Our couple now has so much more to deal with but its not going to be smooth sailing. Adrien has more than a new baby to worry about if he's not careful.=^-^=

Ch. 25 - In Due Chat


Gabriel looked over the file Nathalie had given him yesterday regarding Cyrano Stern, but it didn't hold his interest after looking over it the first time. The one he most wanted was regarding Marinette Bassett. Much like usual, he'd made his decision on who he would promote before he made the interviews, but it never hurt to hear how the designers held themselves. It was good insight for future plans, but ever since his talk with Mrs. Bassett, his mind had been locked on the picture of her husband and how familiar he looked.

He was interrupted by a ping from his office phone. "Mr. Agrest?"

"Nathalie, are those documents I asked for ready?"

"… No, Sir. Stephen wishes for a moment of your time. Its relevant to your selection. Should I send him in?"

The designer let out a sigh. "Go ahead." Stephen knew better than to waste time, and it wasn't like he was getting anywhere at the moment while waiting for Nathalie.

"Excuse me, sir. My apologies for the short notice."

"Then do not waste my time with apologies and get to the point." The older man countered with a sharp glare.

"Yes…" Stephen, while used to it, still felt the weight of his boss' gaze. "This is in regards to Marinette Bassett, one of my submissions for the new position?" He pulled a few papers from the folder in his hand. "She filed for maternity leave this morning, though she notified me yesterday. I wanted to make sure you knew before you made your final choice."

Gabriel looked genuinely surprised as he took the papers offered. "Mrs. Bassett? But she told me she… Hold on. She's applying for leave in three months?"

Stephen looked a little worried as he nodded. "Yes, sir. The reason for that is that she actually wasn't aware she was pregnant until after you had your meeting with her. You may have heard about that incident since she passed out right in front of your office."

"Is she alright?" Though his tone had less emotion than you would expect.

"I believe so, though she is understandably worried. When she spoke to me yesterday about it she made it very clear she wasn't trying to mislead anyone."

Gabriel looked over the papers again without an inkling of what he was thinking on his expression. He knew Mrs. Bassett wasn't lying to him. After years of doing business he could usually tell a liar when he saw one. It also helped that Nooroo gave him the ability to sense intense negative emotions which, with a lie like that, would have caused at least a small bit of it to reach him. Of course, that's taking into account that Marinette wasn't some sort of sociopath like a certain model he knew, but he quickly tossed that idea. "Well then, you can alleviate her worries, Stephen. I certainly can't hold this against her. She's married after all, and while she didn't expect it, it is something I plan for when I hire any young married designer, even the men." Gabriel set the documents down to look at his designer. "But you mentioned her passing out? Did you submit a workplace accident form?"

"I did fill one out, but I haven't submitted it yet. I was admittedly a little distracted."

"Submit it immediately, Stephen. You know what workplace accidents could cause for the company's image if they are not properly documented. Was she taken to the hospital immediately?"

"Actually, Cyrano had her husband's number and so he picked her up and took her to a clinic."

If Gabriel found anything about that surprising he didn't let it show. "Good, but regardless if she is alright, proper documentation is necessary."

"Of course, Mr. Agreste."

"Now, was that all you needed to speak to me about?"

"At this time, yes."

"Then get to that report. I expect Nathalie to have it on record within the hour." Without another word Stephen felt dismissed and so he left the room. Gabriel reach for his phone as soon at the door closed. "Mr. Sinclair? I need to check on a workplace accident from two days ago. Get me building surveillance from outside my office as well as the entire floor around Stephen's office."


Felix checked his schedule before grabbing his wallet and heading out of the stifling mansion. Due to his cover as pretending to be Adrien Agreste, he couldn't legally apply for any sort of residence in the city and so he was forced to either stay in the Agreste mansion or have someone else rent for him. In his circumstances, that someone would be Gabriel Agreste, but asking that man for favors was akin to borrowing from a loan shark; displeasing in the process and the aftermath. He passed Mr. Dunbar, the once bodyguard who looked at him curiously. Felix flashed his phone to him and graciously texted who he planned to go out to meet so that someone was aware of his location. The blonde had very few in the area he actually cared for, but he was beginning to like the ever stoic man. He didn't complain even when it would get him in trouble otherwise.

Tomorrow was a free day for the model stand in, and these were nights when he liked to go out to have a little fun, maybe hit up a nice bar and find some company. Even if he didn't find someone he liked, he always had one particular brunette he could call for company. As was always prevalent, he had to dodge tabloid reporters and bold photographers in the area outside the gates so he took a detour through the back garden and with a little parkour, used some well placed boxes and a statue to scale the wall before setting down on the other side gracefully despite the drop. With enough practice and an advanced background in martial arts, the feat was his go to defense for avoiding attention, and if there was anything he knew Adrien got too much of, it was attention.

