Chapter Text
Adrien’s heart raced as he stared up at the sky, mind blank, his whole body aching fiercely. His ears rang unevenly while his hands jerked around by his sides, trying to grasp at something, but for what, he was unsure. His movements became more frantic the more his lungs screamed.
He absently noted a large car as it flew over his prone form.
When a heavy balcony swing landed with enough force to crack the sidewalk next to his head, his chest spasmed as he was able to finally suck in a breath of air. His back throbbed while his head felt like it was trying to split into two. Scrambling back into the buildings behind him, he clumsily attempted to piece together what was happening.
“Chat!” a woman’s voice shouted from above him.
He whipped his head up and had to throw himself to the side, just barely avoiding getting his leg crushed by a flying tree. His chest heaved with adrenaline, the tree almost completely obscuring his vision.
A startled yelp escaped his throat when a thin black cord wrapped around his waist and the ground fell out from under his feet. His stomach lurched as a feeling of weightlessness overcame him and then screeched to a sudden halt as bright red arms wrapped around him. The rooftops fuzzed, doubled, then settled back into something more solid. Bile rose in the back of his throat as the pain in his head flared.
A shrill, echoey voice screamed from somewhere nearby, “Just hold still!”
He shook his head in a daze, ears feeling more sensitive than he could ever recall them being. Something beeped nearby but a bright red hand holding onto his shoulder captured most of his attention.
“Chat?” the same voice from earlier asked, coming from the brightly dressed woman at his side.
He blinked at her as the rooftop beneath him seemed to ripple.
She muttered under her breath before pushing him down onto the roof, leaning him back against a chimney, “Okay, stay here. I’ll try to be quick!”
Before Adrien could process her words or even think to respond, the woman flew off the building. He stared at where she’d been standing moments before, jaw slack. Scrambling to his feet while ignoring his shot balance, he searched for the woman.
He had no clue what he was expecting to see, but no matter what it was, the red lady swinging around a humanoid figure who was on fire was not it.
The same beeping sound from earlier sounded again, faster this time. He’d barely located the ring on his finger before he was blinded by a sharp flash of green light, sending him stumbling backward.
“What are you thinking, kid? Get away from the edge! Someone’s gonna spot you,” a floating black blob said while pushing at his chest.
He staggered back into the chimney and stared at the little creature. He knew his back, head, and everything else ached and hurt, but this hallucination might just convince him that he’s more injured than he’d thought.
When the little thing flew into his jacket, he shuddered, “Um…excuse me?”
The creature popped his head through the fabric with an annoyed expression before pausing and flying up into his face, staring intently.
“Uh, have we met before?” Adrien asked as he leaned back a little.
“Dang it,” the floating thing muttered. “The name’s Plagg, kid. I’m a kwami and what gives you the power to turn into Chat Noir and wield the powers of destruction. You’ve been entrusted with that ring,” Plagg gestured to the ring that was now silver, “which is your miraculous. Together with Ladybug, the two of you fight akumas created by a man named Hawkmoth. As a holder of the miraculous, the both of you work to protect Paris. If Hawkmoth found out who the two of you are, it would spell disaster for everyone involved, so no one knows either of your identities, including each other.”
Adrien blinked at the amount of information the kwami shared, “Okay…how long have I been…Chat Noir?”
“About four years,” Plagg said, still watching him cautiously. “Any other questions? I’ve gotta get you transformed again before Ladybug gets back.”
Shaking his head, Adrien decided most of his questions could wait a little longer, “What am I supposed to do when she comes back? What should I say?”
Plagg shrugged, “Up to you. You guys are rather close and if you interacted much before you detransformed just now, she probably noticed you acting off. She also might be able to help you figure out how you got amnesia and from there, maybe even help you.”
“Did I trust her when I had my memories?” he asked.
Plagg nodded, “With your life.”
Adrien bit his lip, “Do you trust her?”
“I do. It’s been a long while since I’ve trusted another miraculous holder that wasn’t my own,” Plagg admitted.
He took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay. What do you need to transform me again?”
“I’m gonna need to eat so I can refuel,” Plagg said while gesturing at Adrien’s jacket. “Once I’ve eaten, then you’ll need to say ‘claws out’. To detransform, you say ‘claws in’.”
Adrien pulled at his jacket, locating the hidden pocket that he assumed the kwami had previously flown to. Pulling out a wheel of cheese, Adrien stared as Plagg took an inhumanly large bite. Deciding he wasn’t ready to open that can of worms, he averted his gaze to look toward the sounds of the nearby fight. He watched as the lady in red who was supposedly Ladybug (his…partner?) flew high into the air with what looked like an inflatable kayak.
