Past

Usually, Chloe loved being the center of attention. The spotlight was where she thrived, where her ego could be fed and nurtured. But sitting cross-legged, back-to-back with Nino in the middle of the lair, under the intense stares of everyone around her, this attention didn't feel like admiration. Instead, it was the kind that made her skin crawl, like she was a zoo animal on display. Like she was doing something wrong.

And considering that her and Nino were the only ones who were still struggling with this particular training session, maybe she was. A little

Su-Han towered over her, his scowl sharper than usual. His patience was clearly running thin.

"Chloe," he barked, his voice laced with irritation. "What are you doing?"

Chloe cracked one eye open, snapping back to the present after drifting off. She'd been in the middle of a particularly vivid daydream—something about a hot tub full of honey—and the abrupt shift back to reality wasn't exactly welcome.

"Huh? Oh," Chloe muttered, sitting up straighter and flipping her ponytail over her shoulder with dramatic flair. "I was having a weird dream about a hot tub full of honey—"

Su-Han's lip curled into a snarl, his patience visibly fraying. "Are my training exercises putting you to sleep, Queen Bee?"

Chloe pouted in response, folding her arms. "Why are you glaring at me? I'm napping just like you said."

Luka raised an eyebrow. "Chloe, you're supposed to be meditating."

"Yeah, napping," Chloe retorted, rolling her eyes.

"No—" Adrien sighed, clearly trying to be patient with her, "It's about clearing your mind of all distractions—"

"Which sounds like napping," Chloe replied, completely unbothered.

Alya, resting her chin on a table as she peered down at her phone, couldn't help but throw in her two cents. "I don't know how she's having so much trouble with this. It's not like there's much going on in there anyway."

"I heard that, Cesaire," Chloe shot back with a glare.

Alya held her thumb up. "Good job. You have basic hearing."

Nino suddenly piped up. "I think I'm getting the hang of this."

Chloe twisted around with an unimpressed gaze, finding Nino had headphones over his ears, blasting music. The astonishing fact wasn't that Nino thought this would help with meditation, it was that it took until now for anyone to notice he was wearing them.

Su-Han immediately snatched the headphones off of Nino's head. Chloe leaned over to peer at the phone in his lap, raising an eyebrow as she read the screen.

"Really?" Chloe deadpanned. "What part of 'blocking out distractions' includes Meatloaf?"

Nino shrugged, unfazed. "Music helps me relax. And if 'I'll Do Anything for Love' doesn't leave you feelin' peaceful, then nothing will."

Adrien rubbed his temples, trying not to lose his cool. "Come on, you two. Focus. Chrysalis could try to akumatize us at any time, and we need to be mentally ready."

"Hey," Chloe shot back, clearly annoyed, "I have a lot going on, okay? What's his excuse?" She pointed accusingly at Nino.

Nino grinned as if it were an accomplishment. "My head's just filled with too much information, I guess."

Chloe gave him a sideways glance. "Yeah, about comic books and… whatever DJs think about."

Nino raised an eyebrow, pretending to be offended. "Dudette, I'm not just a one-track mind, alright? I think about other things. Like… partying… dancing… slasher movies… Oh, and the history of ice cream."

Alya, finally looking over her phone, huffed. "I notice that I'm not included in this thought train."

Nino grinned cheekily, leaning toward her. "Aw, Babe, I don't think about you…" He paused dramatically, his tone softening into something teasing and smooth. "I experience you."

From across the room, Luka snorted, unable to keep from laughing. "Nice save, man."

Nino gave Luka a wink. "Thanks— I mean, totally intended."

Alya's smirk deepened, but her tone remained playful as she crossed her arms. "Now, how about you focus on acing this training so we can get out of here, and you can experience the heck outta me?"

Chloe, wide-eyed and visibly disturbed, looked between the two of them. "...I don't know if she meant that as a euphemism, but I'm uncomfortable."

Alya giggled to herself as she turned away, returning to her idle scrolling. However, a moment passed before Alya's thumb stopped and her brow furrowed. Adrien moved over to her, peeking at the contents of the screen.

"What's the scoop, Alya?" He asked.

"Nothing you should worry about." Alya waved her hand dismissively, "Just some moron throwing crap at you."

Her inner gossip was hungry, so Chloe had already dragged herself over to the table and forced herself into Alya's personal space to lean over the phone, reading it upside-down.

Adrien Agreste: A Villainous Heir to a Hero's Legacy? – Andy Defame

Chloe found herself frowning at being hit with a picture of Marinette after so long. It felt somewhat cursed, like she expected the picture to suddenly come to life like a horror movie and tell her she was disturbing it's rest. The article around the picture, from what little Chloe could see, was claiming that Adrien's 'lack of response' to the sentimonster crisis was suspicious and desecrated his father and Marinette's memory.

