It was with a familiar exasperated sigh that Nathalie greeted the realization that the day wasn't any longer drawing to a close so much as a new one was already getting into its swing. Already, she could hear the traffic beginning to pick up outside in the street. It was with a shake of the head that she brought herself to, gradually becoming increasingly aware of her surroundings. Something had disturbed her from her sleep. Her neck was a little stiff. She found herself with her face against the desk. Her shoulders informed her that she'd indeed fallen asleep here. Her coat had however been placed over her shoulders, keeping her warm. A still steaming cup of coffee confirmed her suspicion that she had indeed received a visitor.

She checked her watch, 6.27am. Yes, he would be home by now. She was going to assume that his visit was recent on account of the still warm cup. He might even have been the one to wake her up. She's awake now. A couple of swigs of caffeine was enough to give her the ability to get up. She keeps her jacket slung over her shoulders however. As it was getting into December, the mansion was no longer all that warm. She made her way out from her office and into the dining room. The portrait of Emilie Agreste continued to cast a looming shadow over the room. Those eyes of hers, which her son had inherited, almost seemed to follow people around the room. Even for Nathalie, it was enough to get her to shudder. Still, until they find a way to hide the secret code for the lift, the painting's going to have to stay.

She descended, mug still held in both her hands. She knew that the attic wasn't the warmest place in the world.

She emerged into the room. Adrien had reclaimed this place as his own. For some reason, it was the one part of this building which he couldn't stand. Naturally that meant that he now spent a large part of his time confined inside of its walls. He had removed all traces of his parents' nefarious activities, filling it with what few possessions he had. As it now stood, it looked like some bizarre cross between a shrine and a dojo. It was here that he chose to store everything relating to the life that he had lead in Tibet, including the miraculouses which lay on a low table, just next to a small statue of Buddha.

Her eyes drifted over to the figure of the young man. It was impossible not to be impressed by his shows of strength and flexibility. When she had first encountered him, he'd been eager to show off to her, like a child who'd just learned a new trick at school and wanted nothing more than to demonstrate it to their parents. Whilst sports had never been exactly something that she found thrilling, the assistant had none-the-less admired the skills which the young man had taken away from the temple. At least initially. After a month, she had grown somewhat accustomed to them, having discovered that they tended to be repetitive. Now, she barely even paid any attention to him as he carried out his daily routine.

She found him practising his punches. When she'd first seen the young man with a saw in hand, several pieces of wood and some leather padding, she'd wondered if perhaps he'd taken up carpentry. It had only been after she'd watched him dealing out some blows that she'd twigged that the constructs were supposed to represent an actual human being. Others, sandbags apparently which now hung suspended from the ceiling were simply designed to be hit. Settling down, the assistant chose to watch him in silence. He would know that she was there. Acknowledgement didn't always come initially, especially when he had something else on his mind. This morning, was one such case. She probably watched him repeat the same motion for about five minutes before finally choosing to break the silence:

"Before 7am really?"

"Wake up 5am. Warm ups. Sit ups." Between each statement, he managed to get in a powerful punch, knocking the bag backwards. "Run. Breakfast. Combat training. Work. Lunch. Ancient studies. More physical training. Dinner. Prayer. Bed. Repeat."

"Fun..."

She caught sight of his somewhat irritated look. He was too polite to tell her to leave and mind her own business. He still hadn't taken his eyes off of the punching bag, repeating the same motion again and again, with the same amount of force. The chain holding it in place squeaked loudly with each of his blows. She didn't know exactly how hard he was hitting it. From what she could tell, he seemed to be holding back, concentrating more on the way that he struck as opposed to the force with which he dealt the blow. At any rate, she reasoned that it would be best for her (and anyone else) to be on the wrong side of one of his fists.

He tried his best to ignore her, that much was often. She could read his expression, he was failing pitifully to forget that he wasn't alone. There was something on his mind, quite a lot actually. He just didn't want to talk about it. Finally, after about two minutes, he dared to speak to her once more:

"I don't like it when you fall asleep at your desk."