“Alright, I’m ready now,” Plagg said, flying in front of his face. “You can transform now, but I need you to listen for a second.” He waited until Adrien nodded, then said, “You cannot, under any circumstances, jump into that fight unless Ladybug gets you, okay?”
“Alright, I can do that,” Adrien agreed. At Plagg’s hesitation, he realized his easy acceptance must not have been what he’d normally have done. Regardless of that though, there wasn’t much he could do about that at the moment. “Plagg, claws out.”
He froze when he was engulfed in a blinding green light and once it abated, his arms were completely covered in thick black leather. Actually, most of him was covered in the stuff. His shoes had stretched out into boots that came halfway up his calves while his jeans and t-shirt melted into a full bodysuit with clawed gloves forming over his hands. By some sort of magic, the ring (now black again) was sitting on top of the glove with a little glowing paw print in the stead of where a gem would typically be. Draped diagonally over his shoulders was a cloak-like something pinned in place with several panels of leather that formed a high collar which was kept in place by what felt like laces on the front.
As he studied his magical outfit, he felt something move on top of his head as he moved but with the gloves on his hands, he couldn’t really feel anything. Experimentally, he tugged on the glove that didn’t have his ring on it and was rewarded with the glove coming off easily. With a grin, he brought up his newly freed hand and ran it through his hair. He didn’t get that far before his fingers caught on another piece of leather.
After several long seconds, as far as he could tell, they were…ears. Maybe. If they weren’t, then he had no clue what they were.
Regardless, his observations were cut short when movement from a swarm of ladybugs rising and falling over the rows of buildings in front of him stole his attention. He stood frozen for several long seconds as he debated whether or not he should run. On one hand, he was almost completely certain that that was not normal, but on the other hand, his supposed hero partner was Ladybug and if that was true, then he should be safe…most likely…hopefully.
That thought with Ladybug’s last words to him telling him to stay put, he let the ladybugs creep closer and closer until they swirled around him.
He was pleasantly surprised when the vertigo vanished with the pounding in his head along with the pain in his limbs and back. Once the swarm had passed him, he stood alone on the rooftop, scanning the skyline for the brightly colored woman. He waited for two long minutes before he finally spotted her swinging toward him on the same cord she’d used earlier.
She landed almost completely silent in front of him, holding what he realized might actually be a yo-yo tightly in her hands. He stood there awkwardly as she just stood there looking him over.
“Uh,” he said, bringing his hands in front of him with a clap as he rocked back on his heels, “Is everyone okay? There were a lot of things flying earlier.”
Ladybug blinked, “Wh-yes. Yeah, everyone’s okay…are you okay?”
“Other than the fact that I don’t remember being a furry, yes. The little ladybugs that were flying around earlier fixed me up,” Adrien confirmed.
Ladybug frowned and said, “What do you remember? Wait—no, don’t tell me!” She waved her hands in front of her before restarting, “You don’t remember being Chat Noir?”
“Not at all,” he said.
“Do you remember how old you are?” she asked.
Adrien opened his mouth to answer before pausing, “My…little black magical creature told me we aren’t supposed to know each other's identities.”
She smiled weakly, “You talked to Plagg?” At his nod, she continued, “He’s right. We don’t. But after saving Paris time and time again for the last couple years, we were bound to slip up on little pieces of information here and there. I know how old you are, the general month your birthday is, your allergies, and stuff like that. You know—er, knew similar things about me.”
After pondering that for a moment, he said, “Got it…so not to alarm you, I do remember my name and I’m pretty sure I’m 18…” a glance at her got him an encouraging nod in return, “but I don’t actually remember anything outside of that. I don’t know where I live, if I have a family, what I ate for breakfast, or even…well, I’ll just leave it at, I think I have some extensive amnesia…pretty sure, anyway.”
Ladybug nodded stiffly, “Did Plagg advise you about any of this?”
“All he said was that it was up to me if I wanted to tell you or not about my memory problem,” Adrien hedged.
“Okay,” she muttered to herself before turning her attention back to him, “If Plagg’s memories are still completely intact, have him lead you home and he can fill you in on your life for the most part. If it works as a cover for your civilian self, you can say that you got injured in the akuma attack today.”
“Do I have a way to contact you if I need to?” he asked, twisting his ring back and forth.
“Oh, um, yes,” she said, holding up her yo-yo. Tapping on the side, the top lifted up and split down the middle like the wings of a ladybug, revealing a screen beneath it, “Our miraculous allow us to communicate as if these were phones. Your-” she cut off and scanned him. “Do you have a baton or some sort of item on you?”
Adrien raised a brow before checking his sides, moving the cloak away from his sides. As he moved to look, he noticed a small cylinder about the size of a pocketknife clipped to a belt he hadn’t previously noticed when out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something moving behind him. As soon as he took notice, it froze, but as he turned to check, it moved with him. The blur of black continued moving as he did and it was only when he paused again that he realized it was coming from him.
