Hugs to Roman's 6:23KJV for writing those comments that keep me up for days! Love the support! Also a big thank you to anyone that made it this far.


Gabriel walked in his son's room and marched straight to the window, ignoring the dumbfounded blond in the process. Adrien was baffled and was about to speak when his father ordered, "Sit." Nervously, he obeyed. He didn't understand if his father was mad about something or if he was just being his normal, controlling self. Either way, he was too scared to ask. "I came here to talk to you," Gabriel said, finally breaking the deafening silence between the two.

"Am I in some kind of trouble?" Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Choosing to ignore his son, he began, "You know you mean so much to me. You are my only child after all, and I want you to understand that everything I do is for you and for our family."

Slowly he turned to face Adrien directly and stared at his ring. "Father, what's going on?" The blond asked worriedly, not noticing his father looking at his miraculous.

Gabriel had come prepared to demand the miraculous. His plan was to force his son and Marinette to surrender. Natalie begged him to wait until morning so he would have time to calm down and prepare. There was no way to predict how his son would react to the truth of knowing what happened to his mother, or his father's identity. This could easily become a battle for the miraculous.

It all went down the drain when he looked at his son though. Adrien's eyes mirrored his mom's. It was as if Emilie herself was looking at him. In hopes of forgiveness, he visited her last night and apologized for what he would have to do to their son, and to their grandchild in order to save her. Memories of promising Emile to bring her back along with vowing to keep Adrien safe played over and over in the older Agreste's mind. With those green eyes staring at him, he knew he would have to find a way to honor his wife's wishes.

But now, finally seeing the worried expression on his son, Gabriel assured him, "Everything is fine. Don't worry son. I haven't been giving you the attention you need, but that will change. From now on, I promise to be here for you and to always do what's best for you. I want you to know I'm here for you son. From now on, I will be a better father to you." Awkwardly, he pulled his son into a hug.

"Thank you father," the blond replied with a smile. Adrien was truly happy. His father was making an effort to be better? His father hadn't come to make his usual demands or to remind him of his obligations. Instead, he was there to be a better father, and that was all the blond ever wanted. Could his father actually be changing for the better? He really hoped so.

Adrien was thrilled, but years of knowing his father made him suspicious. So he asked, "Where is this coming from?"

"Do I need a particular reason to care for you? I'm just doing what any good parent would do. It took me a while to recover after what happened to your mother, but that's no excuse for how I have been treating you." Gabriel seeming a little offended, but that quickly dissipated seeing his son's joyful expression.

Seeing that wide smile in Adrien was almost enough to make Gabriel forget the negative emotions he felt in his akumatized son. That anger and sadness and loneliness in Adrien made Gabriel think that maybe he truly didn't know how much he meant to him. He knew his son felt neglected because he had felt it first hand during the akumatization. Chat Blanc wasn't only about a broken heart, instead it was about a heart aching for love and affection. "Adrien, you are the most important thing in my life, but I haven't been treating you like that. I'm sorry." Gabriel gave Adrien a sincere smile.

The blond, seeing some good in his father, somehow smiled even more and pulled his dad into a short, yet warm, hug. This was the moment Adrien's driver showed up, indicating it was time to go. The blond happily grabbed his backpack and went to school with the happiest expression Gabriel had ever seen. "Have a nice day at school!" Gabriel shouted out after his son as the blond left.

The moment his son was gone, he sat at his son's piano. Natalie entered Adrien's room very casually, but her presence seemed to go unnoticed by the Agreste in the room. "What about the plan?" Natalie asked, gently touching Gabriel on the shoulders and making him aware of her presence.

She had followed him this morning and eavesdropped onto the conversation, since he could very well need her help as Mayura. She was surprised that he hadn't demanded the miraculous or told Adrien about his mother. With her soothing touch, he was able to admit, "It changed. I just couldn't do it. If I must do this... then my son must not know the truth... He must not know what happened to his mother or the consequences that my wish will bring upon his child. It would break him. I have to protect him from that."

"What would break him? What happened to his mother or the consequences the wish would have on his child?" Natalie absent-mindedly pondered these thoughts out loud.

He let out a heavy sight that was soon followed by his response. "It won't matter! Once I get their miraculous, my son will be completely oblivious to the existence of those wretched jewels. Everything, from his friends to that girl, and the child itself, shall also be gone from his mind."

"Are you sure this wish will cost your grandchild?" Natalie questioned, remembering their conversation from last night.

"They say the final wish requires balance. One life for another. It should be sacrificed for my family. My son can have other kids in a faraway future. Once he is an actual adult and married, of course."

"Are really sure about going forward, sir? Whatever you chose, I'll support you." Natalie knew him quite well and didn't feel his usual determination in his words.

Unsure if to prove it to himself, or to her, he declared, "Yes, I'm sure. Can you imagine what would be of my son if he was a father at such a young age? This is not the life Emile and I envisioned for him. I failed as a parent, but I won't do that anymore. Not when this chance is so close. Nothing is going to stop me from doing the best thing for him. I can't let anything stop me from getting my family together!"

"Nothing will stop you, sir. But what about the girl? Will she remember anything?" Natalie now felt his heart was completely set on the goal.

"No, she will be as clueless as my son. And for that, I'm glad. After all, she has given me nothing but trouble for years. Helping my son disobey me, throwing my son into danger during the fights, Stopping me from getting my family together, stealing the miraculous book, defeating all my akumas, messing up all my plans..." Gabriel was obviously a little frustrated.

Stopping her boss from continuing his rant, she asked, "What do you want to do about her?"

