Honestly should have posted earlier today, but I'm having dental issues and my jaw aches a lot right now. Plus I can't stop reading other people's fics. Fun fact: tomorrow's my bday so this is an ironic chapter timing wise. I really need to finish another chapter though and continue writing. Ah well.

Enjoy! and remember to comment at the end. I love comments!

10 – No Need for Parties

A party? For him?

Nino akumatized?

Adrien honestly didn't know what to do. As Chat Noir, he should stop Bubbler and save Nino from Le Paon's control. But as Adrien Agreste, there was no guarantee he would ever get a party like this again. His mother was cool compared to his father, letting him do a lot more and run around as he liked, but not being allowed a party was just uncool. He really wanted a party with his friends this year. No presents, just a party.

Well, he wanted his father home too, but even that was a mixed feeling in him. Mami being in charge was a lot warmer than Papi. And there was something else, something he couldn't quite place, and it always made him feel angry and guilty when he tried to figure it out.

"Hey kid," Plagg started, getting him to stop that train of thought, "what are you doing?"

"I… I don't know." They slid back into the mansion once he saw the crowd, conflicted. His head was starting to hurt now too. "We should probably transform."

"You don't want to enjoy the party a little?" The cat didn't seem against joining, but he also wasn't insisting. Something about that felt off, but Adrien set it aside.

He looked up towards where his father's office was, remembering how his mother locked herself inside so many times lately. With her headache, she was probably still in there, recovering slowly. She probably wouldn't object to this… right? She was safe and sound in the mansion, and Nino wasn't a violent person. Maybe if he could get Nino to stop on his own, get the party fever out of him, there wouldn't be a need to fight his best friend.

"Fifteen minutes." He'd give himself that. "Then we transform and deakumatize Nino. Unless Ladybug pops up, then we get to it immediately. Deal?"

"Deal." Plagg seemed satisfied with the conclusion and Adrien slipped back outside to enjoy the party.

Within five minutes he could tell no one was really into it. Some were even scared and miserable. Ivan didn't even pretend to want to be there. Adrien managed to slip through the crowd, dodging Chloe somehow, and get to him without being noticed by Nino. "Ivan, what's going on? Why aren't you having fun?"

The giant teen (was he related to the Gorilla?) glared a little at him before answering. "You really don't know, do you."

"Know what?" Guilt grew inside him. Something happened, something bad, to make this party happen. Part of him knew this the entire time, but he wanted to deny it. Please let his gut be wrong.

Ivan cringed inwardly before telling him the truth. "Bubbler captured all the adults and now they're floating in the sky somewhere."

Everything in Adrien turned ice with dread. "Mami..."

"Yeah, all our parents are gone. Happy Birthday."

Panic gripped his throat. His mother was thousands of meters in the air, not safe in his father's office recovering from a headache. Papi would be up there too, if he weren't out of Paris. Nathalie… the Gorilla… everyone's parents… their teachers… everyone gone. Tremors took over Adrien's body at the thought, and his selfish wish for a party felt cruel and evil.

He caused this.

He had to fix this.

Without thinking, he turned and ran to the stage, glaring at Bubbler. "Nino! Stop it!"

"Dude! What's the problem?" The akuma just gaped at him, too shocked at the outburst to react any other way. "The mix no good?"

"Return everyone's parents Nino." He shook as he spoke, the very real threat of losing his mother as well terrifying him. And knowing others would lose their parents… he never wanted anyone to feel his pain.

"But, the party!"

He shook his head, holding himself for support. "More than a party, I want my mother here for my birthday. My father too..."

"Adults ruin everything!" Bubbler was getting agitated, reaching for that large want on his back. "All their rules! All their commands! We're better off without them!"

"I've been without them!" It barely came out, but his words were heard, and it tore his heart. Just the thought of losing his parents completely… He couldn't bear it. "It's worse than you can imagine, Nino. I know you mean well, but -"

"If you love those adults so much," the enraged villain growled, whipping out his large wand, "join them!"

"LOOK OUT!"

Screams and shouts filled the air the exact second Adrien dived off the stage, tucked into a roll, and darted into the building. He saw a flash of red and black spots, instinctively knowing Ladybug got there in time to save him. She'd keep Bubbler busy until Chat Noir got himself together and joined the fight.

But just inside the mansion, Adrien closed the door and slid down it, guilt killing him inside. He shouldn't have joined the party. He shouldn't have tried to have one. All of this was his fault. "All my fault..."