Bastard was probably paid off by that Chalot asshole. She thought bitterly. Adrien didn't owe anyone any response, even if he wasn't already Chat Noir. And Marinette's memory didn't deserve to be dragged into this. Was it really so easy for everyone to just turn Ladybug into an accessory? She died, only so the people around her could use her memory to pressure her boyfriend into handing over his fortune to some shady, faceless corporation dressing up like a police force.

"Andy Defame?" Chloe scoffed, "Yeah, that guy's always writing anything that'll get him eyes. I wouldn't care about anything he- Hey!"

Alya's fingers took hold of Chloe's nose mid-sentence, shoving the girl out of her comfort zone with a sigh. "It's just your generic hit piece, nothing to worry about."

He recalled the name belonging to an akuma they battled recently, Secret Keeper or something, who forced everyone to divulge their most embarrassing secrets before being paralyzed by their own shame.

Adrien slid down beside her, sitting on the corner of the table. "He may be an ass, but the fact that he still has a job means enough people are buying what he's selling." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Public perception isn't kind to me at the moment."

Luka frowned, "Refusing to back the city's protectors isn't a good look for a mob of scared, paranoid people."

Chloe spat back, "But they're not the protectors! They're the bad guys."

"Which we don't know yet, nor can tell the public about without exposing ourselves." Max pointed out.

"Geez," Alya sighed, "Remember when we were just kids and our biggest problem was trying to convince Lila to ditch that terrible perfume of hers?"

Adrien squinted, "What about the akuma's constantly terrorizing us?"

Alya shrugged, "Life threatening super villains, I can deal with. My nose being violated by the 'natural' smell of sweltering greenhouse was enough to ruin my day."

Su-Han exhaled sharply and clapped his hands together. "Enough distractions." His booming voice echoed through the room, making everyone, even Chloe, jump a little. He thrusted his finger back towards Chloe's spot, aggressively gesturing for her to return. "If we want any chance of resisting the Butterflies' mental powers, you need to take this seriously!"

The group fell silent, their playful banter fading as the weight of Su-Han's words sank in. The mention of Chrysalis was enough to sober even Chloe, and she shot a glance at Adrien, her usual bravado dimming ever so slightly.

Adrien caught her gaze and nodded slightly, his expression resolute. "He's right. We can't mess around."

Chloe, despite her initial reluctance, sighed and crossed her arms, her lips pressing into a thin line. "Fine, fine. Let's do this. But if I end up dreaming about honey again, I'm blaming all of you."

Present

Gabriel wouldn't say that his old lair was comfortable. It was a dreary old haunt even before it had fallen to ruin, reeking of loss, obsession and suffering. But it was familiar, it was his, a part of him, albeit the darkest part of him. He knew how to navigate it, what to expect from it compared to the resistance base – it was a scar rather than an open wound.

All in all, there was a sense of relief, of freedom, when he used the portal gun to return to the bowels of the mansion for as long as Marinette could keep watch. It was noisy back in the base, both metaphorically and literally. He could hear many whispers through the walls, catching snippets of conversations, usually about him and usually angry. However, he could also feel all those overwhelming emotions running over him like a tidal wave, threatening to drag him down and drown him in them.

The lair was quiet. There wasn't a soul around to disturb his senses, not a trace of intelligent life to gossip about him, there was only him and the grimoire he'd snatched from Max's little safe. It was different from the one he'd had back in the day, but he could tell it was written by the same author. A tome from the Guardian Order itself, a wealth of magical knowledge and secrets just waiting to be untapped.

Child Gabbi would have been ecstatic at the prospect of being a warlock, but Adult Gabriel saw only the bleak necessity of trying to teach himself some Guardian techniques that could help make up for the lack of miraculous.

Running his fingers over the book's spine, Gabriel felt an ominous presence to it, like the book itself was breathing. It brought back unpleasant memories. Salvadore had a tomb like this back in the day, it allowed him to do so many things, most of all, it allowed him to keep Gabriel, Colt and the rest of their secret club in line.

Salvadore was the one with all the power, the one in control of everything – the Supreme being. He introduced Gabriel to the world of magic and miraculous, in all its wonders and its horrors. He'd never talked about the indignities he suffered under that man's thumb, nor all the savagery he'd unleashed on others to gain that man's favour. Not to Emilie, not even to Nathalie.

Only Nooroo and Colt had known the details of that dark history of his life, all the things he had to do just to become worthy of proposing to Emilie, to ensure her safety.

Gabriel found himself instinctually reaching for his throat, the memory of Salvadore's dark magic tugged at a primal fight-or-flight instinct, feeling the ghost of a collar around his neck. Then his hand dropped to his lapel, grabbing for the memory of the butterfly miraculous.

