Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! They really do help with writing direction, etc.

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A few keys echo out through the mansion as Adrien Agreste mindlessly runs his fingers across the keyboard of his piano. He's not putting much effort into it. Nathalie's gone out for lunch, although he's not entirely sure where and all of his friends have somehow managed to find themselves occupied. So that leaves him here, alone with Plagg and his parents. They're always together however or at least they seem to be. He doesn't want to find himself faced with his father. He's not ready yet. So isolation is his preferred option.

His kwami sits atop the instrument, reading about cheese facts from a magazine. It's a scene which could have taken place five years ago.

His mind is elsewhere, certainly not on practice. There's so much going on right now, he's having a hard time processing it. The sensation is an unpleasant one, he can best equate it to having too much going through his head. It's giving him headaches, among other unpleasant symptoms. Those in turn make him irritated. Trying not to take that pent up frustration on those around him is a challenge in itself and only leads to him becoming increasingly wound up. So, he isolates himself, tries to breathe a bit. It's not enough, it doesn't change what's going on, who he's sharing a house with or what's happened. It's in the past but that still remains terribly real and painful for him.

His fingers slip, he hits a wrong key, the already imperfect melody is ruined.

Anger takes over. He clenches his fists and brings them down hard on the instrument. It startles Plagg, who looks up alarmed. His gaze rests on the teen for a moment. He's breathing quickly, teeth clenched. All symptoms that the kwami recognizes. He knows not to approach too soon, just to let things cool off before he takes any chances. The boy can lash out sometimes. He doesn't mean to hurt them, he just does. So it's best to give him the opportunity to recover and ensure that his head is on straight before daring to venture anywhere near him.

A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door. Adrien looks up. Is it Nathalie? No. She wouldn't be waiting for permission to come in. She usually knocks and assuming that he doesn't tell her otherwise, she'll come in right away. The teen hesitates, aware that it can only either be his father or mother on the other end of the door, potentially both. He's far from eager to be confronted by either of them, much less the two together.

Backed into his room, he feels fearful. There's nothing to just stop them from coming in, no lock or latch. Nathalie isn't here right now to provide any support. There's Plagg of course. He could transform and retreat out the window. It's a possibility…

"Adrien?"

The door creaks open and a familiar face looks in. It's his mother. Adrien just stares at her wide-eyed unable to process things and therefore to come to any proper reaction. It's very much a case of deer in the headlights. He's not even thinking of much.

Perhaps sensing her son's confusion and distress, the woman enters. She does so slowly however, as if she's treading on eggshells. She moves slowly, giving him ample time to retreat or tell her to leave. He doesn't seem angry, if anything, the teen gives off the distinct impression of being confused, perhaps a little wary. She stops a little bit short so as not to crowd him. The woman hesitates a moment, awkward and unsure before tentatively speaking:

"We're planning lunch. Is an omelet enough for you?"

"Yeah. Omelet's fine..."

He's still staring at her like she's just arrived from the planet Zarg. Emilie shifts, her gaze running around the room as she searches for something else to focus on. Apparently unable to locate a suitable distraction, she ends up turning back to her son. He seems a mixture of helpless and harmless, perhaps a little lost. Whatever the case, the woman isn't happy with the silence and eventually finds herself compelled to interrupt it:

"Still playing the piano, are we?"

"Yeah..."

"What can you play?"

"A lot of things."

"How about Frères Jacques, can you remember that one?"

"Of course. You taught it to me."

She's surprised when he plays the tune.

It comes almost instinctively to him. Granted it's simple enough but still it comes naturally to him, he barely even seems to put any thought into it. She lets him go through it all. For Adrien, it's difficult not to think back to his younger years when his mother had sat him down and taught him. It had been smiles and jokes. He'd lived for those few minutes with one another and spent the next few years longing for them. Now, he's just confused.

Very cautiously, Emilie reaches out, she places her hand on a few of the keys and attempts the first few notes from the melody. Adrien doesn't stop her, instead watching curiously. She gets a couple right and then one's out of tune. She tries again and makes the same mistake. Then, the teen shakes his head. He repeats the tune, making the effort to show her where he's putting his fingers and what sequence they go in. They spend a few moments like that. Slowly but surely however, the woman gets the hang on it. Unlike her husband, she was never exactly a pianist but he did teach her a few tunes. It takes a moment or so but she gets the hang on it.

