Adrien groaned in frustration when he walked into his room. Of course the maid would have come in and made his bed for him. He had hoped that since it was still relatively early that she wouldn't have made the bed yet. However, there the bed was, pristine and beautiful.

"What a day," he mumbled. "First, I lose my Miraculous. Then, I get bitten by a giant spider. And now I find that my bed is already made…"

"Poor, poor me," Plagg said. "My life is so miserable. I have superpowers and staff that wait on me hand and foot. Waah."

"Shut it, Plagg. This is serious." Adrien pulled back the duvet, only to find that the sheets were a different color. "Oh, no. My sheets have been changed, too. What if the Miraculous winds up in the washing machine?"

Plagg yawned. "It'll survive. It's been around for over five thousand years. A little water and soap isn't going to hurt it."

Adrien dropped to his hands and knees and started looking around on the floor, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of silvertone somewhere in the dense carpeting. "You're magically connected to it. Can't you sense it, or something?"

"Of course I can." Plagg flew over the bed and plopped down on one of the big pillows.

Adrien gritted his teeth. "And?"

"Eh, it's in the house somewhere. Hey, could you bring me some camembert?"

"No, I can't bring you some camembert! I have to find my ring!"

"I don't know. I wouldn't mind a little vacation…"

"A vacation? You don't get to take a vacation! What if Ladybug needs Cat Noir again?"

"You seemed to handle it pretty well without me."

"Yeah, this time! What if I'd needed to use Cataclysm?"

"You didn't."

"Argh! You are so frustrating!"

"I don't know why you're so freaked out. The ring will turn up eventually. If you don't find it, somebody on staff will, and they'll return it to you."

"What if they put it on? What then?"

"Relax, Adrien," Plagg said. "The ring is totally useless without me in it. The only way that somebody else can take control of the Miraculous is if I'm already inside it when they pick it up."

"You weren't inside the Miraculous when I first picked it up."

"That was different. I was given to you. You were discovering the Miraculous for the first time, with me inside it. And boy, had I been in there a long time."

Adrien squinted at Plagg. "I think you're just trying to get out of having to do the work of transforming me."

"Well, I am," Plagg said, grinning mischievously. "But I'm telling the truth, too. There are only three ways somebody can take control of a Miraculous that belongs to somebody else. One, the owner willingly removes the Miraculous and then hands it over. Two, the owner dies and then the Miraculous is taken. Three, the Miraculous is forcibly removed while the owner is transformed. That's it. You don't need to worry about the Miraculous being used by somebody else."

"Well, I still need it to help Ladybug. Hawk Moth isn't going to stop Akumatizing people just because I happened to lose my ring."

Plagg yawned and stretched again. "Well, I suppose you're right. But can I at least have one day off?"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "You're not going to help me unless I say yes, are you?"

Plagg just grinned.

"Fine. But no camembert until you help me find my ring."

"What kind of injustice is that?"

Adrien's bedroom door slammed open. His father's voice boomed through the room. "Adrien!"

Plagg whisked away under the pillow, disappearing in a flash.

What now? Adrien thought. "Up here, Father."

Gabriel's footsteps thundered up the stairs to the second level of Adrien's room. Adrien turned around to face his father, wondering what it could have been that had made his father angry this time.

His father's face was completely white. He threw his arms around Adrien and held him close in an awkwardly tight grip. A moment later, he pulled away and slapped Adrien across the face. "What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" He blinked a tear out of his eye and pulled Adrien into another embrace.

His face still stinging, Adrien pulled away from his father's arms. "Father, I'm fine. Really." He rubbed his cheek.

Gabriel looked down at the floor and folded his arms. "Adrien, you could have died. When I heard about what happened—"

"I told you, I'm fine."

"What were you thinking, rushing in like that?"

"I was thinking that Ladybug was going to die if I didn't do something."

"That's no reason to put your life in danger."

"But she's saved us—I couldn't just let her die."

"Yes, you could have. Your life is worth far more to me than some costumed freak who happened to save our lives once."

"She is not a freak," Adrien hissed.

"You are never leaving this house again," Gabriel said, raising his eyes to Adrien's face in an angry glare.

Anger surged through Adrien. "What? That's completely ridiculous!"

"I can't lose you, Adrien!" Gabriel roared. He buried his face in his hands. "Not you, too. I can't—I just can't."

Adrien's heart sank. He remembered the night that his parents had gone out for a walk, and Gabriel had come back alone. All he had said was that one minute, she was there, then he turned his back on her for a moment, and she was gone. The police had searched for her for months, never getting any closer to finding out what had happened to her. That day had transformed Gabriel into a different person. He had always been slightly controlling and over-protective, but Adrien's mother had always tempered those qualities in him. With her gone, they came out in full force. Worst of all, he had totally withdrawn into himself. It had been three years since he had done anything with Adrien beyond the occasional meal and telling Adrien where he needed to be.

Gabriel drew a deep breath and sighed. He looked at Adrien for a long moment, then gave him a sad smile. He reached out a hand and ruffled Adrien's hair, the way he used to when Adrien was little. "I love you, son."

Adrien's mouth fell open. He could barely even remember the last time he had heard his father say I love you. "I—I love you too." He was quiet for a moment, unsure what to say next. "Listen. I'm sorry. I won't put myself in harm's way again. Just please, please don't keep me locked up here."

"Look me in the eye and promise me you will not put yourself in such danger again."

