I Knew It Was You [COMPLETE]

19. Time

Marinette pulled the thread and pushed the final bead into place.
"There," she said, placing her hands on her hips, "And I'm- OW!"
She quickly flung her arms when she realized she had poked herself with the needle.
"As wise as you are Guardian, it's hard to believe that you're the hero of Paris," Wayzz joked. Tikki giggled and flew to Marinette, nuzzling on her cheek. Marinette's phone rung, Adrien's picture filled up the display.

"Hello?" she said upon picking it up.
"Mari...Ma..." he was panting on the other side. Marinette jumped up, "Adrien? Hello? Adri-Kitty? You okay?" she asked frantically.
"Marinette....you have to get here. I-I don't- UGH Y-YOU M-MARINETTE GET HERE!" he said.
"Adrien, are you okay?" she said, grabbing her helmet. Tikki zoomed into her purse and the kwamis looked at each other, visibly scared.
"I-I don't know but just please, PLEASE, get here...I'm-I have to show you something." He sounded like he was on the verge of breaking into tears.

Marinette had reached the bakery by then and informed her parents that there was an emergency. She sped to his house and pushed through the gates, right into the mansion. It was completely empty and since Nathalie and Gorilla don't check the security cameras, Marinette rushed around the house.
"Marinette...I can feel Plagg's presence but I don't think you can get there so easily," Tikki said. They sniffed around the area and finally found a window with a narrow opening. Marinette carefully climbed up and somehow got in, landing rather ungracefully on the ground.

"Ow!" she said.
"Marinette," Adrien wheezed. She detected his voice a few feet away and ran towards him.
"I-I," he stammered, trying to point at something. Marinette sighed with relief and collapsed before him. Before thinking about anything else, she wrapped her arms around him, stroking his hair and he rested against her shoulder, snaking his arms around her.
"It-It's him," he choked. Marinette looked at him, puzzled.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, one hand on his cheek, thumb grazing over it. She wiped away a tear as she searched his glassy green eyes.
"Haw-Hawk Moth...it's him," Adrien said, tears flowing freely down his cheeks, "It's Father, my father."

Marinette swung her head and looked around the room, the hazy fog finally clearing from her head. She had been so focused on saving Adrien, she didn't notice her surroundings: the glass coffin, the de-evilized akumas, the underground garden.
She gasped when she realized that the body of Emilie Agreste was resting in the glass coffin.
"Oh Adrien, I-I'm so sorry," she said, feeling her own throat closing up. A flurry of questions filled her mind: was Emilie dead? Why is Gabriel doing this? Does Nathalie know?

That's when it hit her.
"Oh no," she said, hands covering her mouth, "Nathalie is..."
"Mayura," Adrien said, nodding. He grabbed his hair in his fists and tugged it. "God, h-how did I not know? Th-The akumatizations stopped a-and this secret lair and j-just everything!"
"Adrien, this isn't your fault. Come on now, let's get out of here," she said, trying to get him to stand up.

-x-x-x-

Adrien tried to shake away his new nightmare: his father was his biggest enemy. He wished he realized this earlier because everything made sense: his austere manner, his anti-social personality, his over-protectiveness towards Adrien. Why didn't I figure this out sooner? What hurt him the most was that his Father really didn't care about him after all. He was selfishly involved in terrorizing Paris for some prize of his own and hopefully, for his wife too. Seeing how close and comfortable he was with Nathalie, Adrien highly doubted his mother was relevant. The sad truth is his father had been terrorizing the city for three years and Adrien had no clue about it.

Marinette returned with hot chocolate and set it before him. He couldn't seem to do anything at the moment. His energy was lost in trying to digest everything he had seen in the last hour.
Marinette touched his hand and said, "I think this is why Bunnix needed us to know our identities."
Adrien nodded his head, realizing how grateful he is to Bunnix. He wouldn't have known what to do if it weren't for Marinette.
"I want to know how it happened," Adrien said, "I want to know what made Father so determined on getting our Miraculous. I want to know why he's doing this. I want know what happened to my mother."

"And we will," Marinette said, gripping his hand. Only when she squeezed it, did he realize that it was unfolding from the fist he had made. "I think it's time to hand Alix the Rabbit Miraculous."
Adrien looked at her surprised. Marinette shrugged, "I-I'm just as shocked as you are and maybe re-visiting the past could help us."
Adrien's eyebrows furrowed as he let go of her hand and crossed his arms.
"Do you have any ideas then?" she asked.
He looked up at her. A smirk formed on his face as he said, "Why would I ever question your decision M'Lady?"

-x-x-x-

"Alix?" Ladybug called out. She was on Alix's balcony and Cat Noir crouched on the rail, waiting for her to open the door.
"Ladybug?" Alix said. She was wearing a hoodie and track shorts, her hair messy and covered by a cap. Her new nose piercing and ear piercings stood out as she pushed back the wild mop of pink-and-black highlighted hair out of her face.
"We need to talk to you," Ladybug said stepping in.

A solid hour and series of emotions later, Alix stood with the Bunny Miraculous in her hand. Fluff appeared before her.
"Ready?" Fluff asked.
Alix nodded and spoke the words: "Fluff, clockwise!"

Soon she had transformed, wearing her blue-white suit and had opened her Burrow.
"Okay," she said, relaxing herself. There was an obvious hint of excitement because after all, this was Alix we're talking about. She took a step in and the light disappeared.
"You think she'll be okay?" Cat asked.
"Well...this is Alix," Ladybug replied.
A few seconds later, Bunnix stumbled out of the Burrow, seemingly giddy from the travel.
"Okay wow! What were we thinking all this time? Dinosaur extinction? The missing princess Anastasia? Hitler? Oh, and did you know you have one sick kwami?" she said, pointing at Cat.
Cat shrugged and Ladybug stepped in, "Okay we need to focus on the mission at hand. Can you tell us what happened?"

Bunnix looked down. The expression on her face was enough to confirm that whatever the reason was, it wasn't good.
"I think it's something you should see for yourself," she said quietly.
"Are you sure?" Ladybug asked.
Bunnix nodded. "I had visited the alternate universes of this very situation. There was one where you didn't approach me at all, there was one where I recited the story, there was one where..." Bunnix shuddered. "Ah well, I'd rather not go there," she said, "This is the best version of this story and all I can say is, trust yourself Ladybug. And Cat Noir?"
Cat looked back at the time-traveler. "This mission counts on your courage. It's your strength or nothing. Without you...there's no telling what could go wrong."

Cat nodded gravely, a heavy blanket of dread wrapping around him. Bunnix opened the Burrow and went in.
Ladybug laced her hands in his.
"Ready Kitty?"
"Always M'Lady."