Does he remember?

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Goodnight, Adrien", Marinette kissed Adrien before rolling onto her side of the bed. Adrien lie in bed, but couldn't fall asleep. All that went through his mind was the hatred he now felt for his father, more than ever. Everything he missed out on, the life that was stripped from him, all because of his father. He was too angry and pissed off to fall asleep. His mind running too much to slow down. 

He didn't know how long he had stared up at the ceiling before he fell asleep. When he glanced at the clock, the time read 4:29am. They had gone to bed at 11:00pm. Before he fell asleep, he had come up with a plan. A plan to stop his father. 

With this plan, he couldn't involve Marinette. This was between him and his father, too dangerous to put her at risk. He knew she could handle herself, but that didn't mean she had to. This was his battle and fight for his life to save the ones he loved, and to save the city he loved even more. 

He shuffled out of bed, his adrenaline kicking in. He couldn't take the anticipation of showing his face to his father again, but this time to defeat him. The idea of the look on his father's face when he shows up-

"Where are you going?" Marinette asks sleepily. 

"Uh, just going for a walk", Adrien lied.

"Are you okay?" She sat up in bed, adjusting her eyes to see him clearly.

"Yeah, just go back to sleep", he went over to her, planting a kiss on her forehead and grazing her chin. "Just need to think."

"About how you're planning to destroy your father without me?" Marinette got off the bed to grab shoes from her closet. "I'm going with you."

Adrien sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Marinette..."

"No argument. Let's go."

It was still dark while they were walking outside. Very quiet; until Marinette let her feelings loose.

"How could you do this?" Marinette shook her head, unable to look at him.

"How did you know?" Adrien sighed, racking his brain on how she figured it out.

"Because I know you!" She answered him firmly. "Nobody goes for walks at 4 in the morning to think, not unless it's something serious."

Adrien didn't answer. He hugged his arms around his body, his head hung forward as he stared at his feet.

Marinette paused and turned her feet toward him. "You were really thinking about doing this alone? You know damn well that's not going to happen, right?"

"Marinette, I can't lose you again. I can't put you at risk for me", he raised his voice in frustration.

"That's not for you to decide!" Marinette yelled, pointing a finger at his chest. They paused for a moment, realizing their frustration. Knowing they should both simmer down, or else Monarch may sense strong anger from them. "We've been through thick and thin, Chat Noir."

Adrien glanced up at the starry sky, a smile appearing on his face. "I love hearing you call me that, again."

Marinette smiled back. "I missed calling you that." Her smile faded. "But, we need to get serious about this. You can't just decide to go off by yourself to face one of the most dangerous villains out there. I realize he's your father and you feel obligated to take care of this, but you aren't. You aren't obligated to fight him alone. I am always here beside you. You and me against the world, remember?"

"Yes, I remember", he replied softly, grabbing her hand and holding it to his chest. "I just...I'm so worried...what if we lose? Then what happens?"

"We can't think like that", Marinette broke away from his eye contact.

"We have to think about the consequences", he gazed down at her, looking for her eyes. "We have to think about Emma." 

That caught her attention. Marinette swallowed. "We won't lose. I refuse to let him take you away from me and our daughter again." Her eyes filled with tears.

"He took everything from me. That won't happen again", he shook his head, taking Marinette into his arms. Usually, he would close his eyes and sink into her embrace. But this time, he held her with his eyes open, filled with the fire of anger he felt toward his dad.

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"When are we going to tell her?" Adrien asked as Marinette shut Emma's door, checking on her. 

'When this is all over", Marinette glanced toward Emma's door. Adrien walked over to her, embracing her once again. 

"What are you two doing up?" Alya and Nino walked out of their room in confusion. "It's like 5am."

"Just checking on our daughter", Marinette smiled up at Adrien. 

"Yeah, what are you guys up for?" Adrien glanced from Marinette to Alya and Nino, still hugging Marinette.

Nino and Alya glanced at each other quickly. "Never mind that. Actually, we'll just go back to bed."

"Wait", Marinette cut in. "We need your help. Right now."

"What is it?" Nino questioned. "Is it your father?"

Adrien sighed. "Let's talk outside."

Once the four walked together outside where it was quiet, Marinette began. "Adrien here was about to go off on his own and defeat his father by himself. We can't do this alone, though. If we're going to defeat him, we'll need as much power as we can get."

"I'm sorry, Marinette", Adrien whispered to her. Marinette nodded, planting a kiss on his shoulder. "I can't sleep until I know this is taken care of. I refuse to put you guys in danger, especially Emma."

Alya sucked in a breath, leaning backward. "Oh my gosh..."

Adrien smiled, nodding at Alya.

Nino's eyes diverted back and forth between Alya and Adrien. "What? What is it?"

Alya whacked him on the shoulder. "Um, hello? He's Chat Noir, remember? Chat Noir is the father of Emma!"

Nino's eyes widened at her words. "Geez, that's right. You're a papa now. Holy shit, I'm so old."

"Anyways", Marinette interrupted, circling back to the important subject. "We'll have to come up with some sort of plan of action here."

"But plans never work out. Things always come at you unexpectedly", Nino explained.

Marinette inhaled a deep breath, standing from her seat. "Nino Lahiffe, here is the miraculous of the turtle, which grants the power of shelter."

Nino's jaw gaped at the sight of the miracle box in the palm of Marinette's hand. Enthusiastically, he clutched it in his hand before lifting the lid up as a shiny object swirled around him.

"Alya Cesaire, here is the miraculous of the fox, which grants the power of illusion", Marinette extended her hand to Alya.

"This is so awesome! The four of us are a superhero team, again! Wow that's strange to think about now", Alya pondered. "Wish I could share this on my blog."

"Now, here's the plan", Marinette took her seat, explaining the details of the plan she and Adrien discussed earlier.