Holding Us Back – Katie Herzig
The heroes meet someone familiar. Family lore is revealed.
"The cat is in danger?" Marinette repeated, letting the content of the messages sink in. Her eyes widened in realization at what that might be.
"Oh, God! Adrien!" she panicked, transforming in the process.
"Mari- Ladybug, wait!" Alya screamed after her trying to stop her best friend from leaving. Her attempts, however, were in vain, as the scarlet heroine ran towards the shop exit and vaulted away.
Master Fu could only sigh, already predicting that the boy she was going to check on would not be in his usual place. In fact, he strongly believed that his cat chosen was involved in the last strange attacks using a certain bird miraculous. The texts that Alya received had only confirmed his suspicions, Hawkmoth had been closer to the heroes than they had thought, and now, Adrien was paying for their cluelessness. He turned to the three remaining heroes in the room, "she's going to the mansion, please make sure she's safe."
The three teens nodded in understanding, their expressions mirroring his own worried one. They quickly transformed and ran, following Ladybug's trail.
"No, no, no! Where are you?" The spotted heroine panicked, searching everywhere through her lover's bedroom windows for the boy in question.
His room was pristine, empty of anything that might indicate any struggle, empty of life. Did his father notice his own son's absence? Was Adrien really absent? Perhaps he was just somewhere else in the manor, however, if that was the case, why would someone text her that message? Who else could have known his identity? Most importantly, why would someone be so depraved to the point of scaring her like that just to mess around with her? She could wait a few hours just to be sure her crush was safe and sound. For the love of her sanity, she hoped, she prayed with all her forces that Adrien was fine. Last time they had been together, he looked so sick, so defeated, Ladybug would never erase that horrifying memory from her mind. If something had happened to him, especially if he was in the state she had last seen him, she would never forgive herself.
Since she had learnt his identity, she had been a terrible partner, Ladybug left her Chaton behind, to deal with the aftermath of his reveal all by himself. At that moment, the heroine swore to herself that the next time they were together, she would trap the boy in a crushing hug and never let go. She would make sure, he would never spend a minute of his life alone anymore. And most importantly, she would never let him drop that beautiful smile of his for anything that caused him the slightest feeling of unhappiness.
Three thuds sounded behind her, a shaking yellow-gloved hand rested on her shoulder, "Did you see him?" Queen Bee asked with an underlay of uneasiness in her voice.
The spotted heroine could only shake her head in response, knowing that if she opened her mouth, only a nerve-wracking sob would come out.
"You'll see he's in there! We'll wait until 5, and then we're going to meet this mysterious person. Adrien is fine, he's okay." Carapace reassured her. Ladybug wasn't sure if those words were to comfort her or to ease his own nerves.
The four friends sat on the rooftop, looking for any sign of life inside the cavernous room, not a word was exchanged between them as they all waited for their friend to show up.
Time passed steadily as five pm caught up to them. Rena Rouge sighed, "It's time. If we're lucky, we're going to learn what is happening once and for all." She warned.
Ladybug didn't say anything for a while, her eyes never drifted from the room which was still vacant, just as it had been for the past hours. "Ok, let's go." She ordered after a few seconds.
The team glanced one more time at the imposing manor, and with a heavy heart, vaulted towards the mysterious meeting.
A few rooftops later, they had finally arrived at a dark alley, illuminated only by the crepuscule light. A metal fence prevented them from going further, making the four heroes steady their weapons in case they were walking into an ambush.
"There's no need for that." A female voice loomed from a semi-opened door that was on the side of one of the old buildings that surrounded the alley.
"Well, if you show yourself, we might think of resting our weapons." Ladybug warned tentatively.
"What I have to tell you, can not be discussed out in the open, come in, please." The voice answered.
The heroes looked at each other in apprehension, without dropping their defences they entered the building, the door behind them being rapidly shut by the least expected individual.
"Nathalie?" The four of them asked in unison.
Nathalie, however, seemed unfazed by their instant recognition of her, "Sorry for meeting you like this, but he has eyes everywhere." She explained. Despite her usual outer stoic appearance, the heroes could see her subtle disheveledness, her eyes were moving fast as if constantly checking if they were being watched. Ladybug already guessed that whatever the woman had to say, was in fact of extreme importance, requiring maximum caution, dread was already settling in her gut as if her instinct was already predicting the information.
