(A/N: Hello everybody I've gotten chapter 31 finished and I hope it goes well because this one was a bit hard for me to figure out. But before I get started I just wanna make a formal apology for something regarding the Gypsy culture, as you may have guessed I do my research before writing these chapters out when it comes to things like Native American lore and things like that and I really did search for things that were accurate in Gypsy culture as well as Lakota culture but sadly I wasn't able to find anything that could help me not sound like a racist dickhead so I basically just pulled stuff out of a hat and said "this'll do." Anyway the point I'm trying to make is that I've pretty much just made up some crazy bullshit for this chapter regarding Dallas's Gypsy heritage, mainly because I've only been focusing on his Lakota side the entire story and I figured that it was high time I changed that. So if by chance that any of you are truly of Gypsy descent I am sorry if you find anything I've put into this fanfic so far to be offensive in any way I am sorry because I really did try to find something that might not be insulting to you and might actually be respectful, I mean I did find something of a spiritual nature but it wasn't exactly helpful for this to work so I had to embellish a few things. Alright then here we go, please don't bite my head off for this.)

Chapter 31: Spirit crossing

It was only one day away from the charity event and only three days after Dallas finally played his violin in over three years and sense then he was able to find the strength to keep playing. As one might expect he was still a little rusty but he was getting to where he needed to be, but when it came to playing a certain song he still couldn't help but feel pain and regret. He just didn't understand why, until he spoke with his therapist again and after hearing this new bit of information from him Dr. Grimshaw told him that the reason he'd felt this way was because he was only suffering from a guilty conscience that he couldn't do what his mother wanted him to do and that he needed to find a way to forgive himself. However he didn't feel that way, he felt as though it was much deeper than that. So he decided to delve into his Gypsy keepsakes and try to see if this could have something to do with his mother's spirit in a way, because in the Gypsy culture it was believed that the spirits of the dead are never truly gone from this world, after combing through tome after tome he eventually found something that he believed made perfect sense to him regarding his problem. It said that the spirits of loved ones who have passed on from life can be anchored to another loved one who had yet to pass on from this world, either because the spirit had a grudge with the living individual and wanted either justice or revenge, or because the living individual held a heavy guilt towards the dead and they desperately wanted to make amends with the spirit and until the spirit was appeased or the living had fulfilled their desire the anchor would never be broken.

But there was something that Dallas could do about it, something that would be dangerous to him and if he wasn't careful, it could kill him. He even knew this to be the case but he was still going to do it no matter the risk. However he knew that he couldn't do this alone, what he needed was a little help from someone he could trust. But only one person came to mind, Adrien. He knew that he'd be willing to help him out if he could but he didn't know if he'd be okay with what he wanted to do once he found out about it. He knew the best way to do it was to be upfront and totally honest with him, no matter how he felt he'd take it. But for him to do it he needed to get Marinette out of the house for a bit, but that wouldn't be easy to do without her getting suspicious. But that's when he got an idea and figured that Valentina could be of some help, of course he would have to be as discreet as he could with her as well because he knew that if she found out about it she'd try to stop him. Luckily the story he'd come up with for Valentina was a perfect cover for both ends. "So you want me to call Marinette to ask her if she could come here and watch over Yurochka while Megan and I allegedly have to locate a rival assassin hunting me while we actually are trying to help you plan her baby shower correct?" Valentina asked just so she could be clear.

"Yes, but you have to make sure that she heads over to your place understand?" Dallas replied trying to get his lover to go along with this two sided rouge.

"But what if she asks why?" She asked again as she saw a huge hole in this plan, that is until Dallas came up with a perfect excuse.

"You're an assassin, just explain to her that it's safer for him to stay where he is that way she doesn't question it. Or heck just make up a tale that Yuri just wants to see her and the baby." He stated plainly and making a sound argument for her.

Valentina thought about it for a moment and realized that this could work, then she plainly said back. "Alright, send me the addresses of all her friends and Megan and I will pay them each a little visit in order to discuss the details."

"Sure thing, thanks babe you're the best." He replied just before hanging up the phone, then he let out a sigh of anxiety as he now had to figure out a way to get Adrien to help him as well as get him to keep this entire thing to himself.

Not long after she'd received all the addresses of Marinette's friends, Valentina then gave her a call as requested by Dallas and as he'd hoped she bought into the lie. Following this she got ready to go out and baby sit Yuri, that's when Dallas began to prepare for what he was about to do in earnest. He began by drawing out a chalk drawing of an eye then surrounded it in a pentagram on the floor of his room after flipping the bed over on it's side in order to make room, then he began to draw symbols which he'd copied from his book, followed by laying out several random items such as a bundle of dried grass, a snake's skin, a raven feather, a clay jug filled with water and finally a handful of soil. The next thing he did was something he didn't want to do at all, but sadly he had no other choice as it was required by the ritual to do so. "I'm sorry about this mom, I'd hoped that I'd be able to let your ashes out in a much prettier place than this, but I need to be able to talk to you…otherwise I'll never be able to move on from this." Then he slowly began to pore his mother's ashes onto the iris of the chalk eye with regret as well as shame for what he was doing. Then as one final step to complete this ritual he needed two more things, Adrien's help of course, and also a potion that the ritual called for in order to do what he needed to do. But after looking at it's ingredients Dallas saw that it was a lot closer to a poison rather than a potion as it contained some very toxic herbs and plants that should never be ingested by any human being. But he also knew that there was no other way and decided to do it anyway. "Well it's like they say, nothing ventured…nothing gained."

