Author's Note:

Thank you for the idea that inspired this.

I hope everyone likes it and is willing to give me some leeway while I try to flesh out Emilie since we really don't know that much about her as a (fictional) person beyond what Adrien and Gabriel, and others, say about her. I'm not sure if I did her right tbh.

Marinette frowned as she stepped off of the bus and started her walk up to the entrance to the hospital. Yesterday, Gorilla had told her that Mrs. Agreste was going to hurt herself, again, by pushing herself too hard in physical therapy...to the point that the therapist was ready to throw in the towel out of frustration. The bluenette had questioned why the bodyguard was telling her this, since it seemed more like something Adrien needed to be made aware of, but the man had only admitted that he wasn't sure how to tell Adrien about the situation. She could understand that since it did sound like a difficult subject to discuss and, to be honest, it would be difficult to even deal with for her Chaton since he already had such a full plate to deal with.

With that in mind, she had still gone to speak to her boyfriend.

As she imagined, he had looked just-to-the-wrong-side-of-overwhelmed with everything, so she had asked him if he would be okay with her talking to his mother and trying to convince the woman to take things more carefully. Adrien had said that his lady didn't need to, but it was clear that he just couldn't work out the time to do so without exhausting himself and...well, Marinette didn't like to think about what happened when Adrien exhausted himself.

It always seemed to happen when they were saving Paris...and, one day, it wouldn't be just a 'lucky hit' to his back with a piece of pipe.

She had offered once more to go speak to the woman, promising that if she couldn't convince Mrs. Agreste to slow down then they could work out something else company-related that Marinette could fill in for Adrien on so that he could handle things.

He had agreed with a tired smile, that Marinette kissed the corner of and made him promise to take a 'cat nap' after he finished the paper currently in his hands.

After that, well...Marinette wasn't sure how to approach the situation fully. She didn't know Mrs. Agreste beyond seeing her comatose in that glass coffin and then in a hospital bed, then meeting her a handful of times after she had initially woken up. Oh sure, she knew some things about the woman from what Adrien, Gorilla, and a few people on staff had said to describe Emilie Agreste to her: how kind she was, how devoted to her son and husband she was, how determined she was.

A rather lengthy conversation with Nooroo had filled in a few more blanks on the subject in that, on top of having all of those good qualities, the woman was also: stubborn if not outright headstrong, rebellious, and reckless...the latter applying the most with her continued use of the damaged peacock miraculous even after she learned that it was damaged and that using it was making her sick.

If anything, it sounded to Marinette like her sweet kitty had inherited more than just his looks from his mother, considering how many times he had thrown himself in the line of fire for her.

After steeling her nerves with a frozen mocha on the bus ride over, the bluenette was sure that she was ready to handle things. After all, this was just trying to talk to a woman who was pushing herself too hard and fast far too soon...it wasn't like she was facing down Lila or Hawk Moth again.

Entering the physical therapy room (after only getting turned around once, which was a new personal best as far as she, and Tikki, were concerned) Marinette saw Mrs. Agreste struggling to pull herself from her wheelchair by grabbing onto a pair of...Marinette wasn't sure what they were officially called, but she did know that people used them for balance as they attempted to relearn how to walk and build strength in their legs. The therapist, who looked a mix of frustrated and exasperated that Marinette was more used to seeing on overworked teachers, was trying to convince the woman to slow down and that she wasn't ready for that yet, but Emilie was...well, she wasn't vocally arguing, she just seemed to be ignoring the therapist's attempts at trying to stop her from potentially injuring herself.

In all honesty, it looked like the therapist was ready to give up, so...time to bite the proverbial experimental dessert.

As she walked over, several things happened all at once: she saw Mrs. Agreste beginning to fall, she saw the therapist trying to grab for the woman only for Mrs. Agreste to try to slap the poor woman away mid-fall...and the only thing that stopped Emilie Agreste from ending up in a heap on the floor was how she was caught under her arms and slowly lowered to the floor by Marinette...who may or may not have asked Tikki for a bit of a magically-enhanced speed boost.

"What...Marinette? Where did you come from? Unhand me, would you?" Emilie said in frustration, and maybe a touch of humiliation, as she was sat on the floor. Marinette nodded and released the blonde, stepping away a bit. "I'm sorry, I was walking over saw you starting to fall and I...I guess I panicked, Mrs. Agreste."

It wasn't a lie anyway...just, technically, some selective disinformation.

The therapist just breathed out a frustrated noise and blew a loose lock of hair out of her face. "Mrs. Agreste, you are going to injure yourself trying to push yourself like this. You were in a coma for an extended period of time and have only been out of that coma for a little over a month-"

Marinette almost applauded the therapist for trying to sound like they didn't, on some level that they might not even know existed, want to wring the woman's neck, but...

"I'm fine. I can do this, I just need to keep working at it but how can I possibly do that if you're holding me back?!"