"... and lastly, forcing me into this awful position!" He finished his rant, only to answer to Natalie. "But my son really loves her. I felt it when I akumatized him. So I will not harm her on purpose. If I do this right, there won't be any need to do so, because he will bring her to us. Still, she is resourceful and smart. Too bad she's our enemy. So, to avoid surprises, make sure our ally keeps a close eye on her and on my son. Worst case scenario, our ally becomes Plan B."

"Are you sure getting Lila involved, in any way, is the best solution?"

"Absolutely. Maybe if I had listened to her warnings earlier about Marinette, this whole mess could have been avoided. I want to know where that girl eats, who her best friends are... all about her. I won't let anything else slip by me. My son hid his secret from me for years, and now with this news, let's just say, I don't want anything to mess up our goal. One way or another I'll have my perfect family... the way it used to be." He took a heavy sigh when he noticed the poorly hidden ultrasound and his whole tone changed. "Is this all my fault? Should I have been more strict on him?"

Natalie feeling him tense, assured him, "Adrien would be hard to control. He got that from you, sir. This happened, but there's still time to fix everything. We will go back to the past and won't make the same mistakes. This time, Emile will be saved and all that happened about becoming a villain or him a hero will be pointless. You are doing what's best for Adrien."

"Am I?" He whispered to himself, but his assistant still heard it. She had seen him broken, sad, and determined. But for the first time, she believed she was seeing him insecure. She wrapped her arms around him to give him the reassurance he needed.

"Master. This is your grandchild we are talking about." Nooroo nervously flew out of his hiding, in hopes that his master could be convinced otherwise. However, Gabriel's fists smashed against the piano keys making it complain in a form of unbalanced keys and scaring the poor kwami.

With an assertive tone, he admitted "'It's a sacrifice that needs to be made. This is the right thing to do! Even if it's hard, I have crossed many lines to get this far and this is just another line. I have never been so close to finally succeeding. Soon Emilie will be with us. It's going to be like nothing ever happened... like this never happened. She will be by my side. Our family will be happy together. And that is all that matters. I can't fail now."

Grabbing Gabriel's aching hands, Natalie assured him, "You won't fail. This time, the miraculous will be ours."

They stayed silent together, in each other's comfort until Natalie asked, "If you won't demand their miraculous from them, then what will you do?"

"Slowly try to win more of my son's trust while acting normal as Hawkmoth. I want them to feel like I haven't changed my plan, make them think they are safe and nothing has changed. Meanwhile, I'll wait until I have the right opportunity to catch them off guard as Gabriel."

"They won't even see it coming or realize what is happening. It's genius!" Natalie allowed herself to demonstrate how impressed she was.

"Genius isn't the right word, but it's what needs to be done for my son and my family. I don't like it, but it's our best choice. Go set up a meeting with Lila. Her help will be crucial if we want to stay one step ahead. Now, please go. I need some time alone."

Meanwhile at Collège Françoise Dupont, everyone waited for Marinette. Some wanted exclusives on why Chat Blanc went after her. Others wanted to know if she was okay after that akuma... for example, Luka, Juleka, Rose, and Nino. Alya wanted to make sure her friend was okay and also get her scoop, while Lila just wished the cat had at least managed to hurt the bluenette. To make the liar even angrier, Marinette had managed to get everyone's attention. But as long as Adrien didn't fall for that. She wouldn't do anything.

Missing Adrien already and not predicting the crowd waiting for her, Marinette went to school early to be with him. The moment she arrived, even before she entered, Juleka's brother found her and immediately pulled her into a tight hug. "I was so worried about you. Worse than the pain of the cataclysm was being helpless to save you."

"I'm fine, really." She smiled. Despite her reassurance, he didn't let go of the hug... and instead... hugged her even tighter as if he was afraid she would disappear. It was at this exact moment that a not so smiling Adrien arrived and walked to Marinette, not noticing the angry look on Lila's face.

Controlling his jealousy, he asked, "So what's going on here? Why is everyone around Marinette?"

Nino stepped in to explain, while Marinette freed herself from Luka's embrace. "Dude, you haven't heard? Chat Noir was akumatized last night. He went after Marinette and cataclysmed Luka... and a few other people along with some buildings. It was horrible, and the videos of the fight between him and Ladybug are hard to watch."

"What?" Adrien was genuinely surprised. She had not mentioned him using his cataclysm, or how much damage he really caused. When he asked her, she made it seem like it wasn't worse than the typical akuma.

Alya intervened breaking the blond from his thoughts. "Thankfully, Ladybug bounced back and saved the day. Too bad, there isn't footage of that scene. I bet it was epic."

"I bet it wasn't a big deal. I mean, it was just another akuma fight. No need to keep talking about it." Marinette tried to not make Adrien feel guilty about what happened. She didn't want her boyfriend to blame himself over it.

"No big deal? This is our two heroes against each other. Just see how hard the fight was for Ladybug. It was hit after hit." To prove her point, Alya had the not so brilliant idea of showing the images of Chat Blanc painfully throwing Ladybug around.

As he saw the images, Adrien reached his hand for Marinette, but she quickly pulled back. He didn't understand if it was fear because of the memories of the akuma, or if she was second-guessing their relationship.

"Is everything okay with us?" He whispered, not only feeling insecure about their relationship but also feeling extremely guilty for his actions as Chat Blanc. Had those awful images changed her mind about being with him?


Sorry for breaking this part here. There was just so much to happen in school with Adrien and Marinette that it became too much for just one chapter . if you are worried why Marinette pulled back or Adrien ́s insecurities . well ...don't be, because there is a good explanation and things between them are still super romantic and sweet as you will be able to see on the next chapter. More adrienette coming so be prepared .

Since I'm so ahead on it, you won't need to wait long for it. See you all soon