At the end however, they are able to play something of a duet with Adrien taking the lead. It causes her to smile,

"I guess even if you're sleeping you can get out of practice..."

He fixes the instrument in front of him somewhat mindlessly or what appears to be mindlessly to his mother. There can be little doubt that inside, there's an awful lot going on. Just what those thoughts and doubts are, can only be guessed. He doesn't vocalize them or otherwise give any hints as to just what might be passing through his head. She doesn't push him, instead sitting there in silence, she gives him time. He wears a sorrowful expression as he rocks back and forth a little on the stool.

Finally, after what is most certainly a few minutes and feels like far longer, he turns to look at her. His eyes are a bit wet although he isn't quite crying. He speaks so quietly, that Emilie practically has to strain her ears to hear him:

"I'm sorry… For what I said."

"No. It was my fault. I forgot that you're fragile. Can you forgive me?"

He hesitates a few seconds, whether it's indecision or simply his thought process is running a bit slower than usual, she can't say. Her heart is in her mouth.

Slowly however, he nods. Yes. He can. It's not an impossible ask. She takes a chance and reaches out, slipping her arms around and pulling him in for a hug. He tenses up, evidently taken by surprise. Marinette hugs him. Nathalie… Not so much… It takes him a little while to figure out and remember just what he's supposed to do. There is something of an unworldly warmth that comes from his parent or perhaps he's just searching for it there. He doesn't question it. Just accepting it for what it is, choosing not to see Plagg's discomfort with the situation.

They don't stay like that for long, only a few moments before pulling away. Emilie offers him a wonderful smile before turning back towards the instrument:

"Do you think you can teach me a few more?"

Adrien nods, confident that he can at least manage that much.

It's to the sound of the piano that Nathalie returns home. She frowns however, surprised to hear that there are two people playing. Instinctively, she's inclined to assume that it's Gabriel up there with his son. They'd played together in the past. Perhaps it's Plagg. Surprisingly, the kwami can find his way around the keyboard. At any rate, it's not something that she was expecting. All the same, so long as he's enjoying himself, she's inclined to call it progress. Smiling softly, she makes her way inside and prepares to pay the young man a visit, keen to see just what he's up to.

"Nathalie!" A masculine voice calls after her. "May I have a word?"

She holds her breath but accepts none-the-less. There are certain things that it's best not to call into question. She doesn't know just what Gabriel wants with her but follows loyally just like she used to in the past. The woman reasons with a certain amount of disheartened bemusement that it must say a lot about her if she feels more comfortable in the presence of a man who's tried to kill her twice than she does that of his wife. It's true though, at the very least, she feels that she knows him well enough, his thought process and in short what makes him tick enough to be able to turn her back on him.

Emilie is… Different. She can't quite put her finger on it.

Nathalie is far closer in terms of personality to Gabriel than she is to his wife. Both have something of a detached manner about themselves. They come across as cold but level-headed. Adrien, as Marinette has discovered, is as hot-blooded as his mother, both sporting quite the temper. They can easily feed off of one another, tensions rising until it came to a head. Ironically, it leaves the assistant more capable to deal with the young man. Of course, it helps that she's more familiar with him. She knows when to push and went to let things lie. What he was capable of and when he would inevitably fall short. Gabriel being more level-headed, she trusts not to blow up over nothing. He's spoke to her calmly, which indicates that she can afford to relax at least somewhat.

He leads her into his office and has her shut the door behind her. This could have been a scene from a good few years ago. It's almost something of deja vu for his assistant. It's something of a routine for the two of them. He goes to stand behind his computer, a position that he had always occupied. Meanwhile, she remains standing towards the center of the room, arms folded behind her back, waiting patiently.

His eyes are focused on a screen for a moment. The man lets out a heavy sigh and all of a sudden comes across as being exhausted. Finally, after what seems like an interminable wait, he manages to gather his wits enough so as to speak:

"I just wanted to say… Despite what Emilie might say, might think… You've done a good job, raising him this far." He pauses for an instant, glancing down at the floor for a moment. "I know he's not easy."

The man's former assistant only just manages to hold back a sigh. How to respond to that other than by claiming that Gabriel has missed the point completely? She knows that will only lead to more hostilities. So she bites her tongue and forces herself to pick her next few words very carefully.

