Chapter 19

"Adrien, son, it's good to see you well, are you enjoying your time with the Bourgeois family?" Gabriel asked Adrien as the class slowly mulled around. Class had ended ten minutes ago, but the students were enjoying looking at all the projects up close, especially Marinette's costumes. Adrien bristled.

"What do you care," he hissed under his breath, "You don't care about me or my wellbeing at all."

He chuckled. The sound was strange. Gabriel Agreste never laughed. "Quite the contrary, I assure you."

Adrien gave him a pointed look. He desperately needed to talk to Marinette, but with his father hovering over them like a hawk, it was going to be difficult. "I'm fine, and I'm not coming back. You're toxic and abusive and… and I'm getting the help I need."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, "If that's how you feel. You're, of course, welcome to come home whenever you like. Though, I daresay Mademoiselle Bourgeois' lawyers will need to be consulted first. A scandal of this proportion is going to take some careful consideration."

"Wait," Adrien asked before he could think through his words, "lawyers? Scandal?"

Gabriel leaned in, "You didn't think the son of Paris' finest fashion mogul could spend several nights with the Mayor's daughter without the media catching wind of it, did you?"

"But we're friends! She's helping me get away from you!"

Gabriel shrugged, "Perhaps you should have thought through this a little more carefully." Gabriel turned away from Adrien then, thanked the teacher and congratulated Marinette once more, and casually left the room. Adrien immediately felt warmer, though the conversation with his father had left him with nagging dread once again. He knew all his father was trying to do was intimidate him, and despite Adrien being wise to his devices, it was working. Adrien was intimidated. But he couldn't let his fear hold him back. He located Marinette packing up a few things into her bag, and Adrien returned to her side.

"Marinette," he began, "great costumes."

She sighed and looked up at him, "Don't patronize me. I know your thoughts and theories about Gabriel."

The two left the classroom together. "Alright, I admit it, I'm angry that you went and worked with him after knowing the horrible things he's done."

She paused mid-stair to turn to Adrien, "Horrible things? Adrien, what horrible things has he done? You claimed he was the one who trashed your bedroom, but we don't have actual evidence of that. For all I know, you did that yourself so that I would feel sorry for you. I can't believe I was so naïve! I should have demanded evidence. You… you've been playing me for days."

Adrien gawked in shock. "I… I… I haven't been playing you, Marinette."

She angrily resumed her march toward the exit. "You said your father was Hawkmoth. Why? Why do you believe that?"

"Because… because of the photoshoot. He designed superhero costumes that only Hawkmoth would remember."

"Remember? No, wait, I'm not even going to go into that. I can't believe I was such a fool."

"You're not a fool, Marinette," Adrien panted, struggling to keep up, "you're Ladybug! I'm your partner! We've been working together for four years. You were akumatized, and Tikki had to rewrite reality to bring us here, so Hawkmoth wouldn't get your Miraculous. Come on Marinette, please, you've got to remember!"

Lightning struck the ground just behind Marinette, deafening and blinding Adrien simultaneously. "STOP!" she screamed, "Just stop!"

He looked at the angry tears coursing down her cheeks. "Marinette, I—"

"Don't. Don't play on my feelings again. It's cruel. Don't you get it? I… I loved you for years. I tried so hard to tell you, to show you, and all you did was turn me down for some other girl. You had your chance, but it's over now! Go back to Chloe, or Kagami, or whoever the flavor of the month is. I don't want you in my life, Adrien." Lightning struck again, this time hitting the light post to their left. Adrien threw his hands above his head to protect himself from the shower of sparks that fell. Marinette didn't flinch.

"Please don't say that, Marinette. I love you. The girl I was in love with was you; we couldn't divulge our identities—"

"Our identities?" she spat. "You… that's what it is, isn't it. It's our identity. You're in love with my identity, not with me. But if it came right down to it, you wouldn't give it up. You wouldn't give up Chat Noir for me."

He blinked at her, unsure what to say, "Give up… Chat? Marinette, Paris needs us!"

"No," she shook her head mournfully, "You need your Miraculous to feel special. You need that ring, nobody else. If I asked you for it, would you give it to me?" She held out her hand expectantly for a moment, and when he hesitated, she backed up and lightning struck the peak of the school entrance above their heads, "Leave me alone." She spun and ran across the street toward her home.

"Marinette! Wait! Where's Tikki?" Adrien tried to run after her, but a gust of wind hit him so hard that he was pushed back into the school entrance. "No," he muttered to himself, "I won't let you go that easily. Plagg," he opened his jacket, "we need to help her." Plagg gave him a wide-eyed warning look, but Adrien was too focused on getting back to Marinette to recognize it. "Claws out!" Nothing happened. "Did you hear me, I said claws out!" Adrien punched the air again.

Plagg sighed. Where's the suit Ladybug sent you?"

"Wait… what?"

"Where's your Chat Noir suit?" Plagg asked again.

"Uh," Adrien responded sheepishly, "I had to abandon it a couple days ago. I left it in an alley." Plagg rolled his eyes. "But that shouldn't matter," Adrien added defensively, "It's magic! It comes when I call it on!"

Plagg shook his head sadly, "Sorry kid, but this is a weird, cracked reality. Magic is all messed up right now. That suit was the only one we've got."

"Well, we'll just go back and get it, then."

"Sure, kid," Plagg moaned, as thunder boomed overhead.

However, Adrien quickly realized that saying he would go find his costume and actually doing it were two very different things. The alleyway he'd ditched it in was on the outskirts of Paris, several kilometers away. The weather was horrific, so walking was out of the question. He still had his cellphone, so he pulled it out and decided to call a cab. He dialed the taxi service, and on the second ring a woman's voice answered, "Adrien? Where are you? Can I come pick you up?"

