Vanished (Lukadrien) • Miraculous Ladybug

Chapter 50 | the trail: Luka

Last one up on the stand on Adriens side was his own boyfriend, Luka.

The evidence against Gabriel was piling up, the jury were already thinking about the verdict in their seats as the trail continued. Rumour had it Gabriel was going to try and use a mentally unstable plea, which even if he was clearly very mentally unstable he was absolutely in a clear state of mind when he committed his crimes. He knew what he was doing, he couldn't get out of this one.

The public wondered if he would maintain innocence or pleas guilty in order to get a plea deal with reduced sentence. It was still an unfolding case, they'd have to see how it plays out.

But right now, Luka took the stand in front of the court, ready to defend his boyfriend to the death.

"Alright beginning... you maintain that the conversation you had with Adrien when you gave him that ride home is all the same as he stated it. The events that played out are exactly the way he said?" The lawyer asked.

"Correct, I came to pick up my sister, saw Adrien had been left behind and offered him a ride. When he accepted he rode home and talked about his home life and when I dropped him off that was the last I saw of him until we re-connected" Luka explained.

"You're in a band together correct? You don't go to the same school, so you met through mutual friends and the band?"

"Yes, we're both members of kitty section"

Lukas place in the case was important as he was the last one to see Adrien outside of his house hold, and the first one to re-connect with him. Not to mention they were in a relationship, which Gabriel had speculated.

"You met last year during summer, met up weekly for band practice and over the course of that time developed a relationship up to the point you were his closest companion and the one that heard all his troubles, correct?"

"Yes. Even before we started dating we were inseparable, he told me everything" Luka confirmed.

"We're you aware of the abuse?"

"Not until after the runway. I knew that his father was strict, but not that he was being abused. I only connected the dots after he ran away and before then just chalked everything up to him having a strict father"

With that confirmation, it was clear that even though the abuse had been going on for years, no one knew of it until now. Most people in Adriens life were aware of the strict parenting but never though it went past that, they had suspicions but no confirmation. Out of fear, Adrien hid everything.

"How long was it since the runway up to the point you reconnected?" The lawyer enquired.

"Around 5 months. It happened by accident. I was deriving orders from my job to the outskirts of Paris for the day and ran into him on his way back from work. At first I didn't recognise him with his new hair and clothes, but after a while it clicked since I'd been so close to him and could never truly forget his face. I confronted him with the intention of bringing him home, but he begged me not to since it would only be more dangerous for him to return at that time. I agreed in order to keep him safe, we exchanged phone numbers and kept in contact that way. Eventually we starting meeting up again, and I'd known his whereabouts ever since" Luka explained.

He had to leave out the whole Viperion part for the sake of keeping identities secret from the public, but everything else was true. And while it was technically illegal to conceal the whereabouts of a runway, and harbour one, it was agreed that any charges against Luka, Lilith and Delilah for that would be dropped due to the severity of the situation and Adriens safety. For once the justice system was actually doing its job.

"When did the relationship start?" The lawyer asked.

While it was a bit annoying that their whole relationship would be aired out to the world, it was necessary for the case. From here on out though, they'd have their privacy as soon as the trail was over.

"Very quickly after re-connecting. Even when he was missing to me our feelings never died, it's part of the reason I was so determined to find him. We've been together about 4 months now" Luka explained.

"You played a big part in getting witnesses to come forward, was justice the only reason? You didn't bribe or threaten anyone?"

"Absolutely not. The only motivation for getting people to come forward was justice for my boyfriend, love was the only thing driving me"

He could see his friends in the court all give him smiled and happy looks for that comment, thinking that not only were they cute together, but that Luka had done so much to help Adrien it was admirable.

"Alright, finally... you maintain that you never convinced your boyfriend to runaway or orchestrated anything involving his disappearance?"

"I was just as in the dark about everything as everyone else. I did nothing to orchestrate his disappearance, and I'm quite frankly offended that Gabriel maintains I would have done anything to hurt my boyfriend. Unlike him, I care for Adrien and want him safe. I'd never do anything to put him in harms way" Luka finished.

He shot a death glare at Gabriel as he said it, only earning a disgusted look back at him. With his stand over, he was dismissed back to his seat where he'd watch along with everyone else Gabriel attempt to testify his innocence. It'd been a very long trail, almost half the day gone by already. There was no doubt that by the time this was over, and a sentence had been reached, it'd be late at night.

"Alright... we will now allow a 30 minute lunch break, there are to be no conversing with the jury, judge or suspect" the judge announced.

Gabriel was taken into the back room to stay away from those testifying against him, the jury into another room as to maintain fair in their verdict by not conversing with anyone. Everyone else remained either in their seats or getting up to grab some food.

This was a long trail... but hopefully the sentence will be worth it.

Luka walked over to Adrien who seemed exhausted, but who could blame the boy?

"Hey, you alright?" He asked, gently grabbing Adriens arm.

"Yeah, I'm tired though. This trail is so long and recounting all that trauma is emotionally exhausting" Adrien replied.

"You did well, honestly I think Gabriel doesn't stand a chance with all us against him"

"I hope so, I don't want him ever walking free again"

"None of us do, he's vile for everything he did to you"

Adrian gave Luka a tired smile, resting his head against his boyfriends shoulder and letting himself be engulfed in a hug. Luka placed a kiss on his forehead, giving him reassurance.

"We'll win this, I know we will"