The Hit on the Groom and What Became of It - Chapter 3/Leaps in logic (and over the edge of the rooftop)
Adrien's day wasn't good at first. Okay, it was straight-up terrible. For most, their wedding is supposed to be a happy day. Or at least a reason for celebrations. Adrien? He couldn't even hope for a cake since it would ruin his model body.
For the last several months, his father was working him into an early grave. The extra photo sessions, harder classes, new exercise regime… and Lila. The last one was terrifying.
Adrien tried to hold onto hope that his father would in the end cancel the whole affair. That he would drop the ridiculous notion of wedding or at least push it back. The young model wasn't sure exactly why was his father so insistent on pushing for the wedding. He repeatedly asked himself if Lila was blackmailing his father, but it was hard to think of anything that his father possibly could be blackmailed with. Adrien spent countless hours wondering if his father had some dark secret, but it didn't fit the man.
Did the designer have an affair with Nathalie? No… he already got angry about the suggestion once. And even if so, it wasn't something that he would be so ashamed about.
Was his father doing some illegal business dealings? It was somewhat possible, but what? It would need to be something big. Something extremely big.
Thinking rationally, he had no idea what could it be…
What could be so big that it was worth more than the happiness of his only son?
When one looks at all that, being kidnapped right at the altar was almost… nice. Sure, Adrien had been dragged by a sentient pile of mud into the sewers and then carried to some unknown location. Sure, his beautiful suit was ruined and all the hard work Marinette put into her work was irreversibly wasted.
But, he was not married to Lila.
The pile of mud dragged him deep into the sewers until they found a ladder leading up. It appeared to be grievously damaged, with several steps in the row removed. Adrien didn't protest much when he was lifted up and into the place above.
The place turned out to be a quite comfy flat. It was overall smaller than Adrien's room back in Paris, but it felt more welcoming. It only had one big room, divided in half with a plywood panel. In the first 'room', there was a couch, a small table with three chairs, a tv on a cabinet, and two armchairs. It all appeared to be old and worn out. The second part held two beds (one without any mattress), a desk with an old computer, and a kitchen annex. It was… nice. Adrien almost liked it better than the big, sterile manor.
The pile of mud seated him on one of the chairs before condensing into humanoid form. Slowly, his body turned human and in the end, he looked almost exactly like the wedding officiator. The man pulled his phone and sent some text before turning to Adrien.
"Do you want something to eat?" He asked, walking over to the kitchen annex.
"Um… anything would do." Adrien hesitantly spoke up. He was only slightly scared. Honestly, first, he is saved from the wedding and now he is given free food? Yes, purr-lease!
"Vegan or non-vegan?"
"I would kill for a fat, juicy steak…" Adrien remembered his last photo session, which was advertising the summer collection. One of the photos had him standing over the BBQ grill. The smell of the food being prepared almost made him salivate back then.
"Ah… The actor's diet?" His kidnapper/savior asked, giving him a knowing look at the same time.
"Yeah… I'm a model, but I heard it's the same" Adrien corrected.
"I'll get you something. We need to wait anyway."
Adrien chose not to speak to the man while he was cooking. It was still a bit awkward. He was being kidnapped.
It didn't matter. The meal was too good to complain. Who cares about kidnapping when one is given some meat. It was a light meal, probably not to upset his stomach, but it was still more than he hoped for that day.
Of course, it couldn't be that pretty.
The moment Adrien finished with the first piece of meat and was reaching for another, the doors were violently kicked and a man entered. He was dressed in a red bodysuit with silverly metallic elements. His helmet had one eye replaced with a red… monocle?
The explosion was quickly followed by a single gunshot. The moment it sounded, Clayface (because that was the name of the 'pile of mud') became frozen in place. Literally. He was covered head to toes in ice.
"My steak!" Adrien cried as he was being dragged away by the newcomer.
They were already away when Clayface managed to break through the ice. He wanted to pursue them, but his phone rang suddenly, giving him a pause.
"Who is this?!" He snarled, irritated at the interruption.
"I was led to believe you have what I wanted." The voice on the other side growled and Clayface paused. It sent shivers down his figurative spine. His employer sounded dangerous.
"Ah… Yes… There's been a… complication." He stuttered, hoping it wasn't too apparent. Whoever was on the other side made a terrifying first impression.
"What do you mean 'complication'?" They hissed. Clayface stumbled and almost dropped the phone. He knew the employer was someone powerful, but it was a whole new level of scary. Sure, he was technically a mercenary, but until today his biggest job was some light security gig. This was supposed to be his way of reinventing himself into part of the major league. But this was being much more overwhelming.
He quickly got to the point where his employer should've been somewhat satisfied and hanged up quickly. He had to get the boy before he became the target himself.
