Together, We're Miraculous

by ghirahim

[Discontinued] Every few hundred years, there's a new cycle of Miraculous holders and a Guardian to protect them—and, you know, the world. When a Miraculous gets stolen by some clown calling himself Hawkmoth, The Guardian puts a team together to stop him. But first they have to get used to one another and the concept of teamwork.

6. Adrien Agreste

The renovations to the manor were finally complete but if you ask Gabriel, it happened too fast for his liking. According to Nathalie, Adrien's been animatedly talking her ear off about finally attending public school. Had the renovations gone on longer he could continue to delay Adrien living here full time which meant he could push back his enrollment for school.

Unfortunately, if he did that there's no telling what his son would do. Adrien was antsy from the get-go for the past month-and-a-half, letting him go on longer...? Gabriel doesn't even wanna think about it. André said Adrien stopped letting his tutors enter his hotel room at Le Grand Paris. It's only a matter of time before his son snuck out of the hotel and headed to the school on his own. Again. Assuming he hadn't done so more times than the two times André informed him of. Adrien could be quite slippery when he wanted to be; plus, he inherited his mother's stubbornness.

Before Emilie's death, the three of them traveled the world while Emilie did her acting gigs, Adrien did his modeling gigs, and he designed their outfits. With Emilie gone, it was only fitting and incredibly bittersweet the two of them returned to the last place they all called home. Adrien was only a toddler the last time he saw Paris so accommodations had to be made to his room to suit a teenager. But had he known Adrien would hit his rebellious phase he wouldn't've put so much damn effort into putting everything a teenager could ever need into a bedroom.

Nathalie had found the perfect bodyguard for Adrien but Gabriel didn't expect any less. Still, she's been putting in far more work since Emilie's death. He might have to force her to take a vacation before she burns herself out.

Speaking of burning oneself out, Gabriel sighs as he looks at himself in the mirror fingers idly tapping against his shirt. If only he could've found a kwami with more stamina. Nooroo wasn't good to him or anyone weakened or dead and he'll never be able to bring Emilie back to life without at least one other kwami in his possession when he finally gets his hands on the kwamis of creation and destruction. He was tempted more times than he could count to use Duusuu but the book stated using a damaged Miraculous is ill-advised and could cause unforeseen consequences. The only way to fix Duusuu's brooch was to take it to the Guardian but there's no doubt he'd know what it is and wouldn't bother returning it. The book also stated contact with the kwami of destruction is the only way a Miraculous could be damaged.

This is the second time he had to let Nooroo recuperate and quite frankly it's getting tiresome.

Someone created a blog for Ladybug and her associates and aside from annoying the hell out of him because it constantly features his defeats, it offers no useful information about their Miraculouses. The group of Miraculous users can't be any older than twenty, there's no way one of them won't just slip up. Especially since they're letting fans take pictures of them. Even though almost every picture featuring them is grainy. Perhaps that has something to do with kwamis not showing up in photographs?

Gabriel checks his watch, Nathalie told him a half hour ago they were on their way. While he would've liked delaying Adrien going to school a bit longer, he did miss having his son around. It'll hardly be the same without Emilie but there isn't anything he can do about that yet.

He adjusts his tie then heads to the steps to wait for his son.

Less than five minutes later, the front door knob turns and Adrien comes barreling in with rolling carry-on bag. Everything he owned safe for a few articles of clothing was brought ahead of him. Fortunately, before Emilie's death she was shooting a film in Marseille so they weren't too far from Paris and it didn't take that much to move all their stuff here.

Adrien nearly drops his bag as he sees the portrait of Emilie hanging above the staircase. Gabriel has multiple portraits of her in his studies where he'd see her every day all the time; it serves as one hell of a motivator. Nathalie is the one who insisted on having this portait placed here. She figured Adrien would appreciate seeing her every day too.

The smile on Adrien's face lets Gabriel know Nathalie once again made the right call. Adrien's eyes land on him and his smile widens. "Hey dad."

"Hello Adrien." Right. He isn't just doing this for himself. It's for Adrien too. Emilie's the one who put the idea in his head to attend public school, and Gabriel just now realized the fact that Adrien has been so insistent is to honor her.

Adrien looks around the foyer in awe. "This place is huge. Chloé will love it here."

"Wait. I'm sorry? Chloé? Why does her opinion on where we live matter?"

Adrien walks over to the staircase with a sheepish smile. "Because she'll be living here too?"

"Come again?"

"You already know Chloé's coming to Paris because her dad wants her here." Gabriel nods slowly. That's the bullshit André tried to feed him. He just wants her face to appear every bit of the family man he isn't. Why else would he have booked her a flight months after he already became mayor? The press has been relentlessly asking for photos of the perfect family and Gabriel knows for a fact the most recent picture of Chloé André has is the picture of her and Adrien when they were both three years old. "Well, the two of us talked about her needing a change of scenery and a safe space she'll never have living with her parents."

