Adrien returned to school after that, and Marinette stayed home. She spent her time designing, watching movies, helping in the bakery, anything to keep her mind occupied. It was unfair that she had to stifle her emotions, but she refused to be a pawn for Hawkmoth.

Her phone laid still all day. No word from Adrien, no apologies or further harassment from anyone else. And that was totally fine with her.

It was now evening, on the day where Ladybug made a new enemy.

—

After school, and after fencing, which was an absolute mess, Adrien returned home to his cage.

Something that Nino had mentioned at lunch time had really stuck with Adrien, and he decided to act on it before things were too late.

"Nathalie? Can I talk to my dad? It's...it's kind of urgent."

She considered for moment. "I'll see if he's free."

God, how awful. Having to make an appointment with his own father. But such was the life of the son of a famous designer. "Thank you."

Nathalie walked into the office and closed the door behind her.

Adrien dropped his bag on the floor, and then collapsed in a chair with a huff.

"What a day," said Plagg, coming out to sit on his leg.

"Yeah, no kidding."

"I told you that Lila girl was trouble, but you decided to be all high and mighty."

"Again, I didn't know that she was threatening Marinette, or else I would have done something else."

"I guess I can't give you a hard time for being stupid."

"Ignorant," Adrien corrected, "I was ignorant of the problem."

"Stupid, ignorant. The thing is that pigtails needed your support, and as a hero, you should have done more."

"Well, what was I supposed to do?! If I called her out, she'd get hurt and get akumatized. If I let her lie, she gets caught and gets akumatized, or other people feel betrayed and get akumatized! I'm between a rock and a hard place here!"

Plagg smirked, "one of those options had a higher Akuma probability than the other."

Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Akuma-wise, I think you made out well this time. Pig tails is strong. And checking in and making up with her was good move."

"Thanks...it just felt like the right thing to do. It was kinda of my fault anyways."

"By doing what? Being cute?!"

Adrien chuckled. "I mean, there had to be a reason that Lila picked me as Marinette's victim."

"Marinette had a crush on you. The only person who is at fault here is Liar."

"Lila."

"See! Even her name gives her away!"

"Plagg..."

"I'm just sore that you got dragged into petty high school drama. Same with pig tails, she seems like a nice girl."

"She is a nice girl!" Adrien confirmed.

Plagg snickered to himself, then continued. "But because you both saw through her, you're being dragged through the mud."

Adrien huffed. "It's stupid. It's totally unfair."

"I agree. Chat Noir should pay her a visit and hold her over the edge of building by the ankle."

Adrien laughed. "I'm not doing that. I bet Hawkmoth would love it though."

"Eh, probably." The Kwami gave him a proud little pat on the cheek. "Just promising pig tails that you'd be there for her was a good move. You could have ignored it, to avoid getting involved."

"No way, there's no way I could have done that."

Plagg smiled with his fangs. "And that's why Master Fu picked you."

"Oh you."

The door to Gabriel's office clicked, and Plagg swooped away to his hiding place.

Adrien looked in horror as Lila walked out of Gabriel's office.

"Thank you again for seeing me on such short notice, Mr. Agreste." She said, her voice laced with faked concern.

"Yes, Miss Rossi. I'm glad you decided to come right to me with this. It greatly concerns me. I'll be talking to the police to get that camera confiscated, and I'll be having a word with my lawyer about a restraining order."

"I'm happy to hear that."

"You're welcome here anytime. My secretary will show you out." Then he glanced to Adrien. "Nathalie says you wanted a word with me?"

Adrien didn't respond immediately, since he was too busy glaring at Lila. His fists clenched at his sides, as he trembled.

She just sent him an innocent wave and turned to leave.

"Adrien?"

He stood and walked briskly into the office, standing rigidly.

"You seem uncomfortable, does this have anything to do with those pictures from Miss Dupain-Cheng? Rest assured, Miss Rossi just informed me of the matter and I'm about to take care of it."

"Lila is a compulsive liar." Adrien spat, pressing his index finger down on his desk for emphasis.

"Excuse me?"

"Marinette admitted that she has a crush on me, but she insisted that she has never taken a photo of me, ever, without my consent. Furthermore, Lila has been threatening her for the last two years."

Gabriel sat in his chair and crossed his arms. "You're saying no photographs were ever taken?"

"None! Marinette let me look through her phone. The only photos she had of me were photos from shoots or ones of us with our friends."

"And you believe her?"

"Absolutely. Marinette is honest, kind, and good. You know that! She made that derby hat that Chloe Bourgeois copied and tried to play it off as her own."

"Oh yes, I remember that."

Adrien began to pace as he ranted, "Marinette is the class president. She's always bent backwards to help others, including me. But when Lila started lying to everyone, Marinette called her out for it, and Lila in turn threatened her. Marinette kept being the amazing person that she is, and I guess Lila finally had enough and pulled this...this stunt! Lila has turned everyone against her except for me."

"So you're the only one that believes Marinette?"

"Only because no one else knows that Lila is a liar! She claimed to know Ladybug! But Ladybug appeared one day and shut that down."

Gabriel met his eyes. "You've met Ladybug?"

"She's saved me from some Akuma, so yes."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Be that as it may, I can't allow you to be involved in such childish drama. If there's even a chance that Miss Dupain-Cheng took any photos, I have to pursue legal action."