"Mrs. Agreste, if anything, I am holding you back because you are endangering yourself and-"

"Um...pardon me?" Marinette chimed in because, in all honesty, it was looking like one of the two was going to start throwing hands and she really didn't want to have to explain a situation like that to her sweet Chaton...nor hospital security...or the police. "I know that it's not my place, but may I suggest taking a few minutes break for both of you? Maybe just to drink some water or something?"

The therapist breathed out a frustrated sigh but, it was clear that she needed a breather of some kind...and Emilie Agreste certainly did as well with how red-faced she was from exertion and her own frustration over her situation. Marinette decided to run with this; after all, it was well known that she had visited often with Adrien so hopefully that had earned her some trust by the staff. "If you like, I can just stay with Mrs. Agreste while you both take a minute?"

The therapist gave a reluctant nod and walked off to a small office connected to the room, leaving the blonde and bluenette alone. Marinette picked up the bottle of water that was sitting on a bench. "Is this yours, Mrs. Agreste?"

Emilie just nodded but did not look at the girl; she raked her fingers through her mussed ponytail. Marinette sat down and passed the closed bottle to the woman who, after a minute or more of tired fumbling, managed to get the bottle open and proceeded to down half of the contents, thankfully without choking. Marinette set her purse next to her as she sat across from her boyfriend's mother, trying to consider how to approach the situation, only for the actress to take things out of her hands.

"Why are you here, Marinette? Did Adrien send you because that therapist-"

"I am sorry to interrupt, but Adrien didn't send me." Marinette started, keeping her tone as calm and gentle as possible. "I'm here of my own will...though, he and I were both informed that your physical therapy hasn't been coming a long very well. May I ask why?"

"That therapist refuses to let me work as I need to. If I just push myself enough, I can move forward and get back control of my body."

"I'm no expert, but...I was always under the impression that pushing injuries before they've healed is a bad thing and can make them worse?" She really had to reign in her temper because, in all honesty, she was starting to better understand the therapist's frustration.

"Then it's a good thing that I'm not injured, isn't it?" Emilie said firmly before finishing off the bottle of water...only for Marinette to looked thoughtful before venturing... "Technically, couldn't 'recovering from over a year in a coma' count as a type of injury?"

Emilie just stared at the empty bottle in her hands, but didn't answer. Marinette took a deep breath. "I mean...looking at it from that stand point and all, your body has been immobile for over a year, and you were sick before, so...it could be said that you are, in a sense, recovering from a kind of injury, just a mental one that's had nasty physical effects?"

"I suppose one could consider that correct on several technicalities." Emilie glanced up at Marinette, bright green locking with bluebell. "However...why are you really here, Marinette? Just to tell me to slow down?"

"More like ask you because Adrien is worried about you hurting yourself." Marinette said, dropping all pretense of her innocent act. "If you keep pushing yourself too hard, too fast, you'll hurt yourself and be here even longer."

"I am aware of that, but I need to regain my strength quickly because-"

"Because why, Mrs. Agreste? What is so worth hurting yourself that you have to be as reckless with your therapy as you were with the peacock miraculous?"

Emilie froze at that, staring at the girl across from her. "How do you...?"

Marinette raised a brow then calmly opened her purse and turned it so Tikki could pop out, give a jaunty little wave that was at complete odds with the 'disapproving cat' type of expression on the red kwami's face, then disappear back into the purse, closing it up herself. Marinette just smiled some at that. "That's why."

Emilie just nodded because...well, that made sense with everything else that she had been told about her son becoming Chat Noir, her husband's descent into what sounded like absolute madness that even a Mad Hatter would refuse to touch...and that woman who had been her husband's assistant assisting her husband in his fall into said-madness.

In all honesty, there was a part of her that was worried that the other woman had been trying to take advantage of her Gabriel and steal him away from her.

"Mrs. Agreste...I spoke with Nooroo, and even Duusu a little bit, and they both told me, mostly Nooroo, that even after you were told that the miraculous was damaged, and even after you began to get sick, that you continued to use it...you used it enough that Nooroo was afraid that you had died when you disappeared, up until her saw you in the glass coffin." Marinette said, unable to keep the stern look off of her face even though she did try to gentle her tone. "Mrs. Agreste...why did you use the miraculous like that? You could have killed yourself...let alone the harm that was done to Duusu."

"Duusu...was hurt?" Emilie said as she stared at her son's girlfriend...her sweet boy's partner. "I...I didn't know that Duusu was hurt."

"We still don't know what all of the psychological damage is from the damage to the miraculous and what is due to the damaged miraculous being overused." Marientte answered honestly, dreading the knowledge that they would probably never have an answer for that. All that they could do for Duusu was repair the miraculous and, hopefully, help the kwami begin to heal from the damage that had been done. Nooroo was willing to help, but...anyone could see that the lavender kwami had a road to recovery ahead of himself thanks to the trauma that Gabriel Agreste had put him through.

Emilie, however, stared down at the empty water bottle once more. "I wanted to protect Adrien."