"Well, this might come as a surprise but it's how work gets done." She informed him, raising an eyebrow knowingly. "You should appreciate that Mr. 5am jog."

"You work too hard." He landed another punch. The woman knew that his concern for her well-being was genuine.

"I like work." A true statement but they've had enough small talk. "It keeps me focused, which seems like something you could do with."

"Tell me about it, he's been a sulking since Marinette dumped him!"

Out of the corner of the room came Plagg. The kwami was never too far from his partner. Not exactly a blessing. Whilst he was at least someone else to talk to, he was anything but a good influence on Adrien. At best, the little creature was something of a pest (at least that was all he amounted to in her considerations) at worst, he could be downright dangerous and a potential threat to their secrecy. His assurances that he couldn't be photographed or recorded were of little comfort to the assistant who dedicated a sizeable portion of her time each day to ensuring that their current whereabouts remained unknown. To discover that her boss was ordering not just cheese to their doorstep but Camembert of the finest quality. She objected not only to the smell but the specific nature of the order. Bizarrely, Adrien Agreste had the reputation for being extremely fond of the stuff, even although nobody had ever seen him eat it. No doubt, someone somewhere would twig that he was back in town. They already had, it was only a matter of time until Paris was abuzz with the news and they had paparazzi climbing the walls.

In the meantime, she found herself distracted by the abrupt violence with which he slammed his fist into the bag. Irritation but not quite anger drove him to act in such a way:

"She didn't dump me!" His tone was almost childish.

"Sure sounded like it." There was a teasing behind Plagg's words which didn't escape Nathalie.

"We weren't even dating for her to dump me!" The young man argued back, snapping at the creature. He took a breath before calming down. "That's not what you wanted to talk to me about."

"No…" Her voiced trailed off as she saw no reason to lie. "Adrien, I'm going to be frank-"

He nodded slowly, understanding that this was going to be something of a serious matter. She considered herself fortunate that the young man was so easy to deal with. Being reasonable and patient were two ideal qualities for a boss in her books. He could be stubborn, there was no denying it but at least she got the feeling that he was listening to her (which hadn't always been the case with his parents). Her words weren't lost on him, even if he might disagree. He turned around, flexing his biceps for a moment, eager to get the tension out before heading towards a large bowl of water. There, he splashed some over his face. Next to it, he picked up a towel and dried himself back down. Once he was finished, he turned back to face her, giving her his full and undivided attention.

Nathalie took another sip of her coffee before continuing:

"I think you're making a mistake."

"You do?" He seemed to know exactly what she was referring to.

"I do. How long do you think you're going to be able to keep this up?" It was a genuine question. "Now, I know you have your routine but that's not going to be enough."

"I have you and Plagg." Was his argument, as if somehow the two of them would be enough.

"Adrien, I don't know how to break this to you but a tiny black destructive cat with a cheese fetish and a 48 year old ex-con aren't an appropriate social circle for a young man like yourself."

"I can trust you. What else do I need?"

"People your own age, with your own interests. After all those years trying to get away and fighting to get to school, you're seriously planning on living the rest of your life cooped up in the attic?"

Adrien let out a sigh and began to toy with his ring. Nathalie bit her lip metaphorically, struggling not to take the opportunity to remind him about the importance of a poker face. He'd lived a life of isolation in Tibet, she knew that much. There had been no need for secrets or deception. It wasn't the same here. If he was ever to get back to living a regular life, he would have to get a hand on all the little tics and other various tells that he had developed otherwise the press and people in general would walk all over him. It would have to be a lesson for another day however. Right now, she was rather more inclined to deal with the current issue which was her new employer isolating himself from the rest of the world. Up until recently, it hadn't posed a problem, quite the opposite, she was rather glad that he was inclined to lie low. Now however, things were gradually changing.

She let the young man think for a moment, try to come up with some sort of an answer or at least an explanation. She was willing to hear it and if it was convincing, to go along with it and even help him.

"Maybe that's for the best..."

"Is it? I saw you pushing them away, don't try to pretend it didn't hurt." Her eyes narrowed, eager to get down to business. "Why did you do it?"

