Chapter 7
It was early Friday morning when Marinette slipped out of the bakery with a giant armful of treats in a box. She wondered if they all would make it to the courthouse intact, and consciously slowed her steps so she wouldn't trip. Tikki rested in her purse with a couple of cookies. Half a dozen more lay in the box. The kwami had buzzed around her room all night, chirping and squealing her praise at Marinette. The girl had only giggled at the red sprite's joy. Or was it because of Marinette's joy?
Not for the first time, she wondered if Tikki fed off her emotions. The little kwami could cheer Marinette up when she was feeling lonely, sad, or uncertain, but Marinette's own joy often propelled the kwami into utter bliss.
Or maybe it was the fresh chocolate chip cookies she and her father had made that morning.
Either way, Marinette was in high spirits when she met Alya outside of the courthouse. The blogger's eyes lit up at the sight of the pastry box.
"Ooh, girl, do you have any pain au chocolat?"
Marinette opened the lid and Alya dug into the selections with a gleeful cry. As she munched on her preferred treat, Nino arrived and snagged his own breakfast item. The three of them sat along the steps eating in comfortable quiet, watching the people move around them.
"Did Sabrina hand over the video in time?" Marinette asked at last.
Nino and Alya shrugged. "I certainly hope so," Alya replied. They looked around for the two girls. "I wonder where they are."
Marinette checked her phone. "It's almost time to head inside. We don't want to be late."
The three stood up and brushed themselves off. Marinette closed the lid of the pastry box with a forlorn look. "I brought some for Chloé and Sabrina, but I don't think they allow food inside the building."
Nino reached over, opened the lid again and grabbed two more pastries, stuffing one into his mouth.
Alya and Marinette gaped at him. "What?" he protested after a moment, gulping his mouthful down. "It's a travesty to see such delicious pastries go to waste."
Alya grinned. "He's right, girl," she said, reaching over and snagging another pain au chocolat. Marinette didn't even try to stop her.
"Hurry up," Marinette admonished. Her two friends finished quickly and brushed their hands together as they headed up the stairs. "Can someone text Chloé and ask her where she is?" she asked, glancing to her side.
"I can, my hands are cleaner," Alya said, pulling out her phone. She looked up. "Marinette, watch out!"
"Eep!" Marinette released a squeak as she nearly barreled into a man coming around the corner. Her pastry box flew up out of her hands. With a gasp, she darted forward at lighting speed to grab it. Her hands over-extended and threw her off balance. "Whoa!" Making a split-second decision, she ignored the bakery food soaring in the air and scrambled backwards to stop herself from toppling down the stairs and sustaining serious injury. After a few impossible feats of acrobatics, she finally stabilized herself. She looked up to discover the box resting safely in the hands of Mr. Agreste. Nathalie stood beside him and both stared at her with a mixture of awe and concern.
"M-Mr. Agreste!" Marinette sputtered out, her face burning with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized.
"It's quite all right," he assured her. He handed the box over. "Aren't you all supposed to be in class?"
Alya nodded. "Mayor Bourgeois gave us excuses so we could be here for Adrien," she explained.
The designer's eyes drifted over the three of them. "Hmm," he said. Marinette couldn't decipher his expression, so she did what she always did when facing uncertainty with an armful of food.
"Would you like a pastry, Mr. Agreste?" Marinette opened the box and offered it to him. He blinked in surprise. "I baked a bunch of them fresh this morning since I couldn't sleep, but the others are late and they won't allow food inside. I'll just have to throw them all away."
He reached in and selected one, thanking her as he did. Marinette passed the box over to Nathalie, who gave her a thin smile and a murmured thanks before picking out a cookie.
"Since you are here now," Mr. Agreste began as he took a bite of his danish. He pulled it away and eyed it with surprised delight before continuing with his sentence, "I thought I should tell you that the judge has not changed for Adrien's case."
"What?" Marinette sputtered. "But my video—ow!"
Alya dug her elbow into Marinette's side. She cut off with a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of her head.
"What video?" Mr. Agreste asked.
"It's nothing," Marinette mumbled. "Forget I said anything."
With another searching look at Marinette, Mr. Agreste nodded and let the subject drop. He continued into the courthouse with Nathalie trailing behind him. Once he was out of sight, Marinette slumped against Alya.
"Phew, that was almost bad," she exclaimed.
"No kidding, girl. You can't keep blabbing about your video to everybody you come across," Alya chided.
