𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧. | 𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞.

2 | emancipate

She was twenty when it happened. They had been together for almost four years, and they were going to college. They'd known each other's secret identities for two years.

Oh God, she was so bright, Marinette was. She was going to be a fashion designer, take the world by storm. She was so ready for the world, always encouraging Adrien to be better, a better person and a better hero. She made him understand that the world wasn't all bad, but that his father was. It was she who first told him that his father's behaviour wasn't just unorthodox, it was borderline abuse. She was the one who told him to leave, get out of that house and start a new life, one away from an emotial abuser with too many problems. She told him to emancipate, to legally relinquish Gabriel's position as his father. And he was going to. By God, he was going to.

Adrien's body goes cold as he remembers the day he'd told his father.

"Father," he began. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that his father had never physically hurt him, and he had no reason to be this scared. "I want to emancipate."

"And for what reason, son?" Gabriel had asked, back turned and voice hard.

"For exactly this reason! You treat me like an outsider in my own home, as if taking care of me is a disservice to the world. And when I try to confront you about it, you lock me up here as if I am an animal. And yet you dare ask why?"

"Okay," his father had said.

And it hurt. His father, the man who had raised him for over seventeen years, thought so little of him that giving him up meant nothing to him, as if he were tossing out a used handkerchief. So much resentment filled his heart, and yet he didn't say a thing. He just turned on his left heel and swiftly exited the prison that he had once called home.

It had been a long process. Especially since Adrien was the son of a famous fashion designer, and Gabriel was generally seen as a respectable member of society. But finally, he did it. He finally got out.

Having been emancipated from his only surving parent, he was obligated to have a place to stay. That meant he'd had to stay at Marinette's place until he had enough money to afford his own.

It was hard, moving into a place with people you didn't know. But Sabine and Tom understood, and were sympathetic towards his situation.

He remembers the time Sabine had dropped a pan on her foot and screamed involuntarily. He'd been sitting on the sofa, but the moment he heard the scream, he'd jumped behind it and covered his ears. He was shaking, and the whole Dupain-Cheng family ending up trying to calm him down for hours, assuring him that his father wasn't going to hurt him, and that he was safe here.

Back then, he had truly felt safe.

Until a week later, when Gabriel had shown up. He hadn't made a big fuss, just asked to talk to Adrien. Sabine, Tom and Marinette had all vigorously denied him, and Tom was ready to showcase his 'high skill ninja moves' in order to get him to go. But then Adrien came down the stairs, smiled and said it was alright.

"Hs's still my father, biologically even if not legally."

They'd stepped outside for a only moment, but Adrien was visibly shaken, his eyes fixated on his retreating father.

That was the day he'd found out his father was Hawkmoth, and the day his father found out he was Chat Noir.

It had been the worst day of his life.

But how had it gotten this bad? How had he let his father take everything away from him, even the love of his life?

Adrien doesn't know, and he hates to think about it, because then he is reminded that it is his fault Ladybug is dead. He wants to turn on the TV, but he's afraid. Afraid to hear the news reporting Ladybug dead. Maybe, if he doesn't hear the reports, he can pretend that she might still be alive, or that he can hear her laugh once again without endangering the world and betraying his kwami's trust. He knows it will never happen though.

His mind is blank, yet racing with meaningless thoughts at the same time. Will they expect him to come to school tomorrow? Or will he be excused because they know he's Chat Noir? Or because he was dating her?

He is shocked out of his thoughts by his phone ringing. He'd turned off his wifi, so it couldn't be a friend, because no one ever called him via anything else other than WhatsApp.

Begrudgingly, he picked up the phone, only to see the caller ID.

'My Lawyer'.

It was then that he had a sudden realization, which sounded something like this:

"Oh, FUCK! I killed my father on national TV!"