"They have their own lives now… It's stupid but it hadn't occurred to me. I should never have gone to see Marinette, it was selfish. I can't stop being a guardian and I can't keep it out of my life. I don't want them to get wrapped up in all that stuff again. It's not safe."

"Not safe how? You defeated Hawk Moth and Mayura." A fact that she knew she didn't need to remind their son of. "Is there something else out there I should worry about?"

"I don't know." Adrien shrugged his shoulders. "I once asked Master the same thing. He said that throughout history there had always been need for the guardians."

"There sure has!" Plagg agreed hovering by his partner's face. "This world always seems to need saving."

Hardly comforting. Nathalie had rather hoped to put most of the supernatural stuff behind her. She could live with the kwami, as irritating as he was. Adrien's somewhat unconventional behaviour was another thing which she could put up. Getting put in life-threatening danger on an almost daily basis was not something which she had signed up for. For a moment, the assistant contemplated questioning him further on the matter. She didn't know what had caused him to return to Paris. It was in many ways a foolish decision. The woman had only been able to theorize as to just what would drive him to do such a thing. Running away from a threat of some kind had crossed her mind. Thankfully, she knows the young man well enough to know that's not likely to be the cause:

"You obviously don't think the danger's that great otherwise you wouldn't have asked for my help."

"That's true."

"I do love these vows of yours." She noted impressed by just how far he seemed to be taking them. "Now, how about we both treat each other like grown adults and you tell me why you're behaving the way you are."

"Okay. I don't know, alright?!" It was through clenched teeth, betraying his frustration that he spoke. "I messed up big time but I don't know what to do! How can I let them back in after everything that happened? Being a miraculous holder, it's meant to be a full-time responsibility. I can't ask them to give up their lives."

Nathalie chose to give him a few moments in order to regain control of his temper. Having to deal with Emilie had given her the experience required to tackle the woman's son. Their anger was brief but terrible. It was a fool who stood in their way. Adrien was nowhere near that level of blinding rage. He was however irritated enough that a voice in the back of the assistant's head told her to tread carefully. She considered her next move, planning two steps ahead. It was a game of chess which she intended to win. Her ultimate endgame remained somewhat hazy, even to her. What she knew she couldn't do was allow things to continue the way that they were. After so many years in the Agreste household, she felt that she could see just where this current path was going to lead them. After all, she'd seen it before.

Adrien's motivations as far as she could tell were noble ones. She felt that she could understand where he was coming from. Whether or not he was aware of their consequences was something which she wasn't quite so sure about. A part of the secretary told her that he was likely acting on impulse, driven by emotion rather than having actually thought any of this out. These past few weeks had already taught her that the young man was frightfully unprepared. She gave him a few more moments before asking once more:

"And your solution is to become an asshole?"

The remark had the desired effect: Adrien's eyes widened considerably. He stood there, stiff, unsure how to respond. There was something comical about his expression: startled, like a deer in the headlights. Plagg, for his part was trying his best to conceal his amusement, hiding his laughter behind his paws. It was nice to know that even after all of these years, she still had the power to render people into silence. It was a talent which she had been forced to call upon a few times in these past few years, albeit not as much as she had done in her youth, in truth, she had missed it somewhat.

The young man blushed, averting his gaze for a few moments. Evidently, she had taken him by surprise. Good. It took him a few moments to regain his composure, a solemn expression took the place of embarrassment.

"You want to leave?" It was an assumption more than a question.

"Not at all! Don't worry about me, I'm more than used to dealing with anti-social types. I worked for your father for fifteen years after all."

"I can't believe you used to talk to him-" Even after a decade, there was still plenty of bitterness behind Adrien's tone. "-like this."

"I didn't but then he wasn't half my age and I'd never had to change any of his diapers."

