The day following Celine's slip about Gabriel, and his butterfly miraculous, was tense.

When Celine confessed to Gabriel over breakfast that she'd let it slip. He didn't get angry. In fact, most would assume Gabriel was a bombastic, aggressive, hot-tempered man. It just wasn't true. The most unnerving thing about him was his composure. When he lost his temper it was a good sign.

This time, he just stared at her and shook his head sadly. He pushed his glasses on top of his head and rubbed his eyes. Gabriel stiffened when the arms of his wife came to wrap around his middle.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean to. It slipped."

"How did they take it?" he asked, afraid of the answer. He knew there was a chance this would happen. She'd never really had a lot of 'tact'; especially less so without her miraculous.

Celine cocked an eyebrow, "How do you think they took it, Gabe? They were shocked."

Merde. "And…?"

She shrugged against him, "I explained the situation, to the best of my ability."

He tensed. That had a distinct possibility, high probability, of only making it worse. Remember her lack of tact?

"From my side!" she elaborated to soften his nerves, "I tried to tell them what you told me. They both seemed to calm down after, but Adrien was still understandably upset."

"I have to talk to him." Gabriel shook his head and pushed away from Celine. He had to go and do some damage control, assess the situation, and figure out what all had been said and how much work would be necessary to fix it. He grabbed his overcoat and rushed towards the door.

Celine followed and frowned, "I don't think that is such a good idea."

"I need to talk to my son," he sighed heavily. It was the only option he could see working and he was going to do it.


Marinette and Adrien woke up the next morning, she was still nestled next to him in his hospital bed.

"Good morning," she greeted as she ran her palm across his chest. He was silent and brooding already and the day hadn't even really started yet.

"Morning," he replied gruffly.

He hadn't had much sleep. Marinette could feel him jolt awake a few times. Then there was some whimpering. She'd soothed him and tried to help coax him into a more productive sleep.

"How are you feeling?"

He shrugged.

"That bad, huh?"

"Not physically, Marinette. I'm feeling a lot better, actually."

"Maybe they'll let you go home today!"

He frowned. That reminded him of how his plans were falling apart. He had planned to talk to his father, but now…?

"I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders to act like he didn't care. He did.

Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder, "Adrien, you can talk to me."

He nodded and swallowed thickly. "You know? Part of me knew, I think," he shook his head sadly, "I don't know why, but I'm not even that upset that he terrorized Paris. Everything was fixed, the akuma victims don't seem too traumatized, and the citizens of Paris aren't constantly cowering in fear because they trust we'll fix it." He frowned, "I know that's wrong, that I don't feel angry about it."

"It's not wrong, Adrien," she placed a hand over the top of his own.

He let out a shuddering breath and a tear dripped down his cheek. He wiped it away and sniffed, "He disappeared, bug. He left me, so he could terrorize Paris, to inevitably hurt me!"

"He didn't know," she shook her head.

"He still doesn't know. Do you know how much that hurts? To know your father would rather go to such extremes, for someone that isn't even here, instead of spend time with you?"

The dam broke and he shook with sobs. They forced themselves out of an unwilling host with tight, high pitched whines followed by bouts of coarse, raspy bawling. His body shook with each unbidden cry. The emotion took over as he turned to bury his face in Marinette's neck while he broke.

"He does love you, Adrien, but he really sucks at showing it."

He scoffed at that and nodded, "Yeah he does."

She held him while he calmed down, cooing sweet words of 'I love you,' 'I'm here,' and 'we'll get through this together.'

They hadn't heard the visitor that perched outside the door. Gabriel Agreste planned to talk to his son, but when he arrived they were talking. Then he watched, ashamed of himself, as his son broke down in his young wife's arms. This was his mess and he would have to atone for it.

He took a seat in one of the chairs just outside Adrien's door and waited for him to calm down. Silent tears dripped down Gabriel's face as he listened to his son in turmoil. It was all his fault.

"I want him to want to spend time with me, you know?" Adrien said as he leaned back away from Marinette. His eyes were swollen and red, his cheeks blotchy, and there were tear tracks all down his face.

Marinette retrieved the tissue box from behind her and handed it to Adrien. He graciously accepted and blew his nose.

"It wasn't that he didn't spend any time with me," he sighed, "It's just that every time he did, he acted like I was an inconvenience. I was a waste of time."

Marinette just sat and listened. Unbeknownst to them both, so did Gabriel.

"Is it that hard to love your kid? Am I that unlovable?" Another tear slid down his cheek.

Marinette wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hushed him, "Sshhh, no, you are the most lovable person I know, and I'm not just saying that. I don't know of anyone more perfect, more worthy of my devotion, Adrien. I'm not saying we won't argue or fight, and have our own misunderstandings, but I will always love you regardless of the bumps in the road. As far as your dad? I'm going to have to let Gabriel speak for himself," she glanced up to the door where a shadow had appeared again. He peeked into the room and Marinette gave him a remorseful smile.