"And you offered that haven to be here?"

"Come on, dad. Where else is she gonna go? She doesn't have anyone else."

Gabriel forces a smile. He adores Chloé – not nearly as much as Emilie did – but that girl seems to be bad luck personified and it merely stems from hitting the shitty, homophobic parent bingo. However, with Chloé here Adrien will be less inclined to disappear alone. At least he'll always have someone looking after him when he inevitably slips out of his bodyguard's line of sight. Gabriel lost track of how many bodyguards quit because they felt this job was unreasonable. "Did you talk to Chloé's parents?"

"You really think they'll disagree?"

Gabriel lolls his head from side to side, "if André needs to keep up appearances it'll be good for him to have his daughter under the same roof."

"It'll also be good for him to know where his daughter is."

"Valid point. I'll talk to them but like you said they probably won't take issue with it."

...

"Oh Gabriel!" Audrey swoons, "that dress is beautiful but did you really need to show me it now? There's a six hour time difference between us."

"Well..." Gabriel puts the sketch down, "I wanted to talk to you about Chloé."

"Then you heard what she did?"

"No? What did she do?"

"She dyed her hair black and went full-on goth!" Gabriel laughs until Audrey thrusts her phone in front of the computer screen. On the phone is a picture of a girl with long black hair wearing an all black pants-suit with a clip-on (at least he hopes it's a clip-on) nose ring and raven shaped earrings.

"Huh. You know, it looks good."

"I know it looks good! That's beside the point!" She growls tossing her phone somewhere off screen. "All the other models have mother-daughter spa days with their daughters I can't join in because of my child's..." She grimaces, "proclivities. I'm terrified of what she'd do around all those beautiful girls."

"So it's okay for you to think of other women as beautiful but when Chloé does it, it's wrong?"

"Of course it's wrong! I'm objective, Gabriel. I can see a beautiful woman and not be attracted to her!"

"I see. Let me ask you this thing: would you be terrified if your son was around beautiful girls his age?"

"Of course not, and at the same time I wouldn't be bringing my son to mother-daughter spa days." She sighs, "why wouldn't I have given birth to a normal child? I don't think that was too much to ask for. Just one genetic non abnormality. I never should've listened to André when he said we should have kids."

"Chloé isn't an abnormality, Audrey."

"The hell she isn't! And her being attracted to women is just one abnormal thing about her." She pinches the bridge of her nose, "but I got off topic. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Adrien suggested Chloé live with us."

"In your fancy newly renovated manor? Sure, if you can put up with her, she's all yours. I'd book her a flight on the next damn red-eye if I didn't need her here."

"What, dare I ask, do you need her there for?"

"Ever since André ran for mayor he had this fool notion of all of us living there." She shakes her head, "when he actually won we had to officially move to be 'the perfect family.'" She rolls her eyes. "I told him there's no way in hell I'm canceling photoshoots to play a housewife. And it made no sense to enroll Chloé into school just to yank her out in less than two months so she's been my assistant."

"You don't tell people she's your daughter?"

Audrey laughs. "Why would I? With her newfound penchant for hair dye she's unrecognizable. No one would even think for a second she's related to me let alone my daughter." Gabriel sighs, "what? This way she's free to flirt and fuck around with whomever she wants as long as she does what I need her to do first. It's a damn good trade in my opinion. You have no idea how many times that little bitch has shamelessly flirted with not only all the women in the hotel staff but every girl that comes through the hotel doors!" Audrey exhales deeply through her nose, "and I've lost count of how many times I caught her making out with another girl out in the fucking open. Who would've thought there were so many people like that here?"

"Flirting is one thing, Audrey, but every girl she's been with has been close to her age right?"

"That is your main concern?"

"That and if she's been smart about who she locks lips with. She's at the age—"

"Lord give me strength." Audrey sighs heavily, "she's had all her shots, don't worry on that front. I wouldn't have her around otherwise. And don't worry about ages either, the oldest girl showed me her ID she was only sixteen and the youngest was thirteen. I should've known there was something off about that girl when she was more interested in having matching wedding dresses than having a wedding itself."

There's a knock on the door. "Hold on, Audrey. Come in, Nathalie."

The door opens and Gabriel turns around in his swivel chair to see Nathalie standing there with her tablet in both hands. "Boss, Chloé has just been accepted into the same school as Adrien."

"Great." Audrey replies with absolutely no enthusiasm.

"I figured you would be thrilled not to have to fill out the paperwork, Mme. Bourgeois."

Audrey sighs again, "I suppose. Did you talk to André about all this?"

"He visited the school quite some time ago but didn't actually register Chloé for the school."

"Typical. What's the name of the school?"

"Collège Françoise Dupont. It's the closest school in the area and one of the best in the country. If nothing else, Adrien will be happy to count a familiar face among his classmates."

