Control (Miraculous Ladybug)

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"We should probably get back to Paris," Adrien murmured.

Several hours had passed since Marinette had reunited with him. Now, the two teens were sitting out on the porch of the mage's shop, "forced" to snuggle up close to each other because of the chilly weather. Their fingers entwined, he slowly rubbed his fingers over her cold hands, and she grinned softly.

"You're right," she mumbled in response, and he could detect a trace of reluctance in her quiet voice. "My parents aren't going to be happy if I stay away forever. They won't give me chocolate croissants anymore if we're late." 

His smile slowly faded, and she frowned in concern. "What is it?"

He shrugged sadly. "Just that I can't say as much about my own parent."

Twisting, she turned to face him more directly, her bluebell eyes gleaming with sympathy. "I'm sorry . . ." she whispered.

"It's not your fault." He stared at the ground in front of them. "My father — he's changed. He wasn't always so cold and distant. He used to be so much happier. Then Mom disappeared, and . . ." His voice trailed away, and her expression told him she understood.

"There's more," he added quietly. "He's Hawk Moth."

She stiffened in shock. "What?" she gasped, her jaw gaping. "I thought we were proved wrong after your dad was akumatized!"

He shook his head in confusion. "I don't get it, either," he admitted. "Somehow he akumatized himself."

"He hasn't made any more supervillains since . . ." An unhappy glint entered her eyes, and she shook herself slightly. "Maybe by discovering your secret, it changed him even more," she suggested. "In a better way . . . ?"

"My question is just, why does he want our powers so badly?" Adrien asked with a frown. "He already has his own miraculous, doesn't he?"

"The Moth miraculous, yeah." She reflected his puzzled frown, but before she could go on, a little red kwami flew out of her bag to hover beside her owner.

"This is my kwami, Tikki," Marinette explained quickly, and he nodded, even though he'd figured that out already.

"The two miraculous you have are the most powerful," Tikki explained. "When combined, they can make any one wish come true. That must be why Hawk Moth wants them."

"But surely Father isn't so ambitious that he would risk the lives of the whole city just for the sake of getting ultimate power?" Adrien protested, an image of his dad's scowling face rising in his mind. "What wish does he want to make?"

This time Tikki remained silent, while Marinette gazed quietly at him. "You're closer to him than any of us," she pointed out gently. "You would have more ideas than we would." She squeezed his hand comfortingly.

She was right, he thought, and it didn't take long for him to get a very probable possibility.

"Mom," he whispered, and when Marinette leaned closer inquiringly, he said louder, "He wants to bring Mom back."

"What happened to her?" Tikki asked curiously.

"She disappeared almost a year ago," he replied heavily. "That's all he tells me. Not how or anything else. He told me she gave him the spell book, too, but . . . that's it."

"But if he ever got the miraculous," Plagg suddenly intervened, zooming out of Adrien's jacket, "he should never use them! Every wish comes with a price. If he tries to bring her back, the same thing will happen to someone else. Using the two most powerful miraculous only causes trouble!"

The two teens stared at him in terror. "Then we must never let him get a hold of them," Marinette declared at last.

Adrien nodded sullenly in agreement, though privately he hated that they were talking about his father as their worst enemy. He was talking about it, too.

But the worst part was that they were right.

🐞 🐞 🐞

Their journey back home seemed subdued, yet relaxed and relieving. He was definitely overjoyed at being back with his Lady, that was for sure. It comforted him by knowing she was there for him, especially when it came to his father.

The day had gone by the time they arrived back home. Both still transformed, they stopped by the Agreste mansion. Chat Noir slowed down a little at the gates, staring up in silence at his home.

"I didn't think I'd ever see this place again," he muttered, then added his detransformation words and transformed back in a flash of golden light. Ladybug did the same, and, back in her civilian form, said, "I'll come with you inside, if you'd like."

"Thanks, m'lady," he replied with a brief smile, then linked his arm with hers and rang the doorbell.

The security camera zoomed out of the wall, and he heard the start of a sharp inquire, but the familiar voice was cut off and drowned in silence. He stared at the lens, anxious and worried about what his encounter with his father would be like now that his secret was revealed to him. Would his dad actually try to take his miraculous by force, even after what had happened?

The camera retreated back into the wall.

Adrien glanced nervously at Marinette. "I'm guessing he wasn't expecting us."

She nodded slowly in agreement, but before any more words were shared, the gates swung open and the front doors flew outward. His father appeared and stopped at the top of the steps, but his expression took his son by surprise.

It was an expression he'd never seen him wear.

His blue eyes were wide, but more with shock and joy than anything else. His clothes looked rumpled instead of neat and professional, showing he hadn't been bothering to take care of himself.

For several long moment, father and son merely gazed at each other. Gabriel looked on in disbelief. "Son . . ." he choked out at last.

His next words put Adrien in as much shock as his father. The main reason was because he hadn't heard them in years.

". . . I'm sorry."