Plagg quickly flew after Tikki, grabbing her paw as she paused in the hallway.  "Wait, Tikki!  Lycca knows.  We don't know about Hawk Moth.  The only way he can tell him is if Hawk Moth guesses and he confirms.  Also, we don't know how much of that was bullshit.  There's no way he'd tell us so much without some type of plan.  He probably wants to make us sympathetic to Hawk Moth!  The bastard could want world domination.  I can't think of any other reason he would need such powerful magic.  Also, we are not telling Adrien anything about his father until we know for sure!"

"But some of it could be true!" Tikki was trying to get out of Plagg's grasp. "If anything Hawkmoth knows who's Chat is and now Lycca knows who Ladybug is! We have to tell something! We can't keep this to ourselves! I don't want anything bad to happen again!" She buried her head in Plagg's chest and started to cry.

Plagg froze for a moment, not used to comforting anyone, before taking a hint from how Adrien handles these things and pulling her into a hug.  Why did it have to come to this?  He wanted to protect Adrien, but Tikki had a point...

"It's okay, Tikki.  We'll make sure they stay safe.  We'll tell them we saw Lycca here.  We'll tell them it sounds like Hawk Moth knows Chat's identity.  Lycca knows who Ladybug is and Hawk Moth might have guessed, but we're not sure.  We don't tell them our theory about Gabriel. I'll keep an eye out at home and see if there's anything suspicious."

Tikki took huge deep breaths to calm herself down. She didn't let go of Plagg. "I want to investigate his house. I won't feel better until I do." She looked up at him with a pleading look.

Plagg bit his lip.  They should investigate.  They really should.  But at the same time...  What if they got caught?  Adrien would want to know what they were doing.  What could their excuse be?  "I don't know... It would be bad if Gabriel saw us.  And what would we say to Adrien and Marinette if they found us snooping around? We wouldn't be able to tell them Hawk Moth's identity unless they guessed it anyway."

"We'll just have to do it, when they're distracted!" Tikki said as she let go of him. "They're both so into each other they won't even noticed us gone." She gave him a confident smile. "And if we do get caught we can just say you're giving me the tour of the house."

"It's still risky.  Say he is Hawk Moth.  What do you think he'll do if he finds two kwamis snooping around his stuff?  If he is, then he literally broke and akumatized his own son! We have to think of the cost versus the gain, and there's so much that could go wrong.  I said I'd keep an eye out around the house.  That should be good enough." 

Plagg wished she would just drop it. He didn't want to deal with this right now. He just wanted Adrien to be happy for once in the time he'd been with him. Adrien being with Marinette gave him that happiness, and Gabriel being Hawk Moth would take it away.

"But, Plagg! This our chance to put end to all of this! We can just tell Fu! He'll know what to do!" Tikki was stubborn. "If you won't snoop I'll just do it without you!"

Meanwhile Adrien and Marinette were in a room nearby sitting on a couch making out. Marinette heard some yelling. She pulled away from Adrien. "Do you hear that?" She got up from the couch and went into the hallway. She saw the two kwamis going at it. "Tikki? Plagg? Is there something wrong?"

They both jumped. Tikki turned to face Marinette. "Ah! Don't scare us like that!"

"Sorry. So what's wrong?"

Before Tikki could say anything she saw lipstick on Adrien's neck. "Marinette, I trusted you!"

"Uh..?" She looked at her kwami and then noticed she was staring at Adrien. "Ah! Oh umm..." Her face was a deep shade of red and she looked away.

Adrien followed Marinette into the hallway. The voices sounded familiar, and he was shocked to see Plagg and Tikki floating in the middle of the hallway, arguing.  They could have easily been seen!  Marinette questioned them first, focusing on why they were arguing in the first place, and Adrien blushed when he realized just what Tikki meant when she told Marinette she trusted her.  It's not like they did anything other than make out.

Plagg jumped into the conversation rather quickly.  "We were debating something we just learned," he said. He looked upset and Adrien wondered what exactly would make the two of them have such a heated 'debate'.  Plagg continued, "Tonight we saw Hawk Moth's kwami, Lycca.  Which means Hawk Moth is someone here."

"What?!" A shiver ran down Adrien's spine at the thought of their enemy casually strolling through the group of rich party-goers. He could have even spoken to him.  Plagg's next comment made his blood run cold.