Audrey's eyes narrow, "he set this up, didn't he? I know they've been talking on the phone almost every night."

"If you prefer, Mme. Bourgeois, I can recommend the closest all-girls school in the area."

"You will absolutely do no such thing!" Gabriel sees the door open behind Audrey and Chloé comes in the frame and even the low lighting in the room can hide the fact that her hair is bright pink. If it's only 5pm over here it's still the morning over there. As the door shuts, Audrey turns around and screams. "What the fuck did you do to your hair now?!"

Chloé rolls her eyes, "relax, mom, I didn't do anything, it's just a wig." She squints then runs over to the laptop. "Hi, Mr. Agreste!" She waves with both hands, "how's Adrikins?"

"He's fine, just impatiently awaiting your arrival."

Chloé giggles. "I can't wait to see him, I can't wait to see Paris either."

"Nathalie?"

With a nod, she takes out her cellphone. Chloé waves, "hi, Ms. Sancoeur!" Audrey notices the small but sincere smile on the blue-haired woman's face as she returns the wave. If only Chloé used her charm for good, or at least manipulation purposes on someone other than André.

"What did you—Chloé!?" Adrien walks in the room then runs over to the laptop and braces himself against Gabriel's chair. "Your hair's pink!" Chuckling, she takes the wig off and removes the wig cap then runs a hand through her blonde hair with lavender tips. Audrey screams. "Oh. Hi, Mrs. Bourgeois."

"Audrey." Gaping, she turns to Gabriel. "It's been over a year. Why don't we give them time to catch up?" With her mouth still opened, she nods then shakily gets up and gets out of the screen. Nathalie, Gabriel, and Adrien hear a door slam then Audrey shouting behind it.

Gabriel gets up from his chair then motions for Adrien to take his vacated seat then he and Natalie head toward the door. "Chlo, it's so good seeing you."

"You too, Adrikins. You're gonna show me around Paris, right?"

"You know it. I haven't been around all that much myself though. I mean, I only just came to the house a day."

"Wait a minute. I thought you would've gotten there a while ago?"

Adrien shakes his head, "the city? Yeah. I've been here a while. As for the house? It was being renovated. It finished up a couple days ago so I moved in officially yesterday."

"Where were you staying if your house was being fixed up?"

"In 'your room' of your dad's penthouse suite." Chloé shudders and sticks out her tongue in disgust. "The room was okay but not really to your style. Dad said he'll talk to your parents about having you stay with us."

"About that? You sure you want me in your space, Adrikins?"

"What? Are you kidding? Of course I do! I missed the hell out of my best friend. It's been too long since we were even in the same time zone let alone hung out together."

"Your best friend misses the hell out of you too." Adrien grins at her, "but hanging out and living together are two different things."

"Would you prefer the alternative of living with your parents?" Chloé grimaces. "Didn't think so. Besides, it'll be easier for us to head to school together."

"What is it with your obsession of public school anyway? I can speak from personal experience and tell you it's not all that great."

"That's only because you never attended public school with me." Chloé fondly rolls her eyes, "it was my mom. She—She never attended public school and wanted me to...to..." Frowning, he trails off.

"I miss her too." He offers her a sad smile. "That was the last time we saw each other, right? Her funeral?"

"Yup. Hardly the best time to catch up too." Chloé nods.

"Hey. What if you meet someone? Your parents met in Paris, right? Wouldn't it be weird if you met your future spouse here too?"

"Yeah but weirder things have happened."

"That's for sure." Chloé laughs.

Adrien leans back in his seat. "I think it'll do you some good to be in one place. I think it'll do both of us good. And we'll have each other. The worst part about being away from you was me not being able to do anything about you being miserable."

"Now I can be miserable in your proximity. Isn't that great?"

Adrien barks out a laugh, "never change, Chlo."

"Don't plan on it, Adrikins."

Audrey throws open the bathroom door and stomps toward Chloé, "you thought I was exaggerating? Look, André. Is this an exaggeration!?" On the phone screen, André gapes. "Say something! This is your child too!"

"Oh—Oh my." André sops off the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. "Chloé, Angel, is that permanent?"

Chloé raises an eyebrow at him, "it could be." André proceeds to pat himself with the handkerchief a bit harder than before. "Do you two mind, I'm kinda doing something."

"Adrien. I'm begging you. Help my child. Influence her so she can be half as sweet as you."

Adrien smiles sweetly at Audrey, "no promises, Mrs. Bourgeois." Chloé laughs.

...

Cabin Fever – noun – a condition that produces restlessness and irritability caused from being in a confined space.

Adrien's left eye twitched as he stared at the game over screen on the arcade machine. Nathalie registered him for the school and gave him the okay but failed to mention said school was on autumn break until November 5th.

