I warned you this one would be kind of hit and miss with posting. Still though, I am sorry It's taken this long. As I mentioned in Miraculous Question, I've got some big stuff coming up and it's been taking up a lot of my time. Hopefully I can tell you about it in the next week or two (I'll try to see if I can get another chapter out in that time).

I do not own anything Miraculous Ladybug.

Gabriel paced in front of the door. It was evening now, and he knew his son was in there; they'd used his card to pay for the room. Three days had passed since the incident. He had found them almost as soon as he'd realized they were gone, but had told himself he was waiting for them to calm down. He berated himself for feeling as nervous as he did. The wrongdoing was not on him, he was not at fault. He had simply been following a lead and the unfortunate incident had been a misunderstanding and an accident.

Of course, if the girl had just given him the earrings when he asked in the first place, none of this would have happened. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves and knocked on the door. There was a rustling noise, then the metallic slide of a lock coming out, and finally he was face to face with his son once more.

Adrien's eyes hardened and his mouth opened in a silent snarl. He looked like an angry cat. Gabriel imagined his stance must be defensive, but could only guess since only Adrien's head was poking past the door.

"What are you doing here?" he spat, and in all his years he had never seen his son look at him with such venom. He'd seen disappointment and sadness aplenty, but never such hatred. He hadn't even known his son was capable of being so angry.

"I've come to speak with Ms. Dupain-Cheng, and tell you to come home before you cause a scene," Gabriel said, mentally shaking off his disconcertion at his son's stare.

Adrien glanced back into the hotel room and Gabriel became aware of the sound of running water, which was cut off when Adrien stepped out into the hallway and shut the door quietly behind him. "Marinette's not available right now and even if she was, I'm not sure I would let you see her right now."

Gabriel frowned. "Really Adrien, this is all just a misunderstanding. If you would simply come home and let me explain, you would both understand."

His son snorted, a habit he must have learned from public school, because he certainly never taught him to make such a crude noise. "I think I understand just fine."

"I highly doubt that," Gabriel snapped.

Adrien grit his teeth and opened his mouth to say something, but the soft click of the door opening drew both their attentions. Marinette stepped out, hair still damp from the shower, but at least wearing clothes instead of a bathrobe. Her hair was slicked back behind her shoulders, giving him full view of her red, swollen ears. He felt a small twinge of guilt at that, but quickly shook it off. "Adrien, who are you talking- Oh."

Instead of cowering as he'd expected her to, her gaze hardened and she stepped in front of Adrien as if he was the one that needed protecting. No wonder he'd thought she was Ladybug. There was also something about her blue eyes, so similar to his own wife's, staring at him in judgment that was extremely off putting. It left him momentarily speechless.

Marinette did not have that problem. She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Unless the next words out of your mouth are an apology, I suggest you walk away now."

Gabriel pulled a small black box out of his pocket and held it out to her. "I believe these are yours."

Marinette opened the box to reveal her earrings inside. She didn't thank Gabriel for returning them, simply stared at the contents of the box before snapping it closed and shoving it into her pocket.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?" Gabriel asked back.

"Why did you take them? My earrings," Marinette elaborated.

While he had been expecting the question, he hadn't been expecting it to come so directly and especially not from mild-mannered Marinette. "They looked like a pair of earrings that I gave my wife when we were first dating. I will admit that since her disappearance I have become rather sensitive and overprotective of anything that reminds me of her."

He watched Adrien carefully to see how he took the information. Normally, any mention of his mother was enough to placate him. He didn't even seem to be listening to Gabriel! His entire attention was focused on Marinette. He was reading her to see how he should react next, regardless of what was being said. Gabriel realized that the only way he was going to reach him now was through Marinette, who was frowning at him with her hands crossed over her chest.

"You thought I stole your wife's earrings?"

"Well, you have a track record of taking things that aren't yours."

