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Nathalie remembers the day it all started perfectly. She was at her desk when she was summoned by Gabriel. She thought it would be something usual like a new investment or a photoshoot that needed scheduling, but no.
Here was famous fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste, with two broaches in his hand and a stern expression on his face, telling her to aid him in becoming a terrorist.
This is how it went.
“Nathalie, I found a way to bring back my dead wife- erm Emilie. Would you like to help….. I'll give you a raise?”
She thought he was going crazy, and when it became apparent he was dead serious she came to the conclusion she was going crazy.
Alas, she accepted. Why? Well, money is money, and he did say he was going to give her a raise.
She thought this was going to be the climax of her day, possibly her life. But guess what, no.
She went to check on Adrien while Gabriel was watching his rock monster terrorize Paris, and to her surprise, he was not in his room. She checked the entire house (which took forever by the way) and he wasn't there.
This was not good. She, under orders from Gabriel, was supposed to know where he was at all times. She had no idea where he was right now. If she does not find him soon she bets she will lose her newly earned raise, if not her job.
Of course, that wasn't her only reason to find Adrien, she cares for him and she does try to lessen the copious amounts of work that is put on his shoulders by his father. Even if it doesn't do much.
She went to her desk and used her phone to call the gorilla and inform him of Adrien's absence, giving him orders to search for Adrien. Then she turned to her computer where all the latest news was being aired, specifically the Akuma attack. She took a couple of papers and was about to leave to search for Adrien when she saw a black blur dash across the screen.
The camera focused and- she was not informed by Gabriel that there would be superheroes going against them.
And she was most definitely not informed that Adrien would be one of the superheroes. Nonetheless a black-leather-clad cat-themed one.
Actually, the most she knows is that Gabriel has a brooch that gives him powers to turn people into villains, and if needed she will get the cracked one that creates villains.
Well, at least she knows where Adrien is now.
Wait, maybe Adrien is helping Gabriel too, it does make sense that he would ask his son if he asked her.
~~~~~ a while later ~~~~~~
Scratch that, Gabriel does not know a thing when she went to the basement Gabriel showed her today she found him monologuing about destroying Ladybug and Chat Noir. Chat Noir she guesses is the black cat hero… I mean his name is literally cat black. The thing is said black cat is also Adrien, his literal son.
This is definitely a situation. A comical one? Yes. a depressing one? Yup. is she ever going to witness something like this again in her life? No. does she want to? Nope.
Will she do anything about it? That is yet to be decided.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Turns out that she will be doing something about it whether she likes it or not.
As weeks pass by she makes excuses for Adrien's absences, makes sure his cheese mini-fridge is always full, all while she works as a secretary, personal assistant, and apparently, she is now the only familial figure Adrien has in his life.
Not to mention Adrien not being slick at all with his “secret” love for Ladybug. It is one of the most commonly known secrets in all of Paris if it could even be called a secret that is.
Another secret that is also one of the most commonly known in Paris is Marinette dupain-Chengs crush on Adrien, I mean… the only person who actually does not know the fact is the boy himself.
All in all, These kids are more transparent than glass.
So naturally, she made a background check on Marinette… just in case you know.
She didn't find anything which was… reassuring, but she still had to make sure Marinette was good enough for Adrien. Adrien has many fangirls but none of them are as remotely close to him as miss Dupain-cheng, and the chances that Adrien will start liking her are growing daily.
That is if he doesn't like her already, which she is pretty sure he does but he doesn't notice it due to Ladybug.
She remembers a couple weeks back when Adrien asked her for some very specific fabrics. At first, she thought he was finally taking after his father but turns out he gave them to Marinette.
She saw her wearing a cardigan made from the very same fabrics not 3 days ago when she came to the school to talk with the principal about some matters, with Gabriel on her tablet.
Another time before that incident she walked into Adrien's room to inform him that dinner was served when she saw him squinting his eyes trying to thread some yellow and blue beads through a red string.
He was so consumed in his little project that he didn't even look up to her when she entered. He just told her he was coming, not glancing up once.
She ignored that encounter, storing it in the back of her brain until she came to pick up Adrien from school one day with Gorilla since she was going to take him to an interview.
She was met with the sight of a blushing Marinette holding out that same charm bracelet Adrien was making in his room, and clinking it to an entirely different one Adrien was holding.
Adrien’s smile was bright, seemingly lighting up the entire area around him. It was large and real in a way she hasn't seen a smile of his be in a long time.
He was genuinely happy.
He was smiling it wasn't one of his model smiles but a real smile.
And he was blushing- wait HE WAS BLUSHING?!
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Nathalie swears she heard a bang coming from Adrien's room. It was two in the morning, what could he possibly be doing up.