With a groan, he slumps against the machine. He's not sure how much more of this he's supposed to take. It's only Wednesday. And he has no idea when Chloé is set to arrive. Every day he checks the incoming flights because André gave him a vague sometime this week when he asked. He also asked Nathalie because she's omniscient but no one (presumably deliberately) informed her so she told him she'd get back to him with the information.

Sighing, he walks over to his bed and gracelessly flops face first on it.

When his phone rings, he blindly feels around for it and when he finally manages to grab it he slowly turns his head toward the screen barely registering the name and number staring back at him. It takes his brain a few seconds to reboot before he hits the talk button, putting it against his head the way it's angled isn't really working so he just puts the damn thing on speaker and places it on the bed. "Hello?"

"Hey man." Nino's cheerful voice greets on the other end. "Catch you at a bad time?"

Adrien stares at the clock on his desk, beside the picture of his mother, that reads 10:42am. "Nope." If he hadn't experienced his first bout of cabin fever at Le Grand Paris he never would've wound up lost which resulted in him not only meeting Nino and Kagami but finding out the city had a group of animal themed superheroes. After the first trip where he bought Chat Noir at Kagami's suggestion, he went back and bought the remaining three plush dolls faster than he had any right to then he bought all four action figures; even though the cashier repeatedly told him they rarely all appear at once and the main two were Ladybug and Rena Rouge.

Though he wasn't a big toy collector growing up he did read his fair share of comic books and it always seemed like the person in red was the leader. Ladybug was no exception. Her outfit was just a giant ladybug complete with fucking antlers attached to her helmet. By all rights it should be ridiculous to look at but she made it work. In fact none of their outfits should've worked and yet they did. Chat Noir's outfit was the plainest as it was just an all black catsuit – no pun intended. Rena Rouge's outfit was slightly less ridiculous than Ladybug's but just about as ridiculous as you'd think a giant orange and white fox would be. Carapace's outfit was the coolest in Adrien's opinion, the patterns, the various shades of green yet wasn't flashy like the others and the hood was the best part.

There were costumes of them that almost replicated the real ones. After a five minute debate with himself his second time in the shop, Adrien grabbed those up too.

He may have taken pictures of himself in them and saved them on his flashdrive then uploaded them onto his computer.

"I heard some kids were getting together at the park to show a play about Team Miraculous."

"Team Miraculous? Is that what they're calling them?"

"Hawkmoth keeps talking about stealing their Miraculouses and those are what they get their powers from." There's the briefest bit of silence before Nino clears his throat, "I mean, if he keeps talking about them. They must be what gives them their powers, right?"

Adrien saw artists renderings of Hawkmoth's outfit because no one has seen him in person, just the purple butterfly mask hovering over his victim so people just based his outfit on that. It was the one action figure Adrien had no problem passing up. "Well you'd know better than me."

Nino laughs, somewhat awkwardly. "I don't know man, secret identities and all that. A-Anyway, you wanna see it with me?"

"Sure!" He tries and probably fails to sound too eager. But the chance to hang out with Nino and leave the house? It's too good to pass up. "What time is it?"

"Noon I think?"

...

Gabriel's in his second study when he sees Adrien walking down the stairs. Unlike his main study, this one has a clear view of the main staircase.

Before she left, Nathalie told him she was looking into the Bourgeois' flight information for Adrien who had been in his room since yesterday afternoon. The room had everything safe for a refrigerator so Gabriel expected him to make an appearance before this afternoon.

"Adrien."

Upon hearing his name called, Adrien looks around then when he spots the opened door to the study he walks inside and looks around. "Yes?"

"Going somewhere?"

"Yeah. My friend Nino called. There's a Team Miraculous play in the park."

Right. He heard about this Nino person but haven't met him. Considering he helped Adrien get home, Gabriel can't find fault in him – or he wouldn't if the boy hadn't introduced his son to "Team Miraculous." Were they seriously calling themselves that? All they needed were "heroic poses."

"I see." He adjusts his tie, "do you plan on heading out alone?"

"To meet Nino? Yeah. It's just in the park I don't need a ride."

Chloé can't get here fast enough. "Okay."

"Dad, come on! I—wait!" Adrien does a double take. "Y-You said okay?"

Gabriel nods. "Go. To the park. Then come back when the play is over."

"What if we're getting something to eat afterward?"

Gabriel hums. Valid question. Emilie would be proud. "Just inform me? I need to know you're safe."

Adrien gives him a thumbs up. "I'll text you when I get to the park and if anything comes up before I get back."

"Thank you."

"Anytime." As if being summoned, his bodyguard emerges in the doorway and Adrien side steps him. "Do you wanna see the Team Miraculous play too?" With a nod, the man turns around and follows Adrien out the door. Unlike his previous bodyguards, Adrien actually seemed to like this one. Not even Nathalie could've predicted this outcome but it often meant Adrien didn't treat him like a bodyguard, more like a friend. Oh well. At least Adrien was being looked after.

