Ladybug opened the hospital window as silently as she could manage. Once she got herself into the room, she was pretty sure Chat Noir would be proud of her sneakiness. No one seemed to notice she entered, and as soon as she saw the elder man sleeping on his bed, she felt relieved at entering the right room. So the doctors didn't try to hide where the guardian was, at least. Maybe they thought he was a weird case because of his age, they could have found something weird in his physiology that spiked their concerns. This was not a relaxing thought to the heroine, but it was better than some of the alternatives.
She got closer to the bed, and tried not to feel too bad about all the tubes and monitoring devices connected to Master Fu. She failed miserably.
''I will solve this, Master, I promise'' She whispered looking at the slow rise of the older man's breathing. ''You will wake up and the box will be safe again, you wouldn't even know it was gone in the first place'' She leaned in and gave Master Fu a peck on the forehead before going back to her exit. ''Whatever it takes'' Said Ladybug before closing the window and disappearing into the night.
After another Lila-less class day, Adrien got into the car sighing. Nathalie asked him what is wrong and he just vaguely told the woman that he had to talk to Gabriel about something, carefully avoiding the topic of miraculous in front of the Gorilla. Nathalie smiles a little at that, not seeming to be phased in the slightest about the reluctance of the boy to talk to his own father.
As soon as they arrived at the mansion, Nathalie told Adrien where his father was at the moment, his office. He didn't want to deal with him yet, specially not after the rough conversation they had before which was left unsolved. The boy did not want to admit it, but he felt guilty about how he treated the man when he just wanted to help him. Yes, he had a right to be frustrated and he also didn't owe his father any sympathy after all the things he had done, but he couldn't help the shame he felt everytime he remembered that particular interaction.
''Come in'' Said Gabriel's voice from his office as soon as Adrien knocked. At least he didn't need appointments anymore, the model thought.
''Hello son, how was your day?'' Asked the man, and Adrien couldn't help but chuckle at how weird those words sounded coming from him. Not that the question wasn't honest, but even as a full caring and involved parent Gabriel had any interest in the mundane.
''It was ok, Marinette and my friends were great as always and Lila didn't show up, which we still don't know if its a good or a bad thing'' He said more than he really wanted to, but he couldn't stop himself. He also hated how much of his judgement on the quality of his day was based upon Lila's absence. Thief and criminal or not, she was a sore spot in Adrien life's the boy really could do without.
''Miss Dupain-Cheng is welcome to dinner anytime, make sure to let her know that'' The man commented. ''I… I also wanted to apologize, son. I know you don't want me to meddle with your life anymore, but the residual connection I have with Nooro is not something I can control yet, so-''
''It's ok'' Adrien interrupted his father. Not sure if he could take all this weird behavior from Gabriel any longer. It wasn't unpleasant, exactly, but he just didn't want to get used to that just yet. Also it should be him who apologized for the other day. ''I know you can't control it, I was rude and angry, so I'm the one who's sorry'' Then an idea popped on his head. ''Hey father, do you think you could detect a specific person's location with your… senses?''
Gabriel stopped working on whatever he was sketching to look at Adrien, who was still standing close to the door. The man decided to leave his project and sat down on one of the couches, and signaled Adrien to do the same in front of him. Adrien couldn't help but smile a little at this. His father really was taking his second chance. Even if the boy didn't want to get his hopes up, he was grateful for the little changes.
''My powers are not the same as when I had the miraculous. I can't sense anyone I don't have a strong connection to, or that is too far away. Distinguishing people got a lot harder too'' He explained once they were both sitting. ''Is that what you came here for in the first place?'' Asked the man after a short silence.
''Oh, no. I need the grimoire, we believe we can find some clues to solve our… problem, in it. I'm sure you already know what happened'' He said. Adrien had commented on passing to Nathalie about the box being stolen, but he asked her to not intervene. He knew she would tell his father, however.
