Work Text:
Author’s Note- So guess who has a new fandom and who doesn’t like the canon pairing?! Me, that’s who! So for the miraculous fandom, hi, I’m V.I. Winthrop and I specialize in Canon Divergence fics (I call it the Winthrop spin). And welcome to the fic where Luka becomes a full time member of Team Miraculous. And yes, this is a lukanette fic because I need Marinette to have a healthy, loving and safe relationship (our girl deserves it and I have never forgiven Adrien for how he handled Lila [Nor Chat’s inability to understand boundaries]). Oh, and I aged up the characters. Marinette’s 16, Luka’s 17 and a half, etc. That’s it for now. On to the story!
Chapter 1: Sass Comes Out of Retirement
The Day After Defeating Desperada
Marinette
Whatever bus that hit her last night could go to hell. Marinette groaned as she fumbled with her alarm. She sat up, her head pounding angrily. What happened last night?
“Good morning Marinette!” Tikki greeted way too loudly.
“Tikki.” She rubbed her temples to ease the drumming in her head. “What happened last-”
Guitars, the Seine, disappearing, a bangle given back to her.
A warm smile, the sense of safety washing over her.
“Second Chance!”
“-night.” The memories hit her like a ton of bricks. Tikki looked at her anxiously. “Tikki, there was another hero with us, right?”
“Yes!” Tikki said with excitement. “The guardian heard about how difficult Desperada was for you and Chat and decided to send back up.”
But that’s not- “Right.” Marinette said. “I remember now. His name was” Tall, teal green suit that left nothing to the imagination, a kind smile. “Viperion.”
“He has the power of second chance.” Her kwami explained. “Once he switches on his timer, the snake miraculous can reset the battle back to that starting point with the memories and knowledge of what went wrong to cause the reset.”
“That’s amazing.” Heck, why weren’t they using that miraculous before? Sure the akumas and amoks were getting stronger but it would have been nice to have this trump card months ago.
“It takes a lot of mental strain to be the holder of the snake miraculous.” Shit, she had been thinking out loud again. “It’s rare to have a permanent holder so he must be very special.”
Teal eyes stared back at her. “No kidding.”
“Marinette!” Mama called from downstairs. “You’re going to be late! Your friend’s already here!”
“Waah!” With a rush, Marinette threw herself together. She trampled over a few photos that had fallen in her rush as she attempted to do her hair and put on her shows at the same time. A hip to the railing, her heel missing a step as she rushed past her parents. Marinette barely had time to grab two croissants from the rack before she flew out of the bakery.
That smile was back.
“Morning Marinette.” Luka held out his spare helmet (her helmet) to her. “Shall we?”
They rode through Paris in silence until Luka broke it with a simple, “What did you want to talk about?”
Ah, right, the reason they were on a bike ride through Paris. The text she sent him last night shortly after the akuma turned back to Vivica.
Marinette righted her arms around his waist and buried her head into his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” The confusion in his voice was palpable. Truly, this boy was too good for her.
“I shouldn’t have picked Adrien over you.” Marinette confessed. The brakes on his bike screeched to a halt. That singing bridge that Luka loved was before them but his entire focus was on her, even if his back was still to her. “Jagged put me on the spot and I panicked and answered how I usually would. Say Adrien can do it and maybe he’ll see me as more than a friend.” She looked to the ground in shame. Only Tikki’s warm paw pushing against the fabric of her bag kept her going. “But that’s not fair to you, Luka. You had the opportunity to play for your idol and I blew it for you because I’m selfish and I’m sorry.” Oh god, she was about to start crying. “I’m so-”
One of his hands fell on top of her arms and gave her a gentle squeeze. He tugged them to standing, haphazardly set the bike on his stand as he led them to a bench. It was only when he brushed her cheek that she realized that the tears had fallen.
“I don’ t think you're selfish.” He said softly, patting her chin with a finger to get her to look at him. The sun caught against his wrist, highlighting the light in his eyes. “Actually, quite the opposite. I think you’re too selfless.” Luka’s face softened. “Your song sounds crowded Marinette, like too many people are trying to conduct your symphony at once.” Leave it to Luka to accurately describe her life with just a music analogy. “I get why you choose Adrien over me. You don’t have to explain your decisions to me, Marinette. I just care that you’re the one making the decision, no one else.”