Pushing his chair back, Gabriel rises from his seat and heads to his first study. He locks the door and takes the brooch out of his pocket and puts it on his shirt and puts his tie over it. Nooroo slowly spins into existence and looks around. "Oh." He bows, "g-greetings, Master."

"Nooroo, I need an akuma to watch over my son." Nooroo lifts his head to stare quizzically at him. "Is that outside your power of transmission?"

"N-No. It's just an odd request." He clears his throat, "Master."

"There are going to be lots more odd requests when it comes to my son. He's the only thing I have left in this world until I can revive Emilie. I would do anything to assure his safety." If he was allowed a second wish, it would be that. Maybe he can word his wish in a way that revives Emilie and keeps both her and Adrien safe from everything.

Gabriel walks over to the window and opens it in time for a butterfly to fly inside. Nooroo's hands start glowing and he flies over to the butterfly and touches it, it then turns purple and stops flapping its wings. "Follow Adrien Agreste but don't make your presence known." Gabriel commands. The butterfly flies out the window and Gabriel shuts the window behind it. "Now. Stay here. I need to work on several designs and my deadline is tomorrow. Inform me the moment something is amiss with my son." Nooroo nods and Gabriel unlocks the door and leaves, closing it behind him.

Nooroo sighs heavily then flies over to the window and leans against it. Freedom is so near yet so far. The only way he'd truly be free is if Gabriel severs his ties or dies. His eyes land on the biggest picture of Emilie Agreste in the room. He knows Gabriel keeps the book in there. If only he can let his son know or the bodyguard. There's also the assistant but he's certain she knows what Gabriel's doing and supports it.

Given the opportunity, Nooroo knows many people would jump at the chance to bring a dead loved one back to life but using other people's pain to bring yourself closer to it no longer makes it a noble cause, even if it's solely for his son's benefit. Which Nooroo doubts. Adrien's stuck in this place, same as him. Only he's been stuck with Gabriel far longer and will continue to be stuck with him long after Nooroo is no longer useful to him. There has to be a way to communicate with him. Ah. An akuma! This might be his only chance to get a wing out the door. Gabriel isn't watching his every move. Taking a deep breath, he communicates with his akuma.

...

Nino blinks up at the large man standing beside Adrien. "Uh, hi?" The man waves at him.

"This is The Gorilla." Nino's eyes flick down to Adrien. "He insisted on me calling him that." The man nods and Nino nods in response, because what else can you do when standing in front of a man who could crumble your entire body like you do to a piece of paper you no longer need? Adrien claps his hands together, "anyway, let's find some seats!" The man—The Gorilla—pleasantly follows behind Adrien and Nino is just in awe as he follows behind The Gorilla.

There are seats lined up in the park and Nino realizes there's no way that man is fitting in one of them. The Gorilla taps Adrien on the shoulder and jerks his head toward the tree. "You think you'd be more comfortable there?" A nod. "Okay. We'll head there too." Nino wordlessly follows along because what could he say to that?

There are some kids who are heading toward the tree too, they take one look at The Gorilla and make an immediate about face. More space for them then. The Gorilla grunts and next thing Nino knows he's sitting on a tree branch with Adrien in a branch higher than him. "W-What just happened?"

"You didn't hear me asking you if this was okay? We can see the play much clearer from up here."

"I guess I zoned out." He looks down at The Gorilla looking up at him before the man nods then looks ahead.

"It's okay." Adrien sprawls out on the branch.

"You aren't worried you'll fall?"

"Nah. I've been climbing trees since I was a toddler."

"Nino?" They look down at the girl with the blue hair in twin tails staring befuddled at them. The Gorilla turns to her and the girl squeaks and her purse rattles at the motion even though the rest of her body doesn't move.

"It's okay, dude, she's a friend."

The Gorilla nods then offers the girl a shoulder. When Nino and Adrien nod at her she nods at him, then he puts the girl gently on his shoulder and she climbs on the branch beside Nino. "This won't break, will it?"

"Nah. It's fine. Trees are more durable than we give them credit for."

"Right." When she looks up at him, Adrien sees the spark of recognition in her eyes. Maybe if his face wasn't plastered on billboard all throughout the city or if he donned a disguise or took a page of out Chloé's book and picked up a wig he wouldn't be as nervous as he is now. Thankfully, the girl doesn't say or do anything to give him away and leans up to extend a hand. "I'm Marinette."

Introducing himself is pointless but he does so anyway. "Adrien."

"Didn't think you'd make it."

Marinette gives Nino a pointed look Adrien almost misses. "Are you a fan of Team Miraculous too?"

"Team Miracul—oh. That's a real thing now?"

"You didn't see the blog Rose made? It's a real thing." Marinette pinches the bridge of her nose "I heard Alya set it up for her but didn't wanna run the blog herself."