"Kiddo," Plagg's voice came to him quietly, comforting him, "none of this is your fault."

"But if I -"

"No 'buts' or 'ifs'. Everyone made their own choices. You didn't make this happen." The kwami butted his head against Adrien's cheek softly, almost nuzzling him. "But you can make it end. Claws out?"

Adrien petted Plagg for a few seconds more, taking some comfort in his words before nodding. "Claws out."

The second he was sure the miraculous bugs fixed everything, Chat was looking around for every adult he knew. He looked back to Nino, dazed and confused on an Eifle Tower rebar, then to his beeping ring. There was no way he'd get him down and get home before his power died. He turned to his lady and saluted. "I'll leave the transport to you LB. Later."

A few leaps and vaults later, and his transformation beeping nearly died. Two blocks away from home and he had to drop into an alley and run the rest of the way on foot. Adrien wasn't the only person running home in that moment, so no one was looking at him on the way to the mansion. Getting back through the gate, it was hard to believe the place had a party there just twenty minutes ago. The yard was spotless, every blade perfectly in place.

Except where his mother came tearing through, ignoring the concrete path between them. All the knots in his stomach vanished the second he saw her, and dissolved into tears the instant her arms were around him. He held onto her for dear life, so relieved he didn't lose her. He couldn't bear it if it happened again.

Don't think about it, he told himself. Don't think about that nightmare.

"Adrien, where were you?! I was so worried when I didn't find you in your room!" The sheer panic in her voice was enough to bring guilt back to him. He hated lying to his mother, but he had to, to keep her safe. This was one secret he could never share.

"Bubbler was Nino… he knows where I go during attacks… so… so I ran to the school for cover." He held his mother a little closer. "I made him mad, trying to get you back. I… I thought -"

"Shh… it's okay Chaton." Mami ran her hand over his head, comforting him with every stroke. Her panic seemed to melt away but she kept her arms around no matter what. "You did the right thing."

"Mami..." He pulled away enough to look into her eyes guiltily. "I don't think I want a party anymore."

The stunned look on her face was priceless, and it was exactly what he was aiming for. As was the laugh right after. He was too old to be earnest in pleading this way, but it did settle her worries a little. He'd do anything if it meant keeping her with him, smiling like this. She pulled him back to her chest and gave him a squeeze. "Oh we'll have a party Chaton, just not today and not like this one. Let's get inside. You still need to pick a movie for tonight."

Adrien smiled in relief as his mother pulled him back into the house so they could celebrate his birthday their way.

1 year 4 months 16 days

Nino just stared at the text on his phone in complete confusion. He was still confused, even after getting it in the middle of class that day. Why did Mrs. Agreste have his number? And she texts? "Weird..."

Still, he obeyed it, not wanting to anger Adrien's mom any more than he already did. So right after school that day, he made his way over to the Agreste mansion and rang the doorbell. Instead of a chick on the other end, there was a man, and he let him in immediately. The dude gave him a nice smile before leading him to an office far from Adrien's room. "Madam, Nino Lahiffe for you."

Mrs. Agreste looked up from some doodles she was stamping and smiled. "Thank you Marco. Mind taking these and making the necessary calls?"

"Are these the last of them?" The man took the doodles and looked through them quickly. They both seemed rather tired for some reason.

The lady nodded, grinning as she came around the desk. "We have enough designs to get through the season. I'll start approving the next line in January so we get a better start on it."

"Still not used to this."

"Same. But we're getting better. Wish Gabriel left some kind of instruction manual on how to keep the company going." She shook her head and looked back to Nino. "Alright Nino, we need to talk, and we don't have a lot of time."

"I'll get on these." The man turned and left the office, securing the door behind him so they had privacy. That was the last thing a wound up Nino wanted.

Was she going to forbid him from seeing Adrien after the whole Bubbler thing? He couldn't even remember what he did under Le Paon's control! Course, hearing he actually got revenge on all the adults in his life was kinda nice. But hearing about the party no one wanted to go to really sucked. Adrien seemed cool with him, even showing off the cool scarf his dad prepared for him before his birthday. He held on to it pretty tightly in class too. Guess the dude really missed his old man. But his mom was an entirely different story.