A ping erupted from his phone right as he straightened his shirt. "She's ahead of the game for once." He mused as he read the text he'd received from Lila. Apparently she too had some free time and thought a club would be fun. He, of course, knew she just wanted to show off on the arm of Adrien Agreste. As far as Felix was aware, only his family, Nathalie, Chloe, and somehow Marinette knew he wasn't Adrien Agreste. It greatly restricted his social circle which was annoying at times. On more than a few occasions he'd had to remove the mask and go out and about as Felix once again, but the way Gabriel takes it, it's an affront. It was like Felix being spotted in the city would give everything away which, considering Adrien hadn't been discovered yet, was highly unlikely.

Checking the time, he decided to swing by his regular bakery for a bite before meeting Lila at the club. She would just want to drink and drag him around so it wasn't likely he'd get much to eat, and cutting the model diet and getting occasionally caught on camera was fun; one of the few ways he could really mess with Gabriel at this point. As he walked his way down the street he'd made a point to never make more than passive eye contact with anyone. One other thing he learned over the years was that people, who weren't looking for someone famous, didn't expect to see one even if right in front of them. If you didn't react to people looking at you then they would usually assume you weren't who they thought you were. On the rare occasion someone actually asked him, he would either wink at them in a teasing way or brush them off. It depended on his mood.

"Here, Aaron, a little something from my wife." Felix took note of an exchange as he came up on the bakery.

He noted Adrien (aka Aaron) taking a bag from an older man in an apron. "Sure, one less thing to buy in my book."

"Exactly." The older man smiled and waved before closing the door behind him.

Aaron turned to start up the street home and immediately saw his near twin watching him from a few yards away. Felix had spotted his cousin on a few occasions when patronizing his favorite bakery since he worked there, but this is the first time in awhile that they've seen each other in more than passing. "Felix?"

The model gave him a cocky expression. "Excuse me? My face is all over Paris."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "You really want me to call you Adrien? Seriously?"

On second thought it made Felix a little annoyed coming from him. "You had to ruin it…" He let out a sigh and noticed the bag. "So… How's the commoner life treating you?" The blonde shoved his hands in his designer jeans finding a casual conversation somewhat welcome if he could manage it.

"My life is fine… You?" About all he knew of Felix's life came from the news, tabloids and the occasional remark from Chloe or Marinette.

"Aside from the living arrangements, I suppose its fine. Then again, you'd know better than most how it feels to deal with Uncle Gabe."

Adrien gave a shrug and approached not wanting to just stand around. "I did, but now that's you, and I don't see you having as many problems as me."

"No, but you were always too nice to leverage all you had on him." Adrien was such a doormat when he was younger it was scary.

"Yeah, leverage." The ravenette chuckled coldly. "Anyway, were you planning to get something from inside?" Since he knew Felix was a regular considering his restrictions.

"I was, and then I wanted to hit up a club. Care to join me? Certainly you could escape that little miss for one night? We can catch up…"

"Is… Something wrong?" Yup, Adrien noticed too.

"Nothing is wrong, I told you that. If you don't want to hang out then just say so." The blonde turned away determined to drop the subject and move on.

"Hold on." Adrien reached for his shoulder. Even if Felix was selfish and had a somewhat twisted personality, he still cared about him. "I can spare an hour or two." Marinette would understand, and he could ask Alya to check on her if he was really worried. (But not that worried) "Go ahead and get your snack and I'll call my wife to let her know."

Felix raised a brow and pulled his arm free. "Sure." Though he already regretted asking. Adrien was giving him a pity look and he was already going to have Lila treating him like an accessory.


Alya brought over a beer to her desk as she started back on her notes. She'd been working on a story regarding Adrien Agreste, a sunshine boy model she thought she knew right up until she didn't. Right before Lycee ended, Adrien had been basically a ghost to everyone even Nino his best friend. It was something that still made her hot under the collar, but more recently it has made her angry for another reason.

A few months ago, she and a few of the other girls had shown up at one of Gabriel's public photo shoots. Alya had intended to surprise her friend who was working at the shoot, while the other girls had coincidentally been invited by Lila who was modeling in it. Over the years the journalist had taken ample notice of Lila's love for attention so she understood why. When the model came over to them on her break with Adrien on her arm, Alya held back her urge to call the man out for basically ignoring everyone and tried to look happy for her. Considering the situation, she didn't appear to be the only one who was a little tense at seeing Adrien after so long… Well, except Rose, but she was just so positive she couldn't resist being bubbly about it.

