All For Love

Chapter 5

A/N - I'm so sorry that my hiatus was longer than expected. Hopefully the gap before the next chapter will not be as long 💜

Théo Barbot considered himself a patient man, but even his patience these days was wearing a little thin. Marinette Dupain had slipped through his fingers, in the middle of the night no less, leaving little trace of her whereabouts. It was a blow to his ego, that went without saying, and he was determined that some day, somehow, the little wench would pay for humiliating him. Even that brat Félix had taunted him about his runaway bride. He would show him though. From the moment Barbot had laid eyes on Marinette all those years ago at her Grandfather's estate, he knew he would make her his bride. She would be the perfect wife, and her Grandfather's lands the perfect asset.

Still, it was taking all his patience. Gabriel's war might have been a setback to his plans, but it wouldn't last forever, and sooner or later Marinette would have no choice but to return to him, and when she did he would make sure she would never be able to leave his sight again. It would only be a matter of time. Every cloud has a silver lining, and this war had presented Barbot with a unique opportunity that couldn't be ignored.

Climbing the winding staircase to the roof, Théo found Mr Ramier tending to his coop of carrier pigeons. Théo rolled his eyes at the way Ramier fussed over his stinking birds, talking to them like they were his children. Seriously the man needed to find a hobby, or a woman maybe. "Any news today?" He asked. Before Mr Ramier had a chance to answer, Lila came around from the other side of the coop holding a tiny pigeon in her hands.

"There is news indeed, dear Uncle." She said, stroking her fingers down the bird's back.

Théo could see a mischievous look in his Niece's eyes as she kissed the bird on the head and handed it back to Ramier. Following Lila back down the staircase, they entered into the great library where they knew no one would be around.

"So, what's the news?" Théo asked impatiently, his voice reverberating off the walls.

"XY found Chat Noir." Lila replied in a low voice. "He had given them the slip from the field hospital where he was taken wounded to, but XY has located him hiding in a house with members from the underground and he has been watching them for a number of days. Bourgeois troops have now taken the surrounding area so they will need passes to cross the checkpoints. Two have already left to continue with the documents, but Chat, his Captain and a nurse are still hiding."

Théo rubbed his goatee. "Perfect." He grinned.

"I must say, I doubted your plan to flush Chat Noir out, but they took the bait hook, line and sinker."

"Of course they did." Théo boasted proudly. "They have no reason to think the documents they are carrying are fake, especially with a mercenary like XY tracking them. Everything is going to plan nicely. Once the documents arrive and we get rid of Chat Noir, we will begin phase two and deal with the King and the Prince."

Barbot noticed that Lila was trying to hide a smirk on her face. "What's that look for? You know something else?"

"Only the Prince's whereabouts." She replied teasingly. "XY saw him."

"Saw him? Where?" He asked keenly.

"That's the beautiful part." Lila laughed. "It turns out our dear Prince is none other than Chat Noir himself."

Théo's eyes widened in surprise. "No... For certain?"

Lila nodded. "XY would know him anywhere. The man was responsible for having him dismissed from the academy after all and he is just itching to settle that score."

"Things are just getting better and better." Théo practically salevated as he rubbed his hands together. "Change of plans. Send a message back to XY and tell him to steal back those documents and bring them to me. I may have a new use for them. He can do what he likes with the others, but he must make sure he disposes of the Prince. He can choose how, just make sure he doesn't survive and we can blame his death on the war. With both the Prince and Chat Noir out of the way, the army will be demoralised without their heroes and will blame the King. What about our dear Félix? I gather there is little love between him and his Uncle these days."