Once he'd completed the beginning steps of the ritual Dallas then asked Spizz to go and get Adrien while he waited for the potion to finish cooking. Once he'd arrived to his room Adrien found himself to be quite puzzled at everything he saw. "Uh…what the heck is going on in here?" He asked as he turned to Dallas, who was starting to pore the potion into a small vial.

"Adrien, I need your help with something…" Dallas began to reply as he put a cork into the vial and let it rest on his dresser for the moment as he began to turn to Adrien. "But what I have to say must stay between the two of us, that means no one can know what we're doing tonight. That includes our kwamis." Dallas then took off his neckless and put it back in its jewelry box sending Spizz away for the moment.

"Uh…okay, Plagg do you mind if I…" Adrien began to ask his kwami, who just replied casually as ever.

"Eh…whatever, I'm due for a holiday." Without another word Adrien then removed his ring sucking Plagg right back into it, then he set it on the dresser next to Dallas's miraculous.

"Okay, what's this about?" He began to ask again.

"Well there's two things I wanted to talk to you about actually, first…" Without warning Dallas then slapped Adrien across the face as hard as he could. "THAT'S FOR USING MY KID TO GET ME TO TRY AND MOVE ON FROM MY PTSD DAMN IT!"

Adrien began to rub his jaw which now stung more than anything he'd ever felt. "Okay I guess I kinda deserve that." He stated as he tried to massage the pain out of his face.

"Glad to see that we agree on that, anyway the second thing I needed to talk to you about was this." Dallas stated as he gestured to the very obvious sight he'd put together.

"Uh…yeah, you never really told me what this is about exactly, so would you mind?" He asked yet again this time hoping for an answer.

"Look there's no easy way for me to say this so I'm just gonna go out and say it, I need you to help me crossover to the other side." Saying it out loud just made what Dallas had just explained sound crazy, as well as impossible. But after getting a good look at his expression Adrien could tell that he was serious.

"Crossover? You mean like what exactly? Do you mean that you want to have a séance?" He asked with a bit of confusion as he didn't truly understand what he was talking about.

But Dallas just shook his head and replied. "No, I mean I want to cross into the next world, or at least my spirit that is, and I can do that too with this ritual…however…"

"Dallas, I don't think I like where this is going." Adrien stated as he could sense that what he was going to say next wasn't anything good.

And this feeling rang true as Dallas finished. "There's a chance that I'll probably die."

Upon hearing this all the color drained from Adrien's face as he had hoped that he was only making a very sick and twisted joke. "Are you crazy?! You're actually trying out something that's incredibly dangerous that you've never tried before that could easily kill you and you're not even going to give it a second thought?!"

"You don't understand Adrien…" Dallas added. "I have no other options if I'm gonna be able to move on an actually start enjoying my life again, but the only way I can do that is if I make peace with my mother and I can't do that unless I actually see her again."

"So you're willing to commit suicide to do it?!" Adrien asked completely dumbstricken.

"Why do you think you're here Adrien? I'm not an idiot, I'm not just gonna pull some crazy stunt without someone to pull me out of it." Dallas stated honestly. "I know that what I'm doing is too dangerous for me to do alone so I want you to be the one to help bring me out of it just in case."

Adrien began to calm down after hearing that Dallas had actually thought this through to a point but was still concerned about his wellbeing. "But what exactly makes you think that I'm the right guy for the job?"

"Because you're my blood brother Adrien, and a brave must always trust his blood brother no matter what. Plus I know that if I tried to ask anyone else they'd try to stop me and I really need to do this otherwise I'm just gonna go crazy." He stated as he picked up the vial. "Now please listen to me because I need you to pay very close attention to what I'm about to say to you…"

"I'm sorry but when did I agree to this?" Adrien asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"So you're just gonna let me die then?" Dallas stated with a small bit of figurative and emotional black mail, Adrien still didn't like what he was doing or the fact that he wasn't really giving him a choice, but he agreed to it none the less. "I didn't think so, anyway as I was saying your job is relatively easy, all you have to do is keep an eye on this candle." Dallas then handed Adrien a simple white candle stick. "Once it's lit I want you to watch it like a hawk, and if it looks like I'm not out of my trans by the time it gets close to the bottom I want you to take that glass bottle over there and drop a lit match into it…" He then pointed to a bottle filled with dried herbs and oil. "Then I want you to let it burn for a minute then smash it on the ground, the fumes from the smoke should wake me up if I don't come out of it myself. Can you remember all that?"

"I just wanna go on record and say that I REALLY don't like this. But yes, I can do that for you." Adrien replied plainly.

Dallas then gave a half smile as he said back. "Good, now then…let's get started." Without hesitating Dallas then took the potion and pored it into a censer which he then placed on the ground right in the center of his mother's ashes, then he took a match and tried to light it, until he remembered something important. "Oh shit, almost forgot." Dallas then went back to his herb bag and found a small cube of compressed herbs which he handed to Adrien. "Chew on this while the potion is burning so you won't go unconscious, also make sure that once I'm out that you light that candle."

"You know I could just put on my miraculous and it would do the same thing for me right?" Adrien pointed out.

"True but then we'd have to deal with Plagg and I'd rather not have to worry about him keeping his big mouth shut and I honestly don't trust him to do that, so I say we just cut out the middle man and go with the herbal cube so you don't die." Dallas stated as he returned to lighting the potion, then he sat down inside the pentagram, crossed his legs, closed his eyes and just let his mind go blank. Not long after he took this sitting position he began to hear something strange, he could hear the sound of the ocean crashing against a shore, he could smell the sent of salt water on the air, he felt the warm sun on his face. Then he opened up his eyes, and there he saw a large beach house, the kind that he'd only ever seen in Los Angelus or Malibu, the kind that his mother always wanted when she grew old. There was no doubt about it, he had found his way to his mother's very idea of heaven. He then stood up from the ground and began to make his way up to the front door of the house, he stopped as soon as he got to the front door in the attempt to find the courage to knock, but he didn't even have to as it opened wide on it's own. And there, sitting alone in a chair placing out a set of three tarot cards out on a table, was his mother, Maria Caroline Jones looking as lively as she was before she died.