"Alya? That's the girl you—"

"Anyway!" Nino interrupts shooting Adrien a glare, "glad you made it."

"Yeah. Should be fun." She looks up at him and Adrien can't help smiling, then she smiles back at him. His mother used to tell him he inherited her charm. It helped with his modeling career; he just hopes it'll help him make more friends. "What school do you go to, Adrien?"

"I'm supposed to be heading to Collège Françoise Dupont when the school gets out of autumn break."

"Hey, man, you didn't tell me that. We both go to that school. Who's your homeroom teacher? Ours is Mlle. Bustier."

"I, uh, don't know who my homeroom teacher is. I guess I'll find out when I get there?"

"Well, either way. I'm glad you're here. Most of the kids already know each other because we've been around each other for years. If you have a few familiar faces your first few days won't be so scary."

"Thanks, Marinette."

"Don't mention it."

Adrien takes out his phone to text his dad. He still can't believe he actually let him go. As a kid dressed like a giant badger addresses the forming crowd a purple butterfly lands on Adrien's hand.

Marinette looks up and screams, "akuma!" Nino looks up and hell the entire park looks up at the tree then next thing Adrien knows the butterfly disintegrates into his hand and full-blown panic ensues. People on the ground are running around screaming. Nino's dangling from the branch and The Gorilla is trying to reach him. Meanwhile, Marinette looks bewildered at him, or specifically his hand. "N-Nothing's happening—"

Her eyes widen and Adrien can feel something cold swirling around in his body, numbing it. "Adrien Agreste." A voice calls out to him. "I am Nooroo, and we have much to discuss." His body moves of its own accord and he crouches on the branch, he can hear Marinette yelling as he leaps from the tree onto another and another until he's jumping on rooftops.

Marinette gapes as Adrien disappears from view. Regaining her composure, she looks around for Nino who is now safely on the ground. The, uh, rather large man offers her a hand and helps her out of the tree. "T-Thank you."

He pats Nino on the shoulder, "uh—? Y-You want us to find him?"

He shakes his head. "I think he wants us to be careful." A nod. "Don't worry. We will. We're gonna find shelter. You should find somewhere safe to, uh, hide too. There's a good chance something is coming." Another nod. Marinette nods to him then grabs Nino by the forearm as they run out of the park.

"Oh man. Tell me I didn't see what I think I saw when I was hanging from that branch."

"Hawkmoth made away with Adrien but that akumatization was different from any other I've ever witnessed."

"It's only been about two days, right? Maybe Nooroo's not up to full strength yet." Marinette frowns, "what about Alya? Should we tell her what happened?"

"Yeah. She has Tikki. She was gonna swing by the park to surprise everyone after you told us about the play."

Trixx pokes their head out of the purse, "meanwhile I'm stuck in purse duty." They sigh, "Tikki better not be getting too cozy in my relaxation spot."

"Alya's hair isn't a relaxation spot, dude."

Trixx scoffs, "says you." They fly on Marinette's head, "it's nice but not nearly big enough."

Marinette brings them to an empty alleyway. "Let's pounce, Trixx."

Nino takes off his hat and Wayzz yawns and stretches. "What happened?" He asks sleepily.

"An akuma made off with Nino's friend Adrien. We have to find him." Marinette replies, decked out as Rena Rouge.

Wayzz turns to Nino wide eyed. "Shell on, little buddy."

...

"Oh dear." Nooroo turns around seeing Duusuu playing with her cracked brooch, "that wasn't what you expected at all, was it?"

"Anyone would scream seeing an akuma so close." Nooroo sighs, "imagine what I'm being reduced to in this cycle. My akumas used to be something people revered."

"What are you going to do to the boy? His father won't be thrilled about this."

"You let me worry about—" Nooroo cringes at the staticy buzzing coming from his mouth. If only they were able to speak the name of their partner out loud to anyone. Well, not like Duusuu cares about what's happening. That crack's messing with her head and personality. Nooroo internally cringes at the long gash extending from her forehead to across her left eye all the way down above her mouth. If a Ladybug is around, then there must be a Guardian who can fix Duusuu; or maybe even Ladybug herself can fix Duusuu. It's been so long he's more than a little hazy on the details.

Duusuu phases into the wall behind the picture of Emilie and phases back out with the book in her hands. "He'll know it's gone."

"Luckily I see everything my akumas see. I know there is a way to have the book without physically having it."

Duusuu tilts her head at him, "how?"

"Follow me up to the roof and you'll see."

They fly up to the roof in time to see Adrien land on the roof. "He's adorable. Not like his father at all." Duusuu giggles. "You are just full of surprises, Nooroo dear."