The way Lila told it, they were basically an item, but if you looked at Adrien, then you'd see total indifference. It was an expression that was completely foreign on the model she'd known years before. It was understandable considering that it had been years since she'd actually seen him in person, but it felt wrong. Since she'd come to bring lunch for Marinette, Alya hadn't stuck around, but it was something that stuck in her mind for the rest of the day. "Thinking back… Even Marinette acted weird around him. I know she's married, but…" It was completely indifferent and professional. No one with a crush on the level that she had could go to feeling nothing, and when asked, she dodged the question. "This really would go so much easier if I could get Marinette to talk to me since she works with him, but if this guy really isn't Adrien like I think, then there's a good chance he's the look alike that tricked her all those years ago." And she didn't want to bring up any old wounds especially right now with how emotional Marinette was.

Pulling up a few of the articles she saved about the model, she set about comparing details in each one. Adrien had been featured in magazines and the like since he was 12 and first started publicly modeling and comparing them may give her real insight on when he was 'replaced' for lack of a better word though she already had an idea. It was likely in that period when he was first ghosting everyone. Facts, however, needed proof and she needed evidence to back up any theory before she got too ahead of herself. "What's up, babe?" She asked when her phone rang with Nino's name. "Bring you something to eat? Why didn't you eat before you left?" She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous excuse. She had been at work so she couldn't cook him anything and they were fresh out of leftovers. "Hate to break it to you, babe, but I made a sandwich for dinner, but if you're absolutely starving, I'll make one for you and bring it by. When is your next set over?"

After hanging up the phone she highlighted a few more articles before setting about making her helpless man dinner to go. Nino could make a few things and had learned a little bit since his incident with the oven, but still insisted that her food was his reason for living. His next break would be in an hour and so she just headed over to Club Castle when she finished making the sandwich since it might be nice to chill out while she waited. She may not have gone out to clubs very often what with her work, but she really did enjoy listening to Nino play with music like a kid in a toy store.


The club was as busy as you would expect on a Friday afternoon. Peak hours hadn't even hit yet and the line was as long as ever. Felix smirked as the men walked up the line ignoring all those waiting around. "Your domestic life probably doesn't have you out at clubs much, eh, Aaron." The blonde remarked putting more emphasis on the name than he should.

"No, not really." The baker replied not really bothered by Felix's attitude.

"Then you should enjoy the advantage going out with me will get you." Aaron rolled his eyes at the boast right as the men approached the doorman. "Excuse me, Adrien-"

"Yo, Aaron!" The larger man called looking surprised. "Haven't seen you in a minute! Nino's in the middle of a set, but come on in."

"Thanks, Mal. Sorry, life goes on, you know?"

The man chuckled as he let them through. "Yeah, I hear you." They shared a chuckle as Aaron passed him.

"You coming, Adrien?" The baker asked with a smirk.

Felix rolled his eyes with a slight scowl as he followed. "I suppose I should have seen that coming. I remember you being friends with some skinny musician." Though what were the odds he'd go to the same club?

"Nino's a really good DJ, and I'm sure you would have still gotten us in if I didn't know the DJ."

Felix scoffed. "Of course. One of the few perks to being plastered all over Paris." Which was more true than ever since Adrien doubted there were many dated images of him still floating around. Everything relevant would be Felix.

"So aside from being plastered all over Paris, what have you been doing?" The ravenette asked when they took a few seats at the bar.

"Dealing with your father, aside, I've been taking online courses in business."

"Really? You planning to take over?" Though that was unlikely if he still knew his father like he thought he did.

Felix seemed to agree as he scoffed. "As if Uncle Gabe would let anyone pry it from his cold preferably dead fingers? No, I plan to take my talents back home once your father declares me 'too old' to model. Maybe if it were you he'd still insist, but he hates me and the feeling is mutual."

The blonde then motioned to the server regarding a drink. "That makes sense. Hell, he was preparing to have me marry what I could assume was the daughter of some business partner or something." Adrien revealed with a furrowed brow at the memory.

"So that's the reason you finally ran off." Felix jumped at the info. He'd had a few theories but none of them were as good as an arranged marriage.

"It was the final straw if that's what you're getting at, yeah. Before I knew it, I was packing my things to get the hell out."

"It really was about time you got a clue." His cousin jabbed with a smirk as he looked around. Lila was supposed to meet him and was very good at popping up suddenly.

"That we can agree on." Adrien took the drinks Felix ordered them and slid one to his cousin. "And thanks for the drink. I've been trying not to drink at home."

"Marinette not much of a drinker, or is it that your life is so perfect now-"

"Fe… Adrien, tell me what's bothering you. For real."