''Yes, I'm aware… I can give you the book, but I must warn you, translating it and understanding what it says is very hard, I'm not sure how much it could help you solve this issue. I spent these last years focused mostly on the secrets of the miraculous we know of, yours and Ladybugs, and the Butterfly and the Peacock'' Adrien was listening with full attention now. He never even thought of the possibility of his father knowing more about the jewels than he let on. ''When Emily fell ill, the first thing I did was investigate the grimoire. Just translating it takes a long time, It's not impossible but once I found out about the wish… '' He stopped there. He looked a bit confused to Adrien, which was probably explained by the fact that he destroyed the man's feelings and emotions about that whole situation.
''Wait, why would you go to the book first as soon as mom got ill? wouldn't a hospital be more of a priority?'' The boy remembered some doctors coming in, but he never thought those were related at all to his mother's disappearance. He now knew that she died of some incurable illness, but he never really lived with his parents through the process. To him, Emily Agreste just vanished one day.
''The illness was caused by the peacock miraculous, son. That's why I wanted to use their magic to solve it when it was too late for anything else'' Said Gabriel, not a single drop of frustration in his voice.
''Why would she use it so much that she died?. Why would you let her do that?!'' Adrien suddenly got up, and Gabriel seemed genuinely surprised at the outburst.
''Sit down, son'' He commanded calmly, and some rebel part of the model didn't want to, but he also wanted answers, so he obeyed. ''Your mother was no angel, son. She liked creating sentimonster more than I ever liked using the power of the butterfly miraculous. It was a form of expression for her at the beginning, but then it became an obsession'' As soon as Gabriel said this, Adrien got flashbacks of little weird creatures hanging around the house when he was younger. He always thought those were his imaginary friends… A product of his own loneliness.
''Yes, all those weird animals and friends you had when you were little, she made them all. To play, to command around, to clean the house. She never showed them to our guests of course, but there was no stopping her. Until the symptoms started to get worse and worse. We thought it was a cold at first, but when time went by and her health only deteriorated, I suspected the miraculous was responsible. So I forbid her from using it again. We argued about it and in the end she only agreed because of the fear of leaving you behind without a mother was stronger than her obsession over using the power'' Gabriel finished with a sad tone, and Adrien knew it wasn't for the loss of Emily, but for what it implied for his only son. The boy on the other hand, had tears on his eyes now, he didn't know any of this!
''If she stopped then, why did she die?'' Adrien asked in a whisper, not trusting his voice to produce a stronger volume without breaking.
''A year after she stopped using the miraculous, she got better. She also got better at controlling her craving of creating creatures with it. But then you got kidnapped…'' This time Gabriel's voice was a whisper, full of frustration and regret. Adrien never saw so much raw emotion coming from his father, but he knew the time he got kidnapped by some criminals that wanted rich people money was one of the first times he experienced that.
Adrien remembered that situation, it was right before his mother disappeared, and one of the scariest things, if short lived, the boy had experienced in his life so far. He got rescued before any payment was done, but his parents looked so distraught and, specially Emily, didn't want Adrien to leave their sight from a long time after that. It was also why he only insisted on going to school after she was gone, the woman being the most overbearing of his two parents. Adrien had almost forgotten that whole ordeal, the changes in his life after that being much more important to him.
''Your mother got so desperate to protect you after that incident, she stole the peacock miraculous from the safe and used it to create one final sentimonster, one that would protect you forever'' Gabriel explained looking at his son in the eyes, and immediately Adrien knew who it was.
''The gorilla…'' The boy whispered in awe. ''But he's… he looks so human! kinda… I mean, he doesn't talk much, but he has his own problems and feelings, right? just like the Ladybug sentimonster…'' The boy rambled a bit, while Gabriel was nodding.
''Yes, he lives, but his existence is tied to an object I keep protected, and while he has free will, he knows and respects what he was created for'' Said Gabriel.
Adrien couldn't believe this. The silent bodyguard that followed him around every time he could was a sentimonster made by his own mother. It explained so much, but also made him question even more.
''Your mother got gravely ill after that, and no doctor could help her this time. It was as if all her previous use of the miraculous added up with her last creation, and she collapsed. That's when I started investigating the grimoire for a solution and built that basement to keep her safe until I could find one'' Adrien could imagine the rest of that story. His father finding out about the wish, Emily finally dying in that cold coffing, but Gabriel not being able to just let go and deciding instead to become Hawkmoth.
