The humidity hung thick in the air, and the ever growing grey clouds indicated the threat of an impending storm approaching. Adrien paced back and forth across his room. He was originally supposed to have had the meeting with his father at 9am, but then he had an urgent call so it was bumped to 10, then word came he had a scheduled conference call with the investors, so Adrien would just have to wait until that was over. Of course, his father would always put the business before his own son. Why would he have expected anything to be different? It was now after 1pm and he was still waiting. He had been texting with Marinette back and forth to pass the time and calm his nerves. He really wanted to hear her voice, but he didn't want to worry her. He would actually have prefered to be in her arms, but he wanted this day to be behind them first.
"You're going to burn a hole through the floor." Plagg observed. Adrien stopped his pacing, folding his arms over the back of his computer chair, and dropping his head on them.
"Do you wonder why Ladybug wanted to warn us?" He asked. Plagg bit into his Camembert.
Adrien's mind went over and over the night before, when his future self had come to see him. The meeting was going to go bad. Well, he figured as much. He knew his father would be angry at him leaving the company, angry he was moving out and probably angry at him getting engaged. Truely, he was expecting that already, so why the visit? What else could possibly go so wrong that Ladybug felt he needed a warning?
"I don't know kid, maybe because you both have more to lose now." Adrien looked from his Kwami to the picture he took out of his wallet. Marinette's face shone as she smiled at the camera. Plagg was right, in the future they did have a lot more to lose because it wasn't just about them anymore. He had to cling onto that future and the child they would have. No matter what the meeting brings, he couldn't lose that future with her.
"Got your paperwork all sorted out kid." Adrien put the photo away and checked the folder on his desk. One resignation letter, check.
"Yeah, it's all sorted, but if he doesn't hurry up, I'm just going to poke it under his door and leave." No sooner had the words left his mouth than a knock came at his door. Plagg hid in his shirt as Nathalie entered.
"Your father will see you now." She stated simply, but the concern was evident in her voice. Adrien picked up the folder and followed Nathalie down the long corridor towards his father's office. Nathalie could see the folder wavering in his hands as they shook. Before entering, she stopped and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Deep breaths Adrien. I'll be here with you the whole time." She tried to smile and encourage him.
"Thank you Nathalie." He gave her a hug before knocking on the door.
"Enter." Came the cold voice from within.
Adrien and Nathalie walked into the open space, the Klimt inspired painting of his mother hanging pride of place on the wall. Adrien looked up at it trying to take strength from her image. How different things might have been if she had still been here.
"Well, what was so urgent that you wanted to see me? You know I'm a very busy man Adrien" His father stood behind his large computer screen, not even bothering to look up. The coldness cut through the air like a knife dipped in iced water. Adrien straightened and approached his father with the folder in his hand. The words he had rehearsed over all morning tumbling forth.
"I wish to tender my resignation from the company." The blonde said, holding the folder out to him. Gabriel never looked away from the computer and Adrien dropped the folder onto the desk. "I'm also moving out. I have asked Marinette to marry me and she has accepted. We wish to start a new life together on our own terms." He fought against the waver in his voice, trying to channel his assertive Chat side.
Gabriel still did not speak, nor did he look towards his son. Adrien looked at Nathalie who seemed just as confused as he was. Adrien had expected some sort of acknowledgement of his engagement at the very least, even if it had been an outburst of anger. Having had enough of the silent treatment, Adrien turned and prepared to leave the room.
"Your resignation is not accepted." Gabriel said flatly. Adrien stopped in his tracks turning back towards his father. Gabriel finally lifted his eyes from the computer, putting both his hands behind his back. "As your employer I remind you of your obligations."
"You can't stop me." Adrien snapped back. "I signed a contract like every other employee and I'm giving you my notice. If you don't like it, sue me. I'm sure the gossip columns would love that story." Gabriel met his son's angry glare.
"You're being irrational Adrien. I made a mistake allowing you to spend too much free time with that girl." Gabriel looked him square in the eyes. "Did you get her pregnant? Is that why you dropped 15K on an engagement ring in London?" Adrien frowned. He should have known his father would be motioning his bank transactions still, that's why he hadn't reacted to the engagement.
