Chapter 19: Feathered Nonsense

A/N: Reminder that I haven't seen the second half of S2 and therefore haven't seen Mayura, so these are all my own headcanons about the Peacock Miraculous, and I forgot how season 2 started. (also jfc we're already into S3 I'm so behind on this show)

Adrien was avoiding his father.

It wasn't hard to do, after their uncomfortable "talk" (if it could be called that) and a brief reacclimation time of not even half a day following, his father threw himself into his work. This familiar ghost of his father that would jump from one studio to the next and to office after office was welcome, even if it reminded him too much of how his father was immediately following his mother's passing.

Adrien had been at odds with himself for much of that time, desperately wanting to ask what had happened to his mother as the mystery of her death apparently wasn't so much of a mystery now as it was an elaborate lie crafted by his father, and not wanting to even look at the man, much less interact with him, for sheer disgust and anger at the situation. He tip-toed along the week in a confused haze and tried his best to focus on the abundant distractions around him, which seemed to be the only thing keeping him from falling apart.

School was a welcome normalcy and seeing Chloé again with a look of complete contentedness as she greeted him was both good and confusing to say in the least. She wasn't angry, she wasn't bothered, in fact she seemed quite happy, Adrien hadn't expected that.

"Ladybug explained everything," she said with a wink as she pulled him over to the side, her voice surprisingly low as she took the moment for something actually private, "She told me that I was able to help you two out," Marinette apparently hadn't mention Rena and Carapace, or even Alya and Nino's involvement. So far, they had yet to see any news of the five of them being spotted, which was good for helping keep everything on the down low, as is, they had yet to actually try and discuss what to do next, "And about losing the week for "miraculous secrets"," Chloé looked a bit bothered at that but the smile was still on her face, she was surprisingly understanding, "I'm sure it won't hold me back too much... I'm just," she looked him back in the eye, her own glittering, "I'm glad I was able to help you Adrien, and while I don't know how I helped… I'm glad you let me help you."

Adrien smiled, it reminded him so much of how they acted as kids, more genuine, with less of the walls that Chloé had built around herself. Sure, she only seemed to let them down around him, but the period of her putting up her personification around everyone had lessened now. How silly that he only needed to be stabbed for such a change to occur.

"You really did help, and while Ladybug wasn't too fond of the idea of letting anyone else in on this… I'm glad you were able to help us too, thank you," Adrien smiled at her as she pulled her arm off his shoulder.

"I'm sure I'll be a permanent resident on your team in no time!" She said with another wink before they each headed to their own seats.

I wouldn't be so sure about that, as it was, he wasn't even sure if he and Ladybug would even be needed as a team again. The Healer hadn't mentioned anything about them returning their Miraculous but their whole point of being around was to take on Papillon and his Akumas, sure they took on the occasional "civilian issues" so to say, but for the most part the police could handle those, without them, Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't really have a definite purpose to stay around. They didn't have a definite reason to keep their miraculous. So why keep them?

It was something they ended up discussing after school that day, along with Alya and Nino of course, as they converged at Marinette's house. Adrien didn't take the effort to ask his father if he could go, he didn't have the same overload of activities to manage and his father didn't deserve that kind of asking for permissions, he simply told Nathalie where he would be and let her handle his father.

While Marinette was an articulate amplifier to his worries, Alya and Nino were fantastic and helping them both keep level heads.

"What if he knows that something is going to happen again?" Marinette asked, fingers drumming over her cup of tea as she sat on the floor with them.

"Like what? We took the Miraculous away, there isn't anything else that could cause that damage," Alya supplied.

"We don't know that, as is, we know there are other Miraculous around, who's to say there isn't another corrupted Miraculous out there for us to had to deal with?" Adrien countered, "We don't know that much about the Miraculous."

"That's true, but if there was something else to this, wouldn't the Healer would take it upon himself to warn you?" Alya asked.

"We were thrown into the business of Miraculous without so much as a warning," Marinette deadpanned, Adrien nodded in agreement, "Why would he give us a warning now?"

"Well, we can ask Tikki and Plagg, surely they know something about the Miraculous," Nino said, giving a very pointed look to the two kwamis who sat on Marinette's desk watching over the group clustered on the ground nibbling on their own food and pretending to only be observers of the conversation.

