Duty to protect

Problems

Bruce sat in silence. Staring at the young Agreste in complete silence.

Adrien glared back at him, his arms crossed.

In all honesty, Bruce wasn't at all intimidated even though the boy had definitely inherited his father's cold stare. If anything, he was uncomfortable.

Adrien was determined to protect his partner like she protected him. He knew he would never be as... committed... but squaring off with her father was something he could do to prove his devotion.

He hated the man in front of him. He didn't just neglect her, he threw her away.

Bruce cleared his throat. "Do you have something to say Me Agreste...?"

"To be frank sir, I hate you. Marinette is the bravest most compassionate and most broken and confusing person I have ever met. She wanted nothing  but your approval and instead you discarded her! Dropped her on the next in line! She's ours now. Not yours. She never was yours. So stop spying! Stop pretending! Leave her alone!" Adrien yelled.

"I thought I was doing what needed to be done. I did not like seeing her go. I had no choice. In Gotham, sh-she would have died taking a hit for any of us! I sent her to a city with no danger so she could break free from the Lazarus plaguing her. I couldn't stand the thought of watching another one of my children die or be horrifically injured because of me." He narrowed his eyes.

"But what about her!? You never tried to help when she was here. She told me all about your little 'tests' to see how sound of mind she was. You didn't trust her! You never thought for a moment that she was acting to get you to like her! You never thought that 'oh my child was raised as an object to be used. Maybe I should help her?' Instead of just neglecting and ignoring her because you never trusted her!" Adrien stood up, slamming his hands on the desk.

"I admit it! I was a bad father. But I still believe I did what was right in sending her away from us! To a safe city!" Bruce  sat back in his chair.

"Some safe city indeed. Held captive by an magical emotional terrorist. Guess you haven't been spying that much. The contact cut was not necessary either. Mr Wayne you should be shamed of yourself. Never come near her again! She doesn't need you poking your nose where it doesn't belong!" He stormed out, ignoring the fact that he was technically meant to be doing work experience and went to sit in the cafeteria.

Bruce frowned, quickly trying to pull up news outlets from Paris but found absolutely nothing. It was like the city had disappeared.

He needed to contact the justice league.

..~~..

The girls were walking through some clothes stores at the mall, happily talking and catching up.

Chloe had never seen Marinette genuinely smile so consistently. She knew that Marinette loved her circle of friends. But she also knew that with their friends, she felt a duty to protect them all the time. In this setting, she seemed more comfortable to relax.

Their team wasn't properly trained yet. She couldn't let her guard down, it was nice to see Marinette just... being a person.

Marinette was sat on a stool next to Barbara, showing her her sketchbook full of designs, taking great pride and happiness in watching her awed face at her designs. She felt a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest when Babs pulled her into a hug, ruffling her hair. "We're so proud of you Mari!"

She smiled and just let herself be hugged.

Both Chloe and Marinette froze at the all too familiar sound of the akuma alert.