You and me against the world

"You took everything from me"

The moment we've all been waiting for

.

.

.

The words from that night kept reverberating in Adrien's head. With every tick of the clock, his heart would beat that much faster. It was excruciating to wait, but the impending moment he had been dreaming of since God knows how long, was unnerving.

"The element of surprise is our advantage right now."

He could hear the gates to his mansion open from where he stood, signaling his father's arrival.

"H's unaware of the discoveries we made, so he's more than likely going to be unprepared."

The sound of Gabriel's heel meeting the hard concrete of the ground seemed ten times louder in his head, or was that his heart beating erratically?

"Gabriel Agreste will be leaving for fashion week soon, and will be back to Paris for its closure, so that gives us enough time to prepare."

Adrien didn't know how he was supposed to feel at that moment.

"Adrien will not be accompanying him, so we'll be able to set up everything we need inside."

He was supposed to be a hero, and in the eyes of everyone he was a hero. But he didn't feel like one. He was conflicted.

"Now, for now our main obstacle would be Nathalie. We're going to have to do things discretely."

Nathalie had promised his father she'd take care of him, since he was supposedly sick.

He was surprised his father bought that lie, as realistic as it looked. Although it was more than likely he needed some time alone to plan his next move.

"... So that's it. Unless he pulls something from under his sleeve, this should be enough to take him down."

Take his father down.

His own flesh and blood.

By no means was he a good parent. Far from it. He was dismissive and neglectful and far too self-absorbed to bat an eye at the needs of a normal boy. And he absolutely hated him, for everything he had to endure in order to live up to the impossibly high standards he had for him.

But he was also the most caring and loving husband he had ever seen on the few occasions he had enough time to attend to his family. And scarce as they were, those moments were precious, because those were moments when his entire family was happy. The halls that now seem too big and cold would be filled with everyone's warm laughter, his, his father's and his mother's.

His mother...

The matters of the heart are difficult to fathom, but one undeniable truth is that a grieving heart, is also a heart that's constantly hurting.

And wasn't that how his father's heart was?

And most importantly, if it were Marinette instead of his mother, wouldn't he do the same?

Before his thoughts could venture into more dangerous territories, they were interrupted when he heard his front door open. The plan was set into motion.

When Gabriel stepped inside, he immediately felt on edge. it was well into the evening, yet none of the lights were on.

And it was quiet.

Too quiet.

"Nathalie..." he shouted, expecting her to come and greet him, except she didn't.

Something was wrong, he could feel it.