#belatedly realised it looks like I gave him a miraculous but I assure you its just him wanting to be fancy lol

[kronehaze]

had to draw @arcadeology s coffee witch boi

[paganinpurple]

Be Careful What You Wish For - Ch 6

Will Write For Coffee

Another chapter commissioned by the lovely @simply-zerah Enjoy! And thanx to @the-wonders-of-self-indulgence for betaing this for me.

Adrien and Nino find themselves in an alternate timeline where Hawkmoth never attacked and so the Miraculous heroes were never chosen. Just how much has changed in this universe? And how will they find their way back?

AO3 

Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5   Part 6    Part 7

It hadn’t taken long for Chat Noir to use his claws to unlock one of the windows in Gabriel Agreste’s atelier and slip inside. As dark as it was, he could clearly see the layout with his night vision and relied on that and the careful warnings Marinette whispered into his ear to guide him safely across the room without tripping any of the sensor beams that activated the alarm.

It was, therefore, only a moment before he reached the large painting on the far side of the room. It had been commissioned years before his mother had gone missing, so he wasn’t surprised to find it in the same place it hung back home and he took a second to glance over the piece in its splendour.

His mother had always been a huge fan of art and Gustav Klimt's The Lady in Gold had been her absolute favourite during her studies, so his father had given her a recreation, with her own face instead. It had been on their first wedding anniversary after his company had taken off successfully; a small flash of wealth and a celebration for them both. For both his father and himself, it now served as a memorial to her and it often caused Adrien more sorrow than joy when he took the time to contemplate it.

“You okay?” came the soft voice in his ear and Chat realised belatedly that his eyes were wet.

Shaking himself a little as if to wake himself from his daydream and wiping his face with the back of his hand, he quickly nodded –knowing she would see the movement from her end. He moved to pull the painting from the wall on one side, quickly finding the latch that held it in place and swinging the whole thing towards him on its hinges. He heard Marinette gasp as it revealed the safe hidden behind it.

He would have much preferred to use Plagg to phase through the lock, but he would’ve lost his connection to Marinette and he didn’t want to risk being caught as Adrien –which would be difficult to explain– all because he didn’t have his enhanced hearing. Instead, he quietly called for Cataclysm , barely whispering the word before the black destructive energy bubbled over his hand. Pressing his palm to the safe door, he watched as it dissolved away into nothing, leaving only a blackened edge to the surrounding area.

“Okay, that was…kinda cool,” Marinette said, sounding impressed. He failed to hold back the snicker it elicited in him as he started to look through the contents of the safe, finding something of interest just as Carapace's voice drifted through his earpiece.

“Dudes,” he said, sounding nervous, “I think we have a problem.”

As he finished speaking the atelier flooded with light dramatically. In shock, Chat spun himself around to face the person towering by the doorway, the light from above casting ominous shadows down the length of their torso. The tall, slim silhouette of Gabriel Agreste was as fierce and intimidating as ever, but Chat took confidence from his Miraculous and the abilities it granted him to stand firm and proud where he was.

“Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my house?” Gabriel asked, voice deceptively quiet, but cold nonetheless.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Carapace muttered at the same time Marinette called out his name.

Forcing a little more bravado into his stance and letting his signature smirk fall into place, Chat took out his baton to lean against, attempting a nonchalant tone when he spoke. “Bit big to be calling this place a house, isn’t it?”

Gabriel glanced at the safe behind the oddly dressed stranger as the man leant forward on his baton, and a wrinkle of confusion passed across the older man’s face. “How did you remove the door to my safe?” he said, beginning to glance around the floor for it, “Where is it?”

“I don’t think that’s really the most relevant question right now,” Chat said, reaching back into the safe while keeping Gabriel in his peripheral eyeline, “I think it’s much more important to ask how you came to have these .”

Removing his hand from the opening and outstretching it in front of him –to ensure Marinette would be able to get a good look as well –he watched Gabriel glance down at the two Miraculous in his clawed hand. To his credit, the older man was very good at hiding his panic, but Chat had known to expect a reaction and could feel the strain and tension that he gave off, as an almost physical force in the air between them.

“They have no monetary value. They are purely sentimental,” he said, as a drop of sweat formed across his forehead and dripped down his nose, “Now, the voice detectors have likely picked you up as an unknown intruder. The police will be on their way, so I suggest you put those back and leave before they arrive.”

“You’re cool, man,” he heard from his ear and Chat couldn’t help but chuckle as he pulled the Butterfly and Peacock pins back in towards his torso.

“Actually, my colleague is pretty good with tech and he assures me he has all the outbound communications well under his control, so I’m not worried. Besides, I have a feeling I’m on the whitelist and wouldn’t be flagged anyway.”

“Chaaaaat,” Marinette chastised, “Careful not to give away anything.”

He tutted once in an attempt to reassure her he knew what he was doing. There was little else he could do without drawing attention to his words. “Now, I believe I asked you how you found these…artefacts.”

“Gabe? What’s going on?”

Both men turned to the doorway as a woman appeared in the entryway. She was wrapped in a lavender robe which she clutched close to her chest and her grey-streaked blonde hair fell loose and limp across her shoulders, tousled from sleep.

“Emilie!” yelled Gabriel –no, his father– and the woman –his mother– flinched in shock. “Get out of here! Get Adrien and go find some help!”

Everything seemed to slow, and Chat watched in shock as his mother’s eyes turned to his, wide and full of terror as she realised he was there and was fearful of what he might do. His father moved his body in front of hers, using himself as a shield in the event that their intruder might attack. He was shouting something, but Chat had no idea what he shouted as all he seemed to hear suddenly was a ringing in his ears. There were faint undertones of other voices in his ear, but their words were also completely unrecognisable.

All Chat was capable of hearing was the choked sob his mother suddenly gave at the sight of him and mentally, he found himself thrown back into his childhood, just a little boy approaching his mother’s bedroom door as he heard her sob for a reason he couldn’t remember.

“Mommy?” he called before pushing the door open wider, seeing his mother quickly wiping her eyes once he moved far enough into the room that she came into sight. She turned to him and gave him an enormous smile, her eyes still wet and puffy, as she scooped him up into a crushing hug.

“It’s nothing,” she said, “Something just gave mommy a fright, that’s all.”

“Was it me? Did I frighten you?” he asked, his little face pouting at the thought.

“Of course not, my love,” she said, pressing the tip of her nose to his and rubbing them together until he burst out into happy little giggles, “You could never frighten me.”

“Mommy?” Chat said as his transformation melted away.

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