"That girl as you put it, is going to be my wife, and I expect you to show her some respect. And no, she isn't pregnant." Not yet at least, his mind added. Gabriel turned from him and looked up at the portrait of Emilie.
"There is only one Madame Agreste in this family and I won't have the name tarnished by the daughter of a baker, no matter how enamoured you think you are with her." Adrien could feel his blood begin to boil, his efforts to remain calm becoming more and more difficult.
"That's rich coming from someone who couldn't even finance his first store." Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
"I see your Aunt Amelie has been telling you stories." He said dismissively.
"Not stories father, truths." Gabriel glared at him.
"What do you know about truth, or having to make difficult choices or even love. Your eighteen Adrien, you don't even know what love is, this is just your teen boy hormones getting excited because a girl paid you some attention." Adrien had to bite his tongue and grit his teeth.
"This isn't some idle schoolboy crush father. I love Marinette. I am in love with Marinette. And I am going to spend the rest of my life with her and not you or anyone else is going to stop me." Gabriel half turned his head towards his son. "Now you can choose to be part of our lives or not, but when I leave from here, she is where I am going to be." Gabriel hummed in thought for a moment at Adrien's defence of Marinette, but Adrien didn't think his words were having much effect.
"Do you really think you are just going to walk away from here and take away everything I have spent my life working for?" Gabriel took a step forward towards Adrien. They were almost the same height now, yet Gabriel still managed to be more intimidating. Adrien had to fight the instinct to step back away from him, but he'd be damned if he was going to show weakness now. "This company was our dream, your mother's and mine. I'm not going to let you take that away from me, especially not for some girl who couldn't even respect your place in your family business."
"So you go and sabotage her ability to get an internship elsewhere? What did you think she would do, come crawling back to you? You don't know how strong Marinette is. You can't break her that easily."
Gabriel eyed Adrien for a moment. He wasn't sure how he had found out about that, but it explained a lot of the hostility he had been showing. Well, that could be useful either way.
"This is our family business." He reiterated, emphasising the word family.
"Not family, yours." Adrien corrected. "I don't want your damn company. You can have it, do what you want with it, just leave Marinette and I out of it." Gabriel was still unflinching. Adrien's words might as well have been so many notes of music floating by, it was having no effect on the man whatsoever.
"You, Adrien, you are explicitly tied to this company whether you like it or not. When your mother named you as beneficiary of her share, she thought it would be many years from now when you would be ready for the responsibility of taking over. Your trust fund money won't last long and your mother's estate will only be paid out to you upon your mother's death." Adrien looked for some kind of emotion behind that statement, but there wasn't one. Did he really care so little that Emilie had been gone all this time?
"In twelve months, mother will have been missing for seven years." Adrien stated. His heart dropped at the words, even if his father stood emotionless. "I hoped for so long she might have come back to us. I don't know why she left, but she isn't coming back. It's time to move on and accept the facts." Gabriel's expression then softened momentarily.
"She's not dead Adrien." He said. The blonde stared at his father. What was he talking about? Maybe he really had lost his mind. He looked towards Nathalie, but she was staring wide eyed at Gabriel.
"What do you mean? What aren't you telling me?" Adrien questioned. Gabriel stepped closer and put a hand on his son's shoulder.
"What if I told you there was a way for her to come back to us." He said, piercing his grey eyes into Adrien's emerald ones, his mother's eyes. "What would you be willing to do to bring her back?" Adrien stared at his father with his mouth gaping open.
"Gabriel." Came Nathalie's stunned voice. "What are you doing?"
"It's time he knew the truth Nathalie." Gabriel replied flatly. "We've been running in these circles long enough and Adrien I believe will be the key to unlocking the final door." He turned from them and walked towards the portrait on the wall. Adrien looked across at Nathalie, who looked as though she had tears in her eyes, a great despair, anguish and maybe regret crossing her features. Adrien wanted to put his arm around her, but was afraid to move. "Come Adrien." His father's voice said. "Nathalie, you follow."
Stepping onto the spot his father pointed at, Adrien watched as Gabriel pressed the hidden buttons in the portrait and the floor began to lower under his feet. The elevator dropped into a large cavern, which lit up as they descended. Stepping out, his father walked ahead of him down a gangway. "Shouldn't we wait for Nathalie?" Adrien asked. Somehow he didn't want to be alone with his father right now. The elevator rose behind him as he spoke.
