Damn

Marinette exhaled quietly as the last customer left the Bakery, three hours non-stop, which was preceded by another three hours before she was forced to take a break. The usual help hadn't shown up that morning and both Marinette and her mother had been swapping over at set intervals, while her father kept an eye on the oven.

Marinette had recalled hearing her parents complain about Jonathan before, but this was the first time he hadn't shown up for work. Marinette heard the bell over the door go, before putting on her 'customer service' face, which quickly broke when she spotted her grandfather.

"You look dead." Came his blunt statement.

"Jon didn't show up this morning." Said Marinette, "Normally, we'd contact his wife, but neither are picking up."

Rolland was quiet, "He's the one that's older than me."

"Yeah, I think he's supposed to be retired." Remarked Marinette, "Papa and Maman are in the back, I think I heard them arguing about the consistency of some icing for a cake."

Rolland shook his head, before walking into the back. Marinette sighed, before the bell over the door rang again. Marinette took a deep breath in and looked ahead.

"Welcome to Tom and Sabine's Bakery, how may I help?" Said Marinette in her 'customer service' voice.

"You didn't turn up for Orange Juice." Said Kagami, making Marinette slump forwards.

"I knew I forgot something." Groaned Marinette, "First Jon didn't turn up and now I forgot about our drink, what's next, Adrien telling me I forgot some project?"

There was a stiff silence, before Kagami looked to the side. Marinette groaned and dropped her head against the counter.

"Kill me now." Groaned Marinette, "Of course things are going to shit, Jon doesn't turn up, then I forget about our drink date and the class project and Luka saying that we 'need to talk' tomorrow."

Kagami frowned, her head tilting slightly, "Is wanting to talk a bad thing?"

"Kagami," Said Marinette, through her hands, "when one party in a relationship says, 'we need to talk' nothing good is going to come from it."

Kagami was silent.

"Whenever Adrien says we need to talk, he shows me cat pictures." Said Kagami, Marinette stared at her friend.

"Either Adrien is adorably naïve, or he doesn't know what that phrase is used for." Said Marinette, after a second.

Sabine poked her head out of the kitchen, "Marinette, go upstairs, you've done enough for today."

Marinette smiled, until she decided to stand up, when her legs couldn't take her weight and promptly collapsed onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Asked Kagami, as Marinette hauled herself back up.

"I'm. Fine." Grunted Marinette, as she made her way to the stairs.

Kagami watched her fall three more times before walking over, picking her up and carrying up the stairs.

D

"Can I have a kitty, Maman, pleeease?" Pleaded Manon, giving her mother the puppy's eyes

"No, Manon," Sighed Nadja, looking away from her computer, "having a pet is a big responsibility, and you can't have one until you're older."

"B-b-but," Manon whimpered, getting a sigh from Nadja.

"Manon," Said Nadja, firmly, "I've said no."

Manon burst into tears and ran off, getting a dejected sigh from her mother.

'Stupid Maman,' Thought Manon, not noticing the Akuma, 'I am old enough.'

"Grown Up, I am Monarch. Your Mere believes you are too young for any responsibility, if you bring me Ladybug's and Chat Noir's Miraculous and you'll get what you want."

"Okay."

D

Marinette stretched as she stood up, carefully adjusting the table. Kagami glanced at the clock.

"I have to go, Mother is expecting me home soon." Said Kagami, getting up, "Same time next week?"

Marinette nodded, "Want a lift? I've told Maman I'd deal with some of the deliveries today."

"That would be nice."

Five minutes later Marinette was driving her moped with Kagami and some deliveries.

"Why'd you retry things with Luka?" Asked Kagami, as they rounded a corner.

"I thought I needed to work on me," Called Marinette, "I thought if I became a better version of myself, things would be easier with Luka."

"Are they?"

"Nope." Answered Marinette, as they stopped at Kagami's home. Frowning, Marinette looked at her phone, "Hold on, did your Maman order from my parents?"

"She tried one of your family's pastries and enjoyed them." Answered Kagami, as Marinette pulled a bag from the case on her moped.

"Right, give me a moment." Marinette hopped off the vehicle, and walking up to the door with the bakery bag.

"I'll take it, Mother's going to be in a meeting." Said Kagami, taking the bag from Marinette, "See you next week."