Adrien looks around. Unlike the people his master took to using, Nooroo had no interest in using Adrien's emotions against him. Hell, he wasn't even gonna akumatize him if that girl hadn't screamed. He honestly can't remember the last time someone was akumatized but didn't transform into something. "How'd I get up here?" He looks down at Duusuu and Nooroo, "and what are you?"

"I'll explain everything but I'll let you know there are going to be little lapses in your memory." Duusuu puts the book in Adrien's hands, "you need to copy every page of this. It'll be of great help to Team Miraculous."

Adrien takes out his cellphone staring at the unsent text to his father, and minimizes the window to open the camera app. "You'd better hurry~" Duusuu sing-songs, "I no longer sense the other kwamis~"

"Which means they're on their way."

"Shall I distract them?"

"No. It's too risky." Duusuu pouts at him. With a sigh, Nooroo turns to Adrien. "I'm Nooroo and this is Duusuu. We're kwamis—"

"Magical creatures with magical powers." Duusuu interrupts waving her hands around. "There are four other kwamis active in this cycle but as you can see from the book there are dozens more."

"If this book will help Team Miraculous then why don't they have it?"

Duusuu flies up to Adrien's face, "because Hawkmoth got it first. I know it's gonna be tempting but you can't tell anyone about where you got the book from. There will be trouble for us – especially Nooroo – if you did." Adrien nods.

"I won't tell a soul. But just answer me this? Team Miraculous and Hawkmoth all have kwamis of their own, right?" They nod, "and somewhere in the city is a 'Guardian' with dozens more inactive kwamis? And you need to gather as many active kwamis as you can to make your greatest wish come true? But it'll more than likely use up a kwamis powers or just flat out kill them?"

"You read all that in under a minute? Humans are much more fascinating in this cycle!" Duusuu pats him on the head, "such a precious angel. You can help out in defeating Hawkmoth in your own way."

"How can I do that?"

"Duusuu!"

"What? He's not my partner. Hawkmoth is your father, dear." Adrien blinks at her. "In case you hadn't realized, we're on the roof of your house." Adrien looks around and gapes in recognition. "We took the book from your father's study behind the largest portrait of your mother."

"W-Why would my dad do this?"

"Because his greatest desire is to bring your mother back to life."

"Y-You can do that?"

The pure hope in his voice breaks Nooroo's heart. They both shrug, "no one has ever used the wish – not in all the cycles I've been alive and active. There's always been a 'Team Miraculous' or something akin to them to prevent something like that. But every cycle there are some of us turned away from our comrades by selfish people—" Nooroo does a double take and frantically waves his arms, "not that I'm saying your dad is selfish or anything!"

"No. He is. So selfish. He could be hurting you—and all those people he akumatized. They've been in pain until Team Miraculous freed the akuma from them. How could he think mom would want this?"

Duusuu pats him on the face. "Love has always been a selfish motivator. It's how I got cracked and buried in discount bargain bins for countless cycles until your dad found me. But even he locked me up until he could find a more suitable partner."

"Is there any way you can be fixed?"

"Yes but it's not likely. You'd either get this cycle's Ladybug or this cycle's Guardian to fix me. However, even I am not certain how. I have only ever witnessed one other kwami's Miraculous being cracked and it was nowhere near as bad as mine."

"But how did you even get cracked? The book said Miraculouses are almost indestructible."

"Try going several rounds against Plagg and you'll rethink that statement. Only the kwami of destruction has the ability to, well, almost destroy a Miraculous. Even holding himself back, Plagg can be quite dangerous."

Nooroo sighs, "not that Plagg knows much about holding himself back."

Duusuu taps her chin, "though that has me wondering which other kwamis besides Tikki and Plagg are active."

"I think I saw Trixx but I could be mistaken."

"Trixx!" Duusuu gasps, "that's who was cracked."

"Right." Nooroo chuckles, "I bet it's difficult having Trixx and Plagg working together. Oh and I do know I've seen a turtle so that means Wayzz. And I briefly felt some of our other friends but I'm not sure who."

Duusuu hums, "this certainly is troublesome."

"I copied all the pages onto my phone." Duusuu nods at him then grabs the book and flies through the roof. "Whoa." He looks at Nooroo, "now what?"

"Now what indeed. I'm going to try and return you to the park and release the akuma within you. You're gonna have to fight off the negative emotions you're feeling though."

Adrien takes a deep breath, "it's kinda hard knowing your dad is responsible for—"

"I know but I'll never get the akuma out of you if you don't and you'll transform into a personification of your anger."

"Okay, I'll try."

...

Roger sighs glancing at his daughter in the rear-view mirror as the car comes to a stop at the stop light, "I know it's a lot to ask on short notice but as this is the mayor's daughter coming to town, I was hoping you could befriend her?"

Sabrina looks up from her phone at her father, "yeah, okay." Then she looks back at her phone.

"This'll be good for you too. I'm not all that fond of that Lila girl you hang around."