"I've known many blessings in my time, but that's nothing new to me." She began to read off her cards one by one out loud. "I live in my ideal paradise, with just about everything I could ever ask for…except for the one thing I left behind. But for a short time…I will be able to see that which I hold dearest to my heart…for a short while…as he comes before me…as someone who is truly changing for better or worse. I'd say that's a pretty accurate reading wouldn't you agree kid-o?" She smiled warmly as she stood up from her chair and started to make her way to her son.

Dallas then ran over to her with tears of joy in his eyes as he embraced his mother for the first time in three years. "Hi mom…" He sobbed softly as he just held her close, it wasn't just a mere illusion or spirit he held onto, this was his mother, as real as she ever was in life holding him just as lovingly. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too kid-o…" She replied as she placed a small kiss on his head, then for her own reasons she pinched his ear hard.

"OW…" He wined. "What was that for?"

"Don't play dumb with me mister…" She said as she began to scold her son. "You performed the forbidden ritual of spirit crossing after I've specifically told you never to do that!"

"Would it help if I told you that I have a lifeguard to watch over me?" He asked half-jokingly.

"No it wouldn't, you know how dangerous this is Dallas. I know that you miss me but you don't belong here yet, you still have so much to live for back on earth you need to go back." She stated firmly as she pointed to the front door.

"I will, I promise you I will, but first…I…need to make peace with you mom." He then began to clench his fists tight as he tried to find the strength to say what he needed to say.

"It's okay honey…" She said calmly. "I know why you're here, I've been watching over you ever sense I passed." She then placed her hands on either side of his head and just looked him in the eye. "For starters when you got that scar from Valentina."

Upon hearing this Dallas became startled that she knew about Valentina. "You…you know about that?"

"Mm-hm, and then some." She replied plainly. "Also not too happy that your uncle abandoned you after I died, but just so you know I've been haunting him, every time something good happens to him I do something rather naughty just to ruin it for him. I never really liked him to be honest, he was always such an arrogant little douche."

Dallas then smirked at the thought that she was getting back at her brother in law for what he'd done. "I hope you're making him suffer." He stated wholeheartedly.

"Oh I promise you he never knows peace from me." She answered plainly. "Anyway like I said I know about Val, as well as the fact that you two have a little one too."

"Yeah, he wasn't planned I swear." Dallas added with a slightly worried tone.

"Well frankly neither were you but that was fine by me, and when I found out about him I was just so happy for you sweetie!" She announced lovingly as she held him close.

"So how does it feel to know that you're a grandmother?" Dallas asked with a smile.

"About as amazing as it felt to know that I was gonna be a mom." Maria stated with pride. "You just make sure though that when you get back that you tell my grandbaby that I love him so much, and that I'll always be watching over him too."

"Can do." Dallas confirmed just before he steered the conversation back to the main reason he was there. "Anyway…and I really hate to ruin the mood…I need to say this mom. I'm…sorry…about…"

"Dallas Anthony Jones-Clearlake don't you dare apologize for what happened that night, I already told you that it wasn't that important to me and that you'd play that song when you were ready and not before." Maria said with conviction. "And now that you're playing again I know that day isn't far off, and when that day comes just know that I'll be there to hear you play, but first you have to promise me a few things."

"Anything." He said eagerly.

"First, I want you to stop torturing yourself by listening to Salut D'Amour every week because it just hurts me to see you like that honey, just know that I'm not mad at you that you couldn't play it for me just yet. Second, I want you to try to stop getting into so many fights with people as well as actually try to go straight. And finally, I want you to know how proud I am of you for everything you've accomplished, my little superhero." She said plainly as she gave him one last hug.

To which Dallas returned, and as he'd hoped, he felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders. All the burdens, all the pain, all the regret he'd carried with him for so long, was finally gone and he finally began to heal. "I will mom, I promise. And I promise you that when I do play your song for you it's gonna sound beautiful, believe that." Then Dallas began to take his leave.

That is until his mother stopped him with one final thing to say. "Oh Dallas wait, there's something I need to tell you."

Dallas then turned back to her and said. "I know mom, I love you too."

"No not that honey, well I mean of course I wanna say that too but this is something you need to know." She said again with a serious tone.

"What is it?" He asked sounding concerned.

"I know who Hawkmoth is." She replied plainly.

Upon hearing this Dallas's eyes shot open wide. "You do? Well who is he?" But before she could answer him Dallas then heard something, the shattering of glass, then just as quickly as he'd heard it, he shot up off the floor of his room, and found himself back in the safehouse. "NO!" He shouted as he awoke, and feeling angry that he had come so close to ending the conflict between the team and Hawkmoth only for it to be taken away.

"Oh thank god it worked." Adrien uttered as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Dallas jumped off the ground and grabbed Adrien by the shoulders and just shouted half angrily. "WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

"I didn't have a choice Dallas you're time was almost up see?" Adrien stated as he pointed at the candle stick, which was much shorter than it was when Dallas went into the spirit world.

Dallas then began to look extremely confused. "But…but I was only gone for a minute?"

"No, you were gone for over an hour before I woke you up! And when I saw that your skin was going pale and that you felt like ice I knew I had to wake you up! I'm really sorry that I had to cut your time short Dallas but…" Adrien began to try an apologize only for Dallas to cut him off.