D

Marinette sighed, rolling her shoulders as she remounted her moped. She'd just finished her deliveries and was about to head home, part of her wondered why it was so quiet, before she shook her head and drove home.

Meanwhile, Grown Up ran across the rooftops, revelling in her freedom.

D

Yawning, Marinette looked around, before crossing the road. She smiled as Alya waved at her, before she heard someone shout.

"I AM GROWN UP, I WANT THE MIRACULOUS!" Alya and Marinette were hit by a beam of light, before Grown Up ran away.

"What the hell?" Asked Alya, before looking at Marinette and gasped, "Girl, look at you."

"Look at me?" Marinette pointed at Alya, "Look at you!"

Both girls were at least ten years older, Alya was wearing a suit like the one Nadja Chamack wore when she was working, while Marinette was wearing a dark blue pant suit.

"Whoa." Said both girls.

D

Adrien gulped as he looked at Marinette, thanks to the Akuma that aged anyone hit by their ray, Marinette and Alya had been hit and aged up to at least 25.

Adrien was quick to notice that Marinette looked 'smoking hot', as Kim put it, and had certainly gotten bigger in the chest and hips. He didn't look at Alya, but he felt Nino was thinking the same thing.

It certainly didn't help when Adrien suddenly blurted out,

"Please step on me." Blurted Adrien, before he clapped his hands over his mouth. Adrien just wanted to die. He decided he would do it himself if he had to.

"Please do it. I wanna see what happens." Said Kim, laughing as Adrien and Marinette's faces went red.

"Shut up, Kim." Said Alya, taking control of the situation. She removed her blazer and dropped it on top of Marinette's, "We need to focus on more important things."

Adrien thought he saw Nino covering his nose, while Marinette folded her arms across her chest.

"Yeah," Said Alix, pointing at Nathaniel, "Like why does Nath look homeless?"

They glanced at him, Nathaniel was hit by Grown Up as well, but while Marinette and Alya looked healthy and well dressed, Nathaniel was filthy and unnaturally skinny.

"I don't know." Rasped Nathaniel, before he hacked up a cough.

"Hold on." Lila, who'd also been hit by Grown Up, grabbed a torch from her pocket, she had a doctor's coat on and a hospital ID, she crouched in front of Nathaniel, "Open up."

Nathaniel grimaced, but slowly opened his mouth, Lila visibly recoiled and nearly dropped her torch.

"Well, that's something you don't see that every day." Muttered Lila, as Marinette crouched next to her.

"Is that a…" Marinette tilted her head to the side.

"There are a couple of masses, one at the back of your throat and another on your gums along your molars." Said Lila, frowning, "But…maybe you should cut back on the cigarettes."

"How can you tell he smokes?" Asked Marinette, as Alya joined them.

"Staining on his fingers, his cough and the state of his teeth and gums." Answered Lila, before stiffening, "How the hell do I know that?"

"I've got some news headlines on my mind and Marinette's got some meetings on hers." Said Alya, before glancing at Nathaniel.

Marinette groaned, "We're getting off subject, sorry Nath, but I think we can focus on our future problems when they actually happen."

"Right." The others nodded, as Nathaniel reached into his pocket for a pencil, before he frowned and pulled out a syringe.

Lila quickly took the syringe from him and put it on Bustier's desk.

"We need to find the Akuma, get all this fixed and go back to hating each other." Marinette glanced at Lila and Chloé, who'd also been hit by the beam, "So, what do we know?"

"She calls herself 'Grown Up'." Said Lila, "So, it's likely that she's a small child that's been told she's too young for something."

"Okay, so if we can figure out what she wants, we could distract her with it." Said Alya, shifting.

"But, to do that we'd need to know who she is." Said Marinette, getting a scoff from Chloé.

"Out of everyone in the city, the first two she targets are you two." Said Chloé, "Most people target people they know, so, do any of the brats you baby sit want something they can't have?"

The class watched as Marinette frowned, before her jaw dropped, "Oh my god."

Marinette ran out the room, leaving everyone at a loss.

D

Marinette carefully put the box on the table, getting frowns from everyone.

"What's that?" Asked Alix, as Marinette reached into the box and pulled out a kitten.