Elsewhere, Adrien was starring into a pair of curious sea-green eyes.
When his new kidnapper brought him to the apartment and tied him to the chair, Adrien was still bemoaning the loss of his steak. He disliked the lack of freedom, but he was still feeling safer than with Lila and his father. Objectively looking at it, he knew it was wrong, but he preferred to be kidnapped.
To his surprise, the kidnapped tossed him and the chair into some spare room of the flat they were in when the doorbell rang. There were also some curse words, but Adrien chose to disregard them.
It took a very energetic girl (about two years younger than him) all five minutes to figure out he was in that room. Not that the man made it particularly hard, leaving the doors half-open and all that.
She leveled her head so that they were on an equal level and stared into his face with an inquisitive glare.
"Daddy! You promised not to work on our day together!" She turned to the man and complained. "You clearly kidnapped him!"
"I'm really sorry, cupcake. I didn't plan it. The time zone changes can really mess up with the calendar."
"If it helps, this is better than the alternative." Adrien smiled shyly.
"How is being tied to the chair good?"
"It's better than being forced to get married." The boy deadpanned.
"Fine." She then turned to her father "But you will untie him. He can join us in our board game evening." She declared imperatively.
"You won't try anything, right?" The man glared at Adrien, who shrugged (as much as the binds allowed him).
"I quite like it here. I could do with some water, but it's really better than how the day was supposed to go."
The man sighed and walked over to the boy. The rope fell to the floor and Adrien could move freely. Yet, he didn't immediately move. He did try to get up, but the world swirled and blackness consumed his consciousness.
When he woke up, he was once again faced with a set of sea-green eyes. The girl apparently liked to stare at faces in close quarters. Not that Adrien complained much as long as she didn't actually touch him. He was used to the attention.
"You must've been really tired. Daddy said he almost wanted to get you to a hospital." That woke Adrien very quickly.
"No hospital!" He launched himself to sit straight up and almost crashed with the girl. Luckily, she moved out of the way. Otherwise, her father might've actually sent him to the hospital. Probably in pieces too.
"Don't worry." Speaking of the devil, the man entered the room with a platter full of fast food and a glass of water. There was a hamburger there!
"Zoe. Please leave us alone for a moment. I need to discuss some things with Mr. Agreste."
"Sure. But remember you promised not to hurt him. And we promised him board games." She reminded her father before happily skipping out of the room.
Once she was out, the man handed him the platter and Adrien practically leaped to devour the food.
"So…" His kidnapper/temporary caretaker started awkwardly. "If it's any help, I'm sorry for kidnapping you."
"Dot wowwy" Adrien dismissed him with a mouth full of burger. His father would lock him up for months if he saw him, but the boy was way past caring about it. He gulped before continuing though, as it was a shame to waste anything of the tasty goodies. "Seriously, you guys are making me a favor."
"Huh?" The man raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! If not for this," he gestured vaguely around the room, albeit it was clear he meant kidnapping, "I would've probably been married already."
"Ah… And I guess the wedding wasn't your idea." It wasn't a question. Deadshot (because he was the kidnapper if it wasn't yet obvious) had some experience with runaway brides. Grooms escaping arranged marriage were rarer, but not unheard of. He used to take those tasks without remorse. At least until one time, when he tracked the bride, instead of an adult woman like usual, he found a pre-teenage girl. She couldn't have been older than his own daughter at the time.
Let's just say that he failed to deliver that contract. Or any similar in the future.
"Sir?" Adrien asked once he finished the meal.
"Yeah?"
"Could I get some more?"
"In a moment. Let what you ate settle down first." He scolded him lightly, his parental instincts kicking in. "So, do you have any idea who might've wanted you kidnapped?"
"Not really… Only Marinette and Gerard cared about my opinion on this matter. And neither is the kind that would arrange a kidnapping." He did his best not to think about his past as Chat Noir. No one but Ladybug knew, but his Lady wasn't someone that would get involved with criminals. And even then, he doubted she could afford mercenaries. He always thought they were expensive. Could someone else figure out he used to be Chat Noir?
"Hm…" Lawton focused for a moment. "And what about The Seamstress? She is a completely new player that came out of nowhere. I suspected she might've had a personal connection to you. What about your father? Could someone want to get back at him? Especially someone with that name?"
"You do know what my dad does for the living?" Adrien deadpanned.
"Yes, but did he anger someone? Enough that they would want to ruin him?" The man pressed.
"It would be easier to list people he didn't anger. My father is not… not the easiest to be around." The light that was in the boy's eyes just moments ago dimmed slightly. "Why are you asking all this?" He suddenly perked up and met the gaze of the mercenary.