Adrien is complicated. He didn't used to be. At least not to the same degree that he is now. This is something which has largely come about as a result of what he's been forced to endure. He'd tolerated it for as long as humanly possible when living with his father, things had began to crumble. He'd held things together more or less for as long as he could and then things had collapsed completely after the Grand Palais. That single event has left more than the visible scars on his skin. She's aware and hopes that his parents are too by this point that his psyche is not what it should be. The challenge is expressing that much without coming across as pinning all of the blame on him (even if she might feel that that's where almost all of it rests) or as making it seem that his son is a lost cause.

"Gabriel… Adrien wants – needs, to be a loved. That's all he ever wanted, for you to be a part of his life again." She pauses glancing towards the images of him as a younger teen, back when he'd been relatively carefree. "He's still there, underneath it all. He's more vulnerable than you think. So it will take time and effort."

Her words are having an impact, she can tell that much from the man's grave expression. He was definitely considering them, reflection upon whether or not they contained any wisdom or anything that he could draw on she hoped. Nathalie has become a bit cynical over the years. She can't tie it down to any particular event as she deems is a mix of what life has thrown at her which has caused the problem. Whatever the case, whilst she wants to believe that the Agreste family is capable of holding itself together and reforming a whole; so far she's not overconfident. This is the first time that she's seen just a glimmer of hope.

If Gabriel will listen to her, will make an effort, then there's a chance that eventually, Adrien might be able to let them in once more...

"That's what we plan to do… Start afresh." Gabriel informs her, his voice low before finally, for the first time, raising his gaze to meet hers. "Which is why, I'm sorry, Nathalie but we're going to have to let you go."

She stands there like a statue. Struck dumb. For a moment, his words fail to register entirely. She has to run them over time and time again in her mind to try and make sense of it.

Letting her go… She was being fired?! That much she can eventually understand but the implications, they dance around in her mind but never settle long enough for her to process them. So she stands there shocked. This has taken her by surprise and it proves to be a challenge to recover from the blow. She blinks as she fixes the man who has spoken to her, essentially exiling her from the life that she has known these past three years. For all that, she still can't seem to find it in her to react. Even when she does manage to pull herself together to articulate a few syllables all she can manage is:

"Wh-What?"

"You're an employee." Gabriel is impossible to read as he reminds her of that much. "A good employee but I think it's time that you moved on to other things, don't you?"

"Sir… You know it's more complicated than-"

"You'll receive your severance package in full and then some."

She isn't being given time to argue her position or gather her thoughts. This has been rehearsed or at the very least planned. In those few seconds, Nathalie realizes that if she doesn't do something and strike back quickly, she is going to lose this battle. Worse… She will lose Adrien and any chance she has of ensuring that this crucial point in his life goes smoothly. She shakes her head, pulling herself back together. She's going to have to fight if she wants to stand any chance of preventing her essential exile from the household.

It wasn't that easy to fire someone in France. Perhaps Gabriel has forgotten that much during his stay in China. She'll use that: strike him with logic. She relies on that more than she does her emotions, afraid that she might lose control and with it any chance she has of winning this.

"I'm going to fight this, si-" She stops herself. "You don't want that sort of publicity."

"You need to leave-" He stresses without raising his voice in the slightest. "or else..."

"Or else what?!" There's a cutting tone to her question, daring him to go further.

The man narrows his eyes. Unfortunately, he doesn't back down from the challenge. Instead, he turns the screen round so that she can see it. The woman is unwilling to take her eyes off of the man least he pull some manner of a trick and take advantage of her distraction. She takes the chance none-the-less. It's a security recording, one that she's never before seen and had assumed had been deleted. Apparently not… Either that or Gabriel kept some manner of a copy on him. She could have believed that.

It shows Catalyst, rising from the hidden elevator in the room to rush over to claim the peacock miraculous from the safe. It's wouldn't be all that damning if it didn't also show that Nathalie Sancoeur had descended but not risen. Yet it's Gabriel who brings her back out again, peafowl broach still just visible clipped onto her clothes. She fixes it for a moment, blinking as she tries to make sense of it and its implications:

"You'd damn yourself as well..." Is all that she can think to point out.

"I can drag you through the mud just as much as you can me." He clarifies his voice still level and calm. "So you have two options: accept this proposition, you have my world that I'll see to it that Emilie allows you to visit or you can fight it, in which case I guarantee that both you and I will end up behind bars for quite some time."