''I know now how stupid I was, in hindsight and without all the … turmoil in my head that Emily always provoked, good or bad. I wish sometimes we had never found those artifacts on that trip to Nepal. But the thing I want the most right now, is your forgiveness, Adrien'' He said that last part with such sincerity, even the fact that he didn't show much emotion didn't stop Adrien's tears from accumulating in his green eyes. He hugged his father, and the man responded kindly and seemed to relax into the embrace.
Once they separated, there was a short awkward silence that the boy interrupted as soon as he found the words. ''I don't think I will ever forget what you did, father. But forgiveness? That I can do'' He smiled warmly, and Adrien was sure he didn't imagine how humid his father's eyes looked now. That made the boy happier than any words the man could have said. Just the fact that he felt enough to be nearly in tears, that he cared, was all that Adrien had wanted from his father since his mother vanished.
''Thank you, son. I'm not sure I deserve to be, but I'm proud that you are who you are'' Said the man. ''I can give you the grimoire like you want now'' He said soon after, to avoid another awkward silence probably, and hide his face too. Adrien smiled at that. His father got closer to the safe and started opening it.
''There is one more thing you should know, son. I found out this story about the peacock miraculous that explained why it damages its users'' He said while taking the book out and handing it to the boy.
''It's broken, right?'' Asked Adrien, looking at the grimoire in his hands, so he didn't really see Gabriel shaking his head.
''It's cursed, I can tell you that story if you want, but I think it would be wiser to have Ladybug… Miss Dupain-Cheng with us for that, she's responsible for the jewels, am I correct?'' He said, and Adrien looked at his father in the eye, and decided he could trust him with this new information.
''She's not the guardian anymore, I'm giving this book to the new one, Viperion. But yeah I'll tell her to come and listen to this, we can inform the guardian after if it's useful'' The boy looked at his watch and almost jumped ''Speaking of which, I'm late to my date!'' And he was out of the room before Gabriel could say anything else.
Nathalie was outside the room, smiling warmly, ipad on her arms as always.
Marinette listened to Adrien's story with so many mixed emotions she was sure that if Gabriel could sense her now, he would get dizzy. On one part, she was happy that her boyfriend and his father were finally talking and sharing; On the other one, the whole thing with Emily was such a tragedy the heroine just wanted to curl up on her room and cry. She wasn't sure how Adrien did it, how he was such a good person after everything he went through, but she knew that she was extremely grateful and proud of the fact. Even as he was telling her all this, he didn't seem as distressed as she would have been in his shoes.
She laid her head on his shoulder once the story was done, and they sat there at the park for a bit. It was getting late, and the sunset attracted some couples to the place but nothing more, so this little moment was as private as it could have been.
''He also said that the peacock miraculous is cursed, and he knows the story behind it. He wanted you to be there to hear it, though'' Said the boy while she enjoyed the reverberating of his voice on her ear. ''I'm not sure how useful it would be, but he wants you to come to dinner anyways so I said yes, is that ok with you?'' He asked.
''Yeah, I don't mind'' She said, and then they both just sat there in silence again. It was getting easier and easier for them to just enjoy each others company without wearing a mask, but the guilty feeling they got from it was not disappearing any time soon. Them being happy while bad things were left unsolved was not something they would get used to any time soon.
Adrien sighed. ''You know, It's really hard to not just transform into Destruction and smell Lila's location or whoever has the box and go get it'' He commented, trying to make it sound like a joke but Marinette could tell there was real wishful thinking in there.
''Huh uh, none of that Kitty. You know the consequences are permanent. We will solve this as we usually do, as heroes'' She scolded him with the same half joking tone. Adrien chuckled at the treatment, then after a while he escorted her to the bakery.
Marinette couldn't help but worry about Adrien's desperation to solve this. Yeah, she wanted that too, as quickly as possible. But it wasn't worth it if her partners life was forever ruined because of them rushing things. What if he got a tail or cat ears?!
She promised herself to do everything on her power to avoid that from happening.
Chat Noir knocked on the window of the boat-house, and soon after Luka opened the curtains to see who was bothering him at 1AM. The older boy saw him and immediately let the cat inside his room.
