Demigods: In Paris (a Miraculous Ladybug and Percy Jackson crossover)

The readers make up a funny title here

Everybody stared at him. Adrien shuffled his feet, and shrugged. Without his costume, he suddenly felt very exposed.

His father stared, at a loss for words. Adrien couldn't tell whether his expression was horrified, angry, awestruck or just shocked. Then Plagg came shooting out of his ring, several seconds late, as if he'd been trying to give him a moment of privacy. Or maybe time had just seemed to slow down as he revealed his biggest secret.

"You've gone and done it now, kid," the kwami grumbled, lauding in Adrien's waiting hands with a tired sigh. He bashed his little black head against Adrien's fingers repeatedly. Adrien looked back at his father, who was still staring, then at Ladybug, who looked both horrified and strangely flushed from the cold.

"My own son..." Gabriel breathed eventually. "You've been lying to me the whole time?"

"You've been doing the same," Adrien accused, but his heart wasn't in it. Finally, Ladybug broke out of her reverie, and marched over to him. 

"You idiot!" She announced loudly, fists clenched tightly at her sides. He half expected her to slap him. If he'd still been Chat Noir, she probably would have. "What were you thinking?!"

Adrien withered under her gaze. So much for his fantasy that she would melt into his arms if he ever revealed himself. "You already knew?"

"I had a hunch!" She'd seemed pretty sure of herself when she'd been whispering into his ear, breath warm on his skin. How had she figured it out, anyway? How long had she known? She'd been acting weird tonight, but that could be for an entirely different reason. He wondered if he'd ever met her. "You know that we're not supposed to know each other's identities! If the Master finds out, we'll have to give up our Miraculous!"

"But-"

"No! You never know who could be watching! Maybe Alya was recording the entire time!"

She grabbed him round the waist - heat shot through him at the contact - and threw her yoyo. "Stay." She commanded Gabriel and the teens. "I'll be back."

Without the magical agility of his costume, the world seemed to travel very fast around him, so he didn't recognise where he was going until they touched down in front of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

"What are we doing here?" He asked, accidentally falling into his more timid Adrien habits around her.

"You said you were staying with Marinette Dupain-Cheng tonight?" Ladybug asked. "Stay here. You need an alibi to protect your identity, and the more people you're around, the better. Understand?"

"Ladybug-"

"Shhh," she placed a finger on his lips. It lingered for a few moments longer than it needed to, then there was a whir and Ladybug was gone. What was her alibi for tonight, Adrien wondered, watching until she disappeared behind buildings.

"Adrien? Is that you, honey?" A sweet female voice asked as the door of the bakery opened to reveal Sabine, Marinette's mother. "I didn't hear you leave. Is Marinette with you?"

Adrien remembered why he'd left in the first place. "Um, no." Marinette had been acting strange, then she'd vanished. Adrien frowned, a thought niggling just out of his reach.

"Oh. It's just been a while since she left, which isn't like her, especially at her own party." Sabine reached up to flick the bell above the shop door. It tinkled merrily. "I didn't hear her leave either, you know. Maybe we should get the bell looked at."

Adrien followed Sabine back into the shop, mind still whirring with possibilities. What was going on at the Eiffel Tower? Did they need him? Was it possible to sneak away again without being noticed? How come Ladybug got to know about his identity, but not he hers?

No, Adrien thought, that last one wasn't fair. She hadn't chosen to know. If anything, it was his own fault for not being careful enough. He didn't know what he'd been thinking, revealing himself to his father like that. Could he ever go home again?

Even as he thought this, Adrien couldn't help but remember that Ladybug had mentioned having important plans tonight, and wondering what they could be. Was she missing something crucial, like a wedding? Or a date? Or... or a birthday party?

Adrien looked around him. Marinette still wasn't back, and the film was almost over. What if Ladybug was sacrificing her own alibi for him? He swiped a snack from a table and shoved it into the bag where Plagg was hiding, then took his warm hat off and hid it under a beanbag. With that half-formed thought still swirling at the back of his mind, Adrien slipped back out of the room without any of his friends noticing, and back through the shop to the door, which rang loudly. He winced. 

"Leaving so soon?" Tom asked from the doorway to the kitchen.

"Yeah, I think I dropped my hat outside. I'm just going to retrace my steps, see if I can find it," Adrien lied with a twinge of guilt.

"Oh, alright. Good luck!" 

"Thanks," Adrien whispered, then made his way to the nearest sidestreet and checked Plagg had finished his snack before transforming again. He extended his baton to either head back to the Eiffel Tower or search for Marinette, but mid-leap he collided with something warm and red and they both crashed to the ground. 

"What," Ladybug growled as she climbed back to her feet, "are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd help you get this talking thing over with so you could get back to your... plans."

Ladybug's earring beeped, and he startled. That meant she'd used her Lucky charm... but why?

"Why are you here?" He asked. Ladybug frowned.

"Things got messy at the tower. I left Percy and Annabeth battling Hawkmoth, but I don't know how long they can hold him off for. They're obviously excellent fighters, but without powers... He seems pretty mad."

"So...."

She extended her hand. In her palm were two miraculous. "So something told me we were going to need some help."

"Rena Rouge and Carapace?" She nodded. "They live around here?"

Ladybug covered her mouth, realising he didn't know their identities. "Um... You should go back to the tower. Although.. Are you sure you want to be there? I trust Rena and Carapace, but Hawkmoth might be a little more open with your identity than we'd like."

"Do I know them?"

"I... I can't answer that." 

"Do I know them?" Carapace in particular seemed very familiar. He knew that their identities were supposed to be secret, but if Chat was going to risk them knowing his, he wanted to know if he could really trust them. 

Ladybug deflated. "Maybe."

"Ok. I'll meet you there."