As she round the corner in the halls and got closer to Adrien's room, her heels clicking on the ceramic floor, she heard hushed whispers coming from his room.
They didn't belong to one person.
Before she opened the door the light inside shut off and the whispers died down.
She opened the door and saw a blur of red and black dashing across the rooftops opposite the large windows of the room. It was Ladybug.
She turned around surveying the room and saw Adrien tucked into bed, supposedly asleep.
He obviously was not.
She sighed, turning around to leave the room too many questions running in her head with no answers. then she heard music start playing.
She turned back around and saw it coming from the tv. The screen showcased a leaderboard, and right there in first place was a player named ladyluck. In second place was a player with their username literally being Mr.a-tracks-tive.
Well, that was obviously Adrien, he was playing Mario kart with Ladybug when they heard her coming. She sighed again moving to turn off the tv and set aside the two controllers on the couch.
“Goodnight Adrien” she left the room.
Did this mean Ladybug now knew who Adrien was?
Whose idea was it to give these miraculous to a bunch of children again?
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Adrien was visibly upset. She knew why.
This wasn't the first time this happened. This isn't the first time Ladybug rejected him and it isn't the first time it affected his focus and his modeling work.
Nathalie flipped through the photos taken during the latest photoshoot. Those won't do. if Gabriel sees them it won't end well.
Nathalie pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes for a couple of seconds.
She took a deep breath, removed her hand, and straightened herself. She will find an excuse to redo the photo shoot, and until then she has to think of a way to cheer up Adrien.
The first thing that came to mind was miss Dupain-Cheng but she couldn't just go ahead and invite her over, so she improvised and went to the bakery.
Maybe some of the pastries would cheer him up?
His dietician and his father will not be hearing a word of this.
The sun was setting overhead as Nathalie entered the bakery, the bell above the door ringing, signaling her entrance.
She curtly greeted Marinette's mother Sabine before ordering 2 croissants, a dozen passionfruit macarons, and some coffee for herself. She definitely needs it, even though the sun has already set and most people wouldn't be drinking coffee during this hour.
Nathalie took her order and left the bakery heading towards the limousine parked outside waiting for her. She greeted the gorilla, entering the car and fastening her seatbelt.
Once the car started moving she briefly glanced back at the bakery and lo and behold, a certain cat hero was standing on the railing of the balcony atop the bakery, holding a certain blue-eyed pigtailed girl's hand and kissing the back of it.
She was full-on staring now, and as the Gorilla took a turn and the Bakery was no longer in view Nathalie dragged her hand across her face sighing heavily, causing the gorilla to glance at her in the rearview mirror.
She shook her head, closed her eyes, and rested her head on the back of her seat.
Looks like this Miss Dupain-Cheng was even more involved in this than she thought..
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Nathalie knew she was full-on spying right now, she knew it was wrong but hey, She helps a terrorist on a daily basis her moral compass is already off as it is.
She watched as Marinette talked animatedly with Alya about something, her hand creating gestures to add to her point. She then paused listening to Alya say something before they both started laughing. After a couple of seconds of laughter, Alya leaned towards Marinette whispering something in her ear making her face go through all shades of red. Marinette screeched Alya’s name causing Alya to start laughing again.
Not a second later an Akuma was heard inside the school. Both Marinette and Alya shouted at the same time, none of their words understandable over the others. They then both sped at the opposite direction of each other each with a different destination in mind.
Alya’s the school and Marinette- Marinette was heading toward the very same alleyway Nathalie was standing in!
Nathalie hurriedly went to hide behind some cardboard boxes that were conveniently piled up in the alleyway.
Peeking around the edge of the box Nathalie hoped Marinette wouldn't spot her.
A second later Marinette ran into the alley opening up her bag allowing a small red blur to fly out.
Said red blur had spots. Said red blur started talking. Said red blur looks way too familiar to a kwami!
Nathalie.exe has stopped functioning, rebooting is in progress.
Nathalie vaguely heard Marinette say Tikki spots on before a bright red light flooded the entire alleyway for a slight second, fading away to showcase one of Paris’ dynamic superhero duo.
Ladybug took her yoyo and flung herself across the rooftops heading towards College Francois Dupont and leaving behind Nathalie, who was contemplating her entire existence, falling deeper and deeper every second into the dark hole that was her discoveries and questions.
Marinette Dupain cheng was Ladybug.
Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir.
Chat Noir loves Ladybug.
Marinette loves Adrien.
Ladybug rejected Chat Noir for Adrien… who is Chat Noir.
Adrien has called Ladybug the supposed love of his life ‘just a friend’ too many times to count.
It was a square.
A love square.
“WHAT THE FU-”
you've reached the end :)