''I brought you the book we told you about'' Said Chat as soon as he got in, keeping his voice low in case anyone else was awake. He dropped his transformation just briefly enough to get the book out of his bag as Adrien, then turned back into his hero persona. Again, just in case.
''Thank you... um, what language is this?'' Asked the guitarist after flipping through some pages of the grimoire. Chat Noir chuckled at his confused face.
''No idea, my father spent years studying it and he said he didn't get much information either. Not even Master Fu translated it completely, I think'' He snickered. The cat didn't hate Luka, but the thought of him suffering through this made him kind of happy for some reason. He knew he was being childish, but he couldn't help it.
''Huh…'' Said Luka, then looked at Chat's grinning face and returned the same expression before saying. ''I gather you and Marinette are doing good, since you are back to your mocking self again instead of just glaring daggers and mopping around'' He commented, and when Chat's smirk dropped the guitarist started laughing.
''Sorry sorry, I'm happy for you two, honestly'' He said after probably realizing he shouldn't laugh too hard that late. Chat took the cue to say what he really wanted to say to the older boy.
''Nah, It should be me apologizing. You have been such a good sport about all this and I was just a jealous brat'' Said the hero, reclining himself on the open window. Luka smiled brightly at that, and Chat realized it made him feel a million times better to be nice to the guy and see him happy than to antagonize him. No wonder Marinette liked him.
''Apology accepted… But seriously, this book is going to be a pain in the ass for me'' He sighed, but Chat could tell from his tone that the complaint didn't mean Luka wouldn't give his best to investigate. He knew from past experience with the band that the guitarist was not a lazy person at all.
''You are going to be a great guardian, I can tell already'' Said Chat smiling. But then he saw the guitarist face get a bit more serious while still looking through the book.
''You know, when I accepted the job, I thought I'd had some guidance… But now it feels like I'm the responsible adult in the group- Not that you or Marinette or the others are not responsible! But I'm the oldest and… '' He sighed ''I can't help thinking that I should be doing more'' He finished saying, and Chat decided the mopping look just didn't fit Luka.
''You know, I went by almost a whole year without knowing of the existence of the guardian. Only Ladybug knew. So I kind of know how you feel. But I learned that trying to prove yourself to someone else is not the same as doing the right thing... I made my Lady suffer sometimes with me trying to impress her instead of actually doing my job'' He chuckled at the memory. It felt like an eternity ago that such a dynamic between the heroes was still going on, when in reality it was barely a week ago that they knew each others identities; And just a bit longer since he stopped trying so hard to woo his lady, in the middle of battle at least.
''What I'm trying to say is, just do what you can and it will be fine. You don't have to be ´the adult´, just being part of the group is good enough'' The hero finished saying and was rewarded with Luka's eyes lighting up.
''You know, between you and me, I always liked Chat Noir more'' Said the guitarist then, and both boys laughed.
''No way, Ladybug is everyone's favorite, even mine!''
''Yeah but I clicked more with the way you always kept the mood light with your jokes and how you protected her from everything so she could solve the riddles of each Akuma'' Said Luka, and Chat felt a blush rising on his face. He couldn't recall the last time someone other than his Lady appreciated so much what he did. Specially the jokes. Luka really did know people, and what made them feel good, the cat thought.
''But seriously, thank you. I'll do my best with this'' Said the blue haired boy while lifting the grimoire and smiling.
They chatted a bit more and then Chat Noir left. These days none of them were getting enough sleep and he really needed to stop making it worse by just socializing.
As he leaped back to his home, the cat hero's spirits lifted from his interaction with the new guardian, he smiled. Luka had a way of making him feel better even after he was an idiot to him, even his mocking was more a way to lighten the mood than a tool to make him feel guilty.
For the first time that week, Chat Noir felt as if they were finally moving forward and not being stuck with their problems. He had no idea if the guitarist even knew any other language other than french, but he had the strange and comfortable feeling that he would do his best to help anyways, and that was what all of them should do, really.
...
Hello! If you are interested in seeing some fanart, search for BrassLass on tumblr to see how Pavona looks and some other stuff.
Thank you for reading this fic so far, hope you enjoy it!