No Way Out

A Great Honor, A Reward, and A Bag

The square metal box levitated into the air. Colored lights emitted from its corners until it transformed into a wooden rectangle.

Coccinella glowed for a moment too before both she and the box hit the floor at the same time.

Once the lights faded away, everyone took a collective sigh of relief and lowered their weapons down to their sides. Multimouse wrapped her jump rope back around her waist and looked over at Etoile. "You're up, Mr Agreste."

He nodded. "Points retract." Then as Gabriel, he glanced at Chickira before approaching the woman on the floor. Just as he kneeled down to her, Coccinella stirred.

She sat up and put one hand to her head as she opened her eyes. Seeing Gabriel in front of her, she instantly straightened up. "M... Mr Agreste, what are you... why am I..." Too bewildered, she didn't complete the questions. She just looked around. The sight of the holders made her eyes widen in confusion.

"There's been a change of plan," Gabriel said, swiftly removing her earrings first. Then he grabbed the nose ring from her nose. "We managed to figure out a solution on our own." Next, the necklace was removed followed by the panjas bracelet. Finally, he stopped and stared directly into her eyes. "I'm afraid I won't be needing your assistance any longer, Miss Rossi." Lila only blinked at him as he stood her up and walked her over to the apartment door. "Take the elevator downstairs," he continued. "There should be a doorman at the entrance. Give him your name, and he'll call someone to pick you up and bring you back home."

"I don't understand," Lila said as he unlocked the door and opened it.

"Don't worry," he replied. "You will."

She blinked at him for an extra moment, then slowly left the apartment.

Once she was gone, Gabriel closed the door and spun around. He was going to head over to Marinette but ended up not moving from his place. Seeing Chat Noir approaching him, he tightened his grip on the earrings. "Reaggle, points extend."

Chat Noir stopped when he saw his father transform again. After a second, he narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice full of accusation.

"What are you doing?" Etoile countered.

"I'm coming to get Marinette's earrings."

He clutched them closer. "You're not getting her earrings. I'm not going to let you use them to make a wish."

Hearing his explanation, Chat Noir was taken aback. He definitely wasn't expecting that answer.

"I'll keep them safe for her," Etoile continued. "Then once I know that you won't try anything..."

"I don't want to make a wish," Chat Noir interrupted.

He squinted, obviously not believing him.

"I know I mentioned it before, and I know I wanted to make a wish before, but now I don't need it. I don't need a wish to bring Marinette back to me." He paused to look over at her. "She's still right here. My nightingale is still right here with me. Maybe her memories are gone, but nothing could ever take away her beautiful, loving spirit. And that's all I need."

The way he said it was so genuine that there was no other option than to accept it as the truth. After a moment to think, Etoile nodded at his son and then went right up to Multimouse. Reaching her, he smiled, feeling like he could finally make some sort of atonement. "I believe these belong to you," he said, holding the earrings out to her.

She smiled back as she took them from his hand. "Thank you, Mr Agreste."

"It's my pleasure, Marinette. Fighting beside you has been one of the greatest honors of my entire life."