"Du- I mean… Ma'am. If… if you're mad about yesterday -"

Mrs. Agreste held up a hand, leaning against the desk informally. She wasn't near as stiff as the other lady from yesterday, and neither was her male assistant. And she sure wasn't mad. She let out a long breath before speaking. "I'm not mad, Nino. Actually, I wanted to apologize for my behavior."

"Apolo-"

"I know better than most what it takes to make an akuma, and I unintentionally made it happen by upsetting you. Le Paon likes to take teenagers upset by small, trivial things they believe to be very important. In a few years time, you'll see for yourself I was right to say no yesterday. Time changes a lot of things Nino, especially perspective."

She shook her head slowly before continuing. "Sorry for upsetting you yesterday. My headache didn't help my mood and with all the extra hours I was putting in with work, I didn't have the ability to be friendly or reasonable. The truth is, I wanted to talk to you, alone, for a bit now."

"You did?" Nino couldn't help but be shocked listening to her. An adult… apologizing… to him? And… maybe respecting him?

"Yes. I need help with Adrien's surprise party."

"Surprise party!" That took him for a loop. No freakin' way! Maybe Adrien's mom was cool!

"Yes, a surprise party." She reached behind herself and brought out some papers he kinda recognized. "Honestly, I wanted to throw something on his birthday, but I was also trying to clear a lot of schedules for the holidays. There's a lot more fashion seasons than people realize and to stay on top of the game, I had to approve of a lot of designs in a very short amount of time. Plus the company Christmas party, finding the right charities… I was swamped. Adrien and you came up with some ideas, but I'm afraid they just won't work for what I have in mind, and they didn't give me enough time to make them work."

"Why don't they work?" That was something he didn't quite understand. Why did Mrs. Agreste keep telling them to try again? What was wrong with their plans?

"Too big and too open," she said simply.

"What's wrong with a big party?" Everyone liked big parties, right? (A/N: nope! Hate big parties)

The lady smiled sadly. "The bigger the party, the bigger the risks."

"Huh?"

She took a deep breath and went back around the desk to a filing cabinet. "Did Adrien tell you what happened to his father?"

Nino shifted uncomfortably. "He… He said his dad collapsed one day and hasn't woken up."

"That's what we told him," she confirmed, taking a folder out. She came back from behind the desk and passed it to him. "But it's not the whole truth. Gabriel collapsed because he was saving my life."

Did a truck just hit him? Felt like a truck hit him. "Wha?"

"Don't tell him. It will only make him worry." Mrs. Agreste looked at the folder sadly, remembering something she didn't want to. "We were just taking a walk, a casual date without any eyes on us. Something attacked us, and Gabriel… he protected me. The attack triggered something in his brain and he fell into a coma."

That truck hit him again. "Whoa..."

"It's non-fatal, thank God, but until he wakes up, there's not much we can do other than wait and keep him safe." She tapped the folder she gave him, silently insisting he open it. "I wish I could say attempts on our lives were rare, but there are reasons Adrien has a bodyguard. These are just from last month."

Nino opened the folder and knew almost instantly what the papers in there were. Death threats. Four of them.

People were after Adrien's life.

"Why?"

He didn't mean to say it out loud, but he did, and in horror. Why were people after Adrien's life? "He's just a kid. He's not famous or did anything big or mean or… or anything! He's just Adrien!"

"Even Mother Teresa had death threats, Nino." Mrs. Agreste took the letters from him, sighing. "You can do everything right, and people will hate you anyway, just for existing. Some people are jealous, some want money, many want attention, but mostly they're just crazy and don't understand these threats are not going to help anyone. It's like those social media posts foolish teens send to classmates, just because they can, not realizing the effect it will have on their target.

"Adrien doesn't have any social media accounts because of this," she insisted, "and all his mail is checked before he gets it. I keep these away from my son so he can be happy and not jaded by the world. I take every precaution to make sure these nuts can't get to him, and a big open party, like what you had planned, would invite them easily."

She closed the folder and set it back on the desk. Nino got the message loud and clear. Too big, too open, too many risks. That's why their earlier plans failed. Now he understood Adrien's mom. Felt like he understood his dad a little too.

"Wha..." he started, not sure if the idea starting in him was any good. The lady watched him patiently, waiting, so he cleared his throat and went for it. "What about a smaller party? One indoors? With only our class and… and… Oh! Alya's mom's a cook at Chloe's hotel! She could cater it! And… and Marinette's parents are bakers! They could make the cake! Juleka's mom's kinda got a band together, so they could do a live show between my DJing. And… and..."