It's not something that she's ever thought that he would stoop to. Is it stooping? It's sacrifice of sorts. Even although Hawk Moth disappeared some years ago, as did Mayura, that doesn't mean that the authorities wouldn't be happy to get their hands on those responsible for inflicting such grief on the city for over a year. Even if they ever got out of prison, their names would be forever tainted by their past deeds as would all those who were associated with them. Adrien would suffer, she was certain of that much, who would believe that with the two adults in his household mixed up with the villainy that he wasn't at least partly in on it?

She feels her stomach begin to turn, the ground giving out beneath her feet as she doesn't know where to stand. Frantic, she begins to search for some way out. She doesn't want to beg. She doesn't know if she can express just how much Adrien means to her. The woman suspects that the man's already fully aware of that much. Hence why he's separated them. If he was here… She can only imagine how the teenager would react.

"Should Adrien decide to leave with you we will press charges." She can only stare back, blinking her mouth slightly ajar. "Abduction of a minor will not look good on your record - or his."

A minor… Of course, this is why they'd have to make their move now. In a little over a month, it won't matter. Adrien will be free. This has been planned. It's not a spur of the moment reaction to yet another breakout of hostilities. Just what they plan to do without her during that period, she can't say. He'll be anything but easy...

The woman's jaw clenches. Her natural instinct is to challenge him. She stops however, replaying the man's words through her mind. "Or his..." A clear threat but one which causes her to hesitate. Whilst the law might not come down on Adrien, the press most certainly would. They wouldn't see it as a young man running away because the alternative was staying with his parents whom he no longer felt comfortable being around. It would be viewed with a cynical eye. She can see the headlines already: "Adrien Agreste, teenage supermodel, runs away with family secretary." She can't subject him to that.

Slowly but surely… She finds her combativeness ebbing away. Gabriel must sense it as well. He approaches slowly, taking a few steps so as to stand in front of them. She can't even bring herself to look at him, fearful that he might see past her defenses and into the pain which is beginning to take over her:

"Think about Adri-"

"Don't-" She cuts him off suddenly, her tone low and dangerous. "Don't you dare hide behind him!"

Gabriel stiffens briefly, straightening himself so as to back away from her slightly. The look she gives him is one of pure hatred. There are no words to describe just how much she loathes him in those few moments, perhaps even hates herself for ever being so weak as to actually care for the man, to have ever wanted to be with him.

Intuitively, she knows why he's doing this. She's a buffer between them and their son and makes no secret of the fact. What they perceive as being a nuisance, perhaps even a dangerous influence on the lad is actually essential as it provides him with a shield of sorts, something to temper his aggression and to console him when he's afraid. Remove that and he'll have no choice but to find himself faced with them again. In their minds, they must see that as being the best option. Perhaps they think that by confronting him directly, they will be able to break through the terror which has gripped him and bring him to his senses. Like someone who's afraid of heights choosing to jump from a diving board. Maybe they even think that she's the one who has been polluting his mind in the first place. Nathalie hopes that at least at some point, they have their son's best interests at heart rather than their own desires… Although she honestly wouldn't like to say.

She has but one question for him:

"How much of this is Emilie and how much is you?"

"Did you really think that this was going to last?" Gabriel asks her speaking in a low voice, instead of answering directly. "You are not his mother, nor will you ever be a part of this family. Now I suggest you leave quietly, make it easier for everyone or am I going to have to call the police?"

She grits her teeth to avoid snapping back with some of the bile and hatred that's built up inside of her. If she were to lose control and lash out the way that she so desperately wants, what would the consequences? If he carried through with his threat, she would find herself arrested. Then the chances of her ever seeing Adrien again would be few and far between.

She looks up at the man before her. Gabriel is impossible to read. He doesn't seem to be taking any pleasure in this but he most certainly isn't pulling his punches either. She closes her eyes, filling her lungs with a few shaky breaths, frantically searching for a way out that won't potentially endanger herself and Adrien. She'll be abandoning him if she leaves. She knows that. Right now however, it might actually be the lesser of two evils. She can't expose him to the threat of being incriminated through both her and his father's actions. If she's behind bars, he will also be vulnerable. She won't be able to protect him or likely even speak with him…

She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath as she speaks a few words which she knows are going to haunt her in the future:

"I'll do it… I'll go." She lets out a shaky sigh. "Just give me some time to get my stuff together..."