"No it's not that, I managed to say everything to my mother that I needed to say, but what she had to say to me was by far even more important than anything right now." Dallas announced. "She said that she knew who Hawkmoth was."

"She does? Well don't keep me in suspense who is he?!" Adrien begged.

"It doesn't matter now, you brought me back before she could tell me. So now we're back to square one." Dallas replied with regret.

That's when Adrien suggested. "Well maybe we can send you back, it shouldn't be too hard you did it once you can do it again."

"It only works once Adrien, after you make contact with the spirit you wish to see you can't see them again until you yourself pass on from this world." Dallas stated the truth.

Upon hearing this Adrien then began to feel regret himself, as he came to realize that his one chance to find out what he needed to know about his greatest enemy had just been taken away, by himself. "This is all my fault…" He started up feeling angry with himself. "I just helped protect Hawkmoth's secret identity and prolonged this fight between us!"

"Hey…don't you do that to yourself. I've been down that road, and trust me when I say this…you never get to the end." Dallas pointed out. "Besides, you said it yourself I was running out of time, by the time she'd told me I might've died before she'd even had the chance to say anything, and it never would've mattered."

Seeing this to be the truth Adrien just sighed knowing he was right. After getting his room cleaned up a little bit Adrien and Dallas then began to try and relax after a very stressful evening anyway they could. But not long after Dallas had returned from his spirit crossing both he and Adrien heard a knock at the door. Upon opening it Dallas was slightly surprised by the fact that all of Marinette's friends were standing there.

"Hey guys don't mind us, we're just here to make preparations for the big event. Oh and by the way Adrien, congratulations on becoming a dad." Alya mused as she lead all the girls inside the safehouse.

As all of the girls began to welcome themselves inside Adrien and Dallas just became confused. "What the heck are you all doing here?" Adrien asked puzzledly.

Dallas was about to ask that as well when he came to realize that this was all his doing. "Ohhhhhhhh…I think I know." He stated plainly.

"Come again?" Adrien asked bluntly.

Dallas then began to answer him feeling a bit sheepish. "IIIII…may have asked Valentina to…round up all of Mari's friends to…throw a surprise baby shower for you guys."

Upon hearing this confession Adrien began to understand why she'd asked solely for Marinette to babysit Yuri for a while, but as for why they'd come to the safehouse, that needed a bit more explaining. "So why did you tell her to send them here?" He asked again with slight confusion.

"Why would I do that?" He asked back. "I didn't want them to come here of all places, no one else is supposed to know about this place! I honestly thought that they would've held it somewhere else but NOPE, that didn't happen clearly."

"Well then you should've made that a little clearer then love." Both boys then turned to see Megan carrying her laptop under her arm. "Oh and by the way Valentina wants you two away from here while we get to work on planning the party so do us a favor and keep Marinette back at Val's place until I text you. She'll be with little Yuri for a while yet because he wants to stay with Marinette a wee bit longer."

"What the…this whole thing was MY idea!" Dallas began to object.

"Yes and it was a lovely one too, but rules are rules and the number one rule for this baby shower is no men allowed. Now be on your way then lads, spit-spot." And with that said Megan then shoved both boys out of the house and shut the door behind them, and also infuriating Dallas in the process.

"Oooooooh I swear to god I'm gonna kill someone tonight!" He growled through gritted teeth as he imagined strangling someone until they stopped breathing. After seeing the newly formed level of rage on his face Adrien then decided not to say anything as well as take a few steps back out of fear that he might take his rage out on him. "Adrien…"

"I didn't say anything!" He cried out of fear.

"I think I need to go on patrol and crack a few heads before I get too upset. Though I think I might go a little too far and try to hang someone from their necks, so I'd appreciate it if you'd join me." Dallas stated as he began to march down the sidewalk.

This was not the kind of thing Adrien was expecting from his blood brother and wasn't sure if he liked the idea of him bashing in someone's scull too much, but he chose to go with him none the less just to make sure that he didn't go too far like he asked. Which was much politer than usual for him anyway. "Uh…y-yeah sure I can do that." He replied as he followed Dallas at a short distance. After finding a place to transform as well as find some unsuspecting criminals in which Dallas could vent his rage onto things started to wind down a bit for the young Lakota. However Dallas didn't use his powers to deal with them, instead he dealt with them the old fashion way and just beat them into a pulp. "So…feel better?"

"It's a start!" Dallas replied through gritted teeth with an unconvincing tone.

"Well at least you didn't kill'em. So…I guess that means your starting to push out of that blood thirsty rage thing huh?" Adrien pointed out with a slightly nervous tone.

"I wouldn't go that far just yet." Dallas added as he walked away from the five thugs that he single handedly beat into submission without even using his miraculous, walking away without so much as a scratch.

It didn't take Adrien long to follow after him as they both made their way to Valentina's place. "So uh…anything else that you wanna try to do to uh…vent a little steam?" He asked hoping that he could help Dallas relax a bit more, and in a way that didn't involve him putting people in the intensive care unit.

"Normally I would go out and steal a car just to take it for a joy ride all around town after kicking the crap out of some assholes like them, but now that I'm trying to get out of that I need a new vice." Dallas stated.

"I can't believe I'm about to suggest this but…wouldn't your peyote extract be useful in this kind of a situation?" Adrien pointed out.

"I'm not at that level of pissed anymore, well to be honest I'm not sure if I was there yet to begin with because you and I both know what I look like when I'm that pissed." He replied.

It was in that moment when Adrien found a way that might help him cool off a bit. "Yeah I do, you turn into a furry with a skinny suit." He said jokingly.

Dallas then turned right back at Adrien and just glared at him. "Do you really wanna go there…gimp cat?"