But it’s not-
Something snapped in her. Kagami’s warning rang clear. “If I could do it over again-”
“Second chance!”
“- if I had a second chance, I would choose you!” Marinette said so boldly, she shocked herself and Luka stupid. He stared at her like she was the only girl in Paris before pulling her close. Marinette melted against him, as that familiar warmth in her heart tripled.
“Who told you that you couldn’t have second chances, Marinette?” Luke whispered. She let out a shaky laugh to hide her tears, the stress of being Ladybug, Chat’s less than stellar behavior and that bitch’s tyranny hitting her all at once. “Who’s ass do I need to kick?”
The thought of Luka drop kicking Hawkmoth (and Master Fu) got a laugh out of her. But sadly, no matter how many kind words Luka said, her reality remained the same.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the Miraculous Ladybug. If she fell, all of Paris would fall with her. She couldn’t afford to have a second chance.
The sound of a lyre played through the air.
But now, in this moment, cradled in Luke’s safe arms, Marinette allowed herself to think of what could be if she had a second chance.
Later that Evening
Plagg
Plagg knew that they were screwed the moment Fu had ‘requested’ that Adrien come to his shop for a ‘last minute Chinese lesson’. Or at least, that was the excuse Adrien told his dad and Nathalie to get him out of the house. And Adrien, bless him, thought nothing of the last minute text, nor the fact that the guardian summoned him versus going to his house like the old man normally did. But Plagg, thousands of years old, god of destruction Plagg, knew that they were about to be told off. His cheese had tasted rancid this morning, afterall. A clear sign that something was about to happen.
“Adrien!” Plagg shouted as his holder slumped forward against the low table in Fu’s office. Damn it, he hated it when he was right. The tea at Adrien been drinking spilled out onto the floor. “Oi, Old Man, what the hell!” Wayzz, the traitor, cleaned up the mess with a rag, ignoring Plagg’s looks of ‘WTF’ that he was throwing at his fellow kwami. Like the fact that the old man had drugged his holder was a normal occurrence.
“Peace, Plagg, he’s unconscious, not dead.” Fu reassured way too lightly for his liking, ignoring Plagg’s protest of ‘That doesn’t make this any better!’. “And it’s clear to me that my last lesson with Adrien had been for naught.” His protest died quickly as Plagg winced at the memory of how that talk went. Fu had (somehow) found out about Adrien asking akuma victims if they missed being akumas and let’s just say that the old man was not amused.
Adrien, to his credit, had nodded, promised the old master that his poor behavior wouldn’t happen again, and promptly forgot said promise two akumas later. If he had to guess, Fu probably had Wayzz spying on them with his ShellVision and had kept spying on them after that discussion. “We need to have a talk about Adrien’s recent performance, especially with the snake miraculous.”
Panic rose as Plagg sputtered. “What? Come on, Old Man! Give the kid a break. It was a one time thing. So the kid used the snake, big deal. They defeated the akuma in the end.” The master stayed mum. “Adrien looks better in black anyway.”
“Plagg.” The sharp tone in Fu’s voice killed the rant he was about to unleash. “Your holder’s rash behavior cannot be ignored anymore. Tikki has expressed her concerns as of late.” What? “She fears that Chat’s blatant disregard of Ladybug’s orders will lead to the demise of her holder.”
The air in the room was suffocating.
“… Sugercube said that?” Plagg finally asked.
Fu gave a grim nod. “She has been coming to me for weeks now.” Plagg’s blood (if he had any) ran cold as the seriousness of the situation hit him. To make matters worse, Wayzz floated in front of Plagg with a scroll in his paws. With a snap, the scroll unraveled, revealing all of Adrien’s transgressions for Plagg to see. Reading the scroll was like a stab to the heart. Tikki’s golden, shining signature at the bottom of it was the final nail in the coffin. “Chat rushes into fights without thought. He attacks without care for the civilians around him. And most importantly, he ignores the boundaries that his partner has explicitly laid out for him.” Each sentence twisted the knife in his chest deeper. And sadly, Plagg knew the truth in the man’s words. “You know this, I know this and Ladybug knows this. The cat’s role is to guard the ladybug, not hoist all of the work onto her shoulders. And while his courage is admirable, this pattern ends today. He refuses to listen to myself and the ladybug. We must take drastic measures.”