Everyone else turned to look at them, they straightened under the curious gazes and Tikki finally sighed.

"It is best that we stay by your side," she began, "Not for the worry that something will happen… immediately, but for the fact that it would be useful for us to stay with our bonded partners."

"Bonded partner? Is this something like a companionship?" Nino asked.

"That's exactly what it is," Plagg nodded, Nino straightened at the confirmation, "After spending enough time together, we are bonded to you. As such, we work best with you for keeping the balance. Sure, if you truly don't want the miraculous you can return us, this isn't a "until death do us part" situation."

"But we'd rather stay by your sides," Tikki rushed to reemphasize, clearly uncomfortable with the suggestion of being separated.

"Okaaay," Marinette said, dragging out the word to emphasize her unsureness about the situation still, "And, what of this "keeping the balance" thing you mentioned, you seem to imply that something else might occur."

"Something might," Plagg confirmed with a shrug, Tikked bumped into him and gave a pointed glare as the others shared looks of worry.

"The Miraculous are used for a number of reasons, not just fighting each other," she explained, her voice warm and strong to quell any growing panic, "As such, wielders are chosen throughout time to take up the mantle of their Miraculous to take care of things, to keep balance to the world. Adrien and Marinette were chosen to solve a long-term problem, to take care of Papillon and eventually stop the Papillon Miraculous from its continued corruption. Even though that has been taken care of, it's best that we stay by your side to keep balance even if imbalance is not immediately apparent."

They shared another look, Marinette echoing Adrien's own expression of worry, the vague answers weren't exactly the most comforting.

"So," Alya said, breaking the silence, "If something happens, it happens, but it's best that we not think too hard about it."

"Yes," Tikki agreed with a relieved smile, Plagg nodding beside her, "I know you all want to worry, but the immediate threat of Papillon is taken care of, he is-" her eyes flashed to Adrien in a betrayal of her confidence, "No longer a problem."

Adrien curled into himself, picking up on the double meaning of her words, no longer a problem for them. Nino wrapped an arm around his shoulders, sensing his turmoil, Adrien leaned into the welcome touch.

"…Lets, talk about something else, do something else," he needed a distraction, anything, something, to take his mind off of this nonsense for the time being.

There was a murmur of agreement as they reshuffled themselves around Marinette's room and ended up playing a movie on her computer whilst all converged on the floor and partially wrapped in blankets. He half watched what was going on but more focused on the warm feeling of having his loved ones close to him.

Alya, Nino, and Marinette were the only reason he could get through the week, the four of them would meet each day after school and bounce between the three homes, doing homework and helping Adrien feel entirely normal. As Plagg put it in a conversation they had one evening, when Adrien had successfully holed himself up in his bedroom for the night, Alya, Nino, and Marinette were his balance. He refrained from asking more about it, recognizing that Plagg had already grown bored of the conversation and would likely give him vague answers should he try to push the subject, and instead elected to ask Tikki about it for a hopefully more straightforward explanation.

"What does Plagg mean when he says Alya, Nino, and Marinette are my balance?"

"Balance?" Alya asked, halfway through pulling her homework out of her backpack.

Marinette and Nino peeked up from where they were each stirring the tea Marinette had brought up and shared the same questioning look.

"Yes, balance, it was something Plagg had mentioned during one of our conversations, he said that you three are my balance," Adrien glanced over at said kwami who was blissfully holding up his after-school snack cheese -A reward (bribe) for enduring the day and not throwing a fuss- without so much as an acknowledgement to the conversation at hand, Adrien rolled his eyes and turned back to Tikki, "What does that mean?"

"Well," Tikki began, settling herself down on Marinette's desk where what looked like a tiny bed for a hamster, or something equally small, sat perched probably just for her. The four of them watch her closely, interested in what she had to say, "Plagg and I are opposites of each other, creation and destruction, in working together, we balance each other out."