"Lycca accidentally revealed Hawk Moth knows Chat Noir's identity... and he also might know Ladybug's.  We're not as certain on that since Lycca might also be messing with us.."

"Are you serious..?" Marinette question the two kwami.

"Yes," Tikki replied.

"What should we do?"

"Nothing. Hawkmoth may know your identities, but he won't come try get your miraculouses outside of battle. It's too risky."

"So we should keep fighting like normal?"

"Yes. Don't let him suspect anything. Plagg and I are going to keep an eye out. Now enjoy the rest of the of night." She grabbed Plagg by the tail. "We're going to go scout." she then dragged Plagg off so they could finish their conversation.

Marientte looked back at Adrien. "I hope they're right. You okay?"

Adrien resisted the urge to nod and give one of his best model smiles. He felt sick. When had Hawk Moth figured him out?  How had he figured him out?  Did Hawk Moth realize who Ladybug was because of him or was it just a coincidence?  He fidgeted, feeling a need to stay far away from the party room.  

"No..." he finally answered. How could he be okay? Hawk Moth was there.  They may have even shaken hands.  He could almost hear the man's voice in his mind telling him to take the earrings.  How close did their enemy get to his ring? Was he smiling to himself, or was he frustrated that taking the miraculouses would be impossible here.  

Adrien clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath.  It was okay.  Hawk Moth couldn't do anything here.  But still, the information was a little too much for him.


Plagg let Tikki drag him off.  At least he got the chance to direct the conversation.  They found a secluded room to talk in, and he just waited for her to scold him.

Marinette bit her lip and hugged him. She wished she could do more for Adrien. "It's okay. I'm here. Why don't we go back into that room?"

Meanwhile, Tikki let go of Plagg's paw and took a deep breath. "Sorry for being stubborn and yelling at you. We're so close to finding out who Hawkmoth is and we can put an end to all of this." She sat down on a chair. "I'm too attach to Marinette. I don't think I have ever been this attached to a Ladybug. I'm afraid Hawkmoth will try to akuamtize her next..."

Adrien nodded and followed Marinette back into the room.  He sat next to her on the couch, instinctively leaning into her side.  God, what was wrong with him?  He thought he'd moved past all the negative feelings associated with being akumatized.  How did he expect to fight Hawk Moth face-to-face if he couldn't even fathom being in the same room with him?  Would he have felt this terrible if all Plagg had said was 'Hawk Moth is here', or would he just brush it off confident He had no way of knowing who they were?  And how could the kwamis be so sure he wouldn't try something now that he knew their identities?  And why were Tikki and Plagg yelling at each other in the hallway?

He sighed, not sure if they should talk but deciding it might help, "I'm such a mess..."


Plagg shook his head as Tikki apologized.  "It's fine.  We're both worried for similar reasons.  Those two... They're something special, that's for sure.  Adrien's the first Chat Noir I've felt like I needed to protect. He's more sensitive than the others I've had."

He sighed and sat down next to her.  "I want to end this as much as you do.  Hawk Moth is way too close for comfort.  But the chances of him successfully akumatizing Marinette are slim as long as Adrien's looking out for her.  He doesn't want her to have the same troubles as he's having."

Marinette was quiet for a moment. She couldn't help, but feel frightened knowing that Hawkmoth may know who she is. What if he tried to akumatize her next? She shook her head. No she wasn't going to let this get to her. She looked at Adrien with a confident smile. "I'm not going to be afraid and neither should you. I'm just going keep on living my life. Hawkmoth is not a threat. He's constantly being out smarted by a couple of teenagers."


Tikki just looked at him. "I can't sit and do nothing. Please let's snoop around Adrien's house."

Adrien was quiet, letting her unwavering confidence sink into him.  It slowly pulled his own determination out from the panic trying to consume him and he was able to form a smile.  "Technically, he's being outsmarted by one teenager.  I'm just there for the extra muscle, Princess," he said jokingly.  After all, Ladybug really was the brains of the operation.  As book smart as he was, they wouldn't get anywhere if he was the strategist.


Plagg nodded.  "Fine.  We'll look around.  But we need to be careful, and if we find anything important...  I guess we go to Fu.."