He racked his brain for more ideas, more ways to make this party happen and keep it safe. With Mrs. Agreste as paranoid as she was – and rightfully so – she must have vetted everyone in their class and their families. No risk if they kept it intimate like this.

He looked up from his thoughts to see a smiling Emilie Agreste. "Now we're getting somewhere. And I know exactly where to have it."

Adrien thumbed the scarf around his shoulders lovingly, thinking over what his mother said last night and how Nathalie gave him the present yesterday. Formal as always, she just said 'a gift for you'. It wasn't something she'd give personally – Nathalie did not do birthdays or holidays – so he assumed it had to come from his parents. When his mother asked where it came from, he had to assume it was a gift from this father, one prepared for him before he…

It did come from his father, right?

Adrien kept telling himself this over and over again, praying his father cared this much for him at least. He was horrible at giving good gifts, at least on time. He redesigned Adrien's room to what it was now, but that happened last summer, long after his 12th birthday. He only had a pen to think of as his 13th birthday present from him, his collapse happening so soon after.

So why was he so convinced this scarf came from his father?

His head hurt thinking about it.

He was so caught up in thought, he almost ran headlong into his best friend leaving his house. "Whoa! Nino!"

"Hey dude!" The grin on the guy's face was completely different from when he left yesterday. "Just finished talking to your mom. She's way cooler than I thought. Wish my old lady was that awesome."

Weirdness abound. "What? You were… What's going on?"

A big sneaky grin grew on Nino's face. "You'll see. Just saying though, your mom's awesome. Gotta run! See you later!"

And like that, Adrien's life just got a lot more confusing. He waved his friend off and finally got into his home. His mother also had this big smile on her face as she greeted him, personally headed towards the kitchens. "Welcome back Chaton! How was fencing?"

"Pretty good," he said nonchalantly, trying to get past his own growing headache. "Um… Mami, why was Nino here?"

"Oh he was helping me put together my present for you." Adrien stared blankly at his mother. His present? Come to think of it, she hadn't given him one yet. She was way better than his father giving them on time, but this year was just a jumble. He followed her to the kitchen, wanting to know more. "It's not ready yet of course, and since it's going to be late, I wanted to make certain you'd like it without giving it away. Your friend was very helpful.

"I also wanted to explain myself from yesterday." She smiled calmly as she grabbed the hidden cookie jar from one counter and put it on the island. Adrien took a stool near it and waited as his mother brought out a couple cups and a jug of milk. She hadn't done this in a while, which meant… "I think I have most of my work done for a while, so other than a few auditing meeting and other events, I should be free for the next month. So let's celebrate!"

Her son grinned. "We're going to be celebrating a lot soon."

"And we have a lot to celebrate." Mami filled one glass and passed it to him before opening the jar. "No more than five though, and you still have homework. And don't tell your father. You know how he is about sugar."

Adrien laughed. "Yeah, wouldn't want to ruin my model figure."

He didn't see his mother pause momentarily at the comment before she joined him in their favorite secret celebration: milk and cookies for a job well done .

A/N: I haven't written the party. If you want to, I won't object. It has to be made and run by Adrien's class and maybe get Emilie in good graces with the Dupain-Chengs. I had an idea, but it got long. I honestly didn't think this story would go this long, but I started making an elseworld and my mind went haywire. I tend to go overboard with elseworlds. *coughDNBcough* So yeah... there may be shorts later, separate from the core story. May make the core story go faster.

Adrien still believes the scarf comes from his dad and nothing's going to shake him from that entirely for a long time. Marinette knows he misses his dad too so don't think she'll be upset by this either. The only way he'll realize the truth is either if they reveal it in teh show and I get an idea, or Gabriel's honest. Why Nathalie still gave it to him as if it were his father? Well... B] That's something I will explain next chapter. Or Nooroo will.

I needed this mostly from Adrien's perspective, so even though the story's mostly from Emilie's right now, it'll be switching mostly among the Agrestes. Remember, it started with Gabriel's only, then Emilie came in, and now we have Adrien (and nino, but seriously, I think that's a one time thing). He's a fresh perspective this time around, and you can kinda see where a wiser kitty is reliving this event. He has a lot more freedom in this AU, but there's still the lessons from the previous one.

And one last note: is there a fan theory about Ivan and the Gorilla being connected? just an idea I wanted to throw out there.

Please comment and remember I have a poll on my profile for this fic. Until next time!