Said Plagg was finished with his cheese all to quickly and flew over to settle by her side in the bed, Adrien observed and mulled over their differences. They weren't clear on a surface level, red was not the opposite of black, Tikki even had black in her look, cats were not the opposite of Ladybugs. But their representations and their personalities were opposites, Tikki was warm and supportive while Plagg was stubborn and cryptic, and as Tikki said their abilities were opposites as well, creation and destruction. As well as luck, now that he thought about it, they were opposites in how they represented luck, Ladybugs being considered good and black cat's being considered bad.

"You and Marinette were each chosen not only for the fact that you work best with each of us, but also that you work best with each other as a counter balance," Tikki continued, Adrien glanced at Marinette, who was watching him with the same interested look. They weren't really opposites of each other, at least not now, sure they were different, both as their civilian selves and as their hero counterpart, Marinette being headstrong and a natural leader, Adrien being submissive and eager to please, Ladybug being serious and Chat being, well… not. Though Tikki had used the word "counter-balance" instead of "opposites".

"The world is full of balances, but no balance stays still and perfect. They fluctuate, becoming imbalanced, wars breakout, couples argue, storms blow by, the natural rhythm of the world is to create a counter balance to keep things together until the next fluctuation occurs, peace treaties are signed, couples make up or split up, the storm ends. After… The event-" Tikki glanced at Adrien as she said it, he sat up straighter, "There was a shift, you two weren't counterbalancing each other so much as you were, emulating each other."

Adrien thought about it, it didn't seem like that, he once again turned to Marinette, who cocked her head much like he subconsciously did as she watched him, probably thinking about the same thing. Did they emulate each other? They still had their distinct differences, in fact Adrien recalled them arguing about returning his ring, they still had different ideals. Though Adrien found himself over-thinking things more, which was something Marinette did, and he was willing to argue more, not dance around the subject to please the other person, which was something Marinette also did. He found himself mulling over his conversation with Nino before, when he asked if the event had affected Adrien psychologically. At the time, it hadn't seemed evidenced to have done anything to drastically different to him, but… sometimes it's hard to remember that you were ever different before, one typically assumed they were always the way they were.

"You became more stressed, Adrien," Plagg supplied.

"So did you, Marinette," Tikki added looking to her, Marinette snorted.

"I'm always stressed," she said.

"Like a stress sham-wow," Alya joked, Marinette snorted again.

"More stressed," Tikki emphasized, "Your relationship needed a counter balance, and as such, you two naturally drifted to Alya and Nino. The four of you balance each other out very well, you work good together."

Adrien found himself smiling at the thought, looking over the other three. Nino grinned back and chuckled.

"Relationship status: Counter balance," he mumbled, the others heard him and all laughed.

"What is our relationship?" Marinette asked, leaning casually on her arm, she looked from one to another to another, her face getting redder and redder with each one of them.

"Well I for one, love you three ding dongs," Alya proudly said, they all grinned at her, "And I would gladly die for all of you."

"Please don't" Adrien and Marinette muttered at the same time while Nino looked Alya dead in the eye and said, "Then perish."

The four of them stopped and giggled again.

"I love you three too," Marinette said once their giggling died down, their grins each grew wider and Adrien and Nino nodded along in their own comments of "Me too."

"Come here, come here!" Alya sang, holding her arms out to all of them, they each shuffled over to her in a messy hug, she gave each of them a kiss on the cheek.

Plagg loudly gagged, causing the four of them to all glance up at him.

"And I thought it couldn't get any worse," he grumbled.

"It always gets worse to you," Tikki commented with a roll on her eyes as she smiled down at them.

"Human romantic emotions are gross," Plagg stuck his tongue out.

"Plagg, your affinity for cheese is gross," Adrien deadpanned, a thought crossed his mind and he smirked, "And you're just going to have to watch as I smooch all of them!"

He did just as promised, taking each of them and giving them a big kiss, of which they each reciprocated eagerly. Plagg's gagging got louder and they all laughed. Things felt better, he felt good. There was an overwhelming happiness Adrien felt at the moment, and he didn't want it to end.

The weekend was when Adrien finally felt ready enough to approach his father. It was a simple maneuver to trap the man who had spent the week avoiding Adrien as much as he had been avoiding him back, find out his schedule from Nathalie, ask her about an open block he has, and trap him in his office for questioning. His father showed his discomfort the only way he knew how to show his discomfort, buy staring blankly at Adrien and hiding his hands, from years of experience, Adrien knew he was wringing them together. Their conversation was going to be a difficult one.