Gabriel took a tentative step into the room and cleared his throat. Adrien's head jerked up and his entire body went stiff as he quickly wiped away the tears under his eyes. Marinette felt the change in him immediately and frowned. They had a lot of work to do.

"I'm going to go get us something to drink and talk to the nurse about trying to get you discharged."

He nodded, "Okay."

She leaned down to place a soft kiss to his forehead and whispered, "I will be right back and outside if you need me. Okay?" He nodded and gave her a gracious smile when she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Then Marinette did something he didn't expect. She walked over to Gabriel and embraced him. His father stiffened at first, reluctant, before he wrapped his arms around her shoulders to return the hug.

Adrien took a minute to let that sink in and he felt like he was in the twilight zone. His wife walked right up and hugged his father. His father who was cold, distant, harsh, and demanding. His father who was Hawkmoth. In that moment, he realized his wife was the bravest, boldest, most courageous person he knew; including himself. 'And though she be but little, she is fierce.'

His father had never looked so tangible and so fragile to him before. It was like seeing him in a new, humanizing light. Right then, Adrien realized he might have some work, on his part, to do, too. He had put his father on a pedestal and spent the last five years, fruitlessly, trying to reach him. It wasn't fair to himself, it wasn't fair to his father, and he was finally seeing the damage this thinking could do to relationships. It was a vicious cycle that snowballed into distance, detachment, and resentment.

Then there was the paradox that was Ladybug hugging Hawkmoth in his hospital room. Not that anyone other than Ladybug would understand the significance of this. Adrien felt his heart swell with the honor of bearing witness. She was truly amazing and she was his.

Marinette turned with a sly grin afterwards, blew a parting kiss, and flashed him two thumbs up.

Gabriel stood there for a silent, dazed second, before turning to meet Adrien's eyes.

"Adrien."

"Father."

Gabriel took a step towards his bedside and pulled up a seat, "May I sit?" Adrien nodded.

The silence was awkward. Gabriel couldn't handle it anymore. He needed to fix this now.

"How are you feeling?" he blurted. It was choppy and forced, but the silence had been eerily deafening prior. This was worth a shot.

Adrien scoffed, "Physically? Or Mentally?"

Gabriel nodded. He deserved that bite. "Both."

"Well, physically, I think they're going to discharge me either this afternoon or tomorrow." The doctors had all been shocked at how fast he'd healed from his injuries. They had planned to release him now, but they hadn't expected him to be as healthy as he was. The hospital protocol wouldn't allow them to release him any earlier.

Gabriel smiled genuinely. He was glad to hear Adrien was doing well. "That is wonderful."

Adrien grimaced, "Yeah, I suppose."

The smile dropped off the elder Agreste's face. "Do you want me to find alternate accommodations…?" Considering, with recent revelations, it might be awkward living under the same roof.

"I was actually meaning to talk about that," Adrien whispered. His father not-so-obviously deflated. "Do you remember that Brownstone apartment building you use for visiting clients?"

"Yes," he nodded, listening intently and trying to find out what that had to do with anything.

"Is there any way I could move into the smaller penthouse apartment on the top floor?"

"The Brownstone?" Gabriel wondered aloud. His eyebrows were furrowed with confusion. Why would Adrien want to move there? The building had no permanent resident, and was mostly empty throughout the year. "I suppose..."

"Marinette and I spent the first night of our marriage there, in that apartment, and it is kind of a special place to us now."

Gabriel's eyes widened. He still wasn't sure how the whole marriage went down, and he hadn't heard Marinette referred to as his wife since they'd confessed, so this was a bit of a baffling thought. First night as husband and wife also held some other meaning. Was she perhaps pregnant?

"Not like that," Adrien held his hands out, "We aren't…it's not…it's complicated."

Gabriel's lips twitched in amusement and held his hand up to stop his spluttering, "No need to explain. I'll tell Nathalie to have Arthur deliver the key to you."

"Thank you." Adrien bowed his head shyly; grateful there wasn't more interrogation as to how they'd gotten into the apartment in the first place.

"Adrien," Gabriel reached forward and laid a warm hand on Adrien's forearm. Adrien flinched, but Gabriel didn't let go, "I'm sorry, for everything."

Adrien gulped and nodded as he glanced away. His eyes were stinging with the tell tale tears approaching, again. He felt so vulnerable when he cried and he hated it.

"I should have been there for you," he continued. "I'm not going to make excuses. I had my reasons, but none of them are sufficient to justify my actions. It wasn't fair and I will do whatever you want me to. If you want me to turn myself in, I will do it. If you want me to never talk to you again, hard as that might be, I would do it. Just tell me what you want me to do."

There was a long pause where Gabriel felt like the air was slowly being sucked out of the room.

Adrien huffed, "I don't want you to go away. I've never wanted more distance, father. That is the opposite of what I want."

"What do you want then?" he pleaded. Gabriel was quite literally a breath away from begging.

"I want you to want me." His voice broke, "I want you to want to spend time with and get to know me, to get to know Marinette. I want you to listen when I talk to you and really hear what I'm saying. I want you to take into consideration how I feel and let me know how you are feeling. We have to share these things with each other like normal people."

