Chapter Text
It’s us against the world, milady.
Adrien hadn’t meant it like that when he was a teenager, but now that everything he loved had been taken from him, he definitely meant it in the sense that he was against the world. How dare it keep moving and functioning without her in it?
Marinette. His Marinette. The most miraculous girl he had ever met. After his father had been arrested, she was the only one truly there for him when everyone else was afraid of the son of Hawkmoth. She was all he had left. And now, even she was gone. Trapped in a comatose state, waiting for him to rescue her.
“Mr Agreste,” A voice in his ear made itself known, “don’t forget you have a public appearance in an hour.”
Adrien sighed and ran his finger along the side of the cryo-pod that kept Marinette alive. “I am well aware of this.” He stated, putting his hand to the comm in his ear.
“Good.” His assistant affirmed. “I know what you’re doing down there, and I feel obliged to tell you to not do it. Don’t dwell on what happened. It’ll only make things worse.”
Adrien scoffed. “Don’t dwell on it?” He smiled to himself, an unnerving smile. “Don’t dwell on it? The best thing in my life is out of my reach, and you tell me not to dwell on what happened to her?!”
“It was beyond your control.” His assistant insisted, tone dangerously even. “It was only an accident.”
“I still did it!” Adrien snapped before taking a moment to breathe and compose himself. “Thank you for the reminder, I’ll be up in a minute.”
Adrien sighed again, looking at Marinette’s form in the pod. She looked so peaceful, just taking a rest for a while. If only that was true.
“Don’t worry, milady,” Adrien smiled down at her, “I would do anything to get you back.” He shifted his tie aside to trace the silhouette of the butterfly miraculous as his eyes narrowed. “Anything.”
“You look like your dad.” His assistant said simply from on the other side of the desk.
“And yet, you still help me.” Adrien chuckled dryly. “After all… you love her too, don’t you, Luka?” The assistant didn’t answer. Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Or maybe, it’s because you blame yourself for what happened.”
“I’m helping you because I’m paid to.” Luka straightened up slightly and Adrien could tell he was keeping a close eye on his emotions. “I haven’t agreed to anything further than that.”
“You know of my plan to save Marinette and yet you don’t do anything to stop it. Isn’t that proof enough?”
“You’ve been through enough.” Luka said without blinking. “I would do many things to help you, but I’m not going to allow you to go too far.”
“You know I only need her earrings.” Adrien tutted. “I’m not a sadist and I’m not going to needlessly hurt people. I’m not my father.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Luka’s gaze was intense, cerulean blue eyes boring into Adrien. “Maybe it’ll keep you from becoming him.”
“You dare–”
“You have a meeting in 30 minutes, Mr Agreste, I suggest you get ready.” Luka cut him off before striding out of the room, tapping something on the tablet he was holding.
Adrien gazed out at the crowd in front of him, standing as straight and tall as he could manage. He even felt like his father. And somewhere out there, someone had Marinette’s earrings. Keeping it from him, hoarding what should rightfully belong to him. He needed to get them back. He needed to get them back. He needed to get them back. It was the only way to save what little love in his life he had left.
“Mr Agreste?” A reporter made herself known. Alya Cesaire was the name on her nametag. Ah yes, Marinette’s best friend. Adrien used to think of her as more. A colleague, a friend, family… But Adrien couldn’t think of her like that anymore. She was merely an obstacle in the way of his love for Marinette. And maybe she had the earrings. After all, she was her best friend. “You said you had an announcement.” Her hazel eyes stared up at him from the crowd.
“Right, sorry, I lost my train of thought.” He flashed a model smile at the crowd, earning a few smiles and waves in return. “As you know, the loss of my lovely designer, fiance, and true friend Marinette has been… hard to say the least. I’ve struggled the past few months to keep up with the expectations my father held in his time here while dealing with the grief that comes with losing someone you love.
“But despite this, our profits have never been higher. Our company is flourishing and we’re hoping to donate all profit from this past season to the Association of Social Support, which has a lovely acronym, by the way.” Scattered laughter echoed through the crowd as he flashed another charming smile.
“But more importantly, it encourages people to express their emotions and help them live their best lives. In light of this partnership, I… will be launching a new underwear line. I’m just kidding, don't take that seriously .” More laughter.
“I will be launching a fundraiser to promote this, so the brilliant journalists here will all be invited to my exclusive fashion show taking place about a month from now so that everyone gets to hear more about this. More details will be given when I get to it, but we would love to see all your lovely faces there.”
The crowd cheered and Adrien felt pleased with himself. It wasn’t often he felt that, but his humor and model face definitely played to an advantage when it came to crowds. Luka was wrong on that account. There was no way he was like his father. His father was cold and unnerving, where Adrien was welcome and inviting. Just because they both wanted someone in their lives to return didn’t mean that they had to do it the same way.
And where his father failed… Well, that’s where Adrien was different. He would succeed. He had to.