Chapter Text
Ladybug always found her way to Gabriel Agreste’s statue, in the early hours of the morning.
Sometimes, Chat Noir joined her.
Neither of them could sleep, it seemed, haunted by their failures as they were. Ladybug would turn to Chat to tell him it was not his fault he could not be present for the final battle, and he would reply that it was not her fault she was defeated on her own. Neither of them could agree with each other, and so they always ended the conversation at a silent impasse, gazing upon the statue of Gabriel Agreste until golden sunlight began to illuminate the sky.
“…maybe I’m the monster,” Ladybug murmured one night, sitting in front of Gabriel’s statue with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms crossed atop her legs. Chat Noir was leaning against her, toying with his baton as they both tried in vain to fall asleep.
At her words, Chat straightened. He set his baton onto the grass, tucking his sprawled legs into a more respectable position before turning to face her. There was a frown on his face. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” Ladybug lied. She hid her face in the crook of her arms. “Go back to sleep, Chaton.”
“No, I heard you.” Chat Noir squeezed Ladybug’s shoulder, drawing her attention. “You’re not a monster, m’Lady. Just because Monarch had—just because he was—it doesn’t make your sacrifices worth any less. Doesn’t make you any less of a hero.”
“You don’t understand.” Ladybug muttered. “It’s not about that.”
Chat Noir was silent. They both knew there were things she could not would not did not tell him, just as there were things he did not tell her. Ladybug trusted Chat with her life, but their partnership had always been one built upon obscured truths. She might know the contours of Chat Noir’s face, but she didn’t even know his name.
And that was fine—some truths simply weren’t meant to be released into the world.
“Isn’t it?” Chat asked eventually. “Isn’t it about Monarch and Gabriel Agreste?”
Ladybug looked at the statue in front of them. Gabriel Agreste smiled back, the silver material of the statue making him appear almost divine. Her own words had done this—crafted a monster back into a man and then elevated him to a god. But if Gabriel Agreste had become an object of worship, where did that leave her, his enemy?
Ladybug wet her lips, finding her voice.
“No, this isn’t about him. Them.” she replied resolutely. A lie.
“Then what is it about?” Chat asked, still concerned. When Ladybug didn’t reply, he added, voice soft. “Please, m’Lady. I just want to—I just want to help.”
Ladybug closed her eyes, sighing. “Sorry, Chaton. It’s just…something personal.”
“…oh.” Chat murmured, his hand dropping from Ladybug’s shoulder. He averted his gaze, “Is that so.”
Chat stopped pressing, just as Ladybug had expected. After all, ‘something personal’ was what had prevented Chat Noir from appearing during that fateful battle.
They sat in silence, an ill-fitting lack of noise instead of the companiable quiet that had surrounded them earlier. Ladybug shifted, wondering if she should leave—give Chat some space. But was leaving him in this state any better? The last thing Ladybug wanted was for Chat to think she was mad at him.
She wasn’t. She just—nobody could know the truth. Not even Chat.
Eventually, Chat leaned his head against her shoulder once more, an apology and a reassurance. “Still. I’m here for you,” he promised, disrupting the uncomfortable silence. “If you ever want to talk.”
Ladybug smiled back. “I know,” she said, another lie. “You and me against the world, isn’t that right?”