"What if the new girl is like her father?" Roger grimaces but thankfully the light changes. Sabrina looks out the window seeing a boy jumping on the rooftops. She scrambles to open the camera app and record what she can before he disappears from sight. Furrowing her eyebrows, she replays the short video and hums. A member of Team Miraculous training? She zooms in to get a better look at the boy and gasps. His side profile looks like the supermodel Adrien Agreste. His pictures appeared all over Paris practically overnight several weeks ago. When the first billboard went up Lila screamed. Then there was the sign by the park that was set up in a way where you could take pictures with him. Lila and a couple of other girls from their school put the pictures they took with "Adrien" as their wallpapers

It's gonna be such a disaster when school gets back in session and he's a student there.

The car stops and the door opens and Juleka greets and thanks Roger then takes the seat next to Sabrina, "hey, what are you—"

As the car starts up again, Sabrina practically shoves her phone in Juleka's face. "Whoa. Where—" She looks at Roger who isn't paying them any mind, "where did you take that?" She whispers.

"In here. I saw it just outside the car."

"Maybe he's heading to the park. Remember that Team Miraculous play is going on?"

"A supermodel and a superhero? He's the perfect package."

"We have to make a stop before heading to the park."

The next time the car stops it's at the post office, there's a blue-haired woman in a suit holding a manila envelope. "Officer Raincomprix." She greets holding out the envelope toward him. That's the same serious looking business lady that was getting a tour of the school a while back. As they're still in the car, they watch the exchange. "This contains the Bourgeois' flight information." Roger nods accepting the envelope. "They'll be arriving on the nineteenth and you are to take them straight to Le Grand Paris." Before Roger can open his mouth the woman holds up a hand, "in a limousine with warming seats if you can."

"I, uh, I'll try."

Roger drops them both off at the park, grumbling about the mayor as he drives off. There's a stage set up but no one is on it. "Uh, what's going on?" Sabrina asks.

A girl dressed like a tree turns to them. "You didn't hear? Some kid got akumatized before the show could begin. Team Miraculous hasn't found him yet so we're postponing the play until they do." Sabrina and Juleka exchange a glance, "it was weird though. There were no negative vibes. Everyone was getting along well."

"Did anyone get a good look at who got akumatized?" Sabrina asks.

"No. The kid was in a tree and a girl screamed there was an akuma then the park broke out in panic. I saw the girl who yelled though. Had blue eyes and blue hair in twin tails."

Juleka elbows Sabrina, "might be Marinette." Sabrina nods.

"What about Marinette?" Juleka and Sabrina turn to Kagami.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here." Juleka says.

"I was passing through when I saw you two."

"Wait. Did you not get my text about the Team Miraculous play?" Kagami tilts her head to the left, "I... guess not I'm so sorry. I don't know why I didn't tell you—"

Kagami clutches Sabrina's hands, "calm down. It's alright." Blushing, Sabrina nods.

"There was an akuma apparently." Juleka says, "Marinette saw the akuma and alerted the park."

"She was so brave." The girl in the tree costume swoons.

"We just got here not even five minutes ago. And just an F.Y.I.? I overheard some serious looking lady talking to my dad about the mayor's daughter. She might be joining us once school is back."

"You sound way too excited for that."

"I can't help it. It's been two months since we got Alya, I'm more than ready for some new blood. Plus, Dad wants me to be friends with her. At the very least, I can get into some fashion shows being friends with The Queen of Fashion's daughter." She squeals.

"I heard nothing but bad shit about Audrey Bourgeois, Sabrina."

"Who hasn't? The entire fashion industry knows she's a huge bitch, that's why she's so famous." Juleka glances at Kagami and shrugs, "if I can stay on her good side—?"

"Assuming she has one?" Kagami prompts.

"Yes, assuming she has one."

"From all the articles and whatnot on her the only way that'll happen is if you're a fashion designer, which you are not—"

"Or I can be a reliable lackey. I get drinks and stuff for Lila all the time and she's nowhere near as famous as Audrey!"

Juleka shakes her head. "Girl, you need to raise the bar for yourself."

...

It takes every ounce of willpower Adrien possesses to overcome his anger at his father and he feels the akuma leaving his body rather than sees it.

When he opens his eyes he sees Ladybug crouching in front of him. "L-Ladybug!?"

Ladybug wordlessly purifies the akuma before his very eyes before standing up straight. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah." As soon as he says that he sways a little and Ladybug steadies him. "Thanks."

Carapace, Rena Rouge, and Chat Noir all drop down behind Ladybug and Adrien gasps. All of Team Miraculous are standing in front of him and his goddamn father is fucking Hawkmoth. "The akuma's gone." Ladybug says turning her head to them slightly. "I purified it but it felt different than usual."

"Different?" The three of them ask. Ladybug nods.

They all turn to Adrien and he gulps.