Marinette scowled. "I picked up a book that had been left behind. I didn't rip it out of Adrien's hands."

"You didn't even steal it, Lila did. You just rescued it from the trash," Adrien added, speaking up for the first time since Marinette joined the conversation.

Marinette blushed and stared up at him wide-eyed. "You knew?"

Adrien shrugged. "Once we started dating, it wasn't hard to figure out. Ti- Alya mentioned you ranting about it."

Gabriel coughed to bring the attention back to him. "Regardless, based on the knowledge I had, it wasn't an illogical conclusion. I see now that the situation is not what it appeared to be. Since we are now all aware of the misunderstanding, it's high time we put a stop to all of this ridiculousness. Adrien come home. You two are going to cause a scene that will end up in the tabloids if you don't stop this."

Marinette's hands unwound from her chest and one reached back to find his son's. "I don't think we're the ones with something to lose if this ends up in the tabloids."

If they went public with this misunderstanding, it could ruin him. Catching Ladybug and Chat Noir would be so much harder on the run. Though the public chaos would likely create many fine akumas. Speaking of- how the hell was this girl so in control of herself? After what had happened to her, he'd been hoping to at least akuma-fy her to cover collateral damage, but she hadn't pinged on his emotion radar even once! How?!

He cleared his throat. "I'm sure we can all come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. I remember that you have an interest in fashion. I can arrange for you to-"

"Are you trying to bribe me?"

Gabriel stepped back like she'd slapped him. Her eyes burned into his and the hand that wasn't grasping his son's was balled into a fist. "All I'm saying is that I'm sure there's something you want enough to make this all go away. Everyone leaves happy."

Her lip pulled back in a silent snarl much like the one Adrien had just given him, her blue eyes, so very like his wife's, were full of disdain. "That's not how this works. You don't get to just throw your money and influence at me and I stay silent. I refuse to let you bully me. You may have started this fight, but I'm going to be the one to end it. I suggest you leave right now before I make one of those scenes you're so desperately trying to avoid. If we want to talk to you, we will let you know- if and when we're ready. Good day, Mr. Agreste!"

No one had been so dismissive to him in years! His son gave no verbal acknowledgement to him as he turned to get the door. Gabriel was struck with the realization that this girl really could bring an end to all of his hard work. Especially if she went to the media with her story. He could lose Adrien forever. If she chose to press charges, she could set back his plans by years!

Panic pushed him to open his mouth one last time. "If you tell anyone, it'll be my word against two teenagers."

Adrien froze at the open door and this time he really did snarl. "Are you threatening us?"

Marinette turned to face him one last time and gave him a calculated gaze. Gabriel felt like she was reading him and all the possible outcomes of the situation. She raised her hand to calm Adrien before she spoke. Her words were deliberate and she looked at him with the same disgust Adrien had. "Mr. Agreste, the only time I would consider going public with what happened was if the stress Adrien was going through became greater than the media circus he would go through if I talked. I suggest that you leave us alone, Mr. Agreste."

With that she took the final step into the hotel room, Adrien right behind her as he let the door slam shut. Gabriel stood alone in the hallway, taking deep, steadying breaths. This was not how this encounter was supposed to go. This defeat was the bitterest pill to swallow. Unlike his encounters with Ladybug and Chat Noir, he couldn't just get up and try again. He couldn't even fight, Marinette's threat had made that very clear. All he could do was wait and hope his son came back. He let out a low growl and threw a fist at the wall before he forced himself to calm down and head out, chalking this up as one more thing he would just add to his fix-it list once he got Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses.

I'm thinking of using a non-canon Queen Bee later on in the story? Any objections? Or should I go for a Chloe Redemtion Arch? I'm also trying to think how much I want to keep canon in general, because I started writing this before we knew who Mayura was. If anyone has feedback, I'll take it into consideration since I'm still figuring this one out. I've got a vaugue idea, but it could definitely use more.

Hope you're all well!