A/N: This is a collab fic that was done between my friend Maerynn and I. However, Maerynn has passed away before we could complete this fic. But I want to share this fic with you. I will continue this fic that we have started and finish it in honor of my friend, Mae. We hope you enjoy this fic and join us on this ride.
Chapter Written By: Maerynn
Noise.
That's the only thing Adrien was conscious of when he finally got to the hospital.
Everything was going fast around him.
Too fast.
A blur of colours and movements was going around him, sirens and various other calls going around him.
But his mind was painfully blank.
This couldn't be happening.
It just couldn't.
When Nathalie had interrupted his photoshoot about an hour earlier, he had known instantly that something was very wrong.
He had stepped aside from the annoyed photographer to take the phone an intern was handing him, an odd expression on their face. "Hello?"
"Adrien," Nathalie's digital voice coming out of his phone, "I need you leave the photoshoot immediately. Gontrand is waiting for you with the car outside."
Something was off in her tone, something that had gotten his stomach to knot. "What's wrong, Nathalie?"
"Just get to Gontrand, Adrien. I'll explain everything once you get here."
That evasive answer had done nothing to soothe his nerves. Nathalie was usually a very straightforward woman, and she never danced around what she had to say like that. "Nathalie," he stressed, "what's wrong?"
There was a few seconds of silence, after which she bluntly said, "There was an accident, Adrien. You need to get to the Hotel Dieu hospital as soon as possible."
"Nathalie," he tried again, bile pooling in his gut. "Please. What happened?"
"I-I can't do this over the phone. Adrien, you need to be at the Hotel Dieu hospital as soon as possible. Your father is still overseas. He can't make it. I'll explain as soon as you get here."
Dread weighing heavily on his shoulders, Adrien had tried to convey what was happening to his team as he yanked on his coat and dashed out to the car waiting for him, his nerves getting the best of him.
Nathalie's grim face when he saw her waiting for him on the hospital steps did nothing to reassure him.
Adrien tried.
He really did.
But no matter how he desperately tried to remain optimistic, his mind couldn't ignore the words of the hospital staff rushing past him.
"Drunk driver."
"Massive lacerations. Critical condition."
"Where is the father?"
"His entire family in the hospital and he's unreachable? What kind of man is that?"
No matter how much Adrien tried to brace himself for the worst nothing could prepare him to witness his brother being wheeled away on a stretcher, pronounced dead on arrival.
Suddenly, words were unable to reach him.
Nathalie was talking to him, he could hear her words in the back of his mind, but his attention was fully focused on the gurney that had just been rolled into the emergency room.
Celine Agreste was being wheeled away from him on a stretcher, and he desperately chased after his mother, his heart caught somewhere in his throat.
"Adrien," she said weakly when he caught up with her, " Adrien, I love you. A… above anything else, I... want you to be happy. I want... you to love, and... be loved. Nothing else-"
Her eyes rolled up, and Adrien panicked. There was so much blood, and it was everywhere. "Mom!" he cried, "Mom! Don't go! Mom, I need you! You can't go!"
But it was useless.
His mother was already gone.
His brother too.
And his father was nowhere in sight. He faintly recalled Nathalie saying something about being overseas and unable to come back in time, but at the moment being he couldn't care less.
He was alone.
No more brother to fight with and tease about his cute classmate with the hopeless crush on him.
No more mother to humiliate him by hugging him in front of his friends, make tea for him whenever he was upset, and cuddle with after dinner.
And no father to comfort him through these desperate, horrible times.
The pain soon became too much to bear, and Adrien just broke.
Hot tears spilled on his cheeks, and he began to sob almost pitifully, alone in the hospital waiting room, his sorrows crushing him mercilessly.
Through his violent sobs, he faintly registered a light hand on his shoulder and a vibrant green macaron appearing in front of his face.
"You look like you could use something sweet," a soft, caring voice told him.
Adrien looked up to his unexpected saviour, messily wiping the tears from his cheek with his sleeve. She was about the same age as he was, with hair so black it almost looked blue, and bright, shining blue eyes. He could see genuine worry and care in those eyes clear as day.
She seemed genuinely worried about him despite him being a complete stranger, and her authenticity was Adrien's undoing.
He told her everything.
Words spilled from his lips, unbidden, words he had barely admitted to himself by then.
About how his older brother, his best friend, was gone now.
About how his mother, his anchor, his safety blanket, was gone too.
She listened to it all. Without her expression shifting, without her seemingly being uncomfortable with his pain.
Once he was done ranting, she patted his hand, hugged him, and he even thought she had kissed his forehead at some point. But he poured all of his pain in his words. Hoping she'd understand.
And somehow, at the end of it all, through her listening and her caring fingers grazing his scalp, he felt slightly better.
Slightly.
Adrien took another swig of wine, ignoring how it burned as it went down his throat.
Anything to wash away the loss.
Over a week since the accident, and still no sign from his father.
A week since the funeral and no one had talked to him since.
After the private funeral he hadn't gone back to the mansion. He couldn't deal with the cold, empty rooms.
Not without Felix filling them with light. Not without his mom filling the house with warmth.
Another swig of wine went down his throat as his apartment door swung open, confusing him for a second in his drunken state.
Who had the key to his apartment?
Who even cared about him by then?