"What? No, I mean I almost hit Gabriel Agreste in the face with my pastries!" Marinette threw back her head dramatically. She covered her eyes with one arm. "Can you imagine? What if the custard pie had smacked him in the face? Then it would have gotten in his perfectly styled hair and dripped onto his super expensive suit that's probably worth more than my parents' entire bakery."
"That would be a sight," Nino murmured, his eyes glazed over as he imagined the scene.
"No!" shrieked Marinette. "That would mean he wouldn't have been able to show up in court because he'll be wearing a ruined suit and Adrien wouldn't have anyone to defend him and then the judge will rule against Mr. Agreste and I'll never see Adrien ever again and Mr. Agreste will blame me for it and it will be all my fault!" She ended with a wail and buried her face into Alya's shoulder.
Alya fought back a grin as she watched the rambling girl with amusement. "Then it's a good thing that didn't happen."
Marinette perked up. "You're right."
"We're going to be late," Nino reminded them.
"Ack!"
Alya laughed. "Let's go, girl. And maybe next time just to be safe, don't include any cherry danishes." With a wink, she headed up the steps with Nino. After a second, Marinette chuckled and followed after them.
They located the correct room and found an empty bench, sliding in and leaving some space for Chloé and Sabrina. They spotted Adrien off to one side, sitting between two older people. His grandparents, Marinette assumed, but her friend kept his eyes forward and didn't look around.
Marinette kept glancing behind her, trying to look for any hint of their other two classmates. Mr. Agreste and Nathalie entered and took a seat behind them, which prompted Marinette to face forward. She didn't want to appear impolite in front of her role model. Alya tapped on her phone.
"Where is she?" she mumbled under her breath.
Marinette slumped against the bench. "I knew I should have gone out again last night. The one video wasn't enough. I could have gotten more evidence."
"No!"
The harsh hiss coming from her friend surprised her. "Alya?"
"Don't you ever do anything like that ever again, you hear me?" Alya had gone into full mother-hen mode. Marinette looked to Nino for help. He raised his hands and sat back, clearly not going to come in between the two girls.
Marinette rolled her eyes. "Coward," she hissed across Alya to the DJ. He smirked at her. She turned back to Alya. "And I'm not listening to a single thing you say, Miss 'I run towards rampaging akumas'."
"That is different," Alya whispered back. Both girls tried to keep their voices low.
"How is that different?" Marinette challenged.
"It was way more dangerous. You could have gotten hurt."
"So can you."
"It's different!"
"Why?"
"Because Ladybug's powers restore everything back to normal," Alya exclaimed, louder than she wanted. She gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth as a couple of people turned to look at them. "Sorry," she said. She waited until no one was paying them any attention anymore and turned back to her friend. "You could have gotten killed, Marinette."
"Puh-lease," Marinette drawled, folding her arms with a pout. She was getting tired of her friend going off on her when the very girl ignored all of her attempts to keep her safe during akuma attacks. "I was perfectly safe. I was hiding."
"In a duct."
"Exactly." Marinette turned and glared at Alya. "I was hidden out of sight. Perfectly safe, which is more than I can say for anything you do."
"How did you even sneak into that place anyway? It was guarded."
"Well, I climbed... wait a minute, how did you know it was guarded?" Marinette turned a steely eye to Alya, whose angry expression melted into a guilty one instantly. "Alya?"
"I... may have gone back to check the place out last night after meeting up with Chloé," Alya admitted.
"Alya!"
"Shhh, I didn't go in. I only biked by to see what was so special about it. There was a guard outside. I just rode right past without stopping."
Marinette stared at her friend for a long time before pointing a finger at her. "Not another word, ever again. You are way more reckless than I ever will be."
"Seriously, girl, how did you get in? The place seemed pretty well fortified."
Marinette chuckled. "I guess I'm just very good at slipping into places with extremely tight security." She winked.
Before Alya could answer back, Chloé appeared beside them. "Sorry we're late," she said. Behind her, Sabrina slipped into an empty bench.
The three looked up at her arrival. "What's going on?" Alya asked. "Court should have started fifteen minutes ago." With a start, Marinette realized she was right. She scooted over to make room for the blonde, but Chloé waved her hand.
Chloé smirked. "You'll see. I can't say more. You'll find out soon enough. We're not going to sit with you, because we probably shouldn't look like a group."
She headed back over to the other side of the courtroom and sat beside Sabrina.
"Oh no she doesn't," Alya mumbled under her breath, whipping out her cell phone and tapping on it furiously. She looked over at Chloé as the blonde reached for her phone, read the message, and looked up at Alya. Chloé shook her head and put the phone back in her purse. "Ugh!" Alya exclaimed in frustration.
"Shh, it looks like something's happening," Nino said.