Adrien hesitated. He couldn't really promise any such thing, not if he was going to keep on being Cat Noir. But he couldn't very well stay cooped up forever. "I promise."

"If I ever hear of you putting your life on the line like that again, I will pull you out of school. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

Gabriel nodded. He turned around and headed back down the stairs.

Adrien ran after him. "Father, wait. Do you want to play a game of chess? The way we used to?"

Gabriel didn't turn around. "Not today, son." With that, he walked out of Adrien's room and shut the door behind him.

Adrien sighed and collapsed onto his couch.

Plagg flew through the air and landed on the couch beside Adrien. He didn't say anything. He just nuzzled up against Adrien's side.

Adrien glanced down at the little Kwami and smiled. "Well…I guess I could get you some camembert if you wanted."

Plagg's whole face lit up.

The next morning, still ringless, Adrien walked into the school right on time. Mercifully, there had been no other Akumatized villain since the Arachnid's appearance the day before, so Adrien had not missed his Miraculous too much. Plagg promised that he would help Adrien find the ring as soon as today's activities were over. It was more than the promised day of vacation, but Adrien didn't have the energy to argue with Plagg anymore.

As he walked in, Adrien grinned when he saw Nino holding Alya. Ever since that day at the zoo, Nino and Alya had been fairly close. Even though he had actually been at the zoo to coach Nino on approaching Marinette, Alya and Nino seemed to be a much better fit for each other.

Adrien waved. "Hey, guys!"

Nino looked up with a frown. "Hey, Adrien."

Alya kept her face buried in Nino's chest.

The grin slid off of Adrien's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Nino said, in hushed tones.

Alya let out a single choked sob. She pulled away from Nino and wiped her eyes and nose. Adrien immediately took a handkerchief out of his bag and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she muttered, taking the handkerchief and blowing her nose.

"Whoa," Nino said, looking at Adrien. "Even your stuff that's meant for snot is fancy."

Adrien shot him a reproving look.

Nino grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." He turned back to Alya and laid his hand on her shoulder. "So what's going on, babe?"

Alya sniffed. "It's Marinette. She…she's not coming to school today because...because her dad got shot yesterday morning." She started to cry again.

"What?" Nino and Adrien cried simultaneously.

"It was terrible. We got to her house just as they were bringing him to the ambulance. They had stuff wrapped around his head, but it was all soaked with blood."

Adrien's stomach turned at the thought. He had met Tom Dupain, and found him to be a likeable person. "Did he…make it?"

"Not really. The doctor said that he was alive, but that he was a vegetable. He'll be on life support for another week before the doctors have to take him off of it. Unless Marinette's mom decides to pull the plug sooner." Alya buried her face in Nino's chest again.

Nino wrapped his arms around Alya and held her tight. "Dude. That bites."

Adrien thought of Marinette. Poor, sweet Marinette, sitting at home, crying her eyes out, desperately praying for her father to come home, knowing full well that he would not. He thought of all the lonely tear-soaked nights he had spent mourning his mother's loss, when hope that she would return finally turned to resignation.

Alya pulled away and blew her nose again. "I spent all day at the hospital with Marinette and her mom."

Nino smoothed some of Alya's hair back down. "They must be pretty devastated, huh?"

"Yeah." Alya blew her nose a final time. "I bought a card for them on the way here. I thought that maybe the class could sign it."

"That's a great idea," Nino said. "I'm sure they'd like that."

Adrien sighed. All the sympathy cards in the world wouldn't ease Marinette's pain. He knew that all too well. But at least she would know she had people who cared about her. Who had been there for Adrien when his mother disappeared? Certainly not his father.

Chloe. Of all the people in the world, self-centered, self-important Chloe had been there for him. Chloe's mother had divorced her father several years earlier, so even though she still got to see her mother from time to time, she had an inkling of what that loss felt like. She came over a few times and they talked on the phone. It was one of the reasons that even today, despite how much Chloe disgusted him, he still considered her a friend.

What would it have been like to have a whole classroom full of people to share his pain? To feel for him, to care about him?

Alya held up the handkerchief. "Thanks, Adrien."

"No problem. Keep it."

Alya nodded and stuffed the handkerchief into her pocket as the bell started to ring.

Dejected, Adrien followed Nino and Alya to Ms. Bustier's classroom. He resolved that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Marinette knew that she was not alone—that she had a friend who knew what she was going through.

"Good morning, class," Ms. Bustier said, without her usual smile. "As I'm sure some of you may know already, Marinette Dupain-Cheng will not be joining us today. Her father is in the hospital after being shot, and he may never recover. Alya has bought a card for her, which she is going to pass around the classroom for everyone to sign."

Alya handed the card to the row behind her first, so the card had to circulate around the whole room before it finally made it back to Adrien and Nino's row. Adrien could barely find a spot to sign his name. The whole card was covered in heartfelt notes, including one particularly touching one from Rose. Even Chloe had written something nice.

Adrien's eyes started to water. What would it have been like to get a card like this? Would it have made things easier?

He found a spot where he could write a short note. He bit his lip, wondering what he could say.

Finally, he put his pen to the card.

I know what you're going through. Call me if you need someone to talk to.

He finished it with his name and phone number. He passed the card on to Nino, who signed it and passed it back to Alya.

Lost in memories of loss, Adrien barely heard Ms. Bustier as she started the day's lesson.