Hey!
So, this is another one of the fics I've been going on for a while. I'm currently halfway through chapter three.
I can't remember exactly what led me to it, but I was suddenly struck with the inspiration to do a Psyche and Eros AU. I wanted to stick to the normal storyline, though, so it's more of a change to the underlying stuff than the entire world. It may be a bit confusing at first, but everything will be cleared up in the first few chapters.
It's set just over 6 years after where the show is currently at. And I love my winged Adrien. I have been sketching him and may put some drawings up later.
For now, enjoy this little ball of angst.

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A Hollow Victory

Marinette was honestly surprised that her transformation hadn't dropped by now. She was exhausted, and she knew that Tikki was as well. They'd already had to recharge twice during the battle, and it was an absolute miracle that she'd managed to sneak off without being caught. She had Chat to thank for that, he'd made a good distraction. Hawkmoth had been relentless, but they had finally done it.

They had finally defeated him. After three years, it was finally over.

And yet… their victory felt hollow. Because the man who the police were now loading into the back of the police car was Gabriel Agreste. She wasn't sure how to handle the discovery that Hawkmoth was one of her idols and the father of one of her dearest friends. The situation even seemed to be affecting Chat Noir, who hadn't said a word since he had ripped the Miraculous away from Hawkmoth's throat to reveal the man beneath. He seemed shell-shocked, so much to the point that she couldn't tell what he was feeling.

Gabriel Agreste…

Oh god, how was Adrien going to react to this? Did he maybe already know? Is that why…?

"Adrien!" she cried in sudden realisation.

"What?" Chat's head snapped up in confusion at her outburst.

"Adrien!" she repeated. "He has to be here! He has to!" Feeling a new determination and a burst of energy, she sprinted into the house, Chat Noir hot on her heels. "Adrien?!" she called. She hardly waited for a reply before she ran deeper into the house. "Adrien?!"

"Ladybug, what are you doing?" Chat asked, trying to grab her and make her stop running around. However, she evaded her grasp and sprinted up the stairs two at a time.

"He has to be here, Chat."

"He's not," he told her. "All the ruckus and fighting, surely he would have tried to leave. But we didn't see him. He's gone, Ladybug."

"No, he has to be here! I don't believe a word of it, not for a second. Adrien wouldn't just… He wouldn't just leave all his friends behind! He wouldn't stop talking to them!" She continued running down the halls, looking in every door as she made her way to where she knew his room was. "His-his father's Hawkmoth! That has to be it. If-if he's capable of Akumatizing half the city, he'd be capable of locking his son inside, right? He's here. He has to be. Maybe - maybe he found out who his father was and Gabriel locked him away. Or… or…"

"Or he's gone!"Chat finally managed to get in front of Ladybug and grab her by the upper arms to hold her still. "Ladybug, he's been missing for months. We've already looked for him. We've already searched everywhere. He's gone ."

"No. No, he can't be. Adrien isn't gone!" she shouted at him, pushing him off her and running past him. "Adrien?!"

Chat sighed as he was pushed to the side. It wasn't the first time they'd had this argument, and she'd reacted almost the exact same way. She was one of the few people who hadn't given up, who still had hope that they'd find him. But they wouldn't. He knew they wouldn't.

He'd had no idea that Ladybug cared about Adrien so much. Sure, they'd had some moments a few years back, but she genuinely seemed to care for him. He felt her heart break a little more every time one of their searches came up empty, every time one of their leads came up dead. He knew that she was incredibly compassionate and… it just hurt him to see her like this (literally), knowing that he was he was the cause of it.

Suddenly he felt a familiar sensation hit him like a brick in the chest. His heart ached like someone was slowly trying to prise it from his ribcage. Gasping, he stumbled back a step, clutching at his chest. He knew this wasn't his own heartbreak. He knew whose it was, and exactly why.

Slowly he walked just down the hall and turned into his old bedroom. Ladybug stood in the center, looking around at the almost empty room with unshed tears. There was now very little left in his room, and what was there had been stripped bare or covered up.

"Looks like even Gabriel has given up on looking for him. He's probably started putting his stuff into storage…"

He felt another painful tug on his heart from her emotions and guilt flooded through him for lying to her. Of course, he knew that most of his stuff had been moved to another house, but the plan had been for it to look like Gabriel was starting to move on. Or at least… it had been before tonight.

"No," she murmured quietly, a tear running down her cheek. "No, he… he can't be…"

He looked at her a moment as she curled in on herself, looking utterly defeated. Silently, he went over to her and wrapped her in his arms. "I'm sorry, My Lady," he whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

.oOo.