Indeed the side doors opened and an imposing man dressed in black robes walked into the courtroom. "That's not Judge Corrompu," Marinette whispered to the other two as they stood. Marinette turned and shared a conspiratorial smirk with Chloé, who smiled triumphantly. As she turned back to talk to Alya, she caught Mr. Agreste staring at her, alternating his gaze between the two girls. He looked confused, yet calculating – as if he knew they were responsible for this strange man walking in but had yet to connected the dots entirely. Did he overhear us earlier? Marinette wondered, biting her lip.
She snapped out of her worries about Mr. Agreste as the robed man walked over and sat in the judge's chair. As he settled in, the rest of the courtroom followed his cue and took their own seats. He rapped his gavel and declared, "Court is now in session." The judge pulled out a pair of glasses and studied the notes in front of him for a few moments. Then, he looked up at the crowd and addressed them. "All parties convening today for their cases, please stand." Several people around them rose. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, court cases assigned to Judge Malin Corrompu have been reassigned." A low murmur spread through the crowd.
The judge frowned in annoyance as he banged his gavel with a sharp rap. "Order." The people quieted. "All court cases are reassigned and rescheduled to next week. Any affected party shall be notified of their new date and time. Court is adjourned." With another rap of the gavel, he dismissed them.
Alya turned to Marinette with a squeal. "We did it!" the blogger all but shrieked in her ear and flung her arms around her friend's neck.
"It's not over yet," Marinette reminded her. "We just got the judge removed. Maybe now we'll have a decent chance at winning."
"Don't be so negative. Just enjoy the fact that we did it!"
Despite herself, Marinette allowed a tiny grin to form. "Yeah," she agreed. "You're right. We did it." She held up a fist on instinct, ready to do her victory cry with Alya.
A heavy hand clamped down upon her shoulder and she jumped. She turned to find Mr. Agreste peering at her, his blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I believe I am quite interested in hearing exactly how you all," his intense gaze drifting from the three of them over to Chloé and Sabrina before snapping back and locking into Marinette's, "did whatever it is you did."
Marinette gulped. She got the sudden feeling she was in very big trouble. "W-we just did some research," she explained. Beside her, Alya nodded frantically in agreement.
"Hmm... and what of this video you mentioned outside the courthouse?"
Crap. She was hoping he wouldn't bring that up again. She flashed a look of panic at Alya, who returned it with equal wide-eyed panic. Great. No help there.
"Uhm..." her brain scrambled to find a reasonable (and safe) explanation.
Mr. Agreste straightened. "Be at my house after school. No excuses." He released Marinette's shoulder and swept past them, aiming for Adrien. He was intercepted by the old man who was sitting beside Adrien, solidifying her suspicion about his relationship to Adrien. The two elder men exchanged words in a low voice before Mr. Agreste – casting one long forlorn look at his son that caused Marinette's heart to clench – turned and stomped away, effectively rebuked from speaking with Adrien. The blond followed his father's departure with sad eyes. His gaze caught hers and she flushed and looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring at her crush. When she dared to glance back, she discovered him smiling at her. It was a tiny smile, but a pure one. He looked at Alya, Nino, Sabrina and Chloé with equal joy, the happiness of seeing his friends supporting him conveyed in a slight upturn of his lips and shining eyes.
Her heart swelled. She wished she could talk to him and offer some reassurances but his grandfather ushered him out one of the side doors. Adrien smiled and waggled his fingers at her – at her – as he left the room. She nearly swooned into Alya's arms.
"I guess we go back to school now," Nino said, breaking her out of her fantasy.
"And try to think of a suitable lie in the meantime," Alya added.
Marinette trailed after them in silence. Somehow, she didn't think she would be able to trick the intelligent designer with a lie. Great. She probably would have to tell him the truth. Which meant he would disapprove of her because of her recklessness. And there goes any chance of friendship with Adrien.
Gabriel sat at his desk, deep in thought as he mulled over that morning's events in his mind. He thought he had a decent case – akuma victims had never been held accountable for their actions nor the city for any undue distress before Ladybug's cure restored everything. The crux of his argument lay upon that one fact.
But his research into the judge frightened him. He was certain Hermine had him under his influence. Yet those kids sounded so confident when they declared they would handle the judge. He hadn't believed them – not really – but their enthusiasm was contagious and he couldn't help but feel reinvigorated. Their confidence fueled him into the night and well into the early morning hours as he poured over his notes, desperate to build a case for Adrien. He couldn't leave such important things to his lawyers, even though he knew they were also preparing a defense for him.
