The Double Face of the Designer's Son

Chapter 14.

Adrien awoke in the garden room. His head ached from lying on the ground, but he sat up. The brightness blinded him. His eyes met those of a woman, widening in shock.

"Mom?" The woman teared up.

"It's me, Adrien," she said. Adrien scrambled to get off the ground.

"How are you alive ?" He blinked back tears.

"Come back to me," she replied, stroking his face with one hand. "Come back to me."

"What are you saying?" He pulled away from her touch with sudden anxiety filling his body.

"I want to see you again," she whispered, then turned and began walking into the garden. She turned a corner. Adrien followed her, but she seemed to have disappeared. "I want you to come to me."

"Mom?" Adrien heard footsteps and laughter. "Mom!" He dashed around the garden, desperate to find her. Her voice, taunting him, came from all around him.

"I want to see you, Adrien," she repeated, "I want to see you." Adrien fell to his knees, heart pumping, vision blurring with tears.

"Where are you?!" he desperately screamed.

"Come find me, Adrien."

"Sir!"

Adrien sat up, gasping for breath. Claire was staring into his eyes with her hand on his shoulder. She sighed with relief as she pulled away from him.

"You must've been having a nightmare, sir. Sorry for waking you up so early, but... well," she gestured to his face. He reached up and found it was coated with sweat and tears. He wiped vigorously at his forehead and cheeks with the sleeve of his shirt. Claire looked concerned. "Are you alright, sir?"

"I'm fine," Adrien muttered briskly. "How did you know I was having a nightmare?"

"You were yelling in your sleep. I could hear you from my office," she replied. "But you should get up. You're meeting Ladybug at the Arc de Triomphe in an hour." She quietly exited, shutting the door behind her.

"What was your dream about, kid?" Plagg zipped out of the drawer he had been hiding in. "Must've been pretty terrifying. You were yelling your head off. I'm glad that Claire came to get you. I was too scared to wake you up."

"It was my mom." Plagg's face fell.

"I'm sorry, kid. I didn't realize-"

"It's fine, Plagg. You don't need to apologize. It's not like it's your fault or something." Plagg wiped his forehead.

"Phew. You should try not to worry about that now. Places to go, people to see... people that would appreciate if you took a shower." Adrien smiled. Plagg could always lighten his mood and, as usual, also had a point: he really should rinse off the buckets of sweat from his nightmare if he wanted to make a good impression.

-

Strands of hair blew across Ladybug's face. She privately thought it was a bad idea to meet Cat Noir, but she didn't have time to say no after the fight with Analyst.

"Claire," she whispered to herself, "got akumatized. I thought she'd thrown the media off my trail, but now that we've been in the same place everyone will know. I'm in danger again." She smiled bitterly. "Might as well change my name to Danger Bug."

"Ladybug suits you better." She turned to see Cat Noir standing behind her. He wandered over and sat next to her. "Thanks for meeting me here."

"Why don't we cut to the chase and discuss whatever you had in mind?" Ladybug suggested a bit briskly.

"Okay..." Cat Noir mumbled. "I just really wanted to catch up. I was gone for five years and all."

"Where were you?" Ladybug sighed. "I guess I can't blame you. Civilian business, I'm assuming?"

"You assume correctly. It was out of my control."

"You're an adult! Nothing is out of your control if you want it enough."

"You don't know I'm an adult. And you also don't know my father." Internally, he cringed. He shouldn't have brought that up.

"I'm pretty sure you're an adult, but no, I don't know your father. Well, I guess I might if I know you as a civilian," she pointed out. Cat Noir sighed.

"What does it matter? The point is that I wanted to make things right." Both heroes were silent for a moment. "I wanted to apologize for not being there for you all these years."

"I accept your apology," Ladybug said curtly. The two gazed at the city skyline.

"So how's life as Paris' favorite superhero?"

Ladybug smiled."I'd say it's... pretty good lately, thanks to you." She caught her mistake immediately. She couldn't mention that, it had happened to her as a civilian. Cat Noir raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Cat Noir asked suspiciously. Ladybug raced to justify herself.

"I, uh... you know, my partner is back in town!" Ladybug giggled nervously, acting just a bit too similar to her civilian self. Cat Noir nodded.

"Got it," he muttered. "I hope nobody got hurt because of me."

"Don't say that, Cat, you told me it was out of your control. If you couldn't help it, you couldn't help it."

"How would you know the difference if I lied?" Cat Noir instantly regretted snapping at Ladybug. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Does this mean you did lie?" A shadow of betrayal crossed her face.

"No. I'd never lie to you. No reason to, since you don't know me in real life." Cat Noir muttered grimly. He gritted his teeth. Ladybug was frustrated with his pessimism. She stood up.

"I may not know who you are, but I know you're a good man, Cat Noir." Ladybug swung away from the scene, leaving the forsaken hero to wallow in his emotions. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, a bartender across the town was doing the same.

-

"Eloise, please! I can change!" He threw down the bottle in his hand and tried to coordinate himself enough to get to her before she left. Her eyes glittered with tears.

"So come back when you have." She closed the door. He sat in a mess of empty bottles and the glass shards of the one he had thrown. He knew he shouldn't drink after work. Yet he couldn't stop. He just couldn't stop...

"Ah, the powerful cocktail of human emotion..." a woman's voice muttered.

"They really should learn to put down the glass before it's too late." A dark hand covered the ghostly outline of a pure white butterfly. "Oh well. All the better for my Akuma." The hand lifted to reveal the purple-black creature, which quickly flew toward the alcoholic.

"Barkeep, I am Ghost Moth. I'm giving you the power to spike your cocktails with a little revenge. In return, if you will, I only need the source of Ladybug and Cat Noir's powers." Ghost Moth grinned. "Do you accept?"

"Looks like the first item on the menu tonight is a Molotov."