"You were the one who called me?" Ladybug asked slowly.
"I was, I- God, I don't even know where to begin." The assistant answered bewildered.
"How about from the beginning?" Rena encouraged.
The brunette could only chuckle at the naiveness of the heroes, "As if what I have to tell you has a defined beginning, middle and end. It's all just a jumble of events that had led us all here."
"What do you mean? You're not making any sense!" Ladybug commented.
"Well, I- I know who Hawkmoth is, and please hear me till the end, you can arrest me afterwards, I know what I did has no forgiveness, but you have to save him! I don't know how much time we have!" She pleaded frantically.
"Hawkmoth? You know who he is…" Ladybug let this new piece of information settle in her brain, her insides were all twisting as if her body was preparing itself for the shock that would follow the Agrestes' assistant speech.
"Yes… Hawkmoth is…" Nathalie hesitated. She held her breath for a while and silently counted to three to ease her nerves. "He's Gabriel! Gabriel Agreste! Adrien's father, Chat Noir's father!" And with this, she had opened the game for the heroes, who could only gasp in shock.
"WHAT? That can't be, he was akumatized, he can't be Hawkmoth! What the hell are you doing, Nathalie?" Ladybug denied, dreading the possibility that her love's only living family was the one behind the terrorist attacks that Paris had endured all this time. Dreading the fact that her amazing partner was being neglected by his own family for they were too busy in their obsession of collecting the miraculous. And for what? Mr Agreste was a powerful man, he already had everything he could wish for. Well, he had everything except the love of his life, who apparently wasn't his son. No, his son was not enough to fulfil his heart, he needed something else, someone else…
The scarlet heroine's eyes widened, looking at the agitated assistant, as if she held all the answers of the universe, which was actually true, at least to her universe, "It's his wife…" She whispered.
Nathalie seemed to have heard her as she nodded in confirmation, "It is… He wants her back, you see, despite everything we told the press, we told Adrien… She's not actually missing… She's in the manor, she's been there this entire time…"
"Dude, I know that manor is freaking huge, but don't you think Adrien would have noticed his mother? Or anyone who works there?" Carapace argued in disbelief.
"Adrien had no idea of the secrets that house hides, he never knew what his parents did before he was born… I think it's better if I start from the beginning, so you can understand exactly what you've been fighting this entire time."
"When I started working for the Agrestes, Adrien wasn't born yet. They had just acquired the manor, and the company was skyrocketing, so they needed someone who they could trust since they didn't seem to have any free time in their hands. Between the business and their nightly escapades, Emilie and Gabriel were always mysterious to me. I didn't know what they did on those escapades, I had always thought it was one of those rich people quirks. I quickly became very close to Emilie, she was just so kind to everyone, despite their fortune and fame, she never looked down on anyone" The assistant smiled lost in her memories, "Gabriel would trust me with everything that was happening in his life, for I was the one who scheduled it, despite Émilie being his wife, I was the one who was practically glued to him, following him like I was his shadow, which I still am nowadays. They both started confiding in me all their troubles like I was an intermediate between their marriage. One day, I heard them fighting. I wasn't usually one to stay hidden behind closed doors hearing other people arguing, however, they also weren't usually ones to fight with each other."
Agreste Manor – fourteen years ago
"Émilie, we need to stop doing this!" Gabriel pleaded to his wife.
The blonde woman would not steer from her place, as if indicating she would not change her mind. "And I have already told you, Gabriel! We are helping people, if we stop, who will keep them safe?"
"We let the police handle the criminals! Please, my love, this is not just about us anymore! We have to think of the baby!" Gabriel rested his palm on his wife's still flat belly, she, however, seemed outraged from his reasoning slapping his hand away, shielding her body from her husband.
"ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT I DO NOT CARE FOR THIS CHILD, GABRIEL?" She shouted, "Let me tell you something, this child is my life! I know we just found out, but I will do anything to protect them from any harm! I also know that we can't just leave Paris defenceless, we would be selfish if we did so, we would be no better than the criminals we fight against every night!"
"I know darling, but I can't bear the possibility of losing you or that baby!" The young designer cried.
