Hello, and also bye- I really need to do homework, I totally didn't realise I have to do an English essay for Friday until today, and I also need to do Biology with anonymous, who I kinda left to write this fanfic and I need to go back to her (it's a Powerpoint which we're doing in partners, and which we also littered with beautiful cat puns for our teacher, because Chat Noir)
I have no idea when the next chapter's coming, I'll try to do it in the next week but that's a stretch because it took me like 5 days to write this one, which was almost done on Saturday when I meant to post but I only just finished it. I won't be able to upload as much now because one, school and two, not having real plans for the next chapters (the only 'plans' I have are literally arguments with myself that I wrote down (which aren't helpful)) So yeah, enjoy the chapter!
"Tikki?"
"Yes Plagg."
"What are you doing here?" Asked Master Fu.
"It's because of Marinette, right? She must be feeling really sad," said Plagg, his eyes devoid of their usual playfulness.
"Sad?" Tikki looked enraged. "You have no idea! She's falling further and further down into this dark hole and I can't save her, Master!"
"Tikki, I really do." Plagg sighed wearily. She said nothing, but compassion blossomed in her eyes as she realised that Adrien's death had caused a change in him that she had never seen before.
"Marinette's sleeping at the moment, but I don't have much time." Tikki shuddered as she imagined Marinette waking up without her kwami.
After a second, Plagg spoke, turning to Master Fu.
"Should we tell Ladybug about… you know."
"Adrien and Chat Noir? Hmm."
"Master," put in Wayzz, "I can sense that it's time."
"Yes. She will have to come to me soon. I will explain everything to her; she needs to know."
"But won't that make her feel worse?" asked Tikki.
"The truth hurts. But it is always better than the alternative."
"Marinette must be really stressed," added Plagg. "This revelation will shock her, but it would be better for her to know now, so she could deal with it at the same time as dealing with his death. If she found out later, then it would be even worse; her recovery would be even more prolonged if another bombshell was dropped right after she had just about got over what has happened. We would lose Ladybug, as well as… Chat Noir."
"Plagg," said Tikki, "that is one of the most perceptive things I have ever heard come out from your mouth."
Master Fu clasped his hands together. "Ok Tikki, I will send Wayzz to call you and Marinette, in a few days at most. I need to think things over- how to tell her, what we will do about Hawkmoth."
"Yes Guardian," replied the voices of 3 kwamis, one of them getting fainter and fainter as the red and black blur zipped out into the night.
Miss Bustier cautiously addressed the class, trying to make her voice as soft as possible. "Thank you for coming in today, considering…." Her voice tailed off and her eyes flicked involuntarily towards Adrien's empty seat. Everyone got her meaning, but displayed no recognition on their faces- they just looked dejected. "But I can see that trying to teach you isn't a good idea."
For the duration of the lesson, Miss Bustier let them rest their heads on the desks while she played soft music in the background, not being able to concentrate herself on her marking.
"Thank you miss," whispered Alya as they left the class. "I think… we really needed that." She glanced pointedly at Marinette's retreating back, trying to convey her gratitude without words. Miss Bustier nodded, looking a bit distracted. Alya hurried after Marinette who hadn't even noticed that Alya was no longer with her; as her best friend with a little more… mental stability, at the moment, she needed to be there for Marinette. Of course Alya was devastated about Adrien, but she knew that breaking down at school wouldn't help anything. However, Marinette wasn't able to think like that at the moment. And that was dangerous.
"Today we will be doing a chemistry practical."
The class stared blankly at Miss Mendeleev.
"Get into partners and read the method on the board. I won't be explaining it because this is a required practical and you should know the basic steps anyway, unless," her voice dropped and her eyes flashed, "You weren't listening when I taught them to you." She glared around the class, as if she was daring any of them to say they didn't know what to do. They stared back, not a single one of them wanting to do the practical, none of them willing to speak up even if they didn't know what to do. "When you've set up your apparatus I'll come and light your Bunsen burners. Now hurry up!"
Everyone was subdued throughout the practical, apart from one moment when they heard a scream of "AHHH! THE FRICKING RUBBER'S ON FIRE!" Miss Mendeleev calmly walked over to Ivan and blew it out.
"Ivan! Don't panic like that, it's dangerous!" She scolded, eyes set in a scowl. He just glared at her, then grunted and tuned away.
"Don't turn away from me when I'm talking to you!" His shoulders slumped and he slowly spun to face her.
"In fact, get out! And don't roll your eyes!" She yelled at his retreating back.