Adrien steeled himself as he prepared to walk into the room. He could see his father on the small TV. He sat still and passive like he usually did, his wrists chained to the table. His hair was a mess and his usually pristine suit had smears of dirt, yet he still held himself with that same dignified air that he was better than everyone.

A lot of the policemen seemed nervous of him, but he had assured them that without the Miraculous he was powerless. No more than just a wealthy fashion designer with bad morals… okay, and somewhat formidable fencing skills. It wasn't any of those things that worried him, he'd already faced and beaten him, after all. It was the fact that he was about to face his father.

Anxiously, he fiddled with the small charm in his pocket and made to enter the room.

"Oh, Chat Noir!" He looked back towards Officer Raincomprix. "I know you're only here for Miraculous stuff, but can you try getting something out of him about his kid? We've been trying for ages, but he just keeps telling us that he doesn't know where he is. He's got to be lying. No one just falls off the face of the earth. And what with his wife missing as well… it's more than a little suspicious."

He nodded, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat. He really hoped that his father wasn't charged for his 'disappearance', but hopefully, with no evidence, he wouldn't be.

Taking a deep breath, he turned back and walked into the interrogation room. As good as interrogation rooms went, this one was nice. It was spacious and had a window slightly higher up on the other wall. It didn't seem too secure, but they didn't exactly need secure right now.

Upon his entrance, Gabriel straightened up, even more, watching his every move and hungrily eyeing his ring.

"Chat Noir," he greeted stiffly.

"Gabriel," he replied in the same tone. He took a small charm and placed it on the desk in front of them, sending energy into it to activate it. It immediately started to glow a soft blue and he felt his ears almost pop.

"What was that?" Gabriel growled warily.

"Just a small spell I whipped up," he said casually, going and leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed. "All electronics in a ten-meter radius will be malfunctioning to the point of them being unusable… at least until the charm stops. In other words, no cameras and no mics. Everything has been blocked. They won't hear us."

Gabriel raised a rather threatening eyebrow. "If you intend to use more… darker methods of getting information out of me, I'm afraid you've really lucked out. I've already told all those useless policemen, I don't know where Adrien is. I wish I did, but I don't ."

Chat snorted in contempt. "Now, we both know that's bullshit. But I'm not here to talk about that. I want to know why you did it. Why the hell did you steal a miraculous, drive your Kwami almost literally insane, and terrorise the city for three years?! People are dead because of you! You know that right?! What the hell was worth all that?!"

Gabriel already looked disinterested in the conversation. "I don't expect that you would understand."

"Try me," he growled, walking up to the table and hovering over him.

His father didn't answer him right away. Instead, he spoke after a moment's pause. "Has your fate started yet?" he asked.

"What?" Chat said in confusion.

"You are a Miraculous wielder, therefor you must be an Incarnate. Has your fate started yet?"

"Um… kind of," he replied, not sure how to answer that, not without giving himself away.

"Fates are not kind," Gabriel sneered. "Most of the Greek myths were tragedies. Fate rips those you love away from you and ruins lives."

"And what's that got to do with anything?"

"Because with yours and Ladybug's Miraculous, I could have stopped their fates. My wife and son. I could have broken them completely."

"You - you did this for them?" he said, taken aback for a moment, however, anger quickly overcame him. "What makes you think that they would want you to do that?! Changing fate is not worth what you've done!"

"It would have been, had I succeeded."

" No it wouldn't! " he shouted. "You have killed people! You manipulated and used people in their weakest moments. You turned a powerful and proud Kwami into a terrified creature, too afraid of its own powers! You pushed me away for years, and for what?! Oh my god, Father, I knew you could be an asshole, but why do you have to be such a stupid asshole! "

His fist slammed down on the table. He couldn't even bring himself to look at his father, but he couldn't carry on raging at him like that. Huffing out a breath of frustration, he ran a clawed hand through his hair, trying to calm down. He was focusing so hard on it that it took him a while to realise it was dead silent. He'd expected his father to argue a bit more, to defend his actions like he always did. But it was quiet.

Confused, he looked up to see his father's startled, but critical gaze. He froze, feeling as if he were put on the spot. Like Gabriel was studying him and trying to figure him out. Nervously, his eyes darted towards the window, trying to focus on anything but that intense stare.

"Adrien…?"

His eyes snapped back to his father, inhaling sharply. How had he…

"W-what?"

"You're Chat Noir…" he said in wonder. "All this time and the ring was right under my nose."

Adrien hid his ring behind his back protectively, even though Gabriel had yet to make a move. "How did you… I said 'Father', didn't I?" he sighed, realising his mistake.