"She will be here in a moment. Come." His father commanded. Adrien could feel Plagg moving in his shirt, the kwami clearly sensing the bad aura that Adrien could feel, but he had no choice. He had to know what his father was talking about. Where was his mother and how could she come back?
Ahead of him, Adrien could see a soft glow emitting from a large box. He inched closer, his feet feeling like lead as a sense of dread started to rise in his chest, his heart beating harder with each step. He heard the elevator return and the hurried clacking of Nathalie's heels behind him. Slowly the box came more into view. Not a box, he soon realised, but a sarcophagus and inside was…
"Mother." Adrien gasped, collapsing to the ground as his legs went out from under him. He soon felt Nathalie's hands on his shoulders. Tears welled in his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. She looked so perfect, so beautiful, just like the day she disappeared. "Why?" His voice finally rasped. "What happened to her?"
Gabriel placed his hands on the glass of the coffin, his back turned to Adrien and Nathalie. "She wanted to be a hero." He said, an undertone of contempt in his voice. "It was foolish anyway, but even more so when we didn't understand the power of what we had found, or the irreversible destruction it could cause." Adrien looked up trying to understand what his father was saying. "It was damaged you see, but we didn't know what that meant. I should have stopped her from using it, but she was so beautiful, so graceful, just like the peacock she embodied."
"Peacock?" Adrien breathed out. Was he talking about the peacock miraculous? But if his mother had the peacock miraculous, that would mean…
"There is only one way to bring her back. One ultimate wish that can change the fabric of time." No, no, no. Adrien shook his head. This can't be happening. His father, his own father couldn't have been his mortal enemy living under the same roof. "Nooroo." His father called out. Adrien watched as a subdued purple kwami rose up.
"Yes Master." He said quietly.
"Explain to Adrien how this works." He gestured. Nathalie had now knelt down beside Adrien, squeezing his arm. Adrien had already pieced together in his mind that Nathalie had to have been Mayura, but he kept hearing the voice from last night saying 'trust Nathalie' and that was all he had to cling onto.
The purple kwami turned towards Adrien and Nathalie. "The power of the Ladybug and Black Cat grants the wearer a single wish, but there is a price to be paid in exchange for that wish. Something of equal value…"
"That's enough explanation." Gabriel cut him off.
"But Master, to ask for this wish would mean…"
"Nooroo, dark wings rise." Gabriel snapped, quieting the Kwami within his pin. Adrien watched in horror as his father became engulfed in purple, standing now before him as Hawkmoth. Nathalie rose to her feet, taking a protective stance in front of Adrien who was still on the floor.
"Gabriel, what are you doing?" She asked, her breathing heavy as she stared him down.
"This needs to end Nathalie. Either Adrien is with me or against me, but either way he will be the bait to catch Ladybug in a trap."
"Ladybug?" Adrien repeated, his brain trying desperately to catch up to what was happening.
"Yes." Hawkmoth replied. "She's come to your rescue before and I'm sure she will again and that stupid Cat boy she's with is so blindly in love with her, I'm sure he would do anything to save her, including giving me his miraculous." Adrien closed his eyes. He would have to protect her to make sure it didn't come to that. One thing was very clear though, Hawkmoth did not know he was Chat Noir and Adrien knew he had to keep it that way. Pushing up on his hands, he rose to his feet and slowly walked towards the glass coffin, placing his hands on it.
"The...the little purple thing, it said there was a price to pay, an equal exchange?" Adrien looked up at Hawkmoth. This was not his father, but a man consumed by anger and hate.
"Yes." Hawkmoth conceded.
"But, you don't love anyone. How can you make an equal exchange?" The weight of the words he had just spoken came down heavily on him when he saw Hawkmoth almost smile. Adrien had thought his father didn't love him, but now he knew it for certain.
"Your right Adrien. When I read in the grimoire that an exchange had to be made, I realised I had a problem. I couldn't exchange you, even if I wanted to because Emilie would have been devastated by it. She always did indulge you too much, but I could hardly risk her divorcing me because I had sacrificed you. I tried to get close to Nathalie, but pretending wasn't going to work with magic." Adrien looked over at Nathalie and could see the clear hurt in her face, but somehow he felt she already knew she had been used.