When he heard the name of the judge that morning on his way to the courthouse, his heart had sank. He didn't know why exactly, but something in him had held out hope that those kids would succeed. He hadn't realized just how much he had hoped until it was dashed.
It was pure luck he sat behind those same teenagers in court. At first, he hadn't paid much attention to them chattering until something caught his interest and he focused upon their conversation. The resulting dialogue stunned him into silence, more so when he spotted the clumsy girl – Marinette – swapping a devious grin with the mayor's daughter. Then, the impossible happened.
The judge was dismissed.
He couldn't believe it. The kids had succeeded! As they celebrated, he realized he had to know what occurred. When they first proposed their plan, he assumed they would end up "persuading" the mayor to interfere and reassign the judge. That is, until he caught a few words of their hushed discussion. Words like "video," "killed," and "dangerous."
What was going on?
He spent the remainder of the afternoon attempting to search online for a video related to the judge, but couldn't find any. He would just have to ask them directly.
He put a finger to his lips. Hmm, not all of them. Just the one. She appeared to be the root of the problem. If he could question her alone, he might get an honest answer from her if she wasn't surrounded by her friends.
After a few hours, a familiar buzzing cut through his concentration – or rather the lack thereof, he thought as he stared at his blank sketchpad – and Nathalie was informing him of the arrival of the group of students. He stepped out to meet them.
"Actually," he said, "I wish to speak with only one of you." He zeroed in on the girl who had upended her pastry box at him that morning, his eyes targeting her like lasers. She gulped. "I believe you were the one who has taken charge of speaking to me?" he said, grateful he remembered that little detail from previous meetings. She nodded and cast a wary glance to her friends. "They can wait in the dining room. Nathalie, please see to it that refreshments are served."
His assistant inclined her head once and shepherded the others into the dining room, leaving Marinette staring up at him with a small amount of confusion and a large amount of apprehension.
"This way, please, Miss Marinette."
She jolted at the use of her name and stepped ahead as indicated by his outstretched arm. He closed the door behind them and stepped past her to go to his desk. He sat and motioned for her to do the same. "Tell me about this mysterious video," he began, not bothering with pleasantries.
She blanched and fiddled with her purse. "I... cannot," she said at last.
"Cannot? Or will not?"
She shrugged. "Both? Why does it matter?"
"Do your parents know about it?" She flinched. Score. He pressed his advantage. "I could call them."
"I would rather have them angry at me than you forbid me from being friends with Adrien," she said, her soft voice startling him as she once again clutched the straps of her purse.
He blinked. Where would she get a notion like that? He frowned. "I won't forbid you from seeing Adrien," he said. She looked up. "But I would like to see that video."
She bit her lip and contemplated his words. Separating her from her friends was a good move. She would probably have sought advice from them. Now, she was alone and had to think for herself. He wondered if she had that strong backbone he had seen in previous visits or if it only appeared when in the presence of her friends.
She met his eyes and he instantly took back every negative thought he just had. He had to refrain from withdrawing from the intensity in them. She stood and extracted her phone, flicking at it a few times. "You promised," she said at last, meeting his eyes and holding her mobile out but not surrendering it just yet. Nerves of steel on this one, he thought in approval.
He nodded. "I did." Her fingers relaxed and the device dropped into his hands. "How did you acquire this video?" he asked as he fiddled with the cords.
She shifted. "I uhm... sneaked in and filmed it on my phone," she said in her shy, quiet voice.
Gabriel paused and looked at her. "You filmed this yourself?"
"Yes?" She appeared to shrink in on herself, uncertain of his reaction. He frowned, now more eager than ever to see this mysterious footage. What could cause her to act so wary of his response? He plugged the phone into his monitor and flipped it around so he could gauge her reaction when watching it. He clicked a button and the video began.
He wasn't certain exactly what he was expecting when he thought of the video. Maybe some grainy amateur footage of the judge vanishing into a seedy motel with a woman hanging off his arm. Her friend was the blogger with the professional-level videos. This girl had none of that experience. He barely refrained from gasping when the video displayed the casino, payoff, and crystal clear conversations captured with a steady hand. He risked a glance at Marinette and noticed the quirking of her lips into a proud smile as she watched the results of her work displayed on the monitor. Wow. She didn't look the least bit remorseful. He was loathe to admit, but he was thoroughly flabbergasted with her.
He cleared his throat as the video ended, remembering that he probably shouldn't act too impressed. After all, he was an adult. She was a teenager who risked her life for this footage (and here he actually agreed with her reckless blogger friend).
