Hedgehogs Dilemma

In the shadows of the night

The sun had long since set when Gabriel was climbed the stairs of his villa. Adrien should be in bed by now. Had he survived the day well? He must have been surprised to find nobody at home.
The designer had noticed in the hospital, when he was waiting there with Celine, that the two people who otherwise took care of Adrien were unable to attend and do so today. And so he had to ask the boy's bodyguard to step in at short notice to pick up his son from school and take him home. He had told him that Adrien should stay in his room and that the chef should be told not to wait for him as he would come home late and to serve his son what ever he desires instead. The Bodyguard should be make sure that the teenager got everything he needed.
He had assured Gabriel that he would take care of everything and that he could rely on him.
So quietly Gabriel turned the key to open the front door.
As expected, it was pitch dark inside. No lights were on. No sound could be heard. Silence reigned. Satisfied, he closed the door behind him.
Tomorrow he would simply tell his son that he had been to a meeting. An important meeting. And then he would act surprised if Nathalie didn't come to work. Around noon he would simply tell Adrien that she had called in sick at short notice. Gabriel nodded proudly. Yes, that would suffice as an excuse and give him time to think.
More time to think about, what it would mean now that he had found out who Mayura really was. How he would face Nathalie from now on. And also what he should do with himself now. Did he really want to be the man this woman had to fight? Wasn't the man in the raven outfit already trouble enough?
Gabriel had never a problem with fighting Mayura, a women he didn't knew. But since he knows that it was Nathalie who was behind the Mask, things changed quickly.
With these questions in mind, Gabriel quietly climbed the steps. He stopped at Adrien's door.
To his surprise, he could hear soft crying, which must have come from the room.
"Adrien?" asked Gabriel as he knocked on the door which stopped the crying. He could hear soft footsteps slowly approaching before his son opened the door for him. He sniffed again and wiped his eyes before looking at his father
"Yes?..." he said softly.
"What's going on?..." the man asked immediately, but his son just shook his head and sniffed once more.
Gabriel slowly put his arm around his son's shoulders to push himself into the room. He urged the boy to his bed. Deliberately, he knelt before Adrien, whose hand he was holding. Gabriel looked deep into his green sad eyes.
"Adrien. I'm your father. And I promise you can tell me anything. I'm eccentric, but I promise to always be there for you. If you're feeling down, I want to help you."
The boy looked at the man with wide eyes. He wipes his eyes again before looking down at the floor again "here... you can't help me..." he replied softly.
"Whatever it is. Whatever happened. You can tell me. I promise I won't get angry at you."
The boy quickly turned his head to the side, "No. No, I can't tell you this."
Gabriel was silent while he tried to perceive the gestures of his counterpart. He couldn't force his son to tell him what was on his mind. He didn't want to do it. But Adrien's behavior told him something. And there was always his Miraculous, which could tell him something about his son's emotional state.
"It's because of Mayura?" exclaimed Gabriel with a sigh, "right?"
Immediately tears welled up in the boy's eyes again, which he desperately tried to wipe away. "Yes..." he admitted, sobbing softly, "I can't believe that Mayura is dead.... she was just here... a-and... now she's just gone..." the boy pinched his lip bitterly as tears rolled down his cheeks again. He couldn't help but burst into tears again.
Gabriel sat up hastily to take his son in his arms, who then wrapped his arms around him.
The man didn't think twice before saying, "She's fine."
"W-What?"
"She's in the hospital. Nathalie is fine"
Adrien's eyes widened at those words. He could hardly believe what he was hearing.
"We can visit her tomorrow..." Gabriel added.

Silence had returned to Tyler as well. He quietly listened to the sound of his own breathing, which very slowly and only bit by bit slowed down again and fell into a normal rhythm.
He waited a few seconds before stroking his hair and the green twinkle in his eyes slowly disappeared.
"Impressive" a voice greeted him. He hastily turned his head to the person. He could see a silhouette leaning against the door frame, hands crossed on her chest. Through the faint light that shone into the room behind her, Tyler could see the short flaming red hair held together by a wing-like pendant. Two of these, which hung out at the sides and were a bit longer, shimmered in a shade of white. The female silhouette wore a white dress that turned into wings at the ends. Her outfit was rounded off by a black and gold mask that didn't even reveal the color of her eyes.
"You here." the man greeted her "Who will guard the gates of hell then?"
"Nice to see you still haven't lost your annoying sense of humor"
The woman let go of the frame she had been leaning against to enter the room. "I thought she finished you off. But then I come here and have to look at your pathetic face instead. It's a shame." she sighed softly.
"You know. Weed is hard to kill." said the man with his usual grin on his face. He slowly rose back to his feet.
Duusu himself stared wide-eyed at the person who had now entered the room. From her perspective she couldn't see the stranger. But her mere presence made her uneasy. She had never met anyone like this before. And the woman's mere presence sent shivers down her small spine.
The woman picked up the small brooch with her fingers and looked at it. "So this is her Miraculous." she said while turning it a few times in her hand to get a closer look at it. After a short pause she spoke ".. Why do you see the kwami in it? Shouldn't it be inactive?"
At which Tyler shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare at the woman. How he despised her. her way of being so secrecy. He knew exactly why she was here. For a split second he looked at his Miraculouses, which were still spread out on the floor. He wouldn't let her have them that easily.
"Hah" the woman laughed, slightly amused. "Unlike you, she really is something special." With these words, she buried the Miraculous in her fist, which she squeezed tightly together, causing an ugly crack to be heard. Before Tyler could do anything about it, Tyler could hear the little kwami's desperate screams. Filled with pain, Duusu screamed for her life.
Before Tyler could move a muscle to help the kwami, she felt silent.
„Don't worry. I am not here to fight today." the Women said as she turned arround and was passing by him again. She threw him the Miraculous before his feed, this time Duusu was no longer to be seen in ir. "Send her my regards~" the woman said and disappeared as quickly as she had come back.
Leaving the confused Tyler alone in the room, who had his eyes fixed on the now broken Miraculous. There were many small cracks all over the back.