"Hey I'm not kink shaming, everybody's got their own little thing that turns them on." Adrien continued with playful banter knowing that soon enough Dallas would take the bait. "OH! Maybe you could introduce that to Val the next time you two get a little frisky."

"Adrien, I'm warning you as my blood brother…knock it off…or I might just kill you!" Dallas threatened.

But Adrien just continued. "I mean you guys have probably already done tons of weird stuff in the bed room already, I wouldn't be surprised if you two switched rolls. I'll bet you have though, heck you might've liked being the girl while she shoved a…"

And it was around this point when Dallas just snapped. "OH YEAH WELL AT LEAST WHEN I TRANSFORM INTO MY PERSONA I DON'T LOOK LIKE SOME FREAKY LITTLE GIMP WITH A SERIOUS FETISH FOR LEATHER AND TAKING IT UP THE ASS FROM OTHER GUYS IN A WHORE HOUSE BASEMENT! AND WHEN HE'S ALONE HE SUBSTITUTES WITH HIS OWN WEAPON JUST BECAUSE HE CAN EXTEND IT TO A LENGTH THAT HE CAN'T GET ANYWHERE ELSE BECAUSE IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND SOMEONE WITH A COCK THAT BIG GIMP CAT! Wow, I feel better now!"

"Your welcome." Adrien said with a grin and feeling victorious that he'd succeeded in getting Dallas to relax a bit more without committing a crime or doing drugs.

Meanwhile at Valentina's safehouse, Marinette, Yuri and Doof were all sat on the couch reading a story from Yuri's book of fairy tales. "And the wolf huffed, and puffed, and blew the house down, then he ate the little pig without giving him a chance to get away." Marinette said as she read the book out loud to Yuri as he sat next to her looking board out of his mind, mainly because his mother and his aunt had already read him this story book more times than he could count.

"Boawwwwing…" He said bluntly as he just slumped over Doof's massive head as it rested in his lap. "Mommy and auntie Megan haf wed dis towy to me befowe, can you pwease tewl me a diffwent one?"

"Uh…okay sure, any requests?" Marinette asked as she sat the book down.

Upon hearing her say this his eyes lit up as he already knew what he wanted her to read to him. "I wanna Iktomi towy!"

And that's when Marinette realized her mistake, mainly because she'd never heard any of the stories of the true Iktomi and began to worry about him getting upset. But that's when she remembered that she had the internet to back her up. "Okay, just let me try to find one on line real quick…" After typing in the key words Iktomi and stories she found a few links and clicked on the first one she saw. "Alright here we go. "Iktomi's wife sat alone in her teepee waiting for her husband to return home from his hunt, once he did he came inside with the livers of two buffalo", oh yuck."

"Eeeew wiver's nasty." Yuri added as he agreed with Marinette's take on the story so far.

"Yeah I've gotta agree, hopefully the rest of the story isn't as bad as this." She replied just before she continued on. "He then placed them at her feet and said, "Wife, I need you to cook these for me and my dear friend coyote, do this and you may have whatever is left, I'll be back as soon as dinner is ready." But she knew better than this, she knew that he and coyote would eat everything she'd prepared and she would be left to starve. So she came up with a plan, and proceeded to eat the livers herself with great haste, and fortunately for her she had done so as soon as coyote had arrived, "How-how wife of Iktomi", he said to her, "Your husband told me we would be having a wonderful feast tonight, what are we having?" She then turned to him with a wicked smile while holding a knife and said, "What we always have for dinner when we have a guest, his…" Marinette then paused due to shock and disgust at what she was reading on her phone, she could hardly believe that this was actually apart of this particular tale but sadly for her it was, as she kept reading the same word over and over to herself hoping that she was just reading it wrong, a single word which was far too inappropriate for a child Yuri's age, a word which she just had a feeling that the universe was using right now thanks to her relationship with Dallas as a way to screw with her, the word…testicles.

"What does she say auntie Mawi?" Yuri asked as he shook Marinette to try and get her to continue.

She knew that she couldn't just say what it actually said, otherwise she'd never hear the end of it from his parents, Dallas she wasn't too worried about as he'd probably find it all too hilarious while Valentina would most likely chew her head off because of it. So she quickly thought of something in order to sensor it for him. "EYEBALLS! Uh I mean that's what she says, they were gonna eat his eyeballs, and definitely nothing else. So that's when Coyote ran out of the teepee as fast as his legs could carry him, not long after that Iktomi came back home and saw his friend running away. When he asked his wife why she simply said that he took off with both the livers so that no one else could enjoy them. So Iktomi chased after him and cried out to him…" Oh god why did I have to pick this story. She asked herself mentally just before she continued aloud. "Come back my friend, at least let me have one." Then Coyote called back to him and said "If you can catch me then you can have them both." And that's the end. Thank god."

"Iktomi's wife was weawy naughty, she towd duh tieyote a big fat fib." Yuri giggled feeling much more satisfied with this tale.

To which Marinette aptly replied trying not to linger on the horrible joke that came along around the end. "Yeah she sure was wasn't she?" Then all of a sudden there was a knock at the door, on instinct Doof then stood at the ready and prepared to attack whoever it was. Once Marinette got over to the door she prepared herself for a quick transformation into Ladybug just in case if it was a rival assassin who may have been after Valentina. But after looking through the peak hole she began to relax as she saw two people she knew well, and one of them being the father of her unborn child. She then opened up the door and welcomed them both inside.

After seeing Dallas walk through the door Yuri jumped off the couch and ran straight for his father's open arms and just embraced him like he hadn't seen him in forever. "Hey kid-o, how you been?" Dallas asked as he held his son tight.