He met her eyes again as the screen faded to black and from her knowing smirk knew he was caught. He gave up and returned her grin, albeit a bit sheepishly. "That was quite... astounding," he conceded.
"Thank you," she replied, the pride evident in her voice as she hastened to explain further. "Sabrina knew a few trustworthy officers on the force and was able to slip my video to them. Alya had been researching into the judge and discovered a money trail. That plus this video opened up a huge extortion scandal. I had thought it would have been resolved before the trial, but Chloé explained that it had taken longer to investigate and prepare their case. They ended up intercepting the judge while in his chambers. It was close, but we prevailed in the end."
"That you did," he murmured. He frowned at her. "But it was incredibly dangerous," he admonished.
She lowered her head, looking contrite. "I won't do it again," she promised in a meek tone that jarred with her previous self-confidence.
Gabriel had a sudden peculiar urge to question that particular statement – his shrewd businessman mind seizing upon the potential loophole. Of course she wasn't going to do it again. After all, that particular judge and hotel were now off limits. That didn't mean she wouldn't pull a similarly dangerous stunt in the future. He sighed. He had to stop thinking like that. She didn't mean anything by that. It's not like she would purposefully use language like that to carve loopholes into their verbal agreement... right?
The grin faded from her face as the worried concern reappeared. She clenched her fists and looked up at him. "You're not going to give up on Adrien, are you?" she asked in a voice as tiny as her body.
He shook his head. "I had a defense planned," he assured her.
"So did Alya," she said. "Did you know that Adrien is old enough to decide for himself where he wants to live?" His expression must have confirmed his confusion, because she gave him a gentle smile. "I thought not. It was something Nino uncovered while we were looking into the judge. He also found out that you never actually received a summons in the first place. Even though the judge signed off that you had, Nino didn't find any proof in the file on Adrien's case. That means Adrien never should have been taken away from you because you didn't ignore a court order. You can use that as part of your defense with the new judge."
Nino. That abrasive boy who called himself Adrien's best friend. Maybe the kid wasn't as bad as he previously thought.
And why did his lawyers fail to uncover this issue with the summons? He would have stern words with them if they missed vital information that mere teenagers discovered.
Marinette continued, oblivious to his inner thoughts. "He said that a fair judge would have required proof of the summons before issuing the decree to have Adrien removed from your home. He also said that a fair judge would ask Adrien who he wants to live with. Before, you weren't going to get an unbiased judge, but now that he's gone, Chloé said that her father can make sure that you get one of the judges who isn't influenced by Adrien's grandfather."
Ask Adrien.
Well, that was the one question he feared the answer to above all others. What if his son didn't pick him? What if Adrien didn't want to come back home? He didn't know if he could handle the rejection like that.
He swallowed hard against the lump forming in his throat.
Was it really fair of him to place his own selfish needs above Adrien's?
What if Adrien really was happier with his grandparents?
If it would make him happy... Gabriel knew he would concede to his son's decision. He realized after the first visit with his son that while he might fear the final outcome of the trial, Adrien's happiness superseded his own. If that's really what his son wanted, he wouldn't fight it anymore, no matter how painful it might be for him to accept.
Marinette still rambled on, and goodness that girl could babble about nothing in particular. "So you don't have to worry at all because I know that Adrien misses being home and he would totally, one hundred percent, pick you."
He didn't know why, but that warm innocent optimism cheered him.
"Thank you, Miss Marinette. I believe that will be all for today." He stood to escort her out of the room.
"You're not going to tell my parents I snuck into a hotel and secretly filmed illegal activity, are you?" She looked up at him with worried eyes.
He shook his head again, now with faint regret that he agreed to her terms before knowing the entire story. "I gave my word," he told her. "But don't pull another dangerous stunt like that again."
There it was again, that amused glint in her eyes, like she was privy to some secret he didn't know.
"I'll be careful in the future, Mr. Agreste," she promised, her hand brushing against her pink purse.
He led her over to her friends, and it was only after the group of them left that he realized that Marinette never actually promised to not do anything dangerous again, just that she would be careful. He groaned and wondered if she was really that canny or if he was just overthinking things.
He sincerely hoped it was the latter.
Author's Note: Thanks again everyone for your continued support! Only one chapter remains, posted on the last day of the year :)
A special congratulations to KaliAnn who asked me in a PM waaaay back in Chapter 2 why Adrien didn't get a choice in the matter of who he wanted to live with. I promptly ignored that question, but it was certainly a very good one to ask ;)
The corrupt judge wouldn't have bothered to ask Adrien, just like he didn't bother to follow due process in removing Adrien in the first place. Now, they might have a chance!