"So why keep doing it then?" Adrien asked. "Why keep chasing Ladybug and Chat Noir all these years if you couldn't complete the wish anyway?" Hawkmoth stepped close to him and Adrien could feel his blood run cold from the emptiness in Hawkmoth's eyes.
"I can't." He said, his voice menacing. "But you can."
"No." Adrien heard Nathalie gasp behind him. All the air suddenly rushed out of him and his head began to spin. "Gabriel no, you can't be serious."
"Why not?" Hawkmoth replied looking at his assistant. "Adrien is young, he can find another girl, but he only has one mother. Marinette for Emilie, a fair exchange."
"No." Adrien yelled lunging at Hawkmoth. The Villain side stepped him, hitting Adrien over the back of the head with his cane. He crumpled to the ground, Nathalie rushing over to protect him.
"Stop it Gabriel." She pleaded. "If you want Adrien on your side, this isn't the way to do it."
Adrien balled his fists as he closed his eyes to the throbbing pain in his head. 'What would you be willing to do?' he had said. No, not that, he told himself, never that. Yes he missed his mother, yes he would have thought he would give anything to hold her again, but not Marinette. Hawkmoth wasn't just asking for Adrien to give up the girl he loved, she was part of him, his other half. It was like being asked to give up half of his soul. This man before him, who had encouraged him to get a girlfriend, only wanted him to fall in love so that he could use that same girl in exchange for his own wife. Adrien could feel the anger rising in him. He wanted to transform, he wanted to Cataclysm his father into dust. He wanted to unleash his anger and tear the whole house down around them. Never before in his life had he ever wanted to use his power on another human being. But this was no human. This shell in front of him, devoid of any real emotions, wasn't human, couldn't be human. Adrien could feel his own nails paining in his palms. Plagg shifted under his shirt. He knew the kwami would have been just as angry as he was, all he had to do was say the word.
Hawkmoth held out his hand and a white butterfly landed in his palm. "You have a choice Adrien. You can join me and we will bring down Ladybug and Chat Noir together, or I will use your anger and hate to fight against them."
Adrien breathed heavily. Nathalie put her hands on his shoulders. "Adrien, it will be alright. Trust me." She whispered. 'Trust Nathalie.' His future self had said. Adrien unfurled his hands and tried to steady his breathing. Hawkmoth was not making an akuma out of him today. 'Talk to Nathalie - get to Ladybug.' Played over in his head. 'Just go along with it.' Alright, he could do this, he had to calm down. He placed his hand over his chest where Plagg was. He felt the kwami stop still and he hoped he got the message not to do anything. They had been warned not to act out. His future self was depending on it, Ladybug depended on it, his future child was depending on it.
His father did not know who he was, he didn't know he was Chat Noir, and right now it was the best card he had to play. Adrien knew he needed to do whatever it took to get out of here and talk to Nathalie alone.
"I understand father." He said, trying to sound subdued. "I will do whatever you ask." Hawkmoth's lips curled into a cruel grin.
"I knew you would see reason my son. Together we will bring your mother back and then we will take on the world." As she helped him up, Adrien chanced a look at Nathalie while his father's back was turned. Nathalie saw the defiance in his eyes and nodded in understanding. "We will formulate a plan to bring the hero's down. You will act as bait to catch Ladybug, then we will set a trap for the Cat. Maybe Nathalie could give you the peacock miraculous since her own efforts have been ineffective with it."
"Could Nathalie perhaps spend some time with me and show me what to do? I think I would need a little practice first." Adrien was trying to sound compliant but Hawkmoth eyed him with a degree of suspicion.
"Nooroo, dark wings fall." He said, his transformation vaporising. He looked closely at Adrien's face, looking for any hint of deception. "Fine, but only in your room. I'll see to it that your bedroom door is locked and your bodyguard will be standing watch. Your phone, tablet and computer are to be confiscated in case you get any funny ideas about warning that foolish girl about any of this." He stepped closer waving a finger up into Adrien's face. "If you try to double cross me in any way, I won't hesitate to kill her myself, am I perfectly clear?"
"Ye..yes Sir." Adrien replied, fighting the tears that were threatening to return. How dare he threaten his lady to his face like this? Calm Adrien, you have to be calm and play along he told himself.
