It was 3am, Chat Noir was just returning from a long night of patrolling. Everything went great. There were no akumatized villains, just a few robberies and a cat that needed help to get down from a tree. But when he detransformed, reality hit like cold water. Truth be told, the life of Adrien Agreste was far from perfect, not as a hero nor as the son of the most famous designer of Paris. The exhaustion of the fake mask he puts up is starting to appear and no one can save him. He was alone, even with Plagg next to him, noticing how his holder is closer to a breaking point.

"I'll take a quick bath before going to sleep, Plagg" Adrien said with no emotion in his face. "There's some cheese on the bed for you" he added.

Plagg didn't speak, he did not know what to say at this point. He just noticed that Adrien was acting quite weird. In the first place, after patrolling, he never showered, he was way too lazy to do it; second of all, he never, like ever, left cheese on his bed. All of those things happened in one day, in less than one hour. It could have been a miracle or something was awfully wrong.

"Kid!" Plagg shouted as low as he possible could, so no one would realize that he was there. "Kid!" He shouted again.

He got no answers.

"Screw it" And he got inside the bathroom. He didn't expect for what was to come.

Adrien was covered in blood. He cut his wrists really deep, up to the point he was losing blood faster than one could imagine. He was pale and looked sick, like he was about to throw up. And he was whispering, mumbling words that only he could understand.

"I'm" Adrien paused. "… sorry"

"What did you do? What were you thinking kid?" Plagg asked, not knowing how to react.

"Did… not… mean to" Adrien whispered.

"You need help right now" Plagg said to himself. Adrien just nodded, he was about to pass out. "Do not fall asleep kid, do not even think about it". Plagg shouted.

The kwami was thinking about what he could do to help his friend. Sometimes he envied Tikki for always figuring out what to do. But this was no moment for hesitation, he needed to do something, the life of Chat Noir was in danger. He saw himself in the mirror, unable to aide his friend who was in desperate need.

Then he knew what to do.

Plagg started to push the mirror, little by little until it fell, hoping that someone in the house would actually hear it. Watching the broken pieces on the floor, he realized that he couldn't let Adrien keep the Miraculous that way, so he took it away and hid it in one of this smelly socks which were under his bed. And right when he would not be seen nor felt, Gorilla came into the room and saw the light of the bathroom turned on.

When Gorilla went into the bathroom, he could not believe what his eyes were watching. Adrien, the kid that he loved like a son, was covered in blood, his own blood. He had cut his own wrists, and probably, when he was about to pass out he supported himself with the mirror, and it fell down. As fast as his legs and arms reacted, he got a shirt from the basket and rolled it on his wrists, and lifted him in a bridal style, ready to take him to the hospital.

Then Gabriel came in.

"What's with all the noise?" Gabriel asked with an angered voice that could be sensed from miles away. When he got into the room, he did not want to believe what his eyes were seeing. Then, his anger transformed into worry. "Take him to the E.R. right now!" He screamed to Gorilla.

They started to run as fast as they could, with Adrien covering Gorilla's shirt in blood, a path made out of blood and the faces of the father and the bodyguard preoccupied, they even looked emotionless.

And Plagg stayed there, still, hoping to see his holder fine again.

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The road to the hospital felt like it took forever.

Gabriel was holding his son, hugging him, in a way, trying to provide some kind of comfort. Not only Gorilla's clothes were covered in blood, but Gabriel's white shirt were now painted red, and it was his own fault. He failed as a father, making his son acting like a robot, he wanted his son to be perfect. Now he was paying the consequences for his own selfishness and greed, and not even getting the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir would fix his biggest mistake: screwing up as a fucking father.

"Dad" Adrien whispered, as slow as a whisper could be made.

"Easy son, I'm right here, you are safe" Gabriel did not know if he was consoling Adrien or himself.

During the whole ride to the hospital, Gabriel tried to keep his son awake. He spoke to him, told him stories about his mother, talked about his friends, anything that might show Adrien that he deserved to live. Adrien just heard, and tried not to fall asleep, but when he sensed a sudden break and a red light hit his faced, he passed out.

His son did not need money, fame or a perfume line. Adrien needed his father, love, freedom. Because of his ineptitude, the only person of the world he was in obligation to protect could die. Adrien tried to kill himself because of him. Being Shadow Moth meant nothing, having unlimited power meant nothing. The life of his only son was hanging by a thread and the only thing he was able to do was praying.

Once they got in the hospital, a paramedic rushed with a stretcher and took him into a room. They put him in an oxygen mask, sutured his wounds, started a blood transfusion. Then they undress him and changed him into a hospital gown, put a urinary catheter and cold towels on his head.

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Adrien condition was critical, but he was also out of danger. He was quite sick, needed blood and maybe, just maybe, when he gets a little better, he might have to give some explanations. But right now, what mattered is the fact that he was going to live.

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It was 6am when Gabriel was finally allowed to be in the same room with Adrien. Seeing his son in that bed, with his wrist covered up in stiches, connected to machines, passed out, was hard. Gabriel was sitting in a chair right next to the bed, playing with his hair, not saying a word. His face was read and his eyes swollen.

'The next days are going to be hard'. He thought.

And it did not cross to his mind that the press would find out about this incident right away.