"How did you meet Nooroo? How did you know about the miraculous? Did you corrupt her?" Adrien fired off, looking awkwardly from side to side, before looking his father hard in the eyes, "How did mom die?"

It had been one question burning in the back of his mind since the actual event of her death, labelled as a "mystery" by his father and even the private investigators he eventually hired. The pained way his father's adam's apple bobbed answered the uncomfortable truth that had been dwelling in his thoughts since Nooroo's reveal, his father knew. He knew what happened to her, he knew how she died. Had he seen it himself?

He wanted to ask the million other questions he had swirling in his head, but waited, patiently, agonizingly, staring hard into his father for some kind of answer to come out. Waiting for an explanation that will likely hurt him, but that he needed to know. Please, answer his question.

"Your…" His father began, his words quiet and lacking emotion, but Adrien could see everything in the slight contortions of his father's face that the topic was a distressing one for him to address. Adrien didn't care, he leaned farther forward, he needed to know, "Your mother was killed by one of Nooroo's akuma."

Adrien felt his chest constrict, killed, murdered, by an akuma. But Nooroo had been so determined to bring his mother back, how could she be the one to have killed her? He wanted to scream, to shout for more explanations. What did that mean? That made no sense!

"…I-I don't understand," was all he managed to wheeze out.

He father took a deep breath, hiding the sigh that came from the exhale with a tilt of his head as he looked down at his hidden hands. He barely licked his lips before finally speaking once again.

"I suppose I should explain, from the beginning?" He breathed out.

Adrien nodded eagerly back and his father sighed once again.

"…Your mother, had a miraculous by inheritance," His father began, Adrien sat up straighter at the newfound information, "It was something used and passed down from your great grandfather, to your grandmother, to her. The peacock, Dutsuu, was used for many reasons and kept in her family for… longer than any miraculous has been kept, and probably would have eventually been passed to you if things had not turned out the way they did."

Adrien's head spun, peacock? A peacock miraculous?! This had never been brought up before, how did a peacock come involved in this situation? He looked pleadingly at his father for further explanation, biting his own tongue for the whole new barrage of questions that one little detail had suddenly brought.

"People didn't know about the miraculous the way that she and her family did, the few of us that are enlightened to their existence have limited information overall unless they are protectors themselves," he looked to the side, a dreamy spark in his eye that Adrien hadn't seen since he was a child, when his father would gaze lovingly at his mother, it was more pained now, the thought of her tainted by her death, but still his father continued, "Your mother knew a lot about the Miraculous, she was born to use and care for them. It was an incredible purpose to have, and she fulfilled it fantastically." He closed his eyes at the thought, letting the idea of an alive Emilie full of purpose settle in their minds.

"As your mother and I became closer, she taught me about the Miraculous, she trusted me with this information," there was a trace of guilt in his father's voice, guilt of having betrayed her trust, and while Adrien felt a little flare of anger at that being the thing his father showed guilt for (as well as the scar on Adrien's abdomen), he couldn't help but realize what his father meant by his "two years" comment. He hadn't known about the miraculous for just the past two years, he had known about them for many, many years perhaps, even before his parents were married. If they had taken all of his father's memories away, he wouldn't even know who Adrien was, he wouldn't know what happened to all of his life, he really would have lost his father, in more ways than one. His father just continued as Adrien stared at him.

"She had been searching for Nooroo, knowing that she had been lost sometime after her corruption. Some years after we were married, she received information that Nooroo might be lost in Tibet, so we went, and we found her," There was a small frown to his father's face, this was the turn to the story, Adrien let knowing dread seep slowly through him, "She was, horribly corrupted, defensive at everything, and most of all, terrified of your mother and I. Your mother was determined to help her though, to fix her corruption, and we worked together to do so, but that's a slow process even when you're not trying to work and raise a child at the same time," Adrien tilted his head, interested that Nooroo had been around during his youth, and that he had never noticed, "Emilie would make champions, good ones, using the papillon miraculous the way it was supposed to be used, but, Nooroo's corruption ran deep, even with Emilie's effort, not all of them were good, many still came out as Akumas. She gave me the Peacock Miraculous to help manage the Akumas until she could relieve them, Dutsuu and I were… functional, together," Adrien nodded along as he listened, overwhelmingly curious as to where this other miraculous was now, and what his father had done with them, but waiting for more to be explained.