"I've been doing good daddy." Yuri replied returning every ounce of affection to his father. "Auntie Mawi jus wed me a tory aboud Iktomi."

"Oh yeah? Which one did she read?" Dallas asked back.

Just before he could say Marinette quickly butted in. "Oh it's just about him and his buddy having dinner is all!" She said almost shouting as she grinned nervously. To which he picked up on rather quickly, feeling curiosity getting the better of him, Dallas handed Yuri off to Adrian and asked him very casually.

"Adrien, be a lamb and take Yuri into the kitchen for a snack or something?"

"Sure, come on buddy let's see what your mom's got to snack on." After they left the room Dallas then turned back to Marinette looking suspicious.

"Okay what did you read to my kid Mari?" He asked rather bluntly as he crossed his arms.

"What? N-Nothing I don't know what you're talking about, I just read him a story about Iktomi and that was it." She replied trying not to sound nervous. But sadly for her Dallas wasn't stupid enough to buy it.

"Alright let's try this again, and this time…hold the bullshit. What…did you read…to my KID?" He asked again sounding a bit frustrated. But instead of answer him she just bit down on her bottom lip feeling even more nervous as he just glared down at her with angry eyes. "Well…I'm waiting for an answer."

"Uhhhhhh…I'd rather not talk about it actually." She replied feeling herself being backed into a corner so to speak.

"And I'd rather not have to deal with you lying right to my face as its caked in a steaming pile of crap with a side of run around, but I guess we're both out of luck." He retorted as he began to tap his foot angrily.

His statement was meant to sound intimidating, but all he managed to do was confuse her completely and utterly. "Uh…what?"

"Oh never mind I'll find out myself." He replied as he snatched her phone out of her pocket without her even noticing until he held it up.

"HEY GIVE ME THAT!" She cried as she reached out to try and take it back only for Dallas to literally keep her at arm's length as he just looked through Marinette's search history, and what he found made his eyes shoot open wide with surprise as he recognized this particular story from his youth.

"YOU READ HIM THIS ONE?!" Dallas cried out feeling both concern that his son may have been exposed to something he was clearly not old enough for as well as shock that Marinette had read it to him.

"I didn't know until it was too late." She replied honestly. "But I did censor it a little bit if that makes you feel better."

To which he replied back to through gritted teeth. "It…doesn't." Then he paused as he realized just how he was behaving. "Ah shit now I'm turning into one of those pansy little die hard Christian dads, oh Christ I'm turning into a Ned Flanders! Please promise me if I start making up rimes that aren't real words that you'll shoot me."

"Oh shut up, and give me back my phone." Marinette snapped as she took her phone back from him, then slapped him across the face. "That's for irritating me and taking my phone." Then she walked away in a huff.

After a while of simply spending time in Valentina's apartment with Yuri, Dallas decided to take over story time just in case if Marinette accidentally stumbled on another story that was a little too much for Yuri. Also Adrien and Marinette sat cuddled on the couch with the former gushing over their unborn child. "Hey there kid-o, it's me daddy, we're all really excited for you to get here." He said as he spoke softly to Marinette's stomach as well as the baby.

"You do know he can't here you yet right, I mean he's probably still just the size of a baby shrimp if not a grape." Dallas spoke up from across the room.

"Okay first of all mind your own business, second you don't know that, and third you don't know if it's gonna be a boy or a girl yet." Adrien fired back feeling slightly irritated.

"Whatever." Dallas replied while rolling his eyes.

"Well I think it's cute." Marinette stated and clearly standing with her lover. "And so does our little bundle of joy."

Dallas just scoffed to himself as he watched the overly mushy display. "Jeez, these two were just meant for each other." He said to himself. But part of him couldn't help but feel green with envy as he'd wished that he could've been with Valentina when she was pregnant with Yuri, he could only imagine how it felt to experience this level of joy. So he vowed that after he and Valentina got married the two of them would have a second child if they could, not only to know what he missed out on with Yuri but also because he wanted at least one more child.

But sadly Adrien and Marinette's tender moment was ruined as he received a call on his cellphone and even more so as he read the caller I.D. on the screen. "It's Lila." He griped.

"Wait she has your number?" Dallas asked bluntly.

"Daddy, who's Wiwa?" Yuri asked curiously.

To which Dallas answered quickly with his own personal opinion. "She's a sociopath and a pathological liar who somehow always get's people to believe everything she tells them even when…" That's when he realized he was talking to a three year old and just dumbed it down a bit. "I mean…she's a crazy person who tells nothing but lies, and she also wants your uncle Adrien to marry her and also hurt auntie Marinette and the baby. Speaking of which, why the heck does she have your phone number?"

"Long story short my father gave it to her quite a while ago when we started working together, he also made me work pretty close with her in hopes that things would get serious. Sadly for her though they never did because I had no interest in her at the time and never would. I honestly don't know why she's calling me though." Adrien stated as he moved his finger to the end call button, mainly because he had no desire to speak with her.

But Dallas was quick to stop him. "Wait, hold on just a second before you reject her, again…nice one Dallas…maybe just listen to what she has to say, then let me scream in her ear hoping that she gets tinnitus." He said being as immature as always.

Adrien just sighed and said. "I don't even know why I'm doing this." Then he answered Lila's phone call and began to greet her as politely as he could while also trying not to tip her off that they knew everything she was doing in the shadows. "Hello Lila, is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh goodness no, I just wanted to call and say hi is all…" She quickly replied. "I also wanted to thank you for agreeing to play at the charity event tomorrow night."

"Well it's my pleasure to help those less fortunate than I am." He said with a neutral tone. "Now if you don't mind I was actually in the middle of something with Marinette and I'd like to get back to it thank you very much."