“I have a tail?” he muttered in confusion, grabbing the offending extra magical limb. He ignored the faint laugh from Ladybug as he pulled it to his face to study it closer. It was black and made of leather from the looks of it just like the rest of his outfit and though his first thought was…not in favor of the thing, the more he studied it, the more it grew on him. Plus, the curved blade that encased the tip of the tail was a fun addition. He wondered at how his past self had used it in battle.
“Chat?” Ladybug prompted, breaking him out of his examinations.
He dropped the tail, deciding to circle back to it at a later time. “Yeah, sorry. Here,” he said as he grabbed the weird cylinder off of his belt, offering it to her.
She took it carefully and fiddled with it for a moment before part of it rotated in on itself, revealing a screen, “This is how we can contact each other when we’re both transformed, but while we aren’t, we also have burner phones. It’s just a regular flip phone that will have my number already plugged into it. Plagg should also know where it is.”
“Got it,” Adrien nodded as she awkwardly handed his metal contraption phone back. “...So do I just...walk around blindly until Plagg gets me home?”
Ladybug winced, “Not the best plan we’ve come up with I’ll admit, but with how little I know about your life, there’s not much I can do. This area is safe, so you should be fine and if you run into any trouble, Plagg can help. If not, I’d just look for the nearest mother. Any lady with kids is going to be a safe bet, but if you can’t find any, teens are also pretty safe.”
“Plagg, mothers, teens,” he repeated. “Got it. Thanks, Ladybug.”
She winced slightly but gave him a small smile, “Sorry I can’t do more for you.”
He watched as she seemed to struggle with something before she shook her head, pulling away. With a glance that lingered, she stepped off the roof, swinging away between the buildings.
Glancing around, he decided finding a way down to the streets would be a good start for wherever he’d need to go next. Whispering, “Claws off,” he walked over to the other edge of the roof where the building he was on sat next to the building over, making a little alleyway. The little creature floated behind him silently as he studied the roof.
In the back corner he found an old rusted ladder drilled into the side of the building, “You think this’ll be sturdy enough to climb down on?”
Plagg hummed with a shrug, “No time like the present to try it out.”
That sounded good enough to him.
He turned to step down on the ladder and started carefully picking his way down, “So, what should I know about myself? I guess…the outline of my life.”
“Your name is Adrien Agreste,” Plagg started. “You turned 18 a couple months ago. Hmm, what else? Your father’s name is Gabriel. He’s an angry man who doesn't give anyone the time of day. We—okay, no. I don’t trust or like him even a little bit.”
Adrien kept his eyes on his hands and feet as the ladder creaked beneath his weight, “Are we…do I spend much time with him?”
“I’ve never seen you spend more than ten minutes with him since I’ve known you,” he said.
No mention of his mother. Was his mom ever in the picture? Adoption? Something else? “So, not close then. Do I have any siblings?” Adrien asked.
“No,” Plagg shook his head. “But you do have a couple friends at school.”
Adrien nodded thoughtfully. Not much to go off of, but it was a start at piecing together his life. “Do I have any hobbies?”
Plagg shrugged lightly as they made it to the end of the ladder, “You play piano…I suppose you also can enjoy fencing, but you really don’t have much free time.”
“Really?” Adrien asked as he brushed his hands off on his jeans before heading toward the end of the alleyway, “I would have figured that I wouldn’t be able to dress up like a furry and run around the city if I was busy.”
Cringing, Plagg flew into his jacket, “Yeah, you’re probably gonna get into trouble for being out today. Your father is extremely strict and gives you equally strict schedules to match.”
Adrien slowed at the mouth of the alley, the noise of the street washing over him in a way that felt too loud, too sharp. Cars hissed past on wet pavement, people talked over one another, somewhere a siren wailed—and his ears picked it all up with uncomfortable clarity.
“…Is it supposed to be this loud?” he asked quietly. “I don’t remember my hearing being this good.”
Plagg peeked out of his jacket again, squinting. “Ah. Yeah. You’ve got some enhanced senses from being bonded to your miraculous for so long. You usually love them. Right now, though? Probably overwhelming.”
“That’s one word for it,” Adrien muttered, rubbing at his ear before stopping himself. “Okay. Strict dad. Piano. Fencing. No free time. This is sounding less like a life and more like a prison schedule.”
Plagg snorted. “You’ve expressed similar feelings before.”
Adrien paused mid-step. “…I have?”
“Multiple times. Usually while dramatically flopping onto your bed and declaring your life unfair,” Plagg said fondly. “Then you’d perk up and say at least you could sneak out as Chat Noir.”
Adrien huffed a weak laugh. “I guess there’s always a silver lining somewhere.”
