Miraculous Startline

Gabriels Trial - Part 3

Chat Noir wanted to approach Ladybug and pull her away from the microphone. To shut off the cameras and erase what she had said from the minds of everyone there. Gabriel was his father, and Ladybug had just condemned him to a lifetime in prison. Maybe that is what he deserved, he was an awful father and a horrifying super villain- but Chat Noir couldn't help it. Gabriel was family, but now- so was Ladybug... Never before in his life had he felt so conflicted.

"Alright, thank you Ladybug. That's all, your Honour." The lawyer said, a smirk appearing on her lips. She had gotten the result she was hoping for, Ladybug- the savior of Paris, suggests lifetime imprisonment? Gabriel had no hope of a shorter sentence.

"Defendant?" The judge asked.

"No further questions, your Honour." Gabriel's lawyer replied.

Ladybug stepped down from the stand, sending Gabriel a scathing glare. His smug smirk had turned into a frown and she smiled in triumph at her victory. She was going to send that man back to hell, right where he belonged.

As Ladybug walked back to her seat, her eyes caught Cat Noir's. Deliberately, she looked away. Ladybug said she would be there for him, and she was. She was going to make sure that Gabriel went to jail, where he couldn't hurt Adrien anymore. But right now, she couldn't look Chat Noir in the eyes, the smallest twinge of guilt welled up in her stomach. Something was wrong, maybe she made a mistake...

"That went great, you go girl." Alya whispered, giving Ladybug's shoulder a squeeze as she sat down.

"Will Chat Noir please approach the stand." The prosecution asked.

"I hope so," Ladybug said, squirming in her seat "But Chat better not undo what I said." Ladybug knew that Chat Noir felt a certain loyalty to his father. He had grown up with everything from a very young age. Without his father, he wouldn't be a model or live in that huge, wonderful house. Ladybug scowled at the thought that monetary possessions could somehow make up for the mental abuse Chat had suffered.

She turned to look at him as he got up. His footsteps were silent, even the squeaky floorboards remained still as he approached the stand. Ladybug's stare followed him, hoping to communicate with her eyes what her words couldn't.

Chat Noir sat down in the cold wooden chair, his hands gripping the sides of the seat as he struggled to keep his frantic breathing under control. The lawyer in front of him was saying something, but it sounded muffled, like he was under water. His lady was sitting in the second row, and she was staring at him with a piercing glare.

Chat had caught glimpses of the stare before, when he had stolen the last macaroon that she told him not to eat, when he had gotten hurt because of his own foolishness. But never, not once, had he been under the stare for more than a second. And he was frozen under that glare, where she communicated so many things that he couldn't understand. His chest felt tighter, and his claws scratched grooves into the underside of the chair as he was backed into a corner with that impenetrable gaze.

Then the moment was over. Ladybug blinked and turned to Alya, whispering into her ear.

"-multiple times, even in the last year. Can you confirm this, Chat Noir?"

"I'm sorry, can you please repeat the question?" Chat said, his voice breaking on the last word. His eyes were focused on the woman, unwilling to be entranced in Laybug's stare again.

"In recent months or years, have you been forced to participate in modeling jobs against your will?"

"I-I mean it was never against my will, Father would always tell me it was for the good of the company, so I would do it. I never really minded working if it- well if it made him happy." Chat Noir admitted, his eyes picking up on Gabriel shifting in his seat.

"But when presented with the choice between a modeling shoot and another action, weren't you always obligated to attend the shoot? In addition, we have evidence pertaining to the disproportionate amount of time spent at modeling shoots rather than at school."

"It's true I missed some school to model, but I've always gotten good grades and I made up for it at home."

"And how late did you stay up doing extra work?"

"What?" Chat Noir asked, astonished at the question. How did this apply to the case at all? Wasn't he meant to be questioned as Chat Noir, not Adrien?

"Objection your honour!" His father's lawyer called out.

"Objection overruled," dismissed the judge.

"I'll repeat the question, on average, how late do you stay up doing homework to make up for time lost at school, due to attending a modeling shoot?"

"Just a few hours, maybe two or three each time?" Chat Noir said.

"In addition to that, about three times a week, you went on patrol at night- sometimes until the early hours in the morning, to keep the city safe, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct." Chat Noir said, shifting in his seat.

Chat Noir worked hard to balance his fathers demands and his heroic duties. It made him think of how different his life used to be. When he wasn't exhausted, he would go to the top of the eiffel tower, and look out over Paris. The people below would be bustling about, talking and laughing. Chat Noir would watch from above, a smile on his face. These were the people he was protecting.

Chat Noir never let himself consider giving up, no matter how hard it was. A few times, he had fainted on set, the "perfect" smile he always wore, wavering. Adrien would always blame something he ate, or the harsh sun, even though it was cloudy that day. There was a steely determination in his eyes that was unable to be dulled. No matter the day, Adrien did his best.

"And on average, how many hours of sleep did you get a night?"

"It depends what night, on a patrol night or a night with just homework- maybe 4 hours. On a night with homework as well as patrol- maybe 2 if I was lucky. ." Chat Noir said, a smile forming on his lips. He was proud of the hardships he had gone through, the struggles he survived. But what he hadn't realised, is that the life he lived was not normal at all. Chat Noir was smiling at his successes, while the courtroom gasped at his mistreatment.

"So you admit, the pressures Mr. Agreste put on you as both Adrien and Chat Noir, affected your education, your sleep and your overall well-being?" The lawyer asked.

"What, n-no I-" Chat Noir stammered. The question had caught him off guard, the lawyer had tricked him into making his own father look bad.

"So- you never felt pressured?" The lawyer pushed.

"Well no, I did but it-" Chat Noir suttered, a lump growing at the back of his throat.

He frantically looked between Ladybug and the lawyer- his mind a confused mess. Ladybug wasn't there, not really. Her head hung low in shame as the guilt of letting Chat Noir be hassled on the stand consumed her. Ladybug wanted to help, to make him feel better- remembering her promise to be there for him. But every time she tried to look up and smile, all she saw was the face of a boy she once trusted with her life- who broke that trust.

"And is it true that your main caregivers were Mr. Agreste's employees? One of which was also a super villain?"

"Yes, but my father was a bus-" Chat Noir pleaded.

"And that you saw your father only once a week, unless it was work related?" The lawyer pushed.

"Y-yeah..."

"Do you think Mr. Agreste was a good father to you?"

"Objection! This is a matter for family court your honour- this sentencing should only be exploring issues of heroic duties!" Gabriel's lawyer finally stepped in.

"Sustained."

"Okay let me reword the question- do you think Mr. Agreste deserves to be sent to prison?"