Felix eyed him warily and let out a sigh. "If you must know… Being you has gotten tiresome. I can't even screw around with 'father' anymore." He explained with air quotes. "The walking icicle doesn't have as much to worry about now that my mother doesn't have to be in the picture, and he only bothers with me for modeling now aside from the occasional tabloid issue."

"So what you were saying about being dropped as a model in a few years-"

"If that." Felix cut in.

"Yeah, so basically the status quo is that you are an employee and he's your boss?"

"I suppose though he can't afford to fire me as easily as I could quit. That's about all I have on him now aside from the image of his company."

"Right, well, that is why you are taking classes."

"Yes, I'm not so brainless to assume I can model forever like some. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask this a long time ago, but did you ever sleep with Lila? As soon as I started standing in as you she was practically attached to me."

Adrien grunted with distaste at the question. "No, and if she insinuated otherwise then you should know she's-"

"A liar of the highest order? That was obvious after five minutes, Ad-Aaron." He chuckled. "Keeping these names straight is harder than I thought."

"By the way you talk, and what I've seen, you're sort of dating her, right?"

"I am, though 'dating' may not be the word for it. She was fun in the beginning though, and does make a good bedfellow. Now? It's a little hard to describe." His melancholy expression spoke volumes to the baker who knew his cousin was having some kind of issue. Obviously even someone with a deviant personality like Felix would eventually feel the toxic environment he had growing up, and especially when dealing with Lila on top of it.

Then again, considering their personalities, it was a little surprising they didn't get along more. "You both have similar personalities now that I think about it."

Felix glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Me and Lila? Perhaps when I was still a kid, but we all must grow up sometime. I can't go around tricking people like I used to, and it's not nearly as fun as it used to be." Gabriel also sucked much of the fun out of it since the only one he could impersonate was Adrien and Gabriel knew it was him. Getting scolded wasn't always worth the irritation he caused.

"It sounds like Gabriel hasn't changed one bit, but you'll be out of it soon."

"You really do hate the man, don't you?" Felix surmised from Adrien's refusal to call him father. He didn't even stumble at the name.

"He hasn't been my father in a long time."

The conversation went cold at that which had Felix feeling sincerely sorry for his cousin. At one time he was jealous of the fact Adrien still had a father at all, but after spending five years dealing with the man, he took all of it back. "You really surprise me, Aaron. With how much you hate him I'm amazed you let your wife work for him."

Adrien let out a sigh and took up his glass again. "Gabriel never treated his designers badly." Chances are if he'd been born with even a little design talent, things would have turned out differently for him.

"I suppose he doesn't."

"Adrien!" Adrien saw Felix cringe ever so slightly at the voice and they both turned to see one very scantily dressed Italian strutting up to them. It looked like Felix really was having an issue with Lila.

"I need to get home." The baker declared as he set down his glass and took up the bag he'd walked in with. Felix braced for the woman and gave his cousin a slight wave goodbye despite being outright ditched. As he watched him go he saw something very familiar shift in the bag, something commonly associated with babies.

"Come on, Adrien, let's dance!" Lila insisted as soon as she latched onto his arm.

Whether she gave a thought to what he was doing moments ago she didn't appear to care. "Alright, love, but I'm not really feeling it tonight. Care to get out early and have some fun at your place?"


Right after he turned away from Felix, Adrien immediately ran into someone else he knew. "Alya?"

The journalist appeared surprised as she got up from the chair right next to where he was sitting. "Aaron? I didn't even know you were there." She laughed though it looked a little odd.

"Yeah, I was just talking with… an old friend, but I'm on my way home now."

"Good, Marinette probably needs the company. Last time I spoke to her she was knee deep in designing rompers." That indeed sounded like Marinette.

"Going to stay for Nino's next set?" He asked glancing up at the DJ's stage where he appeared to have not noticed them and was lost in work.

"Maybe, but I have something I'm working on back home. He wanted me to bring him food." She held up the bag she brought with the sandwich.

"Sounds like him." Adrien chuckled and waved. "Anyway, tell him I said hi, but I really didn't plan to stay very long."

"He understands, I'm sure." She waved back trying to hold her carefree smile as long as possible. As soon as she saw Aaron shuffle his way to the door she let out a breath of relief at not being caught. She thought for sure when he suddenly turned around that he realized she was eavesdropping. While it wasn't her original intention, when she noticed Aaron was sitting with Adrien Agreste, of all people, she got… curious. "But damn… I didn't think it was like this." She'd heard so much! Just thinking of what she might have missed was scary in its own right.