"Nathalie, stay with him. Don't let him out of your sight."
"Yes Sir, come Adrien." Nathalie put an arm around Adrien's shoulders as they made their way back to the upper floors.
Gabriel followed Adrien and Nathalie to Adrien's room where he supervised the removal of Adrien's electronics so he had no communication with the outside world. Adrien went to his mini fridge, getting out an ice pack and holding it to the back of his head. As Gabriel walked out of the room, Adrien saw Nathalie share a look and a nod with his bodyguard, who had pulled up a seat to watch the door. Nathalie then closed the door, locking it and checking it was secure.
"I am so sorry Adrien." She gushed out, barely holding in her sobs. "I knew Gabriel was losing his mind, but I never thought...I didn't know…" Adrien put his arms around her and held her tight. He had to be strong now, for Nathalie. He could break down over this later.
"I know Nathalie, I know. I believe you." There was a crack of thunder outside as the clouds finally broke and the storm that had been brewing earlier was now unleashed with full force. Nathalie pulled out of Adrien's embrace and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Adrien, you have to get to Ladybug. You have to tell her everything." Adrien looked at Nathalie curiously.
"What makes you think I know where Ladybug is?" He asked cautiously. Nathalie looked at him, a guilty expression on her face.
"Not long after you started dating Marinette, your bodyguard discovered that your father had installed a security camera outside your window. I think he thought you we're going to sneak out at night to see her." Adrien blinked at her. Well, I guess he wasn't totally wrong, but that would mean… "I know your Chat Noir." Adrien pulled out his computer chair and sat down. Nathalie crouched down to look him in the face. "We have been erasing the footage so your father wouldn't see it. Your bodyguard has known for years and he kept it to himself all this time. But I didn't know until he showed me the footage of you transforming." She stood up, wringing her hands together. "I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for the danger I put you and Marinette in. I realised she had to have been Ladybug, it just explained so much about you two." Adrien could see a look of fondness in her eyes before she shook her head. "Anyway, I broke the security camera while you were in London so there is no danger of any footage now."
As she stood up and grabbed a pen and paper, Plagg came out of Adrien's pocket. Nathalie stopped to look at the strange little Black Cat. "Can I see Duusu?" He asked. No sooner had the question passed his lip when the peacock kwami flew out and crashed into him.
"Oh Plagg, it's been so long." Duusu cried.
"Duusu, are you alright?" Plagg asked with genuine concern.
"Yes, Plagg, I'm fine. Miss Nathalie had taken good care of me, but poor Nooroo…" Her voice trailed away with concern for her trapped friend.
"We will get him back Duusu, I promise." Nathalie affirmed as she wrote on the paper and handed it to Adrien as he stood up. "This is the address for the apartment I have. Gabriel doesn't know anything about it. Get Marinette and go there and hide, I will join you as soon as I can." Adrien took the paper, reading the address.
"But what about you Nathalie? It's not safe here for you." Nathalie smiled at the young man.
"Gabriel can't get to me while I have Duusu. I will try and hold him off for as long as I can and I'll run if it comes to that, but for now he has to believe that we are all on his side. Once you and Marinette are safe, let me know and I will come." She reached out and hugged him tight. "Emilie would have been so proud of the man you are Adrien." He could feel the tears begin to prick in his eyes as he buried his face into her shoulder. Stepping back he called on his transformation. It was strange someone other than Marinette seeing him transform, but he felt safe knowing Nathalie and the Gorilla knew. He was still getting his head around the fact his bodyguard had known for years and protected his secret all this time.
Chat approached his window, the wind swirling as the storm set in. He could see the worry and the concern across Nathalie's face. "Don't worry Nathalie. Ladybug will know what to do. She always does." Nathalie smiled and nodded.
"I know." She said softly. "You love her very much don't you." Chat knew he was blushing under his mask.
"From the first day I met her." He said with the fondness of the memory filling his heart. "I loved both sides of her and didn't even realise it for the longest time. Both of us had." He laughed to himself. "It's so crazy now when I think about it." His face then became more serious. "I could never give her up Nathalie. Not even for my mother. I'd die first before I would ever let anything happen to her." Nathalie put her hand on his arm, gripping it softly.
"Be careful Adrien. I'll wait here for your word." With that he nodded and raced out the window into the storm.