Vanished (Lukadrien) • Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 48 | custody

His suspicions were correct, the girls that took him in had known from the start.

As he sat at their table, paint and tiny dollhouse furniture all over it as he'd come over mid-art project, he'd explained the situation and admitted he was the famous missing Adrien Agreste.

"We never said anything because we knew it was dangerous for you to go back. And if the police found out you were Adrien before they had the evidence for the arrest there was the risk you'd end up back there" Delilah explained.

"How did you figure it out?" Adrien asked.

"The re-growth of your hair. At first I didn't think much of it but the closer I looked at you I realised. There used to be a billboard for your perfume right outside the office so I got a good look at you every day for months. If it weren't for that I probably wouldn't have made the connection" Lilith replied.

As they chatted, they painted the small furniture meant for Delilah newest project, a dollhouse recreation of their apartments.

"The reason I'm bringing this all up though is because now that my dads been arrested, and eventually will go to trail I can finally show my face again. But I need someone to have legal custody of me since the rest of my family are nut cases too and I don't want to end up with them. So... will you guys?" He asked.

The girls has done this kind of thing before, their history of taking in homeless kids meant they knew how to work the foster care system and would absolutely be willing to help. Over the past months they'd been housing Adrien, they'd gotten to know him deeply, gotten attached to him and his frequently visiting boyfriend, become like mother figures to him.

"Of course honey, don't worry about a thing we've done all this before. In fact I'm sure once we have custody of you you'll probably end up meeting some of the others we'd previously taken in. They come back to visit sometimes" Delilah said.

"I'll work on all the legal stuff don't you worry. All you'll need to do is sign some papers here and there. But there is one other thing, you coming back into the public. Once Gabriel is behind bars you really want to?" Lilith asked.

"I do... but not in the same way I was before. I don't want to be a model, I don't want to be famous or anything. I know that I can't really erase my past and people will always know my name but I want to be able to live as Adrien with all my friends and keep relatively private. I want to use my fame to get my story out there, and then go on to live a normal life out of the spotlight" Adrien explained.

Lilith being a cop and having worked with custody cases before knew of ways to keep personal details legally private and away from the public. So she'd definitely be able to make sure Adrien can live a private life post-return, although she couldn't stop him from being recognised in public so he'd probably have to wear a few funky sunglasses and hats if he went out alone.

It might be a little difficult since his fame was astronomical, but it could work. And so it was settled, when Gabriel inevitably ends up behind bars Adrien will finally show his face to the public, tell his story and be in the custody of Lilith and Delilah who will make sure he can live a normal life again.

Once that was cleaned up, all that was left to do was get that damn miraculous wherever it was hidden. As soon as Ladybug had them safe in the miracle box, Adrien could live happily as cat noir as well as Adrien.

He just wanted a normal life.

Wake up, have breakfast, go to school, hang out with friends, go on a date with Luka, patrol as cat noir for a bit, watch a movie, go to bed. Repeat.

He'd been robbed of a normal childhood, and he intended to make the rest of his teen years as memorable and fun as possible in the most normal way. Plus a bit of cat noir hijinks thrown in as well.

All he had to do was wait for the trail now.

"Thank you for everything. And thank you for not turning me in even though you knew who I was all along" Adrien said.

"Don't mention it honey, you're just a kid and kids need support and guidance from a parental figure. You clearly needed it, we weren't about to ruin everything for you" Delilah said.

"Plus, you're fresh LGBT meat. A baby gay, it'd definitely help if you had two elder gays helping you navigate things" Lilith snickered.

That was true, even though he'd figured out he'd Bi and started dating Luka, there was still a lot about the queer culture and experience he didn't know yet. Two married girls who'd lived that life longer would definitely be good mentors.

"Yeah, I still have no idea what half of these terms and slang words mean. If I was allowed more social media access back then I might but I'm lost" Adrien laughed.

Lilith and Delilah had helped many kids in Adriens situation before, but Adrien was by far the strongest one they'd ever met. It hadn't even been a year yet and he was running head first into recovery, speaking out about his situation, learning to stand on his own two feet (even if he needed crutches to help) and maintaining healthy coping mechanisms.

Adrien had left the part about miraculous out of the story for obvious reasons, so the girls had no idea he was a senti-human and Luka held the amoked object. But despite that, he felt more human than ever now things were finally going his way, he finally felt like he had some power in his life.

"Now, with all this out of the way... wanna help paint the walls of the dollhouse Adrien?" Delilah asked.

He'd never heard them call him Adrien before, only his alias Chaton. Something about it comforted him, it truly sounded like a foster mother talking to their foster son.

"Yeah, I'd like that"