"Honestly, I really dislike the jobs involving kids. I thought that you were just another bratty teenage star that got his way with the wedding. A kid wanting to be treated like an adult. Now… now I can't with clear conscience return you or deliver you."
Adrien held back any witty remarks about hired gun having a conscience. "So… I'm living with you?"
"Sadly, no. I'm not around often enough and there is still a price on your head." Lawton pulled out his phone and carefully read through something. "The more I think of it, the more it looks like you are not the most important part."
That got Adrien's attention. His own brain started to work overtime to get the meaning. "What?"
"The wording of the contract. 'Grab from the wedding', 'possibility of further assignments', 'very public'… and the price is unreasonably high for such a simple task. It appears as if whoever The Seamstress is wanted a show. Like she wanted to recruit whoever brought you in. It appears as if she was setting up some sort of competition over who brings you to her."
"But why me?" Adrien ran through ideas, but only him being Chat Noir would make sense in the long run.
"Publicity. Your old man made sure the wedding was the event of the decade." The merc simply shrugged. "If they wanted to announce their entrance to the big league, they would pick the biggest, most prominent target."
"Figured father is to blame…" Adrien grumbled before reaching into his pocket. "I… would like to call a friend of mine. To reassure her I'm safe."
"She won't run to the police?" Lawton was hesitant to allow it but also didn't have the heart to tell him no. The kid was emotional wreck. And if his appetite was anything to go by, it was possible physical abuse was also there.
"Marinette wouldn't do anything dangerous. She… I think she was trying to stop the wedding. Or delay it."
"The girl that stood up shortly before the panic?"
"Yeah… She used… She's a friend of mine. Probably the last true friend I have left."
"I see… Okay, call her. But make sure not to mention anything about me. Just in case."
There was a moment of tense silence while Adrien waited for his friend to pick up. Finally, after the fifth signal, there was a rustle on the other side.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng speaking. Who do I have the pleasure with?" She spoke almost mechanically. To someone who never met her before, it might've sounded sincere. To Adrien, it sounded like she was exhausted both physically and emotionally. He almost blamed himself, but at the last second shifted it all onto Lila and his Father.
"Marinette!? Are you okay?" He asked, wanting to make sure there was nothing truly wrong.
"Adrien!? Adrien!" She immediately seemed to cheer up. "Where are you!? Are you okay? What happened? Did they hurt you? Are you safe?" She finally paused to take a breath.
"I'm okay, Marinette. I might've sorta gotten myself kidnapped," he realized how bad that sounded as the words left his mouth, "but it's all okay! It's better than it was!" He rushed to reassure her, albeit his method was not a hundred percent successful.
"Are you safe?" Was the question she repeated. It sounded almost… guilty. To Adrien's tired brain though, such subtle details were second to the question.
"I'm probably good. Someone put a bounty on me, but it's all about me being alive. It's like whoever did it accidentally saved me from the wedding." He chuckled a bit darkly, thinking about how much of a temper tantrum Lila must've been throwing since his disappearance.
"Call me back later, okay?" There was a sudden urgency that Adrien did pick on. "I have something that needs to be sorted out."
"What's happening?"
"Just my Maman is coming. She is knocking right now." With that, she hanged up. Adrien relaxed. There was no danger. And even if there was, it probably just ran away to hide as Sabine Cheng came to town.
"Kid, you done?" Deadshot walked back into the room with another hamburger.
"Yeah. I feel much better now. Thanks for the opportunity."
"Don't sweat it. Listen… I can't just keep you, but I called some friends of mine. They're willing to help you. Well, she is. Her girlfriend is just going with it for her sake."
Lawton carefully studied Adrien to see his reaction to mentioning the couple, but there was no visible reaction. He just watched the hamburger with a hungry gaze.
Elsewhere, an exhausted kwami flew out of the jewel. Hawkmoth was one step from tossing the jewel at the wall.
"I don't understand! He should be terrified by now! He was kidnapped! They wouldn't kill him after going so long to kidnap him!"
"Maybe your powers aren't as good as you've thought?" another voice spoke from the shadows. Lex Luthor walked into the center to join Gabriel Agreste.
"They didn't have time to move him out of the city before I started the search. Not without magic and he said there was no magical travel to or from Gotham so far." Gabriel paced around the room.
"While you were playing with your precious jewels, I actually used some of my contacts. It appears that someone ordered a hit on your son. They wanted him kidnapped from the wedding."
"What?!" Gabriel paused and glared at the other man.
"While I can't stop it or even try to outbid them, I do know of one person I can convince to take this task. And she just happened to be coming to Gotham this very moment."
"Fine. I want my son back, or our deal is off, Luthor."
"Don't worry. He will see the Light soon."