hit the prism, spraying off into a bunch of different light beams, and sending all three of them into the future.

The scenery changed. The unit shifted into something dingy and abandoned.

And there was another akuma.

He smirked. "I knew this day would come."

"Shit," Chat said under his breath.

The older akuma fired his scepter at Chat, who dodged it quickly.

Then her earrings beeped. "Chat!" she cried, fear leaking into her tone.

He called for his cataclysm, then used his staff to propel through the roof. Ladybug quickly followed, and they got the heck out of there.

"We're not going to capture the akuma?" she asked.

"We need a better plan," he said, running along the rooftops. "Something organized because you have no idea how powerful that akuma is."

Her earrings beeped again.

"I'm going to have to find someplace to recharge."

"I have a place in mind," he called out.

They wove through the city that Marinette barely recognized as Paris. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later."

Another ten rooftops later, Ladybug was growing confused. "Isn't there some place closer to hide out?" She asked. "We have to be ready to go back and capture—"

"You don't understand," he interrupted. "If you're here, that means future you is in the past."

He was right: she didn't understand. But if the way he was speeding across the rooftops was any indication, he had to get somewhere that had to deal with the fact future her was in the past.

He landed on a balcony of a townhouse, one a little run down, but nice compared with the rest of Paris. He scrambled inside, leaving the hatch open for Ladybug to follow. She hopped inside and shut the hatch, only for the reason of Chat's worry to become abundantly clear.

She could hear the cry of a baby.

"I've got you," she could hear Chat coo. "It's okay. Daddy's home." He continued to shush the baby until the cry faded to little whines.

Her earrings gave a minute warning beep. She dropped her transformation and had to catch an exhausted Tikki in her hands. She reached to her side

And remembered her purse was blasted off her body a while ago.

"Um, Chat?" she called down, not wanting to move from her spot lest she accidently discover more about the future or worse, show her partner her identity. "I, uh—"

"Come on down, Marinette," he said. "I'll show you where the cookies are in the kitchen."

She froze. Marinette. He called her Marinette. "You… you know?"

"In the future," he answered. "No secrets on how the big reveal went, though."

Hesitant, she walked down the stairs to spy Chat at the base of the stairs holding a tiny baby.

Cookies forgotten, she stared at the little infant in the Chat Noir onesie and kitten-earred hat. It. Was. Adorable.

Chat smiled. "This is my little one," he presented proudly. "She doesn't want to be put down at the moment."

"Daddy's girl?" she asked.

His smile turned sweet and hopeful, and suddenly, she wondered how she ever thought he'd changed. "I kinda hope so." He set her up against his chest, holding her securely with one arm. "Now, cookies."

"How old is she?" Marinette asked.

"Few months," he said. "Three? Three. Wow, time flies."

Marinette giggled. Same old Chat.

He led her down to the kitchen. It was a bit of a mess, but it was undeniably homey. "In the jar there," he said, indicating the white, cylindrical jar with the word 'cookies' written in bold, black letters. "Fresh supply."

Marinette took the lid off the jar to reveal a handful of chocolate chip cookies. She pulled a couple out for Tikki. "Thank you."

He smiled. "You got it, Little Lady."

She took a seat at the table, grabbing a napkin for Tikki to eat over. She placed the cookies on the napkin, then looked back over to Chat.

He was holding his daughter, murmuring to her and bouncing her lightly. Enough that Marinette could see the little baby's eyes gradually close. Her mind wandered to who Chat had settled down with. Despite the flirty attitude and the countless theories plastered on-line, Marinette knew Chat wasn't a playboy. He was the kind that would marry and have a family.

Gradually, her mind caught up with her and began processing everything that had happened. What did he mention when rushing over here? Something about if she was here…

Her mind revved a million miles an hour until she stopped at a terrifying conclusion. "Is she mine?"

Chat froze, looking back up at Marinette who stared at him with wide eyes.

"You… you said something about how if I was here, then my future self wasn't and you were rushing back to…"

Chat sighed. "Dang," he grumbled. "Cat's out of the bag now."

"So that's Emma?"

He gave her a fond smile. "Not quite," he said. "I had a special name I begged you to let us use. You agreed."

If it was special to Chat, she would have agreed without a fight. She continued to stare at the scene. This was Chat's bright future. Her bright future, as well, it seemed. A slightly run-down townhouse in the middle of an akuma-ruled Paris, but they had each other and a baby. She could see the charm in it.

Not-Emma soon was fast asleep in her dad's arms, and Chat smiled sweetly down at her. He took a seat at the table, allowing Marinette a closer look. She could see blonde wisps of hair peeking out from under the hat, meaning not-Emma got Chat's golden locks. She wondered if those eyes were green or blue. Suddenly, she couldn't help but wonder what combination she would be. Would she be wild, impulsive? Or would she be prepared and responsible? Would she somehow be a mix of the two?

Marinette wanted to know.

She also wanted to know how she picked Chat as the one to settle down with, but that was something she knew Chat wasn't going to divulge. Instead, she found herself glancing outside and remembering the version of Paris they lived in. "What happened to Paris?"

Chat looked out the window, a frown dulling his expression. "Hawkmoth," he answered easily. "He grew powerful, and with this time traveling akuma, things got bad really fast."

"And somehow, we found time to marry and have a baby?"

Chat shrugged. "We did."

Marinette smiled, though it was strained.

"I see so many questions in your eyes," he said. "And I'm sorry, I want to—"

"Keep as many secrets as possible," she finished. "I think I understand. You know me and the whole secret identity thing."

Chat smirked. "Yeah. You were always better at secrets than I was."

"I'm more surprised that this is what you call a bright future."

"I have you and our daughter," he said. "Trust me when I say that is immensely bright and if my sixteen-year-old self could see this right now, he's probably be crying in happiness."

"I can see that," she said, looking at the little chat noir themed baby. Her little baby girl. "I'd like Paris to be in one piece, but I can see the charm in this."

"You think that I don't want to make this place better for you? For her?" Chat said, motioning to the baby asleep against his chest. "Trust me; we've done so much. It's just never ending, it seems. You pull Rena again, and even more supers join the fray. But Hawkmoth is powerful. And with that time traveling akuma…" Chat shook his head. "I just want it to stop."

Marinette frowned. She made a new vow to find Hawkmoth as soon as she returned home. This would not be the city she raised her little girl in. And if her sixteen-year-old Chat knew about his little girl, then no way he'd let this escalate either. "Let's get me back home, Chat. So I can make sure that that this Paris never happens."

He looked nervous, and as Marinette looked down at the baby he was stealing glances at, she was suddenly aware of why. "Chat," she said, leaning over. "Answer me honestly: am I happy in this timeline?"

He nodded. "Very. At least, that's what you tell me."

"Then I will make sure that no matter what, we end up together. I swear that the past will change, but this future won't."

He stared at her a while longer before his gaze hardened. "Then I'm in, little lady."

She smiled. "Excellent."

A/N: Finished for now unless you guys bug me big time. Which I have the distinct feeling you will.