They sounded like they were talking about Gabriel Agreste when she sat down, but when Adrien referred to him as Uncle Gabe, she was immediately hooked. If he was being called uncle then that would mean he was Adrien's cousin… Which, now that she thought about it, was more like his twin! She'd only met him once, but he'd impersonated Adrien and caused a real mess back in college. "If I remember right his name was Felix?" Felix had been impersonating Adrien for years and Gabriel Agreste knew about it! That wasn't even the craziest part either! The music may have been loud, but she knew she wasn't hearing things when Aaron mentioned Gabriel wasn't his father anymore. "That… It's crazy…" But the timing made sense as she thought about it.

Through her research she knew the timing of when Adrien Agreste suddenly came back in the spotlight that summer five years ago, and it wasn't long after she first met Aaron Bassett. She pulled out her phone and brought up a recent picture of Nino and Aaron together. Due to the fact she knew he was Chat Noir, she knew he was blonde at one point which is why she'd decided to use a little photo editor app to change the man's hair color. Her eyes went wide at the shocking difference it made despite the shade being just a little off. "Holy shit…" Aaron Bassett was dead ringer for Adrien Agreste.


Felix yawned as he walked into the studio. What was supposed to be his Saturday off, was interrupted early with a call from Nathalie about having him come in for a camera test. He left Lila asleep not wanting to drag her around to worsen the already poor morning. As per usual, he was expected to show up on time, and it wasn't even ready to start so he sat down in the provided chair and pulled out his phone.

"Good morning, Adrien." He glanced over to see Stephen moving a cart of clothes.

"Hey…" He yawned again.

"Late night I suppose?" The designer mused knowing how Felix could be.

"Not really…" He went to bed, just not to sleep.

"Are you looking at baby clothes?" Stephen asked having noted what Felix had on his phone.

Felix glared at him and set his phone down. "God you're nosey."

To Stephen's dismay, Felix was in a terrible mood which was worse than his simple bad mood. "What can I say? Clothes catch my eye, now would you like to choose your outfits for the camera test or should I?"

"You act like I give a damn about the clothes, and don't you normally delegate this job to one of your assistants? Marinette sleep in?" Which was something just about everyone knew she was prone to.

"Now who's nosey?" Stephen cut back already exasperated. Felix gave him a cold stare in return and he shrugged and began picking clothes himself. "If you really must know, she won't be working many Saturdays for awhile. She's going on maternity leave soon."

The blonde's eyes went wide. "Wait, Marinette's really pregnant?" He thought it was weird Adrien had a bag of baby supplies with him last night, and he'd thought about it a few minutes ago which is why he was looking for baby things, but it was really only because he was bored.

"Yes, so I've cut her hours a bit." Not that it would really stop her from working. "Please keep that in mind while interacting with her in the coming months, Adrien."

Felix schooled his features again and nodded. "Whatever…" Damn! Adrien was already going to have a kid soon!? Though… He really did seem happy with his life too. Felix couldn't really understand why such a simple life made Adrien happy, but he supposed the least he could do is be supportive.

"Ah, Adrien! On time as always!" Both Felix and Stephen turned to the loud and excited call of Vincent, Gabriel's most trusted photographer. Personally Felix found the man annoying on his best days, but at least he was easy to please.

"Good morning, Vincent. Are you about ready to start? I was just getting a few outfits put together for the test."

"Yes!" The Italian man answered with the vigor of a child. "But before we start I wanted to introduce Adrien to my newest assistants, eh?" He waved his hands and stepped aside to reveal two young women. "This one here is Marcel, and I'm hoping you remember young Bridgette?"

Felix looked at the girls with forced intrigue. Marcel was blonde and average looking besides, and Bridgette was a ravenette in glasses who obviously didn't dress to impress. "Sorry, I'm still waking up so the name isn't really coming to me."

Vincent frowned but nodded. "Well, it has been six years, so I suppose I can understand." That explained it; he wasn't pretending to be Adrien until about five years ago so they've probably never met. "That aside, they are the reason for my request of a camera test, Adrien. I hope you work well with them as you have me."

Vincent was so earnest it almost gave Felix a stomach ache but he nodded. "Of course, Vincent." He beamed back. Vincent laughed and started over to his equipment. The women followed though Felix did find the eye roll one of them gave to be… interesting.


Yeah I bet you all were expecting a chapter involving Gabriel investigating Aaron, right? But Alya! Yes, she's been investigating Adrien's replacement which was hinted at in an earlier chapter. As for Felix, his issue is actually related to something I mentioned earlier. (Hint: think of how he reacted to Marinette seeing through him) As for Gabriel, well, you'll get more from him very soon so look forward to it.=^-^=