"Over the years, Nooroo and your mother became very close, some of Nooroo's corruption had lessened, she adored Emilie," his father paused, Adrien knew what was coming next, "…One of the akuma your mother made was, particularly bad, too difficult for me to contain, too crafty for your mother to handle, and… it killed her," They were quiet again, even though it was the second time in the hour Adrien had been hearing this, somehow this second telling hit him harder, knowing more of everything that he knew, remembering the day he received the news.

It was a normal day, activities, study, his mother and father were both at work, they collaborated, he knew, otherwise his mother was at home most of the time, caring for him or doing her own personal work. Helping Nooroo, he now knew, that must have been her work, he never had a straight answer before. And then the day ended, and it was a catastrophe, his mother was dead, his father was a mess, and there was a slew of police officers and detectives questioning and interrogating everyone. In the end, everything could only be labeled as a mystery, Adrien wondered where Nooroo and Dutsuu were during all that hell, that chaos.

"The akuma was, bad, the only reason I hadn't died too was because the host died shortly before it could really get to me," Adrien stared hard at his father, someone else died too? Adrien vaguely remembered that, there was news of another young man having died the same day under equally mysterious circumstances. But there were over 2 million people in Paris, it could have just been a coincidence. What did his father do with that young man? Adrien couldn't even remember what was said to have happened to the man through the grief of his mother's recent death, perhaps his father was the same.

"Nooroo and I handled the akuma," the butterfly, Adrien reminded himself, "Dutsuu locked himself away in his miraculous, he was bonded to your mother before having to work with me, he was just as distressed at having to see her die… and seeing how Nooroo and I worked together, I think he knew what was going to happen, how she and I we going to fall into madness together, so he hid himself away. Nooroo and I wanted her back, and she promised she knew a way to bring your mother back with the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous," Adrien nodded along, already knowing this, "So we made a few akuma, pulled the other Miraculous out of hiding… I never wanted you to get involved."

Adrien put his hand up, effectively silencing his father, he didn't want to have that part of the conversation with his father again, "If it wasn't me, it was going to be someone else, and considering how bad it was," how far it went, "That doesn't make it okay, what you did wasn't okay, and what Nooroo told you about the Coccinelle and Chat Miraculous being able to bring someone back from the dead was false- And before you try to blame it on what they said," Adrien was still furious at that comment from his father, "Consider that Nooroo was corrupted, and her judgement was horribly skewed for the situation at hand."

His father was quiet but nodded along, not quite looking at Adrien as he bore his eyes into the man before him, trying to determine what he might do or say next.

"What you and Nooroo did was wrong," Adrien said, he waits for his father's reaction, to refute it, to try and justify himself.

He turned to the side, there's a twitch in his eye, like he's fighting with himself, and pain, a painful realization.

"You're right," his father whispered, Adrien almost didn't hear it despite his concentration. He slowly turned to face Adrien, grey eyes meeting his, asking for forgiveness, but Adrien is unwilling to give it. Admittance, is just one step, it's just the beginning, there's more work for his father to do.

"You need help," Adrien said, his father's silent pleading fell in a moment and he raised an eyebrow in question, "A therapist," His father's expression quickly fell to the same blank stare, familiar, blank, quite possibly bored with the conversation, but unmoving from where he sat, "You need to see a therapist."

Technically Adrien should see a therapist as well, he should have seen one after his mother died to try and help him, but his father put the house on lock down any possible idea of letting anyone else in was thrown out. He should see one now, and so should Marinette, with everything they've been through.

…But…

"And who exactly am I supposed to talk to about this?" His father asked the question that held Adrien down, "Our circumstances are not exactly normal, nor are they allowed to be exposed."