Plagg opened his mouth, then shut it just as quickly, his holder snored blissfully beside him. Half of Plagg wanted to yell cataclysm and end this discussion then and there. Even if it meant making Paris Atlantis 2.0. But the other half (that sounded suspiciously like Tikki) knew that the Guardian was right.
Adrien Agreste was a good kid. But he was also one the most socially inept holder’s Plagg had ever had (and after Michelangelo, that’s saying something). Whatever upbringing Adrien had prior to his mother’s death was a mystery but it was abundantly clear that Gabriel Agreste’s influence was stronger than Adrien realized. The kid’s inability to respect Ladybug’s boundaries was the prime example of that. Or telling his suffering classmate to ignore that Rossi girl’s bullshit to ‘take the high road and keep the peace in class cause Lila’s lies aren’t hurting anyone, Marinette’. (God, his kid was so obvious sometimes). Or, most egregiously, how Adrien used Chat Noir to selfishly escape his reality versus facing it head on.
And don’t get Plagg wrong, he loved the kid. But even he wasn’t blind to the faults of his holder and how all of this had impacted the Ladybug. Hell, if he really thought about it, this could have (should have) happened sooner. Which is why, as he reread the scroll one final time, Plagg accepted their fate.
The fight left him as Plagg plopped into Adrien’s blond hair. “What are you going to do? Take me away from him?”
“No.” Fu said and Plagg felt like he could breathe again. “Or at least, not yet.” Oh, would you look at that, the anxiety was back.
“Please don’t.” It was a sad day when Plagg had to resort to begging but yet, here he was. Oh how the mighty have fallen. What can he say? The kid grew on him and Adrien wasn’t a bad kid. A little (okay, a lot) socially awkward. But a good kid. “The kid loves being Chat Noir. And he loves Ladybug”
“He loves the freedom that comes with being Chat Noir.” Fu corrected with another sip of his tea. “And Ladybug has rejected his advances repeatedly. Her feelings for Chat Noir are platonic, as she has made abundantly clear.”
“Adrien’s a good kid.” Plagg insisted.
Shockingly, Fu nodded in agreement. “He is. Plagg, you forget, I was the one to give him his miraculous and I wouldn’t have given you to him if he wasn’t.” Fu placed his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together, leaning forward imposingly. “But he is a young man that lacks discipline and tack while wearing the mask. And I can not be there to ensure that Chat respects Ladybug’s authority and autonomy.” This is it, the end of Adrien, Plagg and Chat Noir. Well, it was nice while it lasted. “That is why the snake miraculous will be joining the team, permanently, as a buffer.”
“Wait, what?!” This was such a turn. “Sass? You want Sass to be full time? And Sass is okay with that?” After all, Sass historically was against his miraculous being full time. Timelines were fickle and it took a certain type of mental strength to survive the duty of the snake miraculous. Hell, the only Fluff’s miraculous surpassed Sass’ when it came to mental fortitude. Neither time miraculous wanted to put such a burden on their holders.
“I volunteered.” Hissed the snake miraculous kwami in question, flying into sight from behind the Guardian’s back. Plagg flinched at the vitriol in the snake’s eyes leveled at his holder. Instantly, Plagg floated to the middle to stop Sass from burning holes into Adrien with sight alone. “And it was nothing short of a miracle that the boy realized that he shouldn’t wield me. Clearly, he needs guidance.”
Well that was fucking unnecessary. “Why you-”
“25,917.” Plagg’s jaw snapped shut as Sass’s glare deepened. “He used MY second chance 25,917 times. That one battle was nearly three months long.” Oh… shit. “I spent more time in that boy’s brain than I would have liked. He needs a firm hand and Ladybug needs support that will actually listen to her.”
Plagg winced at the reminder for Chat’s unwarranted advances towards his partner. “He has a crush on her.”
“He has an obsession with Ladybug.”
