Then There Was You

Chapter 20

Adrien and Marinette walked hand in hand huddled under an umbrella. The rain was light, but the wind was cold as the cooler weather began to approach. Both wore coats and boots, Adrien also wearing his favourite blue scarf. In her hands, Marinette carried two small bunches of white roses. It had been a bit over 12 month since the fall of Gabriel Agreste, and today was about closure on that chapter of their lives.

Gabriel had refused to plead guilty on any of the charges, even the death of Nathalie, forcing everyone into a tedious and dragged out trial. Unfortunately, Gabriel had the money and connections to employ lawyers willing to represent him, regardless of his obvious guilt. At first, Gabriel allowed Adrien to be thrown under suspicion as an accomplice and he had to defend himself against any involvement. He spent his 19th birthday on the stand trying to prove his innocence against the accusations. Everywhere he went, people would look at him strangely and whisper. Could the golden child really have been involved in crimes so hideous? News of his engagement to Marientte softened some of the blow, gossip magazines lapping up the apparent whirlwind romance amid so much tragedy. Adrien kept mostly to the bakery kitchen with Marinette's father during those darker days, the baker teaching him everything he knew about his craft and which gave Adrien a distraction from the pressure he was under. Tom insisted on paying him an apprentice wage, even though at first Adrien refused. Tom remind him that his daughter's design projects didn't come cheap and that Adrien would need an income to support her once they were married. Adrien didn't argue with him, even though he was sure he was well set financially and it made Tom happy to feel like he could help in a small way. Besides, Adrien was a quick learner and showed a lot of skill as a baker.

Eventually a letter emerged, one that Nathalie had written the day of the final showdown and posted to her solicitor. In it were numerous details of Gabriel's pattern of behaviour, his deteriorating mental state, and the emotional and physical abuse Adrien had been under for years. She also indicted Gabriel for his Hawkmoth activities with accurate details of some of his worst attacks. Between her statutory declaration, his bodyguard's testimony and Ladybug's statements, Adrien was cleared of any and all involvement. Once details of Adrien's life under his father became public, opinion shifted from suspicion to sympathy, not that Adrien wanted anyone's sympathy. He would have much rather none of that information had gotten out into the open, but it was necessary to clear his name and he was grateful that the people of Paris didn't hate him because of what his father had done. His greatest fear was that it would negatively affect Marientte, who was trying to establish her own fashion brand - Marinette Designed. Commissions had been coming in a steady stream ever since she designed the merchandise shirts for Jagged Stone's last world tour and he wanted nothing more than to see her succeed at her dreams, despite what his father had tried to do.

Throughout the trial, Gabriel made other attempts to shift blame. From claiming Nathalie was the mastermind behind everything, to mind control from the miraculous and even a mental breakdown. Adrien was forced to testify against his father as Chat Noir, a task that was more difficult than he imagined it would be, having to retell to the jury how Nathalie had sacrificed herself to protect him and Ladybug from Gabriel's attack and died in his arms. He had to keep his emotions in check while on the stand, trying to separate Adrien from his hero persona, but broke down in Marientte's arms afterward. He had been trying to be strong for so long but the realisation that his mother, and the woman he had begun to look up to as a mother were both gone, and it hit him hard after the testimony. For the first time since everything had happened, he had actually been able to grieve their loss, and Marinette and her parents were there to support him the whole way. He truly didn't know how he would have ever gotten through any of this without them.

It took almost a year of investigations and testimonies, but in the end the jury was unanimous - life without parole. Even if Gabriel had been able to pull the mental health card as Hawkmoth, he was not transformed when his deliberate actions to kill Ladybug had resulted in the death of Nathalie, the eyewitness testimony of five superheroes going against him made sure of that. Adrien sat in the courtroom as the judgement was passed, Marinette holding his hand as Gabriel was escorted from the dock after being found guilty to his new life in maximum security. The now former villain raised his eyes towards his son for the last time, but there was no love there, or even regret for his actions, only bitterness and contempt. Adrien looked away from his steely stare towards Marientte who's warm loving eyes connected with his. It would be alright, he told himself. This part of his life was over, but in her eyes and in her heart, he could see a new beginning awaited.