"Oh of course of course, you certainly may do so with my blessing." Lila stated while trying her best not to sound disgusted at the idea of her rival and her would be lover being intimate. "Oh but before you go there's just one more thing I'd like to let you know. You have a new song added to the cue which I hope you'll be ready to play."

Adrien just sighed then asked. "Fine which song is it?"

"Salut D'Amour by Edward Elgar." She said plainly, upon hearing the song's name Adrien's jaw just hung open with shock, as he knew well enough just how much psychological trauma Dallas would experience from that exact song. "It's an old song but a classic, I believe my mother said it was your friend Chloe who requested it for your foster brother Dallas. I honestly had no idea that Dallas even liked classical music let alone that he and Chloe were close. Well that's all I needed to tell you, I'll see you and Marinette tomorrow. She is coming right? Because I have a little…gift for her that she would just DIE for."

Adrien didn't know who he was more furious with, Chloe for adding Salut D'Amour to the list he'd have to play or Lila for planning his lover's death and telling him directly that she was going to die, either way he was angrier than he'd ever been in a long time. "Thank you for letting me know Lila, and yes…Marinette will be there too…all night in fact…so you'll have plenty of chances to give her your present." He replied as calmly as he could.

Lila just grinned evilly on her side of the phone as she finished with. "Oh that's wonderful, I'm glad she'll be there…because if there's anyone who deserves what I have instore…it's Marinette, and she's going to get everything that's coming to her, chou." After finally saying everything that she either needed or wanted to say she hung up the phone leaving Adrien completely speechless as well as enraged.

Which didn't go unnoticed by either Dallas or Marinette. "Hey blood brother, you okay man?" Dallas asked as he tried to get his attention.

But Adrien didn't say a word, not for almost a minute, and when he finally did it was very visible that he was upset. "That…little…brat!" He growled as he dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands.

Dallas simply assumed that he was referring to Lila and that she'd said something to get on his nerves. So in response he began to say. "Hey I told you to let me have the phone so I could scream in her ear but…"

"I'm not talking about Lila…" He admitted in an angry tone. "It's Chloe."

"The dumb cheerleader? What's that little…" Dallas paused for a moment to quickly cover Yuri's ears as he continued. "B-I-T-C-H doing now? Because whatever it is clearly it was bad enough to get even you riled up."

Adrien finally looked up at Dallas and just came clean with what Lila had just told him. "She's gone too far this time is what she's done, I know she's done a lot of bad things but this time it's just messed up because this time she's trying to use your trauma against you to try and humiliate you at the charity event tomorrow night."

As one might expect from Dallas after hearing this small bit of information he was a bit annoyed at Chloe, but he knew exactly why she'd done this, she was simply trying to get back at him for humiliating her the other day at school. "Figures she can't just let it go, oh well that's life." He replied casually.

"Huh?" Adrien uttered, as what he'd just heard from Dallas's mouth was the very last thing he'd ever expect from him, especially sense he was without a doubt the type of person who would go to war over something like this with who ever would cross him. But for once he was staying calm, which started to peak his interest. "You mean…you're not mad?"

"Oh I'm mad alright, but it's not like it really matters anyway Adrien." Dallas replied casually. "I mean I was gonna have to take this next step eventually so the way I see it she's helping me get there a little sooner than I'd expected. Even if she's only doing it to screw with me."

And with that said both Adrien and Marinette's jaws just…dropped, because what he'd said was much more mature than they'd ever hear him say in their entire lives. Even their kwamis were stunned by what he'd said, his was especially surprised. "Who are you and what have you done with Dallas Jones?" Plagg asked outright as he was beyond convinced that he was not talking to the real Dallas, whom he'd gotten to know fairly well within the past few months.

Dallas took notice of just how shocked they all looked, which he found very annoying and made it very clear as he voiced his own opinion on the matter. "Oh don't give me that look, any of ya. Seriously I cannot stress how much I'm trying to change, now if nobody objects…I'd like to order a pizza."

After a near full twenty-four hours later Marinette, or rather Ladybug, contacted all the members of her team and with the help of Adrien each one of them was able to acquire their own personal invitation to the gala posing as representatives for someone wealthy who might possibly donate money to the charity fund. Also there was agent Menendez providing extra security as well as making herself and her own team of agents ready to make the arrest. Also present among the miraculous holders was Valentina, Megan, Yuri and of course Doof, who was on high alert with so many people around Yuri. The two former were simply there to provide a little back up, while Yuri was simply there to enjoy himself and Doof as always was just keeping a close eye on him. Of course Doof wasn't the only one keeping watch over the little three year old, seeing that he had nothing better to do at the moment Dallas also kept a close watch on his son as he should being his father.

However he would soon have to leave the entire job to Doof as he had come up with a plan to use Chloe's scheme against him on her in a way that she never would've expected. He didn't tell anyone about it just yet however, not even Adrien. Mostly because he was still a bit furious with Chloe for what she'd done, and she was about to find out just how angry he was as she made the mistake of coming up to chat with him while he was taking a quick break from playing the piano for everyone with Marinette while they chatted with Alya and Nino. "Adrikens!" She called out as she walked over to him, he took notice of her for a brief second but then quickly turned away from her scowling. "That last song was just perfect Adrikens you've really outdone yourself this time."

"Wonderful, now go away." He snapped at her with a harsh tone.

Due to this sudden outburst Chloe took a step back as she was just shocked at what he'd said. "Wha…what did you say?" She asked with confusion.

"You heard me." He replied just as harshly as before. "I don't want anything to do with you tonight so just stay away from me."

"What? But…I don't understand." She uttered dumbfoundedly.