Emerald eyes stared lovingly at the fragile man, "You will not lose me, nor the baby, I- I promise I'll stop when the belly gets too big. But, these jewels, these jewels were put on our path for a reason, my love. I knew, on that fateful day, inside that cavern we were exploring in Tibet, I knew that life had guided us till that very moment, so we could use the miraculous, I knew you were the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with, that we would be fighting against the injustice in the world, or at least die trying. I promise you, Gabriel, whatever happens in the future, you, me, and this beautiful baby growing inside me, are going to stick together, no matter what, we're going to see him or her grow up, get a partner, be the beautiful human being I'm certain he or she will be, and the both of us will age together, until we are both old and senile." She said softly holding her husband's trembling hands.
"It's just, we both know how strained you get when you use the miraculous, let me transform alone, I can watch the streets from the observatory, and if I see anything, I'll take care of it, please Em, just rest." Gabriel pleaded.
His usual stubborn wife seemed to comply, she was aware of how her miraculous strained her, sometimes she couldn't even get out of the bed for days, after wearing it for a few hours. She knew she had a mission to Paris, but Gabriel was right, it wasn't only about them anymore, she guessed that if he kept watching the streets, they would still be useful to the citizens of the City of Lights.
"A couple of days later, they told me they were expecting a baby, although I already knew that," Nathalie concluded.
"So, both had a miraculous? Gabriel had the butterfly and Emilie the peacock? And Adrien never knew?" Ladybug's voice quivered in the end, how could one family have so many secrets? At least she knew where Adrien had inherited his wonderful personality. Emilie Agreste seemed to have been an amazing woman.
"My mum used to tell me stories about them when I was little… I always thought that they were just tales to make me sleep." Chloé murmured, her entire childhood was now being put under the spotlight. Did her parents know? They were all so close… Adrien and she would often comment to each other how much their parents seemed to speak in code when they were all in the same room, they had always assumed that was how adults normally spoke, but now, now she couldn't help but think that they had been hiding this from the both of them. She and Adrien had also invented their own secret language at one point in their childhood, just so the two of them could understand each other.
She shook her head, her parents couldn't know, that would mean they would be complying with Hawkmoth, and they would never do something like that, however, doubt had already settled in her head, so she had to ask, "Did my parents know?"
"No, they didn't. They were all very close, but this was something that had been kept inside the manor's walls. "They only told me because, one day, when Mrs Agreste was still pregnant, she decided to go for a walk."
Agreste Manor – Fourteen years ago
Nathalie was sitting at her desk, her shift had ended a few hours ago, but as always, she was still working, taking one final look at the family's schedule for the next month. "Next Thursday, final echo, consultation at the hospital with the OB, Birth prep class, meeting with New York store…" She recited, adding a few post-its to her agenda. Since the pregnancy announcement, her workload seemed to have doubled, between doctor appointments, Mrs Agreste shopping sprees for baby stuff, building renovations for the baby's room who was now known to be a boy, and the business, she sure as hell deserved a year-long vacation.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a scream, "NATHALIE!" That seemed like Mr Agreste's voice.
The brunette ran to the source of the shouting, and could only gasp at the sight in front of her. In the main hall of the manor, Gabriel was in a frenzy, holding his unconscious wife, the entrance door open behind them. "What happened?" she asked.
"She went outside for a walk, someone tried to attack her, she transformed to defend herself, and now she's not waking up." Nathalie knew that this story would not make any sense to someone who had no idea of the secret looming in this house, she didn't even know how to react. The assistant froze for the first time in her life, not knowing what to do. Should she act like this all made sense and reveal that she knew? Should she ask Gabriel what did he meant by "transformed"?
"Oh, God!" Mr Agreste sob was enough to break her out of her stupor.
The assistant looked at the unconscious woman, noticing the blood that had started to drip from her tights. She ran to her desk phone, ignoring Mr Agreste's shouts for his wife to wake up. She called an ambulance and joined the couple once again.
"She was losing Adrien, they had to deliver him, or else they would both die. It was an enormous risk, Adrien was only 31 weeks, the chances of not surviving were incredibly high, but it was the only chance we got." She paused a stray tear falling down her face as she recalled one of the most stressful events in her life. The heroes stayed silent, listening intently to every detail of her narrative. "The surgery took hours, in the meantime, Mr Agreste and I were waiting for any development. That was when he told me about the miraculous, he never said why Emilie got sick when she used hers, and I never asked, he trusted me, and I think he only told me about them to distract himself from what was happening to his family."
