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The first time he snuck out, Adrien had been reckless. Careless, if you may. Caught in the daze of the moment, the bright whirl of magic Plagg had appeared clouding his judgment, he hadn’t even thought about it once.
Adrien did not bother checking if the mansion had cameras pointing to the section of the garden in front of his room that could catch him leaving, despite knowing how heavily guarded the place was being the residence of important figures. He did not bother thinking of an explanation in case Nathalie knocked on his room’s door only to find the place empty.
The second Plagg explained not being allowed to leave would not be an obstacle, he dived in and didn’t look back.
He had a way to get out, and he was going to use it.
Somehow, it worked.
He was allowed to keep going to school. It was something, right? The hour-long lecture combined with interrogation from the day before had been worth it.
Somehow, Gabriel Agreste didn’t seem to be aware of the fact his son had gained magical superpowers.
Gabriel Agreste didn’t seem to notice the fact his son had sneaked out using said powers.
Gabriel Agreste had taken quite a while to notice his son was missing, enough to allow him to reach the school before Nathalie or his bodyguard could catch up.
Even for that matter, it had been Nathalie who noticed he was missing.
Adrien wasn’t sure how to feel about it, but one thing was sure.
It granted him a way out, and he was going to use it.
~(X)~
It took Gabriel Agreste a few weeks to notice the fact his son had taken a certain liking to a new piece of jewelry.
Way too long, considering Adrien wore it every day.
Soon enough, considering the fact the man only saw him every couple days.
Gabriel Agreste didn’t seem to notice the piano Adrien had been given for practice all those years ago had a speaker mode, nor the fact that he had been using said mode almost every time the thing was on for a while. That the thin layer of dust that had begun piling up on it revealed that barely a note had been truly played on the instrument for weeks.
It took the man mediatic chaos for Adrien and the brand to realize the only reason Adrien had snuck out was to watch a movie.
For once, he tried to make up for his mistake.
“If you were to begin hiding the truth from me, then I'd naturally start imagining all kinds of things.”
He was a good father. He even managed to meet Adrien’s needs without the boy having to tell him!
Gabriel Agreste never noticed the way in which for a few weeks after the incident with Gorizilla Adrien seemed to tense up slightly, almost imperceptibly, every time he had to take an elevator to a shoot. Every time he was at a tall building and was made aware of the view.
Adrien soothed the traces of leftover fear soon enough his father never noticed.
~(X)~
It took Adrien about fifteen failed attempts of trying to muster up as much of his inner Chat Noir bravery and countless nights of trying to find nonexistent words to soften the blow. To make throwing the life Gabriel had so perfectly crafted for him, detail by detail, outfit by outfit, day by day, easier. More acceptable.
It took months of fighting an invisible force Adrien could only guess to be guilt over it for him to finally speak up. It took encouraging from Plagg, and from Marinette too once he realized Plagg’s alone wouldn’t get him through it.
It took an akuma for him to take the risk and fail again.
”Father, I have something important to tell you, but I don’t know how.”
He figured half-baked words would be better than nothing. To speak in the heat of the moment, trusting the raw emotion that threatened making him break would be enough.
”I don’t want to be a model anymore!
Those eight words were all that was needed, apparently.
If that is what you want”.
Adrien didn’t think he would get that far. And yet, it had a cost.
Everything always had a cost.
It took having to surrender his very image to get the closest he could to winning.
Gabriel didn’t notice how desperate he was to have surrendered like that. He didn’t notice the seeming jolts in Adrien’s stomach every time he saw his face, customized and played with like a doll, in his classmate’s Alliances. The sickening feeling that revolted his insides when he saw the AI-generated ads featuring a him that was not quite him, the mere image of.
He didn’t notice how desperately Adrien wanted to stay in Paris, either.
The way in which he would have willingly jumped out of the car during the ride to the airport, heart holding the slightest hope the handle would give in, the glass would break, the door would open.
How the thought of spending the rest of his life away from the little community he had managed to build for himself burned him from the insides.
If he did, Gabriel knew how to conceal it very, very well.
Adrien didn’t, he realized as tears prickled the corners of his eyes.
~(X)~
If wielding the Peacock Miraculous had taught Nathalie something, it was specifics about how to control an amok’s power. Detailed instructions for specific purposes, overlapping and contradicting each other, but ultimately, the order was what mattered.
No matter how many orders were given, no matter for how long they were supposed to persist.
As long as she had the last word, no matter what Gabriel’s sick and twisted idea of the day was, she could make sure Adrien’s life was at least a little brighter.
If it meant having to stay up day and night to ensure she would be there to give a counter order, muttering silently at the ring until her mouth went dry, she would.
You are free. You are free. You are free..
Because she saw it. She remembered how often Adrien would retire to his room after particularly rough days to “practice piano” just for the sake of it, before she and Gabriel discovered the speaker mode it was always set to.
She remembered the oddly distant gaze the boy held for a few days after free-falling from Montparnasse.
She noticed the way he would try to keep a smile on at the sight of an Alliance ring, the scared look on his face before consulting Gabriel about anything. The saddened gazes after he was once again sent to his room.
The fiery determination he held as soon as he stepped foot on the airplane, immediately turning to distance as the imminence of everything truly dawned upon him.
Her only regret was not doing it sooner.
She unclipped his seatbelt, allowing him to run free towards a girl Nathalie knew brought him far more happiness than he had experienced at the house he called home in a while.
And she knew what she was supposed to do. Let the boy’s bodyguard put him back in his seat, allow the flight to depart as planned to the very minute.
Instead, she held the ring to her lips, and muttered.
You are free. You are free. You are free..