"I'm at sch—hang on, how did you know this was Adrien?"

"Your father wanted me to tell you that he forgives you and that you should come home."

"Nathalie? He forgives me? How did you even… are you rerouting all my calls to your phone?"

"I'll send your bodyguard right away. Just stay where you are—"

Adrien hung up and chucked the phone against the wall, then ran into the whipping rain as it shattered. His father was monitoring his phone calls? He suddenly felt very exposed, and it had nothing to do with the weather. He raced for the nearest Metro station, but hesitated. He could use his metrocard, but that was paid for by his father and was probably also being monitored. He had a few Euros in his wallet, so he purchased himself a ticket. He fought his way through the crowded station and leaned against a pillar as he waited for the train that would take him to the arrondissement where Thomas Astruc lived.

The ground rumbled faintly as a train approached. Just then, Adrien got a strong push from Plagg inside his jacket, looked up, and saw Gorilla descending the station steps. "Shoot," he muttered, and dropped to his hands and knees. "Where's he going, Plagg?" Adrien whispered.

"Just stay low," Plagg urged as he peeked over the back of Adrien's collar. "The train will be here in a second."

"He'll know I'm on this train, though—"

"I'll stall him," Plagg responded before Adrien could register what he was saying. Plagg zipped away from Adrien, who tried to call him back. A second later, a woman shrieked.

"There's a rat!" she screamed. "I saw it! Right there! It was huge! A huge rabid rat!"

"Look," a man yelled, "it's going that way!"

"Eee!" Another woman screamed, "It… it bit me!"

That was enough to cause a few screams to turn into panic. The crowd started yelling and stampeding toward the exit. Gorilla was lost in the hysteria. Adrien grinned as the train came to a smooth halt and he ducked inside. Plagg suddenly appeared beside him, spitting and scrubbing his tongue with his paw. "You humans really should practice better hygiene. You taste terrible."

Adrien chuckled, "You didn't have to actually bite the poor woman, you know."

Plagg looked indignant, "It worked, didn't it?"

Adrien nodded and tickled his kwami's chin, "Thanks. Remind me to get you an extra piece of cheese once we get back to normal life."

"Oh trust me," Plagg grinned, "I will."

Adrien pulled out some homework mainly to blend in as the train jostled back and forth on its way to the outskirts of Paris. It took a while to get there and a couple transfers, and the whole while, Marinette's angry words haunted him.

"Plagg," he whispered when the train car was empty, "is she right? Do I really only care about myself?"

Plagg popped his head out of Adrien's jacket to roll his eyes, "I'm not the right kwami to ask."

"Please, just tell me."

"No, kid, you're not selfish. Sure, you can be a little dimwitted sometimes, and the obvious does have a tendency to pass you by—"

"Hey!"

"—but no, you're not selfish."

"Why would Marinette think that about me? Why would she ask for my Miraculous?"

Plagg shrugged, but the train was approaching his stop, so he stowed his books back in his bag and made his way down the maze of streets to the alley where he'd left his suit. He opened his jacket and Plagg flew out. "Ok, it's around here somewhere."

Adrien knew he'd been in a hurry when he'd taken off the suit, so he turned over some boxes and crates. "Uh, I hate to say it, kid," Plagg murmured, "but it's not here."

Adrien's stomach dropped as he looked more diligently, "Well, the only other option was that it was stolen. Which I guess I knew was possibility, but I thought I'd hid it pretty well…"

Plagg sat on Adrien's shoulder, "Even with magic being whacko right now, I should still be drawn to the suit. I'm not feeling it. Sorry."

Adrien sighed in resignation, even though he wasn't ready to quit looking just yet. "Maybe I remembered wrong, maybe this is the wrong alley—"

A raspy voice piqued his interest, "Yeah, there's a blonde kid down here, just like you warned… Yeah—" Adrien froze. Someone was just outside the alleyway entrance, talking on a phone. "—Yeah, he fit the description. Tall, blonde, skinny, built like a model… Ok, yeah, I'll make sure."

"Plagg, we gotta move!" Adrien hissed. Both of them looked around for ideas. The alley was pretty tight. There was a fire escape ladder a story above him. Perhaps he could get up there if he jumped off the dumpster?

The owner of the raspy voice strolled around the corner, "Hey, there, kid," he spoke casually, "can I help you with anything?" Another two men appeared and flanked his sides. Three against one… Adrien didn't like those odds. He clambered on top of the dumpster and the men jumped into action. They were racing for him; they were going to catch him—he aimed and leapt for all he was worth. His fingers hooked the bottom rung of the fire escape, which started to descend with his weight. His left hand grabbed the second rung and he pulled upward. On the third rung, though, the fastest man grasped his injured ankle and Adrien let out a wail of pain. He kicked into the man's face and bought him enough time to pull up another couple of rungs, but the other two men had made it, and each grabbed a foot. Adrien's fingernails dug into the brick wall as he was dragged down.

"Let me go!" he screamed. His voice ricocheted off the walls, desperate and lonely.

"Now now, kid, it's ok, we're not going to hurt you. There's someone who wants to talk to you, is all—"

"Let me go, leave me alone!" Adrien recognized the sleek silver sedan as he was pushed inside. Nathalie was seated next to him with a very smug look on her face. The car gave a lurch and did a U-turn that made Adrien's stomach churn.

"Adrien," Nathalie smiled, "I'm so glad you decided to come home."