“Well if they knew each other’s identities-”
“Plagg,” Fu cut in. “that would do nothing except ruin them and you AND Tikki know that.” Well that was harsh to say, even if it was true. Plagg was well aware of how unhealthy Chat and Ladybug’s relationship was (both as civilians and heros) but there was a hope that maybe, just maybe if they knew each other’s identities, they could have a healthy relationship and partnership.
Hell, most of Plagg and Tikki’s holders did end up together in a romantic relationship. Some of them were better than others, admittedly, but besides a few platonic friendships, a romance of a lifetime was what waited for the ladybug and cat holders at the end of their service.
But the look that Sass was giving Adrien stopped him from saying that outloud. Old Snake Eyes must have gotten a vision again. And the last time Sass had a vision that the kwamis and the Guardian had ignored, Joan of Arc had burned.
And Tikki’s signature on the scroll felt all too permanent.
“Fine,” He relented with a groan, leaning back into Adrien’s curls. “so what are you going to do? Give the snake to that Luke kid? Cause Chat and Ladybug both know his identity.”
“Luka Couffaine.” Fu corrected. “already had high praise from Tikki prior to his experience with the snake miraculous. In fact, I had planned to give him a different miraculous to aide Ladybug and Char Noir in their quest. But his success with Sass in such a short time frame is undeniable.”
Sass nodded in tandem. “It’s him or no one. He is wise beyond his years.” That got a surprised look out of Plagg AND Wayzz.
“It will do Ladybug and Chat Noir well to have someone older than them on the team.” Fu agreed. “Someone with a different perspective to mediate the situation. Think outside of the box.”
“Adrien won’t like this.”
“Tough, as the kids would say. The decision have been made and Tikki has already taken the step to blur the memory of Luka Couffaine being Viperion from Ladybug’s memory.”
Plagg double tacked. “Damn, really?” Wayzz and Sass nodded in the affirmative. “Well hell, that’s unlike Sugarcube.”
“She kept the fact that Viperion was instrumental to their battle with Desperada.” Wayzz explained. “But she blurred the rest of the memory. Ladybug has no clue who Viperion is.”
“Do what you have to, Plagg.” Ordered Fu with a stern look. “Time is of the essence.”
Plagg huffed with a cross of his arms. “And what are we going to tell Ladybug and Chat when they realize we changed their memories?”
“The truth.” Fu said softly. “That we did what was necessary to protect the Miraculous Ladybug.”
And on that happy note, Plagg, the god of destruction, destroyed his holder’s memory that Luka Couffaine was Viperion. And when Adrien woke up the next morning with a splitting headache that had Nathalie giving him a hangover remedy, it took everything in Plagg to not burst out laughing.
Author’s Note - I swear, I like Adrien. But there will be minor bashing cause if I hear one more ‘he was homeschooled, he doesn’t know better’, I will scream. So what did you think?! Let me know in the comments. I live for the comments. Don’t forget to comment, kudos and bookmark! Love you guys so much!
-V.I. Winthrop
Nathalie
Teenagers, Nathalie found, were prone to the dramatics. They thrived of off the over exaggeration of emotions, if you will. But even she was taken aback by the sight of Adrien groaning into his egg whites at the dinner table.
Perhaps the most stocking thing was how much he looked like his father when Gabriel had been that age. When they would drink the expensive bottles of wine that the twins would smuggle from their parents for all of their friends to drink around the bond fire. When Gabriel would joke and smile freely. When he-
Another groan from her charge ripped her from her memories of simpler days.
"Late night studying, I see." Nathalie deadpanned as Adrien moaned in pain. She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her pocketbook. Clearly, Adrien had inherited his hangover tolerance from his father too. "Next time you want to go out drinking with your friends, at least try to hide it better." She slapped two pills in front of him and refilled his glass with water. "Take these and make sure you drink all of this."
"I’m not hungover." Adrien muttered, finally looking up at her. She raised a delicate eyebrow, patted his hair and smirked when the groaning began again.
"Sure you aren’t." Like father, like son, after all.
Author’s Note- The only good thing to come out of season 6 is Nathalie becoming Adrien’s permanent guardian. She is his mother and I will stand by that.
-V.I. Winthrop