"Someone dumped an entire litter in my family's bin." Said Marinette, as the other kittens started mewing, "I showed them to Manon and she's been besotted with Tiny since she met her."

Alya raised an eyebrow, "Tiny?"

"Because she's small." Answered Marinette, before heading towards the door, "Hopefully, finding Manon will be easy.

D

Grown Up was running around the park, despite her name, she looked more or less the same, with 'grown up' make up on her face. Marinette wanted to coo at how adorable it was, while another part of her wanted to roll around laughing at how ridiculous Manon looked.

"Manon." Said Marinette, getting the Akuma's attention, "Come here."

"Marinette!" Grinned Grown Up, running toward Marinette, "Have you got Kitty?"

Marinette nodded, "But, if you want her, you need to give me the Akuma object."

Manon rapidly nodded, all but throwing a sheet of paper at Marinette. She handed the kitten to Manon, prompting the animal to start purring. The sound of someone skidding got Marinette's attention, turning, she found Chat Noir. She smiled and held the piece of paper out to him.

"You might want to get this to Ladybug." Said Marinette, before heading off, "Could you watch her for me, please? I need to do something."

Chat absently nodded, allowing Marinette to slip into an alley way, she saw a guy sitting amongst some bins, but quickly noted that he was asleep.

"Tikki," The Kwami appeared out of Marinette's pocket, "Spots on!"

A flash of light woke the man from his sleep, seeing an Adult Ladybug swing out of the Alley, he looked down at the bottle of whiskey and started to pour it away.

Ladybug landed next to Chat and took the piece of paper from him, "Thank you."

Chat stared at her dumbstruck, as Ladybug tore the piece of paper and purified the Akuma. Pulling up a lucky charm and casting the cure, Ladybug found herself back at her normal height. Chat almost looked disappointed.

"We better get going," Said Ladybug, drawing her arm back, "I'll make sure to point Marinette back this way."

"Okay." Said Chat, quietly as Ladybug left, "I'll see you in a minute."

Marinette skidded to a stop in front of Chat, "Sorry, I had to move my moped."

"Okay, M'Lady." Marinette's eyes got impossibly wides.

"Wha-" "Marinette!"

Marinette looked at Nadja, who was running up to her, "I can't find Manon! Her father thought she was with me and I thought she was her and…"

"She was Akumatized." Said Chat, pointing toward Manon and Kitty, "It was dealt with."

"I should've said," Said Marinette, "we had some low-life dump a litter of kittens in our bin. I've been cleaning them up and nursing them until we can rehome them. Manon saw Tiny and, well, fell in love with her."

Nadja gnawed at her bottom lip, watching Manon play with the kitten.

"She's helped me with feeding them and playing with them." Continued Marinette, "She's also calmed down easier when the kitten's with her."

Nadja walked up to Manon and looked at the cat, before looking at Marinette, "She is house trained, right?"

Marinette nodded, "They know to use a litter tray or to go outside. I've actually had to go on my balcony wearing gloves because of them."

"What does she eat?"

"Normal cat food, but she is partial to a piece of salmon every so often." Answered Marinette, "Of course, she still needs to be chipped and spayed."

"I'll handle that." Dismissed Nadja, as she picked Manon up, "I'll drop around later to hash things out."

Marinette smiled and waved Nadja, Manon and Kitty off, before whirling around on Chat, "How do you know?!"

"Both you and Ladybug were older." Answered Chat, as Marinette gaped at him.

"So was Alya!"

D */Ten Years Later/*

Marinette quietly hummed to herself as Felix and Noir rolled around the room, she heard Hugo and Louis fighting over a toy and Emma gurgling up at Adrien.

"How're things turning out with Nath?" Asked Adrien, looking up from their daughter.

"Lila's managed to get him the medical care he needs," Answered Marinette, as she flipped through her designs, "I think Alix is trying to get in contact with Marc, and Chloé and Sabrina are trying to get access to his home."

"What about his problems?" Asked Adrien, as Noir barrelled into his leg.

"They've confiscated all the drugs he had on him," Marinette sighed, "but he might have to be admitted to a Rehab facility."

Adrien sighed through his nose, looking down at the cat clawing his way up his leg, "Plagg, a little help?"

"I keep telling ya, Kid, I don't speak Cat."