Marinette tilted her head to one side as she listened; at the very least, she would let the woman speak her peace. The blonde squeezed the bottle, crinkling the plastic. "Marinette, please try to understand...Gabriel and I, at the start, yes we were ambitious people. We strove to become the best together, in fashion for him and in acting for myself...but...we did step on our share of people on our way to the top. More than our share perhaps."

"You were worried that people would hurt you?"

"Of course. Being at the top always means that there are others wanting to knock you down, or they are just waiting for you to misstep and fall...we, when it was just us...we figured that we could handle it." Emilie muttered quietly, setting the crumpled bottle next to her thigh. "Then Adrien came along and...he was so small and fragile and...we feared how so many people would try to take advantage of him or use him to get to us."

Marinette frowned but had to concede that. "If they were angry enough, or desperate enough, that is a valid fear...one that I imagine many parents have when it comes to their children."

"Indeed, and that fear persisted for years; it's why we kept Adrien homeschooled and...we were trying to shield him from the world, but...the fear never left. Nothing would make it lessen, no amount of bodyguards or background checks for nannies or...it only grew worse as Adrien grew older." Emilie said after a moment, pausing to gather her thoughts. "...Then, years later, Nathalie showed up with the miraculous. I admit, I don't know if she was looking for them or not, but...there they were: magic artifacts that could grant us incredible power and...Gabriel and I...we swore to use that power to protect our son."

"Only Adrien?"

"Selfish, I'm aware but...well, I never said that Gabriel and I were not selfish. Adrien was all that mattered to us and..." Emilie trailed off only for Marinette to chime in. "And then you began to get sick?"

Emilie nodded.

"And then you learned that Duusu's miraculous was damaged and, I'm going to guess that you figured out that using it was only going to make you sicker?"

"I swear, I didn't know that it would hurt Duusu as well."

"Considering Duusu's state of mind, I don't think, in any form of good conscience, that they could have ever told you if it was doing them harm or not." Marinette said with a small shake of her head; a part of her, honestly, wasn't sure that she could say that the peacock-themed kwami was even capable of giving consent on using their power or not, but she didn't want to risk voicing that thought around Plagg or Tikki since both kwami had become very overprotective of their rescued friends. "But why didn't you stop?"

"Because I...I wanted to protect Adrien."

"But you were hurting him."

Emilie raised her head to lock eyes with the bluenette girl, a horrified expression on her face before it began to give way to anger...only for Marinette to cut her off before the blonde could even part her lips to speak. "You did, Mrs. Agreste. You may not have wanted to hurt him, but you chose to keep using the miraculous under the claim of trying to protect him, and you pretty much forced him to watch you grow sicker and sicker. He was certain that you would die."

Marinette paused, letting her words sink in and watching as the anger bled out of the woman across from her. The bluenette frowned some in thought. "He thought that you did die and that he was not allowed to say goodbye. Then when he was told that you had vanished, he blamed himself...he was so sure that he did something to make you leave and that you no longer loved him."

"I could never stop loving him!" Emilie snapped suddenly, trying to push herself towards the girl only for her muscles to ache and refuse to cooperate. "I would never have left him if I could have helped it-!"

"You could have." Marinette said firmly, her eyes narrowing in a frown. "You had a choice, Mrs. Agreste. Several in fact: you could have stopped using the miraculous when you became sick and-or when you learned that it was damaged, you could have tried to seek out the Guardian and ask for help at any point, you could have asked Nooroo if he knew anything that could be done for you and Duusu, and there are probably so many other choices that you could have made yet...you chose to keep doing something that was hurting you."

"You aren't a parent, you wouldn't under-"

"I may not be a parent yet, Mrs. Agreste...but I do know that if I were ever doing something to myself that was hurting my child, I would stop for them." Marinette said as she slid her purse back over her shoulder and stood up. "Sadly, you're repeating your mistakes."

Marinette looked over at the wheelchair then back down at the blonde. "Pushing yourself too hard in this therapy is no better than what you did with the miraculous. You're doing yourself more harm than good."

With a soft sigh the girl pulled the wheelchair over to the woman before she held out her hand to Emilie. "...Please. Adrien doesn't want to see you hurting, especially not hurting yourself again, Mrs. Agreste."

"Emilie." The actress said before looking up at the girl, certain that she could see what made this girl so special and so perfect for her sweet, precious boy. "Please call me Emilie, Marinette."

Emilie's hand clasped onto Marinette's own and the girl moved to loop an arm around the woman and, together, managed to help her get back into the chair. Emilie breathed out a small sigh before tucking a strand of her hair behind an ear. "I...believe I owe the therapist an apology...and I owe an even larger one to my son."

Author's Note:

I know everyone was expecting Adrien, but...I'm not sure he's ready to go after his mom for everything that happened. Marinette however? She's willing to do it to protect her man like he's protected her.

And I think she managed to pull it off decently? Or at least stern but polite?

At the least, I think Emilie would be more open to admitting when she messes up, now anyway.