Nathalie was worried. Before, it had been for Adrien. Day by day he had looked progressively sadder, leading up to his… death. But now she was worried for Gabriel. He was not taking Adrien's death well. Frick, how could he? Anyone losing a son would be devastated. But Gabriel had felt responsible for his son's death. Nathalie laughed mirthlessly under her breath- he was responsible. Shouldn't that have made anyone hate the man?
Nathalie didn't.
But why?
She felt like she should.
Adrien had literally died because of him. Gabriel was too controlling, way too controlling. He didn't let Adrien have his own life; he barely let him go to school. He took for granted that Adrien would be there for every photoshoot forced on him, no matter if he had planned anything else. He would always be there- Gabriel made sure of that. And Adrien had been so selfless, putting up with his father, suffering alone through his mother's death.
Of course Gabriel never noticed the pain behind Adrien's eyes though; he wasn't with him enough, and when he was, Adrien always hid behind the mask he wore for the public, as if that's all Gabriel was- just another person who only saw one side of him. Well, not one side. Half of one- his civilian one. The other side was Chat Noir. Nathalie suspected that being the hero was what had kept him sane for so long. But it was only a matter of time before he found out the identity of his greatest enemy. And it had broken him. Beyond repair.
Nathalie felt she had been the only one to notice Adrien's downfall. She had seen it in his face when he thought no one was looking. But she hadn't done anything. And she hated herself for it. She was merely the assistant, but she had watched Adrien grow up, started to care for him like… a son, she guessed. She remembered one of the many times she had walked into Adrien's room to see him crying. It had happened most in the weeks after Emilie's disappearance.
Adrien was slumped on a chair; his laptop was on, but he was staring at nothing. Nathalie walked in to give him his schedule, and stopped in her tracks when she saw him. Overwhelmed by compassion, she silently closed the gap between them and put her arms around his shoulders. He stiffened for a second, but then his shoulders went slack as he curled up even smaller and continued to sob. Nathalie's eyes were wet with tears, but she couldn't let Adrien see. She couldn't show weakness.
She had left without giving Adrien his timetable. And had gotten into trouble with Gabriel. But it was worth it.
Nathalie was a perceptive woman. She had noticed the atmosphere in the house getting gradually more sombre and melancholy. But she hadn't done anything. Because she was the assistant. She wasn't supposed to intervene, right? Does helping your boss terrorise a city count as intervening? She cringed as she realised how bad it sounded. But that's how bad it was.
Well, that isn't in your typical job description. Wow, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I had applied to be the fashion designer's assistant.
Out of nowhere, as if Gabriel had read her thoughts, he said, "Do you think I'll get caught? I mean, Adrien… knew who I was, and he could have told someone…"
"You know, I don't think he did," Nathalie murmured. Then she laughed humourlessly. "Sir, let me remind you that you are the most feared villain in all of Paris and I could literally go and tell someone right now."
"You'd be caught as well, you know. You can't just say you know I'm Hawkmoth without giving away that you're Mayura."
"Mmhmm. Also you only have yourself to blame for that."
"Actually, I don't. You're the one who stole the peacock miraculous from the safe. It's not like I forced you to use it."
"Well, you were about to be caught."
"And now you're willing to tell on me to the police? Isn't that just contradictory?"
"Ugh, Ladybug was literally about to take off your miraculous!"
"Yeah, and why did you feel the need to save me?"
"Are you serious, Gabriel?"
"Mmhmm."
"Maybe, I care what happens to you." She folded her arms and stared at him defiantly.
An awkward silence followed.
"Anyway, back to the point." said Gabriel. "If you turned me in, you'd be giving yourself up as well, you know?"
"Gabriel, do you think I care?"
"Um…?"
"I don't. I don't care what happens to me. I have nothing, no one to live for." Tears were sliding down her cheeks.
"Oh Nathalie." Gabriel's voice was barely a whisper; she would have missed it in anything less than silence. She was surprised by the change of tone in his voice. He lifted her chin with a finger. Her eyes were trained on the floor, determined not to meet his eyes, but she involuntarily flicked her eyes towards his, and she couldn't look away from his stormy blue gaze. "What are we going to do?"
I just reread the author note at the top and realised I caught the bracket sickness from anonymous :)
And also, the science class- what Ivan did (setting the rubber on fire) is literally what me and anonymous did a week ago in Chemistry, with a bit less screaming and getting sent out (our teacher's way better than Miss Mendeleev). It was great.
~Speckle