They merged into the sidewalk traffic. Adrien stuck close to the buildings instinctively, shoulders tight, eyes flicking everywhere. Every reflective surface caught his attention—store windows, car mirrors, glass doors—and every time, he startled a little at the sight of himself.
“It’s okay,” he said under his breath, “I’ve got this. Confidence is key, right?”
Plagg made a humming sound before commenting, “You’re actually handling this better than I expected.”
“Is that supposed to be comforting or concerning?” Adrien asked with a sidelong glance at the kwami.
“...Yes.”
He sighed, then hesitated. “Plagg…if Ladybug and I don’t really know anything about each other, then what’s our relationship like?”
Plagg didn’t answer immediately. “You bantered,” he said finally. “A lot. You flirted. Constantly. She teases you back while pretending to not find you funny.”
Adrien made a face. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes.”
“I flirted while dressed like a cat?” He gestured vaguely at himself.
“You leaned into it,” Plagg said. “Hard.”
Adrien covered his face with both hands for a second. “I’m never sleeping peacefully again.”
Plagg laughed, then softened. “But you also trusted her. When things got bad—really bad—you looked to her first. You listened when she told you to stand down. You followed her plans even when you didn’t like them.”
Adrien lowered his hands. That settled somewhere deep in his chest, warm and steady.
“…Okay,” he said quietly. “That helps. I think.”
They walked another block in silence before Adrien spoke again. “You said I have friends at school. Do they…know me well?”
Plagg grimaced. “They know the version of you that your father allows them to see.”
Adrien stopped. So…he didn’t have friends then? Did literally anyone in his life actually know him beside the little magical creature curled up inside his jacket? The thought made him angry, it almost surprised him how upset he felt.
Plagg sighed. “Adrien…your life is complicated. You’re kind. You’re lonely. You try very hard to be perfect because you think that’s what keeps people around.”
Adrien swallowed. His chest felt tight again, but not with pain this time.
His life sounded awful. Distant father, probably no mother, fake friends, no real social life to speak of…that didn’t feel like a life worth living. But why? Why did he put up with it? Why would his father force him to live like that? It made no sense to him. Just…why?
“Do I…like myself?” he asked.
Plagg shifted closer to his face, expression serious. “As Chat Noir? Yes. As Adrien Agreste?” He hesitated. “You’re working on it.”
Adrien nodded slowly, heart heavy. “If…if that’s the life I have waiting for me, why should I go back?”
“I don’t have all the answers, kid,” the kwami said, sounding apologetic. “But I will say that a big part of it has been that things have been purposefully made difficult for you. It would be hard for you to leave and make it on your own with what you’ve got.”
“So, what? My father is purposefully handicapping me so I’m stuck with him? So I have to do what he says?” Adrien asked, frowning as he paused to wait for the flow of traffic to stop long enough for them to cross the street.
Plagg shifted and though he couldn’t see him, Adrien decided it felt like a shrug if he had to guess. “I couldn’t say for sure. And really, I don’t pretend to know what that man’s thought process is.”
Adrien wanted to push the matter. Earlier, when they first talked, the little kwami was much more open with his opinions and now it felt like he was biting his tongue. But he also didn’t know why. For all he knew, maybe he was needing to rediscover his own opinions on things. Opinions that weren’t fed to him by others.
Regardless, he felt sure of the few opinions he’d started to form.
Plagg nudged his collarbone and redirected his path, having him backtrack to a side street before continuing on. Once they were on another stretch of sidewalk, keeping their path straight, the kwami spoke up again.”All of that to say though, I’ll support whatever choice you make, kid. I’m with you no matter what happens.”
“Thanks, Plagg,” Adrien murmured as he took in the changes of buildings around him. It felt like he’d suddenly passed through a section of the city that all of a sudden felt nicer, like the streets themselves suddenly got better funding. “Are you sure this is the right direction?”
“Unfortunately, I’m very certain,” the kwami muttered back.
Was his father well off then? The thought didn’t sit well in his stomach. His mind wound around everything he’d been told thus far and he really couldn’t understand. Why? Just…why? About so many things. He couldn’t fathom living the life he’d apparently been living for the last eighteen years.
They didn’t say anything else for the next twenty or so minutes while Adrien let Plagg direct them through the city. It wasn’t until he was finally directed to a specific building that he felt something akin to understanding settle over him.
Adrien slowed as wrought-iron fencing came into view—tall, black, ornate, curling into sharp, elegant points at the top. Beyond it stood a mansion that didn’t look real. White stone. Massive windows. Balconies with carved railings. A gated driveway long enough to qualify as its own street. Everything on the property screamed expensive.
“…You’re kidding,” Adrien breathed.
“I wish I was,” Plagg muttered.