Saving Gabriel

Emilie part one

"I have them, I finally have them!" a loud voice echoed across the spacious room beneath the vast agreste mansion. Hawk moth grinned as he looked down at the small, but powerful pieces of jewelry, the ladybug miraculous shined duly against his gloved hand. "Now, I can finally save you.. Emilie..". 

"W-what?" The words echoed in chats mind, save you.... Emilie. He looked up from his spot on the floor a couple of feet behind hawk moth and the now open casket. He sat sprawled on the small bridge holding a limp Marinette in his arms. The silent water beneath the bridge seemed to slow to a halt. Everything was spinning around him as he tried to grasp what was happening, the reality of it all sent his mind spinning. He looked down at the ground before him squeezing his eyes shut and breathing heavily. Emilie. He looked up at hawk moth eyes wide and tears streaming down his face. "F-father?" he said, his voice so soft it almost came as a whisper. 

Hawkmoth turned toward chat noir, an indecipherable look on his aged features. "What did you say?" He said softly. 

Chat closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking up at the man before him, "Are you.." he hesitated, not quite sure how to word his next statement. "Are you Gabriel Agreste?" He looked up at the tall man through his lashes still holding his partner close.

Hawkmoth took two steps forward and knelt down before chat noir on the floor. He looked up into his teary eyes. "Green" He said, "just like your mothers."

Chat looked at him, eyes wide, his confirmation was clear, Hawkmoth was his father. He couldn't take his eyes off his fathers stern, grey-blue eyes as more tears streaked his face with salt. Thoughts of all the terrible things hawkmoth did to the city of Paris and all the pain he caused started to enter his mind and he tried to push them away he didn't want to think about anything, fifteen minutes was all it took to turn his life upside down.

Suddenly it all made sense, everything came together. The absence of his father's care. The coldness he shows toward every living being he comes in contact with. When he snapped at him for mentioning a relationship with Nathalie. It makes sense, Emilie, his mother, she was down here the whole time lying in a casket not a day older than she was five years ago. 

Adrien smiled at the thought of his mother all those years ago running through the flowers with him, Gabriel smiling fondly and walking not too far behind them. Gabriel. His thoughts snapped back to reality like a rubber band stretched too far and he looked up sharply to his fathers face. 

Then, Gabriel smiled. Not a nasty one or a half-hearted smile he would give to his clients. A real, fond smile. One Adrien hadn't seen for years. He felt numb and dizzy. He couldn't think. Is this real? Is it all just a dream or..? Maybe, maybe this is good, maybe things can go back to the way they used to be. Maybe mom will be okay and maybe Dad will smile again. A real smile. 

Gabriel inched forward and glanced to the side a guilty look on his face. He placed his staff down on the ground beside him and looked back to Adrien, sadness etched in his brow. His thoughts wandered to how little he has actually done for his son, how much he distanced himself. How much of Emilie he could see on his sons face, in his actions, his personality. Reality came crashing down on Gabriel setting him off balance. He could feel tears pricking at his eyes as he realized just how awful he had become toward his son after, after Emilie. His brows drawn, he looked into his sons eyes, to all the emotions he could see in the green.

He leaned in and gave his son a hug. Adrien was baffled. They stayed like that for what felt like eternity before Adrien raised one arm and returned the gesture, keeping one arm tightly secured around Marinette. 

Gabriel let go. One hand on his staff, the other on his sons shoulder he looked at him. "You understand why I need the miraculous don't you?" He paused. "I need to save her Adrien, i'm nothing without Emilie" 

Chat sniffled and pulled off his ring. "I know." He said, voice shaky. "Father, it's been years. W-Why did you distance yourself so much? We could have, we could have found a way to move on, together."

Gabriel felt dizzy. We could have moved on....

Gabriel's head whipped around, "Move on?!" "Move on!"anger rising in his voice at the mere suggestion of giving up Emilie he whirled around snatching the miraculous from his sons hands. "EMILIE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME!", Radiating fury he marched over to the casket pulling out the ladybug miraculous he had  taken from the limp girls ears earlier. 

"i loved her just as much as you did and I was struggling too! I had no one to talk to, no one who would ever understand me. I visited her grave alone, talked to her, told her about my day. When all this time she has been down here in a coffin rotting away like some used toy while you distance yourself and destroy the family she worked so hard to build!" That was it, everything Adrien had ever wanted to say to his father came out in a fit of cries and screams. He took several deep breaths and spoke more calmly, "mother would have wanted us to have moved on, stay together and enjoy life even though she wasn't there" He opened his eyes to see a furious Gabriel lunging toward him. 

He had no time to respond, he was thrown against the far wall of the room with a thud. Adrien groaned opening his eyes, black spots filling his vision. Hawkmoth lugged the limp Marinette across the room to land next to Adrien on the floor, the bright white butterflies scrambling to get away. 

"YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT SHE WOULD HAVE WANTED!?" 

"YOU THINK YOU UNDERSTAND THE PAIN I AM GOING THROUGH?!"

"you DON'T! you never could, I loved her more than anything, you don't understand the pain i have had to go through, do not talk to me about what is best for her, for our family!"

He stormed off toward the casket holding the miraculous in his hand. 

His fathers words swirled through his head forming a splitting headache in his temple. He inched over to Marinette, gathering her up in his arms as best he could, vision blurry he sat against the wall letting darkness take over him. "I'm so sorry, Marinette"

You don't understand

you never loved her as much as me

you don't 

you don't understand

Emilie

Emilie

You could never understand