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Ladybug landed on her feet, safely clutching the peacock Miraculous in her hand. Chat Noir walked up next to her, the butterfly Miraculous held in his. The other heroes have clustered a distance away, their roles played, silently watching the scene unfold. Although this was meant to be a triumphant moment for the superheroes, the mood was solemn as Gabriel Agreste knelt on the floor next to the chamber keeping the comatose Emilie alive.
Chat’s face was stoic as he looked at his parents before him. He clutched the Miraculous tighter in his fisted hand. Ladybug looked at him in worry, but not saying anything. She had no idea what she could even say at this moment.
Gabriel looked up at the two heroes standing before him. He understood perfectly well that he was defeated. His gaze shifted to Ladybug.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I should have realized-“
“Don’t you dare speak to her.” Chat’s voice was firm, clear and dangerously calm. A storm was brewing within and Ladybug could see it coming. She put a worried hand on his shoulder. “Chat-“
“No, m’lady.” He turned to face her. There was a spark in his eyes that she’s never seen before. She saw so much anger, hurt and sadness mixed together in him, trying to be expressed all at once, that her heart ached for him. She finally understood what kind of pain the boy standing next to her must have truly been in to have had an akuma be able to overcome him, even in a timeline that was no longer existent. All she wanted to do was to hold him and at least try to take away his pain.
“It’s high time my father and I finally had a proper conversation.” He turned to face Gabriel again. Ladybug understood. He needed closure more than anything right now. She let go of his shoulder but brought her hand down to his closed fist. He tensed at first, but then relaxed his hand and let the Miraculous drop into her palm. With all the Miraculous safely accounted for in her possession, she stepped back to give Chat some space.
He stepped forward toward the figure slumped on the floor in defeat.
“How could you?” He took a step towards his father, voice quiet but steady. Gabriel said nothing.
“How could you?!” His tone rose with his anger. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!”
Ladybug had never seen Chat this angry before. She wondered for a split second if he would use his cataclysm on Gabriel, but she quickly dismissed that thought. She knew that no matter what, he wouldn’t actually go that far. He was only this angry because he loved his father too much.
Gabriel flinched but turned his head to look at Chat. “Son, I-“
“No." The venom in his voice sent a chill down Ladybug's spine. "I’m tired of hearing your excuses. All these years of your sorry excuses for why you couldn’t be around to be a freaking parent while all this time, you were in my own goddamn basement terrorizing the city!”
Gabriel looked down. “I did it for you, Adrien. I did it for us.” He looked at Emilie lying next to him. “If I had succeeded, she would have understood. I thought you would have, too.”
“Mom wouldn’t have wanted any of this. She would have wanted you to be there for me when she couldn’t." He clenched his fists as he looked down at his father. "She would be disappointed in you,” he spat. 'Disappointed' was far from the word he would have actually wanted to use, but in his anger, the right words were barely coming to him as it was.
“You didn’t do anything for me. If you truly cared about me, you would have told me the truth about what happened to Mom. You would have been there for me when I needed you and let me have a normal life like everyone else my age. You wouldn’t have become a freaking supervillain, terrorizing everyone I care about and putting my life in danger. I don’t want to hear any of it. If you cared you would have shown it.”
The room went silent. The tension between the two Agrestes could be cut with a knife.
“Well, father? Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Chat's voice pierced the room like a poison dart.
Gabriel said nothing for a moment, just looked down. But then he looked back up at Chat.
“I’m sorry, son. I’m sorry I hurt you. I never wanted that.”
Chat sighed, deflating. He suddenly felt extremely tired, as if his limbs were made out of lead and would cause him to collapse at any moment. “You have a lot more than just that to be sorry for. But don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to think about that where you’re going. You and Nathalie both.” He shook his head and turned away from his father, anger giving way to sorrow and disappointment. “Someone take him away, please. I can’t even bear to look at him right now.”
Ladybug turned to look at the heroes standing behind her and waved them over. “Guys, a hand?”
Rena Rouge and Carapace were the ones who walked up to her, the others staying behind in case they were needed. They walked up to Gabriel, each grabbing an arm and pulling him to his feet.
“Come on, Hawky,” Rena said, “there’s a nice prison cell with your name on it waiting for you.” Carapace chuckled.
“Thanks, guys. And,” Ladybug stopped Rena with a hand on her shoulder. “Give us a moment, will you?” She glanced back at the boy behind her, who was trying hard to hold back his tears. “I don’t think we’re quite ready to face the masses just yet. There will be plenty of chances for interviews another day. Just tell them we had some other business to take care of, yeah?” Rena nodded in understanding.
“And also.” Ladybug leaned in to whisper to her. “Not a word to anyone about who we are, please? You never know when Paris may need us again.”
“Of course.” Rena winked. “Our lips are sealed.”
“Thanks, girl.”
The heroes led Gabriel out of the room, the rest of the team shuffling out in tow. No one knew for certain what would happen next but they knew it was their duty to escort Gabriel Agreste into the hands of authorities who were already waiting outside, as well as face the curious public and press who gathered with them. Soon, the room was empty save for the city’s first heroes and Emilie Agreste sleeping soundly in front of them.
Ladybug’s attention turned to the boy who was now slumped on his knees in front of his mother.
“Adrien?”
He said nothing as she came up and knelt beside him.
“All these years, I wondered where she could have gone,” Chat whispered, voice breaking.
“I wondered how she could have just vanished without a trace. I wondered-“ He choked back a sob as a tear made its way down his cheek. “All this time I wondered why I wasn’t good enough for my mother to have stayed.”
Ladybug said nothing but her eyes also welled up with tears. Seeing the boy she loved in pain hurt her too. She put her hand on his back and rubbed as a gesture of support.
“While all this time, she was only two floors below me,” he continued. “Right under my feet. And he never bothered to tell me. Didn’t care that I missed her more than anything in the world. But I guess they both kept secrets from me.” He looked back at his mother. “I just want to talk to her. Find out what really happened. Tell her-“ His voice broke. He didn’t finish his sentence.
“But I can’t.” He looked at Ladybug.
Suddenly, he was fourteen again. She saw the boy who told her that he’s never been to school or had friends before, before offering her his umbrella. She saw the boy who was so happy to have finally gotten a decent birthday gift from his father that she couldn’t find the heart to tell him that the scarf was actually made by her. She saw the boy who was the only one who couldn’t celebrate Chloe’s (albeit temporary) departure because, at one point in his life, she was the only friend he had. Back then, she had no idea how truly lonely he was. She could see it in his eyes now, intertwining with the pain and fear. Her heart clenched.
She pulled him closer as his resolve finally broke and the sobs escaped him uncontrollably. He collapsed in her arms as his body shuddered with the force of his anguish.
“Wh-what am I supposed to do now, Marinette?” His voice was muffled from his face being buried in her shoulder but that didn’t hide the emotion from her. She held him tighter and stroked his hair, letting him know she wasn’t going anywhere.
“We’ll figure it out together, kitty.” A silent tear slid down her cheek for her partner. She vowed to herself then and there that no matter where this life would take them next, she would make sure he would never feel alone again.
“It’s going to be okay.”