the next holders//mlb fanfiction

40//the prize

Okay so I've plotted A LOT for this chapter so it's probably gonna be longer than previous chapters! :)
I hope it doesn't seem rushed

"You're Ladybug." There's no doubt in their voice, just disbelief and confusion.
"I'm not." Autumn tries to sound convincing, which she doesn't.
"Thinking about it, it makes so much sense. You always disappear during attacks, you have a natural leadership ability and you're good at improvising. How didn't I notice before?" Rune says out loud, although he wasn't necessarily saying it to Autumn.
Autumn isn't sure what to do, her identity hasn't been revealed to anyone and she hoped she could've kept it that way. And if she were to reveal it to anyone, she would've chosen El, not Rune. But they know, they figured it out. "Fine, just- don't tell anyone."
"I promise." Rune says sincerely, but Autumn is still skeptical about it.
"How do I know you won't break that promise?"
"Trust me." Rune says, that being the only thing he can think of. They can't think of any way to prove it.
"That's the thing, I don't. Ever since I met you, I haven't trusted you a single second." Autumn says, freaking out. She knows it's the worst possible situations to freak out, but she can't help it "Just because we have a mutual enemy doesn't mean that I trust you. There's still something about you that doesn't sit right with me. For all I know..." Autumn continues, but gets interrupted by Rune:
"I'm the one behind the attacks." Autumn states at Rune with disbelief, not sure if they're sincere or joking around. "Now you know my secret, too." Rune says dead serious, Autumn wants to ask every question on her mind, but all she can do is mouth the word 'what'.
"Look, your intuition is good and there are so many reasons why you shouldn't trust me. But I promise — and when I make a promise I keep it — that I won't reveal your identity." Autumn doesn't want to trust Rune, but for some reason, she feels like she has to. So she nods, and tells Tikki she can come out.

"I'm Tikki, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Tikki introduces herself.
"Rune." Rune stutters, they swear they've seen a creature like that before, she just forgot where she's seen it.
"Shouldn't you guys continue the plan?" Tikki says as if nothing has happened and both of them snap back to reality. They try planning every possible outcome, mostly the outcomes where they find out that Lila is HawkMoth, but also the outcomes where they find out she isn't and they have to think of an excuse for El. Suddenly it hits Rune, he remembers where he's seen a creature like Tikki before: as a drawing on El's wall, "El is Lady Noire, isn't she?" Rune asks without thinking about their words first. Autumn looks up, unsure what to do or say. Her identity getting revealed is one thing, but revealing El's identity goes too far.
"She isn't." Autumn says, it sounds convincing this time, but apparently not convincing enough.
"I guess that makes sense too. She's never where she says she is, she's always late and leaves without warning and she's been feeling down ever since Lady Noire stopped fighting akumas. Honestly, how has no one figured it out before?" Rune sums up, giving Autumn a lot of anxiety. Even if she tries denying it, it would only make the situation worse. How did they figure it out this quickly, the magic is supposed to prevent that from happening. She knows she won't figure that answer out though, and just nods defeated. "HawkMoth took her only way to transform. She's powerless."
Rune nods understandingly, as if he saw this response coming from a mile away. "Then all we have to do is get that way of transforming back."

After planning everything out, which took a lot of hours, they've devised a plan as well as sub-plans depending on the different possible outcomes. For example, if they were to go to the attic and find proof of Lila being HawkMoth, they won't fight her right away but bring El the news, first. If Lila finds them there though, Rune will distract her while Autumn finds a place to transforms. And those are only two of the possible outcomes. They'll go to El's house tomorrow to execute the plan, she'll be ungrounded then. Today, Autumn has to do some preparations, such as visiting the previous miraculous holder.