Gabriel chuckled and Adrien glared over at him.

"I apologize, Adrien, but we will never be normal." His lips were still quirking upwards at the side as he tried to restrain his amusement.

Adrien rolled his eyes and allowed himself a small smile as well, "Like this." He gestured between the two of them. They were bantering already. "You know what I mean. We should be able to talk without all the formality. I don't want to be spoken to like a subservient and I don't want to converse with you like an employer. You're my father. It's not fair."

Gabriel nodded and swallowed. "I understand."

"I want to call you dad."

"Done," Gabriel quickly agreed.

"And I want to exchange jokes like we used to. I don't want to get in trouble for sarcasm."

Gabriel dropped a brow, "Adrien."

They'd had some 'issues' with his petulent teenage attitude in the past. Gabriel was still his father, after all, and had to be expected to act as such.

Adrien chuckled, "I had to try, right?"

Gabriel smirked back at him. Of course he'd try. They were related, after all.

They were joking with each other and Adrien could almost feel his walls dropping. The veil that had obscured his father's emotions was nearly gone as well. They would be all right. Eventually. It wasn't like he hadn't kept some secrets of his own which would have to be addressed. Oh, boy, wouldn't that be a fun conversation?

Adrien dropped his hand to cover his fathers, where it lingered on his arm, "We'll be okay, dad."

As if he'd spoken the magic words, Gabriel leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Adrien's lithe frame. Adrien could feel his father's body shaking like a leaf as he succumbed to the relief he felt. Though Adrien hadn't said 'I forgive you' the implication was there. It was more than Gabriel could have hoped for and he was overwhelmed.


Marinette walked back into the room after the talking resumed. They were exchanging former fashion show stories and their own perspectives to the situations. Adrien was in tears, but tears of laughter, as she walked in with the cups of coffee.

"Did I miss something?"
Adrien held his hand up through his hysterical laughter. He cackled uproariously and couldn't make a coherent sentence. His giggles were contagious and Marinette found herself chuckling along with him; her heart swelling at the scene.

"What is it?" She turned to Gabriel, who was also clutching his side, and wiping at his eyes under his glasses.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing. We were just reminiscing of the early days when Adrien first started modeling for me." Gabriel's eyes lit up and he about came out of his chair in excitement, "Oooh! I remember another one. We had a wardrobe malfunction in the spring of 2015. Adrien was barely old enough to walk the runway," Gabriel started laughing again in anticipation.

Adrien glared at his dad. He knew where this was going. It was one of those stories.

"A model was standing in front of him, her dress hiked up in the back."

Adrien squealed in embarrassment and exclaimed, "She was wearing a g-string!"

Marinette glanced between the two. Gabriel was in stitches. It was something she thought him incapable of before.

"Seams, Adrien," he stressed, "You can't have them showing. You're lucky she wore anything at all."

"What happened?" Marinette asked.

Adrien blushed scarlet.

"Adrien approached, tapped her on the shoulder, and notified her of her malfunction. She turned to the mirror," Gabriel began to snicker, "Flipped the dress down and said thank you. I believe she blew you a kiss," he pointed at Adrien.

Adrien slouched down into the mattress.

Marinette didn't understand what was so funny. She glanced from Adrien, to Gabriel, and back, waiting for one of them to explain.

"I don't get it. Why is that so funny?" she asked.

"Adrien?" Gabriel was bent over, his mouth in his hands, as his eyes sparkled with mirth.

Gabriel was enjoying himself and spending this time with Adrien. Adrien was very obviously doing the same. Marinette noted Gabriel's playful posture and Adrien's eyes were sparkling, belying his sulky demeanor. She felt the warmth radiating through her and smiled.

"Care to explain to your wife what is so funny?"

"No," he grunted and crossed his arms with a huff.

Gabriel clapped his hands together and grinned up at Marinette, "Adrien had never seen a g-string before. He came to me, horrified, that a model was going to walk the runway with a string up her…ahem." Gabriel snickered some more, "I had his mother explain to him what was going on."

"How brave of you," Marinette cocked a brow at Gabriel.

Gabriel pursed his lips, but didn't deny his cowardice.

"It was mortifying!" Adrien lamented, his arms waving wildly, but then he grinned, "I think I was the most well-educated boy my age when it came to women's underwear after that."

"Oh, God," Marinette covered her eyes with her hand and began laughing.

Adrien smirked, "I'm glad everyone finds my humiliation so hilarious."

"Well, good news, you're being discharged!" Marinette pointed out, "The doctor is on his way up with papers and we'll be free to go."

The two Agreste men glanced to each other, the tension was there again, but much less so. They'd had a good time together for the first time in so very long.

"I'll have Nathalie get those to you as soon as possible. I will see you later," he leaned over to wrap his arms around Adrien, "I love you, son."

"Love you, too, dad."

Gabriel pulled out his cell, put it to his ear, and left the room. "Nathalie..."

"What was that all about?" Marinette wondered aloud.

Adrien's eyes were alight and he wore a giddy grin, "You'll see. It's a surprise!"