Unclean Hands 🫴🏻 (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction)

18 | Under The Water

"My... father's... body?" Adrien repeated as his entire body went numb.

"It makes sense," Marinette whispered as she began to explain. "We can't find it anywhere in his office and we forgot to check his clothes! Well, we didn't find out he was Shadowmoth until after we dumped his body."

He shook his head fast. "No, I-I can't go down there. I don't... I don't know how I'll react to seeing his body again." After his father's transparent sightings around the house, Adrien didn't want to be anywhere near him.

Marinette stepped forward and grabbed his hand. She squeezed it tight and said, "Hey, it's okay. I'll go down there."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, but the thought of touching a dead body sent a shiver down her spine. "I'll be fast." She walked over to the painting and raised her hands, hesitating for only a second before she reached out and pressed the secret buttons.

The floor opened beneath Marinette and the elevator brought her back down to the butterfly garden.

"Tikki, spots on."

Ladybug walked across the bridge and climbed on the railing. She held her balance and reached into her yo-yo for a blue macaroon.

"Tikki, power up."

She dove off headfirst as she transformed into Aquabug and landed in the chasm of water. The sudden chill almost sent her into shock and she steadied her breathing.

Aquabug grabbed her yo-yo and used it as a flashlight as she looked around. It was big and dark down here. It could take her hours to find Gabriel's body.

Might as well start swimming, She thought to herself as she moved her arms forward and kicked her legs. She didn't even know if the butterfly and peacock miraculous would be with him, but she had to check. She had to know.

Her bug phone beeped with a text from her partner. Adrien must have transformed into Cat Noir to communicate with her.

Cat Noir: Any luck, Milady?

Aquabug: Not yet, Kitty, but I'll search all day if I have to.

Cat Noir: If you need my help, I can come down

Aquabug: It's okay. I can handle this. I'll see you soon.

Aquabug turned her flashlight back on and kept searching. Five minutes passed, then ten, ten twenty, and soon a whole hour, and she still hadn't found anything.

Then, as she was about to give up, she finally found him, laying lifeless at the bottom. Aquabug pushed through her fears and swam over to him. The blanket was wrapped tight around his body and she struggled to get it off.

"Come on," She mumbled to herself, using the rest of her strength to flip him over. The fabric was free and she pushed it aside. Where would he keep two brooches? She saw his tie and moved it. She was right. The butterfly and peacock miraculous were pinned to his shirt.

Aquabug took the miraculous and closed her fist. She didn't want to take any chances in losing them again. She stared at his face, his eyes closed, and she frowned. Even though he was a wicked, horrible man, Adrien still lost his father. First his mother, and now Gabriel.

Adrien had no one else.

As Aquabug was about to swim up, she glanced at Gabriel's arm and noticed part of his skin was dark, almost burned like that. Confused, she pushed the sleeve up, seeing more of this damage, and then unbuttoned his shirt.

She was expecting a stab wound, like Adrien claimed, and her eyes widened. His chest, shoulders, and left arm were dark and black, damaged from what she recognized as Cat Noir's cataclysm.

Adrien said he stabbed his father with a fencing sword. Why did he lie to her?

Aquabug threw her yo-yo and wrapped it around the railing as she pulled herself out of the water. "Tikki, power down." She transformed back into Ladybug and opened her yo-yo. Through the magical portal, she put the butterfly miraculous safely back in the miracle box.

"Spots off," She whispered as she became Marinette again. She stared at the peacock miraculous in her hand. "You saw what I saw, Tikki. Right?"

The kwami raised to her hand. "Cat Noir's cataclysm... that's what actually killed Gabriel Agreste."

"Why did Adrien lie to me?"

"I..." Tikki went quiet. She didn't know what to say.

Marinette stuffed the brooch in her pocket and took the elevator back up to the house. She found Adrien, detransformed now, and walked over to him.

"Did you find them?" He asked.

"Why did you lie to me?" She said instead.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You said you stabbed your father! When I was down there, I saw the dark spots on his body. You cataclysmed him!"

Adrien's eyes widened. "You... I..."

"Why did you lie to me?" She asked again.

He covered his face with his shaky hands as he started crying again. "I... at-at first it was to protect my secret identity, but then I couldn't admit to myself—or to you—that I had used my powers to kill someone. Even if that someone was my father, I still took someone's life. I used my miraculous in a way that was never intended to! It should be used for good, not evil, and in a moment under deep pressure, I couldn't control myself."

Marinette frowned. "Adrien..."

Plagg appeared by their side. "That is not true, Adrien! You tried to fight your father and held off as long as you could. He was choking you, he was going to kill you! Adrien, you saved yourself."

Adrien shook his head. He didn't believe his kwami. "No. I'm not worthy of my miraculous anymore."

Marinette grabbed his hand. "So, that's why Cat Noir's been ignoring me and not showing up for patrol."

"I'm sorry..."

She started crying and gasped out, "I thought I lost my partner... Cat Noir hasn't been seen in over a month and I had no way to reach you. I thought something horrible happened to you!"

Adrien stepped forward and hugged Marinette as she sobbed into her hands. "I'm sorry, I just... I couldn't face you. I'm so ashamed of myself. It's even hard to look at myself in the mirror."

He stared off at his mother's painting, and as he blinked, he saw his father standing there.

"How could you kill your own father?" Gabriel taunted.

Adrien gasped and jumped back from Marinette.

"Adrien..." She stared at him with wide eyes. "Are you okay?"

He looked at Marinette, then back at the painting. His father was gone. "Yeah, I'm... fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Seems like something scared you instead," She pointed out. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Adrien shook his head fast. "No, no... let's just give Felix what he wants."