Vanished (Lukadrien) • Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 3 | run

Seemingly run out of tears, Adrien looked at his pathetic state in the mirror. Eyes bloodshot and soaked from tears, a harsh bruise on his cheek, bruises up his arms and a bleeding gash on one of them. His thighs covered in scars from his scratching habit. His hair was messed up and all over the place, his pyjamas disheveled and messy.

He knew what he had to do.

"Plagg..." Adrien said, devoid of emotion.

"Yeah?" Plagg replied, worried in tone.

"Get the hair dye. We're leaving"

While Plagg was a bit worried about Adrien running away, he knew it was the best option under these circumstances and if he could make things work, he'd be much happier than he is now. From under the bed, he got the box dye and placed it on the sink as Adrien wrapped up the gash on his arm with a bandage.

"Are you sure about this?" Plagg asked.

"I've been planning this. I knew I'd have to one day. I don't want to leave my friends... or Luka... but I'm not safe as long as I'm here. Maybe I can reconnect with them one day but for now I just need to assure my own safety. I'm Cat Noir too remember? If worst comes to worst I can use my cataclysm" Adrien replied.

He picked up the box dye, jet black. He loved his golden locks... but he knew that if he was going to run away and forge a whole new identity he'd have to change his appearance. Plus, it'd grow back eventually, hopefully by then he'd have been vanished long enough he'd be unrecognisable as Adrien.

Reading the instructions, he mixed the dye and with a deep breath poured it into his hair. He was really doing it, no turning back.

"At least my hair will match my cat noir suit" he said, attempting to find some good in the situation.

"You match my fur now, welcome to the black cat club" Plagg replied.

"Well... I guess leaving one blonde streak won't really raise any eyebrows..."

Leaving a blonde chunk in a part of his hair that framed his face, he had to let the dye sit for 20 minutes which would give him time to double check he had everything in his getaway bag.

Pulling it out from under the bed, he opened it.

"Woah where'd you get all that money?" Plagg asked, seeing the stacks of cash inside.

"Being a model pays well. I knew that if I took out a big sum all at once it'd look suspicious. So over the past year or so I've been taking out smaller amounts and passing it off as snack money and stuff. Then I'd stash it here. There's a few thousand that should keep me alive long enough to hopefully forge a new identity and find a place to stay and job" He explained.

"How are you going to forge a new identity? Can't you just be cat noir?"

"I'll have to vanish as cat noir for a while too. Until I'm in a stable place that is, I'm not leaving cat noir forever just for a while. Ladybug seems to be doing fine without me anyway... I have to dress differently, change my hair and go by a new name. I can't take my phone or laptop or they'd track me with it. I'll have to buy a new cheaper one"

Plagg was actually starting to get exited. Yes it was dangerous for a 15 year old to be out on his own, but he did have the miraculous as quite the form of protection... plus, if things went smoothly then he'd be out of an abusive home living his own life and making his own decisions. All Plagg wanted was the well-being of his holder.

"What name will you use?" Plagg asked.

"I'm not sure yet... but I think I have everything I'll need. Clothes for all weather types, shoes, water bottles and containers, sleeping bag and pillow, dental and hygiene supplies, some food... I think I've got everything I'll need until I can find somewhere to stay" Adrien replied.

"You've really thought this through haven't you?"

"Oh! Medical supplies!"

Heading back into the bathroom he gathered everything he had into a first aid kit. Bandaids, bandages, painkiller, cold and fever medicine, soothing cream, anything he might need. Actually, he grabbed two packs of painkiller in case the aches in his legs flared up again. As he was packing it into his bag, something else caught his eye.

On the end of his bed was his favourite blanket that his mum gave him for Christmas the year before she died, he couldn't leave that behind... it was one of the only comforts he had.

Stuffing that into the bag too, he zipped it up and went to go rinse the dye from his hair.

Plagg looked out the open window at the night over Paris. Part of him worried for his holder in this risky move, part of him was exited to finally have him out of this horrible home and able to flourish as his true self. If worst came to worst, Plagg could always use that cataclysm of his that caused some serious damage in the past.

"Plagg if you want to bring cheese with you, you better pack a bag" Adrien called from the bathroom.

"OH YEAH! I can't survive without my precious cheese" he replied, floating off to do just that.

Drying his hair, Adrien looked up at himself and his new look. Apart from the blonde streak he left, it was jet black. It was already doing a rather good job at changing his appearance.

"Alright... let's do this. I'll call myself... uh- you know what let's embrace the cat... chaton. I'll be chaton" he told himself in the mirror.

He shed of his pyjamas and pulled on some clothes he wouldn't usually wear to further change his appearance, a slightly oversized jacket was pulled on over that and with that final touch he was ready to go.

Grabbing his bag, and of course the bag of cheese Plagg had stuffed into the front pocket he was really about to do it.

"Alright, claws out" he said, transforming into his hero form to make his escape.

He checked his phone one last time for the weeks weather before leaving it on his bedside table for good. Grabbing the evidence of the hair dye supplies too so he could throw them out at a further away place to not leave evidence. He took one last look at his room from the windowsill, he was going to miss some of it, mainly the things that reminded him of his mum.

And with that, he took a deep breath and leapt from the window. He was off, not looking back he was off to start a new life. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop under the night sky, he had an idea of what direction he'd head in. He was hoping he could find somewhere to camp for a while until he could get on his feet out in the more rural areas of France. As he was jumping over the rooftops, he looked down at all the locations he'd be saying goodbye too, school, the park, marinettes bakery...

He didn't want to leave his friends, but he didn't have much of a choice. It was either stay silent and continue to suffer, say something have have his shit dad pay off people to stay quiet or leave and forge his own life.

He came to a stop on the roof of a building next to the canals where a familiar house boat was docked. Looking down at it he sighed, remembering what Luka told him.

'You don't deserve to be a puppet'

"I wish I didn't have to leave you but... thank you Luka. I won't be a puppet anymore..."

Turning away from the house boat, he continued his leaps from the rooftop figuring the further away from his dad... the better.