Nathalie kept an entirely straight face despite her statement. The same couldn't be said for Adrien. His childhood was something that had been seldom brought up in the family. As such, he had been able to escape many of the embarrassing tales which were often told. She was one of the few people on the planet who would know any such stories, having witnessed a good few in person and for the most part, the assistant was more than content to keep them to herself. From time to time however, when she deemed it useful, she would bring a few matters up around the young man which she knew would get the colour rising to his cheeks. Sometimes, he needed to be reminded just where the two of them stood in regards of one another.

For the second time in about a minute, the guardian struggled to return to a somewhat regular state. His composure was gone almost completely. Unlike his father and mother, Adrien had never possessed the gift of being able to conceal his emotions. It made him something of an open book. In short, he wasn't in her league when it came to these verbal bouts. It wasn't a skill he'd ever been required to perfect. Perhaps with some schooling, he would be able to keep up but until then, Nathalie found it relatively easy to run rings around him. He eventually opted for the classic "clearing throat routine" in order to regain his composure before requesting:

"Lets never go there again, shall we?"

"I won't if you don't." She promised before frowning intending to get to the point. "As you've probably guessed, I disapprove of your current course of action."

"Yeah well, it's too late now." He let out a sigh, choosing to adjust the bandages wrapped around his knuckles, tightening them.

"I think you underestimate the power of the apology." Nathalie replied continuing to fix him, daring the young man to look her in the eye. "At least say that you'll think about it."

His silence lingered. She needed his word. Given how important that had become to him along with always telling the truth, Nathalie would be able to rest easily if she knew that he would at least contemplating contacting his friends. She knew the young man too well to think that he might have been being vindictive. She could understand his reasoning and therefore knew that it would be somewhat complicated to convince him to rethink the stance that he had decided to adopt. He was unfortunately certain that his actions were in his friends' best interests. Selfless as it was, she intended to do what she could to change things around here. As such, she ensured that she stood there, a stern look on her face, ready to wait the whole day if it would mean getting a response from him.

"Okay..." He let out in a defeated sigh, lowering his head.

"Thank you."

"Is that all?" The young man asked, raising his eyebrow.

"No." She shook her head. "Neither the leak in the bathroom upstairs which means we have no hot water nor the matter of your public image have gone away since the last time that you said you'd deal with them later."

"Ah." His discontented grumble was almost comical in its reluctance.

"Yes. I know it's not something you want to face but you're running out of time. I'm already spending half my day trying to stamp out the rumours that you're back in town. That's time I couldn't be using to sort out your company! Sooner or later, some member of the press is going to get a lucky snap and all hell is going to break lose."

She let some of her irritation show, after a little over two months of the young man's company, the novelty was slowly beginning to wear off. She had some grievances which she would never have dreamed of bringing to his parents' attention had they been the ones employing her at the moment. Unlike Adrien, she had been dealing with this sort of thing for most of her life. It was her profession, she knew when it would end badly. Gabriel had been able to pull off a life of isolation, it added to his persona of mystery which so fascinated the press. That was before the mask had come off, as had that of his wife. Their son couldn't play the same game, not without the risk of having all of Paris at his back.

He let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, already fed up to the back teeth with the subject. Adrien wanted a life of peace and tranquillity. She knew that he was going to have to fight for it.

"So what do I do?"

"The way I see it, we have three options: hide, run or fight. You can stay cooped up in here and hope that the press eventually get bored but I wouldn't count on that, at least not for a good few months. You could just call it quits and head back to Tibet or alternatively, you could face the outside world and show them who you really are."

He was silent, chewing her words over thoughtfully. She made no attempt to interrupt, preferring to finish off what little remained of her drink before it was cold. It was still early enough for her to be relatively relaxed about her work schedule. Adrien would resume his daily routine with the same enthusiasm and commitment. Until then, there was enough time to think. One way or another, they were going to have to come up with some manner of a strategy. The young man scratched at his chin for a few moments. Next to him, Plagg contemplated his partner with genuine interest, eager to see just where all of this was going. His gaze flicked back towards her, green orbs brighter, sparkling with interest:

"And just how would I do that?"

For the first time, Nathalie dared to smile. A knowing smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth, a sure sign that she did indeed have a plan.

/

A.N.: Thanks for the reviews.