Nino entered the room, taking in the sorry state his friend was in all at once.
Adrien was sprawled on the couch, holding a half empty bottle of wine between his legs, countless bottles laying on the floor around him. He was very obviously drunk and desperate. His hair was a messy mop on his head, and his eyes were blurry.
"Look, dude," Nino said softly, "I know this is hard and everything, but you have to shake yourself out of it."
Adrien lifted bleary eyes towards his friend. "Is that so? Will it bring them back?"
"Nothing will, Adrien," Nino replied softly. It was obvious how much Adrien was hurting, how much he was grasping at straws by then.
"I…" Adrien muttered. "I… I don't know what to do. They're gone, they're gone for good, and there is nothing I can do to fix it."
Nino's expression softened. "Do you remember your mother's last words, Adrien?"
"I want you to be happy. I want you to love, and be loved. How could I ever forget? Those words are engraved in my mind forever," Adrien replied dryly.
"Well then," Nino answered, "you can't spend the rest of your life drinking yourself to death in your apartment. Make your mother proud. Find someone to love and to be loved by. Find a reason to get up in the morning, make the world a better place."
Adrien shook his head, smiling sadly. "But I'm only a man, Nino. I'm on my own, and the only thing I know is how to model. What can I even do? I'm nobody."
"Become a police officer," Nino smiled. "If I could do it, you can do it too. It won't be easy, but you're determined."
Adrien snorted, gesturing to his dirty undershirt, boxers, and stubble. "Really? You think I'm police material? If you were looking for a partner, there are better people to ask."
"No, dude," Nino said. "The maniac that killed your mom and Felix is still out there. And I know you want that drunk driver off the streets as much as I do, even more. Being a policeman would grant you that power."
Adrien's eyes lit up upon hearing those words.
"I'm in."
Police training was way harder than he had imagined, Adrien soon came to realize.
Sure, being a former model meant that he was fit. His calorie intake had been monitored for years, and there wasn't an ounce of fat on his bones, but it wasn't the kind of fit that was needed for a policeman. He wasn't strong enough, he wasn't agile enough.
Training was tough.
It was exhausting.
Every night, he stumbled back into his room, every muscle in his body burning and hurting.
But he couldn't —wouldn't— dare abandon it.
A family picture on his bedside gave him the fuel he needed to go on.
A picture of his mother, her beautiful green eyes shining with glee as she embraced her two sons. Felix was laughing, standing almost a full head over Adrien, who was grinning like mad in the image. Beside them stood Gabriel, looking at his family with something akin to fondness in the cold blue eyes.
It was the last picture of them.
The last time they had been happy.
Adrien couldn't even remember the last time he had talked to his father. He had never forgave him for his blatant absence at the hospital, as his wife and eldest son were dying. He hadn't even made it back for the funeral. Every single encounter between them ever since had ended into a screaming match, so Adrien eventually gave up.
It didn't help that Gabriel was less than pleased with his only living son's career change. He kept reminding Adrien that he was only going to get himself killed, to which Adrien always replied that he, at least, was trying to change things instead of wallowing in his misery.
In short, a perfect father-son relationship.
"Hurry it up, recruits! Move, move, move!" The major shouted as she watched Adrien and the other recruits running on a large circular track around her.
The exhaustion was evident on everyone's faces.
Adrien's breath was shortening and becoming heavy. He captured the eye of the major as she ran towards him, coming to a light jog as she matched the pace alongside him.
"Recruit! Why are you slowing down? Are you tired already?!" she demanded.
"No, ma'am!" Adrien shouted back, trying to pick up his pace a little. He would not seem weak in front of everyone, especially the major, when he had worked so hard. He hadn't made it halfway through training for nothing.
"I don't think you have it in you, Agreste! Why are you even here? Time to pack it up and go back home to mommy!"
Adrien's heart pounded in his ears. He could never go back to the way things were before. He was here to avenge his brother, who helped him through exhaustion from his model life growing up. His best friend when he had none. His partner in crime when it came to steal cookies or prank their parents.
He was here to avenge his mother.
The woman who had made his family a happy one.
The one who supported him through all his ups and downs.
The rock for the entire Agreste family.
Now gone.
Yet, there was a small speck of light in his long dark tunnel.
Pushing himself further, the thought of his mother and brother bringing newfound strength into his already aching body.
Sprinting, passing his fellow recruits, the major remained by his side.
"Why are you here, Agreste?"
"To avenge the loss of my mother and brother! To fight for those who have lost! And to strive to keep anyone from ever having the same loss, Ma'am!" came Adrien's reply at last.
He wasn't sure if it was due to his exhaustion, but he could have sworn that he saw a glimpse of a smile on his major's lips. Nevertheless, Adrien felt proud in himself. He'd make his mother and brother proud.
So, with purpose in heart, Adrien relentlessly jogged and jumped. He walked on beams like his life depended on it, climbed on ladders, slalomed through obstacles, saved mannequins from cardboard bandits. He ran up countless stairs and crawled into spaces barely wide enough to fit him. How many push-ups, sprints or jumping jacks he did, he had no clue. He went through it all with clenched teeth, ignoring the pain and the exhaustion.
It wasn't only until a badge was presented to him that he finally allowed himself to breathe.
"Congratulations, Officer Agreste."
He had made it.
From now on, he had the power to avenge his family.