Adrien crossed his arms. "No."

This surprised Gabriel, as he raised his brows. "No?"

"No. Marinette is not a threat to me. However, Lila is."

"Oh really?"

"Lila has insisted that I will 'belong' to her one day. She doesn't take my feelings into consideration, and someone who compulsively lies is not the kind of person I should be professionally associating with."

"I see—"

"Marinette, on the other hand, is interested in the fashion industry and has been recognized by you, Jagged Stone, and Audrey Bourgeois! And even though her parents aren't in fashion, they are still well known business owners with a good reputation and creditability!"

"I didn't say—"

"And furthermore!" Adrien cut him off. "We have never pursued any legal action action people who have done far worse!"

"Like who?"

"Like that model that groped my butt on the runway? Or that fangirl that tackled me on the street and pulled out a chunk of my hair? The rabid fan girls that send me their unmentionables in the mail? Or Chloe Bourgeois in general? All of those incidences, I told you that I was uncomfortable and wanted you to take action. Instead, you told me that was the life of a celebrity, and I had to deal with it."

"I never said—"

"But the one time there's a rumor about a very good friend of mine, you want to pull out all the stops! And you're not taking my feelings into consideration!"

"Adrien—"

"Marinette is one of my best friends, dad! It's like you purposely want me to be miserable!"

"Are you quite done?" Gabriel bit.

Adrien snapped his jaw shut, and stood silently.

Gabriel exhaled loudly. "You've made your point quite clear. I will withhold any legal action for now, but once there is undeniable prove that she did take explicit photos, I will be getting a restraining order."

"Thank you. As long as this undeniable proof isn't just Lila's words again."

"It would have to hold up in a court of law. If Miss Rossi gets up to testify, and the court fines that she is lying, she can be charged with perjury. That's not something I want to deal with."

"Oh."

Gabriel sighed again, rubbing his forehead. "Have you had any contact with Miss Dupain-Cheng since this came out?"

"Yeah, I visited her during lunch."

"Alone?"

"My bodyguard stayed in the living room."

"Nothing happened?"

"No. She was crying, we talked. That's about it."

"Alright." He tapped his fingers on the surface of his desk. "You…you seem to have some warm regards towards Miss Dupain-Cheng."

"She is a very good friend of mine."

"Just a friend?"

Adrien blushed. "Yeah…just a friend."

Gabriel hid a twitch of a smile, "of course. Well, you know my rules for dating. You're sixteen now, so you may pursue whomever you wish. I would just like to meet them first, and approve of them."

"uh, yeah, but—"

"And you must be prepared for your fans. In an age with social media, people will make assumptions and become irrational. You're significant other must be prepared to ignore the criticism that happens from dating a celebrity, you understand."

"Yes, I do. But why are you bringing this up now?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Girls are fighting over you. Eventually, you'll pick one. And gauging your protectiveness of Miss Dupain-Cheng, it's not hard to guess."

"Wait. First you were accusing her of stalking, now you're accusing me of having a crush on her?"

"Miss Rossi was the one to accuse her of stalking. I'm only acting as a concerned father. You're a teenager, about the same age I was when I started dating. I'm not an idiot."

"I didn't mean to insinuate that you were. I just…I don't feel that way about Marinette."

"If that's what you say, then that's what I'll believe." He turned toward his computer and started to type something, while Adrien just stood there awkwardly. "Don't you have homework to do?"

Ah, the abrupt dismissal. "I—yes, uh…thanks."

"Mmhmm." Gabriel replied without looking up.

Adrien sighed and left the room, closing the door on the way out.

Gabriel waited a few minutes, then went to the painting of his wife.

—

A few moments later, Hawkmoth stood in his lair, his eyes gazing out the window into the fresh fall evening. Paris was a large city of course, and there were many hearts in pain. They echoed and ebbed together in a chorus of agony, dropping out once the emotion was spent, only to be replaced with another.

He stood waiting, focusing on a pinprick of emotion. A girl in distress and anguish, who lived not too far away.

There.

A slow burn, one that had been rolling for hours. A controlled, focused burn. These were the most dangerous akuma. The ones that felt injustice and stewed in it for a long time. The white hot flashes were sufficient and numerous, but those that burned with wrath were powerful.

But he didn't call for an akuma.

He imagined a young kid, a designer with hope on the horizon, though she was drowning in the drama bestowed upon her as a high schooler.

It's like you purposely want me to be miserable!

Gabriel clenched his fist. How dare he! How dare his son question his decisions! Didn't he know it was for the best? Didn't he know he was doing this for him!?

No. He didn't. Because if Adrien knew who he was, he'd run. He'd scratch and claw and scream and beg to be let go.

And if he found out he had akumatized his crush, he'd never speak to him again.

"Dark Wings Fall."

Gabriel Agreste remained in the big empty room, surrounded by his little butterflies.

"Master?" Asked sad little Nooroo.

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Am I…am I forgetting her? Am I giving up?"

The little kwami didn't say anything, but floated up to meet his eyes. "You've been passing on the ones who are grieving. You have no problems akumatizing those who are selfishly angry. You…I think you're healing yourself, by not hurting others."

Gabriel didn't answer, but looked back outside.

"I think…it's a little nicer that way."