A Recorded Life - Miraculous Ladybug

23 - Things Jagged Knew

Words: 1166
Chapter Summary: Going back to the reveal day, Marinette gets a call from Jagged Stone. They talk about everything, and he gives some words of wisdom while simultaneously freaking her out more. Hawkmoth has some thoughts...
Author's Note: I love Uncle Jagged, so here he is. And, some insight to gabriel ;) i love this chapter its fun

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The day the reveal went viral.

Alya brought Marinette home, and after a short conversation with her parents, Marinette went to her room. She needed to think through everything by herself and figure out what she needed to do. She was still sniffling from all her crying and emotions freaking out, and Tikki had no idea how to help her.

"Oh, Tikki. What are we going to do?" Marinette sighed.

Tikki flew up next to her. "There's no going back; now we just have to keep going. Don't let it bring you down," She told Marinette. It wasn't the best answer, but it was something.

Both of them jumped when her phone began to blare her ringtone. Marinette put her hand over her heart and sighed. "Hello?" She asked when she picked up.

"Marinette? I saw what happened. Are you okay?" Jagged Stone asked over the phone. "I wanted to check up on you."

Marinette nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "It's...it's a lot. I never imagined this would happen."

Jagged could tell she was freaking out. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

After thinking for a second, she sighed. "I've had my few minutes of fame, with my videos and working with you, but this...this is different. Is this what it's going to be like, with eyes on me at all times? My life is going to change, even more so now," Marinette started to freak out again. "I'm going to have to make a video about this, and answer questions I'm not at all prepared to answer. Even after I make the video, people will just keep asking questions that I don't want to answer, and I'm already getting hundreds of questions each minute and-"

"Did you and Adrien know about each other?" Jagged cut her off.

"No, we kept it secret from everyone. The only person who knew was the person who gave us our Miraculous," Marinette confessed.

She heard Penny giggle in the background, and she quickly realized she was on speakerphone. "Well, them and Jagged, I guess."

"Penny! Shh!" Jagged shushed her quickly.

"What? She...doesn't know you knew? You told me she told you she was Ladybug over a year ago!" Penny whisper yelled at him.

Jagged winched through his teeth and probably had his eyes shut, too, but Marinette was too concentrated on everything being said. "I may have told a little lie," He said.

Marinette's jaw dropped as she listened to them talk. "You...how did you know?" She asked. "You told Penny that I told you? What is going on?"

"Marinette, I think it's crazy no one figured out it was you two before this. When we first met with the glasses fiasco, I knew there was something special about you. And as we continued to work together and I watched your channel grow, I realized what that extra special thing was: determination and passion," Jagged told her. "Both Penny and I were akumatized, so I've seen Ladybug that way, as well as the chance meetings at parties and ceremonies. It was easy to put two and two together as I saw you grow as a creator and a person, then saw how much you resembled Ladybug and how Ladybug resembled you in more ways than one- it's not only the pigtails!" Jagged laughed.

"A few months ago, when Adrien started popping up in your videos, I noticed how close you guys were even though I had never really seen you guys together before, especially not alone. When I saw your dynamic with each other and knowing what I did about you, I took an educated guess about our favorite model boy," Jagged said. "The only people I talked to about it was Penny and Fang, and we would never tell a soul!" He swore. "I know how hard you work on protecting Paris and trying to live a normal life; it's hard stuff to balance. But now that your secret identity is out, the balance could get harder. People are going to pry and try to get you to talk about things you're not comfortable with, and it could be even more difficult because you are also so close with Adrien, people are going crazy about that. Don't let it get to you, the hate will never be worth it, and you're just going to keep doing the job you do so well at," She could hear his smile through the phone.

Marinette took a deep breath as she processed what she was told. "Thank you, Jagged," She said, simply. "I'm kind of surprised Alya didn't figure it out, but I guess that's what the magic is for."

He laughed, relieved Marinette wasn't angry with him. "Marinette, I hate to leave you, but I do have some business of our upcoming collaboration to attend to. I wanted to make sure you were okay. You think you'll make it through the day?" He asked.

"Yeah, I've just got to go think over everything. Thanks again, and I hope we'll get to release one of the singles soon."

"That's what this meeting is for!" Penny yelled in the background. "Be in touch, Marinette!"

The phone call ended, and Marinette fell into her chaise chair. She had a lot of stuff to think about.

---

Gabriel faced his large window as he heard the hidden elevator enter his room. "I assume you've seen the news?" Nathalie asked as she walked closer to him.

All he did was nod once and shut his eyes. "Did you have any idea?" Nathalie asked.

"No," Gabriel answered stoically. "My own son? Fighting against me?"

Nathalie sighed. "I can't believe it either. But, to be fair, he has no idea it's you."

"I could have taken that stupid ring off him a million times!" Gabriel shouted, turning around to face Nathalie. "And Miss Dupain-Cheng would do anything I'd say. I could have had their miraculous years ago," He grumbled, his fists clenched.

Nathalie didn't flinch when he screamed, only smiled. "Adrien is not home yet. I assume he is with Marinette," She said. "Extend your 'trip' to give Adrien a few days to process, and when you 'come back,' you have a civil conversation. From there, he'll trust you, and he will have no reason to suspect you. Making getting their miraculous' much easier," She explained.

Gabriel was confused at first, but then understood. "Brilliant. Tell Adrien I will be back to Paris in three days."

Though Adrien believed his father was really on a business trip, he was not. He needed time to develop a plan for his strongest Akuma without Adrien getting suspicious. And with the new information to his plan, he could easily extend the trip.

"I'll keep you updated," Nathalie nodded and turned to the elevator, leaving the darkroom and back into the mansion.

"Nooroo," Gabriel called.

"Yes, master?" Nooroo appeared a second later.

Gabriel had an evil smile on his face. "Good work with the latest Akuma."