Not Alone: A Miraculous Ladybug Story

Chapter 39

 When Adrien woke up, his first thought was his back hurt. His second was oh shit! He noticed the angle of the sun, remembered that it was a Monday, and noticed that the majority of the front of the class was still asleep in his room. He looked over to see Marinette and Alya still asleep in his bed and Nino on the couch. He was even more surprised to see a third lump with a mess of blonde hair also in his bed wedged against Marinette's side. He was mildly alarmed that he hadn't woken up at all when Chloé came in, but she knew her way around, so she likely didn't make much noise.

He looked over at the clock and noted that it thankfully wasn't as late as he thought and they could maybe still make it on time. He pushed Nino awake first before going to rouse the girls. The next few minutes were a flurry of activity. After a brief fight over the bathroom was resolved by Adrien pointing out that there literally were enough bathrooms in the house for each of them, they split up and hurried to get ready. A record five minutes later, all five were in the foyer, when Marinette realized she was missing all her school stuff. It hadn't occurred to anyone until now. So much for their mad dash not to be late.

At this moment Gabriel walked through with a mischevious smirk on his face. "I'll give you all a good excuse to be late. Now off you go!" He made a shooing gesture and walked towards the stairs to his studio. They all looked at each other quizzically, but walked outside anyway and headed towards school, planning a route that would take them by each of their houses first.

Then, in the distance they heard the unquestionable sound of an akuma attack. Marinette laughed out loud, realizing what his father had meant a few moments ago.

"I could get used to this!" She turned and smiled at Adrien, and they all transformed and ran into the action.

Thirty minutes later, they were loaded with their school stuff and walked into class, claiming they had met for breakfast but were stuck because of the akuma attack. Ms. Bustier was sympathetic and got them caught up. They had missed the pop quiz, but they could take it tomorrow. With an extra day to prepare.

"Thanks, Hawkmoth!" Alya giggled under her breath and she winked at Marinette. There were some perks, she chuckled to herself settling into her desk.

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They didn't get a chance to talk at lunch. Chloé still sat with Sabrina, and they didn't want to freak everyone out too much by suddenly changing up the status quo, so they were left to wonder what Chloé had discovered--and where she disappeared off to--until after school.

Gabriel had to work late, so they met at Marinette's this time. They'd update their favorite resident villain later. The Dupain-Chengs welcomed the unexpected brood of teenagers in true baker fashion: they loaded them up with food. They were noticeably surprised to see Chloé included in the group, but concentrated their energy on going through every pastry with her. They had dedicated to memory each of Marinette's friend's favorite treats, and Chloé would be no different.

When she settled on a lemon danish, they each walked away with their own horde upstairs towards the apartment.

"You sure have had a lot of group projects lately." Sabine looked at Marinette with an eyebrow raised. Gabriel had been calling every time the teens had unexpectedly spent the night claiming it was for some project they were working on.

"Oh, it's really just been one long project. It's..a final portfolio of work?" Despite her best efforts, Marinette was a horrible liar, especially with her parents. While her papa may have just shrugged and walked away, her mother was not as simple.

"You know you can tell me anything, right honey?" Her mom looked at her and in that moment she would have swore that her mom knew. Before she could dwell on that thought, her mother winked and shooed her upstairs to her friends. "Go on now. Go save Paris, or whatever this top secret project is you're working on." She laughed her tinkling laugh and rejoined Tom in the kitchen.

Marinette just stood on the step for a moment, her jaw open as she watched the retreating form of her Maman. No, she thought, she wouldn't let her teenage daughter swing from rooftops as a masked superhero. She doesn't know. Still, Marinette would have to be careful around her parents. A part of her just wanted to tell them. Seeing Adrien be so open with his father, she was a little jealous. Obviously their situation was different, because both of them held miraculous, but the sentiment remained. If only she could be sure that her parents wouldn't try and stop her...

The platter she was holding became too much so she hefted it higher and trudged back up the stairs.

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Sabine came back out to wipe down the tables just as Marinette walked out of sight. She shook her head. She'd had her suspicions, but as soon as she'd seen Marinette and Adrien together, there was no doubt in her mind who the masked duo truly were. She'd gotten over the jumping off buildings and running into danger thing, but those two were scheming something else now.

She pursed her lips and looked through the doorway where her only child had just disappeared. "Be careful, baobei."

She started to tidy up; picking up trash and wiping down the counter when she saw an old photograph lying on the ground near the register. Drying her hands, she reached for it and saw it contained a much younger version of the mayor and a woman with startling blonde hair that must be Chloé's mother. Next to them stood another man. Leaner than Mayor Bourgeois and shorter, but with a similar build and the same eyes. Perhaps his brother.

Sabine looked at the man again, recognizing something else about him, but she couldn't quite place him. At that moment Tom came out with a fresh batch of croissants for the display and he looked over her shoulder at the picture.

"Oh! Two baguettes and a lemon tart." He chuckled to himself and went back to what he was doing. Sabine looked up at him, startled. That's how she knew the man. Tom had a tendency of remembering people only by their order, but he was right. The man had been a regular for about a year now. He came in twice a week and ordered two baguettes and a lemon tart every time. Monsieur... Germain. Yes, that was it.

She smiled over at her husband and walked upstairs to give the photo to Chloé, who must have dropped it. Halfway up the steps to Marinette's room she stopped, hearing voices.

"Your father?" Alya's voice was incredulous.

"My biological father, nothing more." Chloé responded, her voice dangerous, as if daring Alya to say differently.

"But, Chloé," her daughter's voice rung out, and she could tell Marinette was trying to keep the conversation peaceful. She smiled, remembering herself using that voice on her daughter many times. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, that's a lot. I would understand if now you don't feel comfortable lying to--"

"No," Chloé cut her off. "As far as I'm concerned, he's just some distant relative, and if my mother thought it best to cut off connections with him completely, then there was a serious reason. He's behind this whole thing with Adrien's mom and his threats are increasing, he's started making threats against us, and he needs to be stopped. I have no sentimentality about this, I assure you."

The room was silent for a few moments and Sabine's mind started racing. What were they planning and what did it have to do with Adrien's mother? She knew the media believed that Adela Agreste had run away from her husband and wasn't truly a missing person, but knowing Adrien, Sabine had always assumed that Mrs. Agreste had been killed and unfortunately her body had never been found. The way Chloé spoke about her, it sounded like she was in danger, meaning she was alive and perhaps...being held hostage? This was the project they'd been working on? A group of high school students?

She vaguely heard a male voice ask a question, but she couldn't place it as Nino or Adrien. Then her daughter spoke again.

"Sure, Plagg. Give me a second."

Plagg? Who was Plagg? The questions were just piling up. When Marinette opened the hatch and saw her mother standing there, she froze. She looked down to what her mother was holding and she squeaked, obviously recognizing the photo.

"All of you, living room, now. We need to have a talk." Sabine stared at her daughter as the others heard the command and gathered behind her, all looking down at Sabine.

"Okay, Maman."