"You did. I hope you're not usually this callous with your identity."

"Of course not!" he snorted. "Forgive me, Father, but it's been a bit of an emotional day. For one, I just found out that my father is the villain that's been terrorising this city for three years. The same one that has nearly killed me many times. I had to watch while you were arrested. And I had to watch while one of my best friends ran around the house in a frenzy looking for Adrien. I had to feel her heartbreak as I convinced her that I was gone when I was really right in front of her! So, I'm sorry if I'm a little off my game. It's been a rough day," he said bitterly.

Once again, Gabriel didn't say anything for a while, ignoring his son's stress and choosing to stare at him appraisingly instead. "So, what will you do now that I'm no longer 'forcing' you to stay away from people?"

Adrien sighed and ran a hand through his hair again. "Nothing," he replied. "It was my idea, remember? I'm going to continue with the plan, but not for your reasonings. I know the truth now, I'm not afraid of the lies you told me when you first pulled me out of school. But… I have seen what has happened to other Eros Incarnates in the past and I'd rather that not happen to me. I'm just going to go through it all as best I can. You may have been trying to stop it, but I'm prepared to face my fate… At least it has a happy ending."

"I see," Gabriel said, not sounding entirely happy with the answer. "And speaking of your… predicament, how are you hiding them?"

With a cheeky grin, he held up his wrist to show a woven bracelet with two black beads and one bright green. "Not long after you put me on house arrest, the Grand Guardian made this for me. It's a powerful spell… though, it only works when I'm transformed."

This almost made Gabriel snigger. "So since you couldn't be out and about as yourself, you went out as Chat Noir. That certainly explains why he was seen around the city more often, and why I couldn't find you around the house on occasion."

"You're one to talk. How often did you say you were at the office when really you were off Akumatizing people?" Gabriel didn't seem to dignify that with an answer, so instead, he asked another question that had been nagging him. "So then, who are you? You said it yourself, to wield a Miraculous, you have to be an Incarnate. Which one are you?"

"Ares," he replied.

Adrien's eyes widened. "S-seriously? You're Ares? But - but he's Eros's father. That's a true connection. That's really rare!"

Gabriel smirked, seeming amused by his son's reaction. "It is."

"Huh. That's actually kind of cool." His smile faded when he saw that the stone on the table was starting to fade. He sighed. "The spell's fading. I should go." Slowly, he walked to the window and opened it. As he did, he realised that this was probably the last time he would see his father in a very long time.

"Adrien, wait…" his father called him back. There was a slight pause before he spoke again. "Take off your Miraculous."

"What?" he cried. "Like hell I'm going to take it off. You've been arrested. It's over, Father. You're not-"

"I don't want it, Adrien. I simply meant for you to detransform. I want to see the face of my son, not the masked hero."

Adrien stared at him a moment, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. Like him, Gabriel realised that they weren't going to see each other for a long time, if ever again. And quietly, he released his transformation.

His father watched as green, electric looking light flickered over Chat Noir, revealing his son underneath in the blink of an eye. As the black melted away, something else appeared. Behind him formed two large feathered wings. They were a light cream in colour with an iridescent sheen, the tips swept all the way to the floor. He remembered when they had first grown in properly, what with his golden hair looking like a halo, he could remember thinking how truly angelic his son had looked. And he still did. He wasn't wearing a shirt again, showing off his lean, but well-toned stomach. He truly lived up to his title as a God Incarnate, looking very much like one of the marble statues.

"This didn't have to happen, you know…" Adrien said quietly. "Ares is never imprisoned, this isn't your fate."

"No," he replied. "But I had to do it, nonetheless."

Silence fell over them once again as the gravity of the situation. And for the first time in a long time, Adrien actually felt the love his father felt towards him warm his chest. But one glance at the ever fading stone made the small smile drop from his face.

"I don't know how long you're going to be in prison for, but you won't get any visits," he told him. "I don't even think I'd be able to if I wanted to."

Gabriel looked down at the desk, a hint of regret finally showing on his face. "No, I didn't expect so."

"Goodbye, Father," He said.

"Goodbye, son."

Then, with one last look back, Adrien jumped out the window, transforming as he went. The giant, feathered wings gave one small flap before they were magically hidden and compressed inside the suit. He whipped out his baton and swung down to the next building. Leaving his father watching him through the window.

A sad sigh escaped him. He just hoped for his sake that his fate did not end as cruelly. That he didn't end up like his mother. He hoped with all he had that like many Eros Incarnates before him… that his fate did not destroy him.