#✦ adrien agreste || nathalie / missallanea ✦ even if i can't do anything i promise i'll always be there

[stardustedstories]

@missallanea asked: the last thing i want is to see you get hurt. / nathalie @ adrien ( bonus points if it includes supervillain reveal )

Adrien sat beside his bed, legs pulled up to his chest, trying to make himself as small as possible. If he tucked himself into the little corner provided by his bed and the wall, he only had to watch two sides of the room, could to keep an eye on the entrance to his room. He would have preferred if his bed was further from the door, so he could have at least a little bit more preparation when someone pushed it open, but he had to make do with what he had.

It was better to have more sides guarded, to be able to keep an eye on the door and the windows at the same time. And if he needed to, he could use the bed for cover, could slip under it and even hide, if it came right down to it.

This wasn't the first time he'd tucked himself into as much of a corner as he could, ready to have to deal with any threat that came at him. He hated being locked into his room, and it was one of the quickest ways to push him right to the edge.

And sometimes Plagg could help calm him down, reminded him that he wasn't helpless, that if he needed to, he could transform into Chat Noir, that he could defend himself, even get out if he really needed to. But there had been times that even that hadn't helped.

Tonight was unfortunately one of those times.

His father had sent him to his room, had locked him in, and that had sent Adrien spiraling in a way he hadn't in a while.

Usually when his dad locked him into his room, there was some sort of threat, something Chat Noir had to help deal with, but he didn't think he was going to be able to get out of here tonight.

And he had a feeling that it wasn't going to matter anyway. The last couple of times he'd had to take time to get to the scene of the latest akumatization, Ladybug had already recruited one of the other heroes that she knew about, showing him yet again that she didn't need him. All she needed was a sidekick, and it didn't matter who that was.

Adrien was so tired of not mattering to anyone. He didn't matter to his father, didn't matter to Ladybug; he was pretty sure he didn't even matter to his friends. They had their own group, did all their own things; they didn't need him, not the way he needed them.

He hears the door opening, and his head jerks up, looking wide-eyed in the direction of the door. For a split-second, he stays where he is, not sure what he should do, but he quickly dashes across the room and throws himself into the bathroom, which probably would have been a better place to start out, but….he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly.

Heels click across the floor, and part of his brain registers that it's probably Nathalie, coming to check on him, the way she'd been doing fairly often, recently. If he were in a better mindset, he might be a little worried about that, might wonder if there was a reason she was checking on him more than usual. But all he can think about is making sure the door is locked and wishing he'd brought one of his foils into the bathroom with him. It wouldn't do much against an actual threat, but it was better than nothing.

He can't even call out, can't ask what she wants, tell her to go away, anything; all he can do is press himself against the door and hope that'll be enough if it has to be.

The knock that comes on the door is a surprise; he'd been expecting the door to be pushed open. But after a moment, when he doesn't answer, another soft knock comes, followed by words.

"The last thing I want is to see you get hurt," Nathalie murmurs, and for the first time since the locks engaged, Adrien feels himself start to relax, just a little. Out of everyone in his life, Nathalie really did look out for him. She had his best interests at heart, and he believed her when she said she cared about him, when she told him she just wanted what was best.

And then his mind shifts to someone else who was looking out for him, had encouraged him to take control of his own life, to step out of everyone else's shadow. Mayura had told him she wanted what was best for him, too. Which he found interesting.

But the more time he spent on his own, the more time he had to think…., he was beginning to believe that she was right. He makes a mental note to see if he can contact her, the way she'd told him to, before squaring his shoulders, moving to pull the door to the bathroom open, to finally talk to Nathalie.

Only to see Mayura staring back at him.

[storiedhistories]

@missallanea asked: ❛ i didn’t want you to see me like this. ❜ / nathalie @ adrien

The fact that Nathalie had been doing everything she could to keep just how sick she really was from him hurt Adrien's heart. He knew that she was just trying to protect him, the way she always had, but she'd been keeping this to herself for so long. And he had known that something was wrong, but he hadn't wanted to push, hadn't wanted her to think that he was prying. He should have tried harder to see if she would tell him; maybe he could have done something!

"You shouldn't have had to hide yourself away like this, Nathalie," he said, brow furrowed in concern. "I'm sorry you've been dealing with this alone," Adrien murmured, hugging the woman who had been more like a mother to him than his father's assistant.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He knew it was unlikely…, but he had to ask. If there was even the slightest possibility he could do something to make her life easier, he wanted to do it.