"So why can't I help?" Felix groaned.
"Well... I have Tikki." Marinette began, sitting down on the floor as she grabbed a blanket near her and wrapped it around herself.
"I have Plagg." Adrien said, sitting down beside her on the floor as he took another pastry.
"Yeah, yeah, I know that already." Felix said, taking a bite of his pastry finally as he sat down on the floor as well.
Marinette sighed and looked to Adrien. She knew that Felix knowing their identities was already a risk. There was also another thing they were avoiding... Master Fu. Tikki and Plagg flew out and landed in front of them.
Tikki looked up at Felix and gave a less than happy expression.
"Marinette..." She began.
"I know..." Marinette sighed, covering her face with the blanket.
"It's my fault Tikki." Adrien confessed, seeing Tikki turn to Adrien.
"The kid left his bedroom door unlocked by accident. Felix came to apologize and... poof. He detransformed and BAM... Everything went downhill from there." Plagg said.
Tikki sighed, turning to Felix.
"So you're Ladybug's Kwami... Sugarcube... was it?" He said.
"Tikki! My name is Tikki. Not Sugarcube." She stated, turning her attention to Plagg who was snickering on the side.
"Aww come on Sugarcube. That's a pretty cute nickname." He smiled.
"Ugh... Anyways... We need to tell Master Fu." Tikki sighed.
"Do we have to?" Adrien said. "We aren't hurting anyone?"
"What if Felix tells someone?" Tikki sighed.
"Are you accusing me of breaking my word, bug?" He leaned down glaring.
"Uh... no!" Tikki laughed nervously, trying not to anger him.
"Calm down all of you." Marinette interjected, scooping Tikki up in her hands.
"I agree with Tikki." Marinette spoke up.
"Thank you Marinette." Tikki smiled.
"Well... I agree with Tikki... but... I don't think we should tell him...yet. Felix has kept his word... shouldn't we trust him? He could be a great Ally." Marinette said.
"But Marinette!" Tikki began.
"Sugarcube... come on... Felix is Adrien's family. He's been through so much. Don't take the kid from me." Plagg frowned.
"Ugh... you're really playing the guilt card on me Plagg?" Tikki groaned, seeing Plagg give her the sad cat eyes.
"Ugh... fine. I don't agree with this... but I will go along with it." Tikki said.
"Thank you Tikki." Marinette smiled, hugging her.
"Just... take responsibility for your actions." Tikki said.
"Always Tikki." Marinette said.
"We will. We promise." Adrien smiled.
"Alright boy. You know what I get." Plagg smirked.
"Alright alright." Adrien rolled his eyes, searching in his shirt pocket.
"What are you searching for?" Felix asked, confused.
"This! Ahhh sweet sweet Camembert" Plagg said, taking the piece of cheese that Adrien had pulled from his shirt pocket.
"...Why do you have that in there...?" Felix asked, a little weirded out and concerned.
"Uh... I have the same problem but with sweets." Marinette said, showing him her tiny purse, with cookies.
"Wow... you two have some problems." Felix said.
"It isn't for us?" Adrien said. "It's for our Kwami's. We have to feed them after we transform."
"Yeah. They have to eat too, you know." Marinette said smiling, handing Tikki a cookie.
"Thank you." Tikki said, taking the cookie.
The rest of the day goes by with them casually talking and eating pastries until both Felix and Adrien had to return home that night. A few days go by and Felix, Adrien and Marinette had been spending a lot more time together. Felix and Adrien were... actually starting to be more friendly to each other. Though at home... he would still be cold and distant to him and Adrien didn't understand why. He would ask him why he treated him so differently at home than everywhere else and he would just tell him it was all in his head.
Adrien was practicing his piano until he felt his phone vibrate and he took his fingers off of the piano. He reached inside his pocket and brought out his phone, seeing an unknown number trying to reach him. Instead of rejecting the call like he would normally do, he answered it, thinking it would give him time away from the piano.
"Hello?" He said, wondering who it was.
"Is this Adrien Agreste? Son of Gabriel Agreste?" The voice asked.
"Y-yes? Who is asking?" Adrien asked, still unsure who it was.
"This is an officer from the jail. Your father is being allowed to have visitations by certain people. You and a few others are allowed to see him... if you wish." The officer stated.
"O-oh... thank you." Adrien said.
"No problem, have a good day." He said, hanging up the phone.
Adrien ended the call and put it back in his pocket and went and sat down on his bed.
"Are you going to go see him?" Plagg asked, floating over.
"I have to Plagg... I need to figure out if he really is Hawkmoth... and I think I want to invite Marinette along as well." He said, pulling out his phone.
"Are you sure about that? Don't you remember the last time he met Marinette...?" Plagg said, a little worried.
"Don't worry Plagg. Marinette is alright. Everything will be alright." Adrien smiled, texting Marinette.
"I hope." He sighed, seeing her text him back with a heart emoji.
The next few days ate at him and when the weekend finally arrived, he let Marinette come over to his home. They ate lunch and explained everything to his Aunt Amelie and Felix so they understood what was going on.
"That sounds lovely Adrien." Amalie smiled.
"I hope everything goes well." Felix said, sipping his drink.
"Thanks, both of you. Well... we'll see you both later. We're going to the jail now to see him."
"Alright, tell your father I said hello." Amalie said,
"I will." He smiled, nodding to Marinette, letting her know that they could leave.
Nathalie saw Adrien and Marinette getting ready to leave and walked over to him. She looked down at him and smiled, leaning down and giving him a hug.