Salvadore had power over him once, but Gabriel broke those chains, he became more powerful, freer than that old man could ever hope to be. Salvadore had no power over him anymore. Nobody would ever have power over Gabriel again.

Gabriel was the master of his own fate, no matter how terrible and monstrous his decisions may have been.

With renewed confidence, Gabriel tore the book open, hungry for the forbidden knowledge within. He could only make rough translations of the texts, but thankfully Nathalie and Su-Han had done him the honour of making their own notes along the borders. Even when she wasn't with him, she was still helping him more than he deserved in her own way.

Nathalie was helping Chat Noir's team, she had to have found out it was Adrien behind the mask. The thought prickled at his mind, trying to imagine how it felt for her to find out, to realize just how monstrous Gabriel's actions truly were. She'd hated him before, but that must have made her despair that he left no corpse for her to dig up and defame.

And she still had to keep her mouth shut and her head down for the sake of Marinette's lie. All the things Gabriel had done to her and Adrien, all the vile feelings he left in his wake, she had to push it down and bottle it. She had to keep it from Adrien because, if she didn't, he'd have to bottle it for the rest of his life too.

As much as Gabriel could criticize Marinette's decision from a logical point of view, he couldn't deny the allure of it, the bliss of allowing Adrien this fantasy of a father who's misdeeds were offset by something noble. He was too cynical to think the lie would ever hold up, but Marinette was the optimist of their little mickey mouse operation.

What he couldn't understand was keeping Chat Noir out of the loop. Even if the Cat hadn't turned out to be the very person the lie was supposed to protect, Chat should have been the one person Ladybug did tell, the one person she trusted above all else to hear out her reasons.

A part of Gabriel hoped never to find his son, because he didn't know if he could stomach what had become of a boy who endured such betrayal on all levels.

Another part of him, louder and swelling with pride, told Gabriel that if there's one thing he's learned this week, it's that Adrien was stronger than anyone ever gave him credit for. Chat Noir reportedly was the one to discover Marinette's body, for however brief a moment, Adrien had the two miraculous within his grasp, a wish would be but a simple command away.

And yet, Adrien did not make a wish. He loved Marinette more than anything in this world, and yet he still resisted the same temptation that Gabriel so easily allowed to damn himself.

At the end of the day, there was nothing that could make a father prouder than realizing that his son is a better man than him.

He spent the next hour combing through the tome, carefully studying the intricate diagrams and cryptic spells written within its ancient pages. The symbols swirled in front of Gabriel's eyes, blending together in a way that was almost hypnotic.

His mind kept wandering, unable to shake the storm of emotions that Adrien's situation stirred within him. There was a time when all of this—magical secrets, power, control—was all that mattered to him. But now, they were all he had left and could feel no satisfaction in that.

Gabriel's fingers traced a particularly intricate symbol on the page before him. The text, according to Nathalie's notes, spoke of a form of light telekinesis that some guardians were capable of. Reaching out with a cold heart and a clear mind to influence the world around him? Of all the techniques he'd read about, this one seemed to be in the wheelhouse of the butterfly miraculous user.

The ability to shift an object without the use of his own body, however minor the influence, could be of great use when applied creatively. And, considering his situation, a technique that was focused on mental training was far more accessible than one that required the aid of third parties, or made it more obvious he was up to something. The resistance already had enough reason to kill him, they didn't need to find him chanting magical phrases or getting a demonic glow up.

However, about half-an-hour into his training, he became acutely aware of something. The lair was no longer quiet.

After a minute of waiting for the lumbering intruder to make themselves known, Gabriel leaned back on his chair, barking over his shoulder. "I know you're there, you lout."

From the shadows emerged a large bestial figure that limped into the light, its body hanging low and eyes no longer holding the same fire as they had before. The Sentisentry stood before Gabriel, letting out small whimpers and huffs as it tried not to face Gabriel's judgmental scowl.

"My my, you're not so tough now, are you?" Gabriel hummed, feeling more than a little smug that what had once tried to kill him had come crawling back with its tail- Well, the tail was still stuck in its back, so it couldn't be between the legs. "I've got pressing paperwork to catch up on, and very little patience to deal with your nonsense. So, leave me."

Sentisentry didn't take heed of Gabriel's command, simply arching its hind legs and shifting it's many eyes back and forth, as if it were bowing.

"Go on, shoo!" Gabriel jumped out of his see, thrusting his hands into the air. "I don't want you here."

Gabriel's scowl deepened as he stood, waving off the Sentisentry like it was some stubborn housecat that refused to leave. Its pitiful whimpers and hesitant shuffling did little to move him. He had neither time nor the inclination to indulge in whatever pity party this creature seemed to be throwing.

"What? It hurts?" Gabriel sneered, raising an eyebrow as the Sentisentry looked up at him with those too-many eyes, shimmering with what might have been sadness. "Yeah, that's what you get for trying to kill me."