"Well then let me be clear with you…" Adrien stated as he began to lay down the law. "I know what you did Chloe, you asked the embassy to add a song to the list I'm supposed to be playing tonight that holds a serious emotional spot in Dallas's heart, a song that causes him a lot of pain and regret, a song that just so happens to cause him to suffer from PTSD which is related to the passing of his mother which happened over three years ago. Honestly Chloe how can you be so cold? Actually you know what, don't answer that because I already know the answer! It's because that's who you are!"

In that instant Chloe decided that she wasn't being treated fairly by Adrien at all and made it very well known to him. "Are you serious?!" She snapped back at him. "He made me look like a fool at school Adrien, TWICE, and if I recall correctly you didn't scold him about it! Oh and need I remind you that his girlfriend shaved my head?!"

"Oh believe me I scolded him for what he did, however the only one who actually humiliated you was yourself because you played right into his little game." Adrien said stating the truth. "But to be honest you kind of deserved what Val did to you."

"And how do you figure that?!" Chloe asked angrily.

"Well for starters you were going to shut down someone's place of business over something a stupid as peanuts! And to be fair you did provoke her when you hit her so what exactly did you expect?" He pointed out plainly.

Chloe was outraged, furious even, but she didn't focus her rage on Adrien. She had a feeling that someone else was to blame for his sudden hostility towards her. "I should've known you'd pull something like this Dupain-Chang!" She snapped at the only person she believed was worthy of blame.

"Oh believe me Chloe while I'd love to take credit for it I had nothing to do with this. This was all because of you and frankly…I'm glad Adrien's showing just how he feels about this." Marinette fired back.

"Don't play innocent you little skank!" Chloe shouted back at her. "I know Adrien better than anyone and I know he'd never turn against me unless someone manipulated him into doing it!"

Marinette just shook her head at Chloe for failing to realize just how narrow her vision truly was, she wanted more than anything to rub this in her face just to get a rise out of her but chose to be the bigger person about it instead. Which to her was the best victory of all. "You know Chloe no matter how well you know someone they can always surprise you with something about themselves that you could never have expected from them. From what I'm seeing, this is Adrien's way of surprising you because he clearly has a limit to how much of your crap he can take before he says he's had enough, and if I'm guessing correctly he's reached that limit."

"Oh just shut up already will you?!" Chloe shouted again. "It's bad enough that I have to see him with you every single day now it seems just wrapped around his arm like you two belong together!"

"That's because he doesn't want someone who acts the way you do, that's why he's with me Chloe because I'm not like you and proud of it too! So whenever you're ready to grow up and become a better person than what you are now let us know!" Marinette stated plainly ending off with everything she felt she had to say.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Chloe shrilled as she made an attempt to slap Marinette as hard as she could right across her face, which was quickly halted as Adrien quickly grabbed her wrist firmly and staring daggers at her.

"Let me be perfectly clear Chloe…" He began again with ice in his voice. "If you ever pull that crap on the woman who's carrying my child again…I'll sue you for everything your worth, thus ending our so called friendship between our families…for good! Though to be honest I'm not even sure if it's even worth keeping intact anyway, honestly I don't even know why I put up with you sometimes!"

After hearing him say this Chloe's brain just stopped working as the words "woman who's carrying my child" just echoed in her head and shocked her to her very core. She was so shaken that she was hardly able to form a sentence in response. "You…you're having a child? With…her?" She asked with a dumbstricken tone.

"Yes we are, and just in case you were wondering NO…we didn't plan for it but to be perfectly honest I'm just fine with this and I couldn't be happier! So if that's a problem for you then that's just fine by me!" Adrien stated as he turned away from Chloe feeling as though he'd said everything he had to say to her. While Chloe decided to find a place to collect herself as her greatest fear had just became a reality.

While Adrien and Marinette had to answer to a very confused and shocked wanna be DJ. "Your pregnant?" Nino asked with disbelief.

"Yes Nino, I'm pregnant. It's been about a month I think but I didn't find out until recently." Marinette replied with a smile on her face as she subconsciously patted her stomach and unborn child. "My folks are really excited for the baby to come too."

"So they already know then, and they were totally cool with it?" Alya asked plainly, to which Marinette answered with a nod. "Well it's good to know that they're not gonna disown you, and again congrates on becoming parents you guys."

Once he'd heard her say the word "again" Nino became very suspicious. "Wait, you mean you already knew? Why the heck didn't you tell me?" He asked twice.

"Because it wasn't my secret to share, plus that right belongs to the parents of said baby so I decided to allow them that right." Alya replied casually.

He didn't question it, in fact he accepted it without argument and also offered his blessing to the two of them. However their moment of celebration would have to be cut short as Adrien's break had finally come to and end and he had to return to playing for the crowd, but upon returning to the piano he was surprised by a sight that he didn't expect to see at all, Dallas Anthony Jones-Clearlake, standing before the crowd, tuning his violin.

"What are you doing?" Adrien asked somewhat confused.

Which Dallas answered with a smile. "Delivering my promise, and also sticking it to Chloe in the process."

(A/N: And that's all for now everybody I hope you didn't find it too boring because I kinda had a hard time writing this one out, and in case you were wondering yes that Iktomi story you read was totally legit, and sense it was so close to my running joke with Dallas and his favorite snack I just had to add it in, and just so you know this story is going to come to an end soon enough because I'm thinking that there will only be about six or seven more chapters left for this fanfic. However I am considering a sequel to this one so this may turn into a series so keep your fingers crossed if you guys really want to see more of Dallas and his lot. Now time for the spoiler, in the next chapter of WOS, Dallas finally makes good on his promise, Lila finally makes her move and Agent Menendez plays her trump card. How will this affect the Miraculous holders? You'll just have to wait until the next chapter.)