"Tell Gabriel everything is fine here. That I am making sure everything with his business is alright." Nathalie said.
"I will Natalie, I'm sure he appreciates it. I appreciate everything you're doing for us." Adrien smiled.
Nathalie let her hands go and walked back to her desk, watching them leave. As she saw the bodyguard drive them away, she looked down at her miraculous that would transform her as Mayura and sighed.
"I hope you can get it from him in there, Sir..." Nathalie said to herself.
As they drove there, Marinette saw Adrien's leg shake as he stared out of the window. He also seemed to be biting his finger nails.
"Are you alright?" She asked, worried.
"Uh... me? Oh... just fine!" He lied, trying not to let his anxiety show.
"Adrien... you don't have to lie to me." She sighed.
He let out a breath.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I should be honest with you... I wanted you to come to support and be here for me. I want to have an actual real conversation with my father for once and... actually introduce you to him as my official girlfriend." He sighed... letting a slight smile appear on his face as the word girlfriend escaped his lips.
"I'll always be here for you if you need me, Adrien." She smiled, placing a kiss on his cheek.
The car pulled to a stop and Adrien looked at his bodyguard. His bodyguard nodded, letting him know they could exit. Adrien took a deep breath and unclicked the door and stepped out. He let Marinette out of the car next and shut the door behind her, watching the bodyguard drive off. He turned back around and felt his breath get stuck in his throat as he felt... scared... nervous.. Anxious... once again. Until he felt the familiar warmth wrap around his fingers. He looked down at Marinette smiling at him and saw her holding his hand.
"Come on... Let's go." She smiled, pulling him forward.
Just like that, his feet didn't feel like lead anymore. They were placed in a room with a bodyguard standing by a door, sitting at a table, almost like a cafeteria inside a school. Marinette could tell her was nervous again because she felt his hands shaking slightly in hers.
She glanced over at him and she could see the hurt in his eyes as he watched the doors... just waiting patiently for his father to walk through the doors.
"Adri-" She started but stopped when she felt him let go of her hand and stood up.
Her attention focused on the sound now. Both of them looking at Gabriel, Adrien's father who was walking toward them and who was now taking a seat at the table.
"F-father. How are you doing?" He asked, a little nervous but still trying to be his polite good son he raised him to be.
"I'm fine son. How are you doing?" He asked, sitting down.
"I-I'm... managing." He smiled sheepishly.
"Good." He said, glancing over at Marinette who stayed silent out of respect.
Marinette smiled politely but kept quiet, letting him and Adrien talk.
"Father? I have so many questions. At the verdict... you said you did this all for...me... what did you mean...?" He said, confused.
Gabriel was silent for a few seconds and sighed.
"I don't want to dwell on the past Adrien. I do not want to talk about foolish actions that do not matter." He said.
"I... I understand." Adrien sighed.
"I am glad you are doing well though son. Marinette, is it? I do apologize for my outbursts at the dinner table. I... was a little stressed." He said.
"It's no problem, Mr. Agreste." Marinette smiled nervously.
"Oh! Aunt Amalie said to tell you hello as well." Adrien said.
"How is she doing? Are you staying in Paris? I was wondering what was to happen if I did go to jail." He asked.
"Felix was given the option to choose. He chose to stay in Paris. So we moved into our house." Adrien smiled.
"So... anyways... I brought Marinette here with me." Adrien began.
"Yes?"
"Marinette is my girlfriend." Adrien smiled nervously.
"Girlfriend?" He asked, looking back at her.
"Yeah, we've been dating since the fashion show." Adrien explained.
"Hmm... I see. Marinette?"
"Y-yes?" She asked.
"I see no problem with you dating my son and I am glad you are making him happy. Please do right by him." He smiled.
Adrien smiled, glancing over at Marinette who was still looking at Gabriel with her cheeks starting to turn pink. Adrien wanted to laugh but he kept quiet until he saw Gabriel's eyes dart to him.
"Hmm... Where is your mother? How is she?" Gabriel asked.
"Aunt Amalie said that she is at the hospital. I haven't been to see her yet, I was planning to soon." Adrien said.
"You haven't seen your mother yet? What kind of son are you? You should go see her!" Gabriel said sternly.
"I will father, I promise." Adrien said, his eyes drifting downward.
Gabriel noticed he raised his voice and corrected his tone.
"I-I mean... please go see your mother. For you... and me." He said, fixing his voice from stern to a more sincere tone.
They talked for a while until the visitations were up and Adrien helped Marinette up. Gabriel smiled, seeing the young gentleman that he raised. Gabriel stood up and walked over to Adrien and wrapped his arms around him, taking him by surprise. Adrien smiled, hugging him back. Adrien and Marinette hadn't noticed Gabriel's hands sliding into Adrien's pocket and took something out, before they parted from the hug. Gabriel clenched his fists so they wouldn't see what he had grabbed and took his leave from both of them. Adrien and Marinette left the jail and Adrien texted his bodyguard that they were ready to be picked up.
A few minutes later his car drove up. The bodyguard as well as Felix and Nathalie both drove up.
"Nathalie? Felix? Why are you both here?" Adrien asked.
"We wanted to get out of the house for a little while... is that alright?"
"Uh... yeah no problem. Do you mind if we go see my mother?" Adrien asked.
"Not at all." She smiled, seeing both Adrien and Marinette get inside the car.
Nathalie sighed, knowing what was about to come next would anger her partner dearly... but would be necessary to get him to go free. It was extremely risky but she was certain that nothing would go wrong.