"…The Healer," Adrien finally answered after drumming his fingers over the chair's arm as he thought hard about it, "The Healer should know someone."

His father stared hard at him, seeming to both know and not know who "The Healer" was, Adrien offered no other explanations. His father nodded, "Okay, do that."

Adrien hid his surprise at how agreeable his father was being, it was suspicious to some aspect, but it was good, he needed this, it was the right option. He planned how to go about arranging some kind of meeting, if they were to meet, Adrien would have to arrange for the Healer to come here or for them to both come to a neutral location. He glanced back up to his father, who stared at his desk, seeming to mull over something. What had he thought about over the past week, to become so accommodating, had he truly realized that Adrien was right? Adrien couldn't be so sure anymore.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" His father finally asked, Adrien thought over it, as far as he was aware, his father had answered all of his questions.

Certain there was something he was forgetting, Adrien nodded his head, "Yes," he could ask later if he recalled, he'd force his father into as many uncomfortable conversations as possible, he wasn't allowed to run anymore.

His father bobbed his head in agreement, as if dismissing Adrien, and he was about to leave, but his father spoke again.

"I've thought about this for most of the week," his voice was low, not angry, just nervous, in the only way his father can be nervous. Adrien leaned forward in anticipation, his father took a deep breath, "Come with me."

There was so much in those words, and Adrien's mind couldn't help but scream "danger!" as his father slowly rose from his seat and walked around the desk. His legs betrayed his and he got up to follow after as his father opened the door to his office, he looked surprised, as if he wasn't expecting the door to be unlocked. They walked out and Adrien spotted Nathalie sitting on a couch down the hall, tablet in hand, close enough to listen should anything happen, but casual enough to appear as if she was just working. She turned her head to the two of them, looking at Adrien to ask what to do, what the situation was. Adrien gave a little bob of his head, and she got up to follow, his father, aware of her presence, didn't seem to mind the clack of her heels from a distance.

Down the stairs and around the corner, they entered the gallery, the floor having been repaired from its stuck position and the room having been closed off to everyone for the better part of the week. Adrien had watched the closed doors as he passed them each morning and evening, but never attempted to go back into the room, he didn't want to see it again, to remind himself of what happened in there. It never worked though, he thought, and he thought, and he thought about it. Now they were waltzing right through, going right up to the painting of his mother that hung on the back wall.

His father turned around, and looked at Nathalie standing near the entrance of the room, silently he looked to the window. Adrien was worried he was making her leave, but she simply turned to face the window, not leaving the room, but not facing them directly, not watching what ever his father was about to do. If anything, she could still hear everything that was about to happen, and still intervene if it came to it, but Adrien was still on the defensive. Turning back to face the painting, Adrien watched as his father grabbed the side and opened it, his mouth falling open as the same speed.

There was a safe behind the painting, behind his mother's painting, Adrien never even knew about it. His father typed in a code, obscured by his body, and Adrien watched with even more amazement as the safe opened to reveal a whole treasure trove of items.

His eyes flashed from one item to the next, trying to take in as much as he could see around his father, some trinkets, a pamphlet of Tibet that now make his heart clench with the newfound information, a number of mysterious books, and a framed picture that Adrien had drawn of the three of them together. So many things that had meaning to his mother, Adrien wanted to stare more but his father turned around, his hand closed around something he must have grabbed from within the safe. He gestured for Adrien to put out his hand, and he did so, slowly, worried about what his father might give him.

Cold hands wrapped around Adrien's, his father's hands were always impossibly cold, like a doctor's, and surprisingly calloused for a fashion designer's. That wasn't as important though as the cool metal that touched Adrien's hands.

"The Peacock Miraculous," his father said, "As per your inheritance, do with him what you will. Your mother would have wanted this," his voice was painfully soft as he slipped his hands from Adrien's revealing the colorful peacock brooch in his hand, "I know you'll do the right thing."

A/N: Man I am terrible at writing romance shit and I guarantee you that 90% of what took this chapter so long was my inability to write anything romantic. And if y'all remember back in chapter 4 I said the book thing from Volpina didn't happen (because I forgot about it akdjshgj) and I just wanna remind y'all about that.

ONE. MORE. CHAPTER.