The creature whimpered again, its multiple legs shuffling nervously on the cold floor. Gabriel turned away, his arms crossed over his chest, staring pointedly at the grimoire in front of him.

"Don't even try to look at me like that," he grumbled. "I'm not helping you."

The Sentisentry let out a low, mournful growl, still refusing to leave.

"I'm ignoring you now," Gabriel said firmly, opening the tome again and pretending to read, though his focus was entirely elsewhere. His ears twitched at the sounds of the creature moving behind him, each huff and shuffle like nails on a chalkboard to his already thin patience.

The Sentisentry whined louder.

Gabriel threw his hands up in frustration. "Ugh, fine!" he snapped, spinning around to glare at the massive creature. "But if you don't shape up your manners, I swear to you that I'm finding and crushing your amok."

The Sentisentry perked up slightly at that, its legs shifting in place like a child waiting to be scolded, but hopeful for some attention. Gabriel, despite himself, took a deep breath and knelt down, cautiously inspecting the tail lodged into its back. He muttered a few choice words under his breath as he worked, pulling the sharp end free with some force, causing the creature to jerk and let out a yelp of pain.

"There. It's out. You can leave now," Gabriel grumbled, flicking the piece of metal aside like a discarded toy.

Instead of leaving, the Sentisentry lowered its massive head and pressed its slobbering maw against Gabriel's chest, practically knocking him off balance as it tried to nuzzle him. Gabriel staggered back, flailing as he tried to maintain his dignity.

"H-Hey! Get off me, you slobbering beast!" he barked, pushing at its large head. "I'll put it back in, I swear to god!"

The Sentisentry, however, seemed entirely unbothered by Gabriel's threats. Instead, it happily rubbed against him like a giant, monstrous dog, letting out what might have been a pleased huff. Gabriel could feel the wet, sticky smear of mucus seeping into his shirt, and he grimaced in disgust.

"Great," he muttered, glaring at the creature. "You've gotten mucus all over my shirt. Are you happy now?"

The Sentisentry, seeming entirely too pleased with itself, stared up at him with wide, unblinking eyes. Gabriel could practically feel the smugness radiating off of it.

"You're not going to leave quietly, are you?" Gabriel asked, sighing deeply as he realized the answer before the creature could even make another noise. He could tell from the creature's posture, the way it seemed to hunker down comfortably, that it had no intention of leaving his side anytime soon.

"Tch, what an impudent little bastard," Gabriel muttered, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "You better not bother me. I mean it."

The Sentisentry gave a small, contented rumble, curling up near Gabriel's feet, clearly feeling victorious. Gabriel glared down at it for a moment longer before turning back to his grimoire with a heavy sigh.

Of all the indignities he'd suffered lately, somehow this slobbering monster finding comfort in his presence felt like the worst.

He briefly experienced a shock when he saw the creature's might tail lashing out at the air, the tuning fork head glowing to indicate another attack. But he was too late to stop the fork hitting the floor.

However, he wasn't assaulted by hurtful memories this time. Instead, the waves that hit him were softer, like a gentle breeze passing over him. The creature's tail slapped the ground in an excited rhythm, every wag bringing him back to a brighter day, to a moment where he was slumped over his desk while a woman draped her arms around his shoulders and gave him comfort his pride would never allow him to ask for directly.

It made him feel warmth for a fleeting moment. It gave him a sense of security, of worth that was impossible for this corrupted apocalypse to produce. His heart ached for that embrace, for that love and passion that made him feel alive against all odds, a sensation he'd never known he'd missed.

Gently, he patted Sentisentry on the head. "I guess you're not the worst thing ever."

Of course, he tried to ignore that it was the memory of Nathalie embracing him instead of Emilie.

Next Time - Getting Along:

"Adrien said the same thing," Nino started, not really thinking about it.

Chloe didn't bother to hide her scoff. "Well, Adrikins isn't here right now—"

Nino cut her off, pointing across the park. "Yes, he is. He's been sitting over there since we got here."

Chloe froze, whipping her head around to where Nino was pointing. Her eyes widened when she spotted the man. "Wait, where!?" she exclaimed.

Nino pointed again, clearly confused. "Right there. On the bench. Throwing bread at pigeons."

Across the way, a man who looked suspiciously like Adrien was sitting on a bench, casually tossing bread to a crowd of pigeons. Chloe's brow furrowed as he squinted at the figure. "That doesn't make sense…"

"Yeah, I thought he was allergic to pigeon feathers."

Chloe face palmed, "No, Adrien back at the base, I literally got off the phone with him before we got here."

Nino's expression twisted into one of realization. "But if that isn't Adrien…"

Both of them gasped at the same time, the realization hitting like a ton of bricks. "Felix!"