"Everything went well and they both survived, but Adrien was so small, so fragile, he was intubated since he couldn't breathe on his own, they said that he still wasn't fully developed, he had so many crises, and the doctors were afraid he would have sequels for the rest of his life. He spent months in the hospital, during that time, Gabriel and Émilie hardly spoke to each other."
"Fortunately, everything went well, Adrien was expected to grow up healthy. Émilie was the most affected by it. She blamed herself for putting her child in danger, she called him her little miracle, and she was so protective of him, never hired a nanny, the only ones who could hold Adrien were she, Gabriel and I. Gabriel would never deny her anything, he was so scared of losing her that he would do anything to keep her happy. They were both very protective of Adrien, and that was why he never got to go to school or to explore the outside world."
"She never transformed again, however, she had also never recovered from her last transformation, maybe the fact that she was pregnant had debilitated her even more, I don't know, but a couple of years later, when Adrien was older, she started to get sick, terribly sick, she would always hide it from Adrien, until one night she simply didn't wake up." Her voice quivered at the end.
"She's been in a coma since then, hidden away from the world. Gabriel asked me for help, to make up something for her disappearance, he told me he was going to fix it. We told Adrien the official story about his mother, and I knew right then that we had crushed him. Adrien's isolation and Emilie's overprotection of him made them very close to each other, his reaction to his mother's disappearance will be stuck forever in my mind. Gabriel travelled to Tibet about a week later, and when he came back he was so oddly calm, he told me he had a plan, that there were some jewels that when coupled together could grant any wish. He seemed like a madman, but everything about that family was pure madness, so I only got along with it."
"And you let Adrien suffer alone all this time? Why didn't you do anything?" Ladybug asked, anger flaring her body.
"It was more complicated than that. I, you see, in the years I worked for them I started to admire Gabriel. I also love Adrien, as if he was my son, but Gabriel is different, the way he fights for his family, my admiration for him has turned into something more, I never thought I would have feelings like this, I would do anything for Gabriel Agreste no matter the cost." She paused, looking down at her shoes in shame. "But now, he went too far, using his own son… Adrien has the Peacock miraculous now, Gabriel is making him use it, and whatever effects that miraculous had on Emilie, they are now affecting Adrien as well…"
"Nathalie, what happened, why are you telling us that now?" Carapace asked dangerously, with an expression so foreign to his usual cool one.
"He's out of control, in the last Akuma attack, Adrien disobeyed him, and when I walked in the lair, Gabriel was trying to kill him, I don't even know what would have happened if I didn't get there on time."
The heroes drank in every detail of Nathalie's confession, the stealing of the cat miraculous, the threats, the way Gabriel would lash at his son, the damage the peacock miraculous was imposing on Adrien, at each word, Ladybug's anger would rise, she fought against all her reflexes not to choke the woman in front of her for allowing all that to happen.
Fright flared her senses, she was finding it increasingly hard to breathe. For all they knew, Adrien could be dead already. Her love so brutally taken from their world.
They needed to go, they needed to stop that sick man once and for all, and God help her, they needed to save Adrien, she had to believe he was alive, she had to-
"How do we know this is not a trap?" Rena asked in suspicion.
"You don't, but it's your best chance, your only chance. I know that what I did is unforgivable, but…" Cobalt eyes turned to Ladybug, "Ladybug, you saw him, you saw how sick Adrien was. I'm not making this up, please let me help you, I want to end this, I know how to get in the lair, Adrien is in there, the odds that he's still alive are fewer with each minute we waste here."
Ladybug came to a decision right there. "You hold on for a bit, Adrien, we're coming."
Soooo, I didn't exactly include the scene that I put in the last chapter's author's note *sweats profusely*. It will definitely be in the next chapter.
In other news, who else loved "Oblivio"? It was my favourite episode of the series, right after "Origins" of course.
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, it had way too many flashbacks, however, they were necessary for the story to develop. And I might have quoted Nathalie from "Stormy Weather 2", who knows?
I'll probably post another chapter tomorrow, and thank you for the amazing reviews from the last chapter, I'm so happy that you liked it, it was also one of my favourites ones to write.
Anyway, if you liked this one, don't forget to favourite/review as I feed on praise, jk. See you next chapter.