This is a little fic I wrote, inspired by buggachat 's comic that went round tumblr a few weeks back. You can find the link to it on my AO3 or tumblr post.

Anyway, as soon as I saw it I knew I had to write something for it. And well I'm not the best at writing fluff, and there's a bit of angst, but here it is!

'Darkwings, fall.'

Gabriel's low voice echoed around the room as magic swirled around him, reverting him to his civilian self. The slight shake in his hands was the only thing that betrayed the rage and frustration simmering inside of him. That and the darkness in his eyes. Nathalie took a step back. She had never seen him like this before.

'S-Sir?' she stammered when those eyes pierced hers. A shiver ran down her spine. She had never seen him so cold before.

He turned away from her and walked over to the large window giving a breathtaking view of Paris.

She held her breath and clutched her clipboard tight to her chest as tension filled the room.

'We need a change of plan.' Despite his soft voice, Gabriel's words rang sharply around the room. 'I can't keep mindlessly controlling whoever happens to fly into a rage.' He turned to look at her. She sucked in her breath as those dark eyes pierced hers. 'I need a target, someone specific who will be sympathetic to our cause.'

'Who do you have in mind, sir?'

Gabriel held her gaze a moment longer before sighing and looking away. His shoulders slumped. 'I don't know,' he muttered.

Nathalie's mind whirred as she thought of possible candidates.

'To clarify, you want someone who understands you; someone who knows the pain of losing someone close to them.'

Gabriel nodded.

'Sir, with all due respect, even if you did find someone, you'd need to explain your situation to them to garner their sympathy.'

'And therein lies my dilemma,' he smiled bitterly. 'I need someone who I can trust. Someone who won't betray me if secrets do spill.'

'So you don't need some random person… you need an ally,' she finished slowly.

'In a sense,' Gabriel's voice turned calculating. 'I need someone I can manipulate into working for me.'

Nathalie's eyes widened as a name came to her.

'Sir…' she hesitated.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. 'What is it? You have someone in mind?'

Her eyes flicked to the floor before meeting Gabriel's gaze.

'I do, sir.'

'Well…?'

'The only person I can think of who meets all your requirements is… Adrien, sir.'

Nathalie swallowed as those deep grey eyes bore into hers.

'You'd have me use my own son?' His voice was a deadly whisper.

Nathalie swallowed. 'It's just an idea, sir. Forget I said it. Give me more time, I'll come up with a diff-' she was cut off with a wave of Gabriel's hand.

He slowly lowered his hand and put it behind his back, turning back to the window as he did so.

Nathalie bit her lip. She shouldn't have said anything.

The air grew cold around them as they stood motionless in the room. Nathalie hardly dared to breathe. The silence was disturbed only by the fluttering of white butterflies awaiting their inevitable fate of becoming akumas.

Gabriel turned his head ever so slightly to the side; the light from the window illuminating his silhouette but shrouding his face in darkness.

'Nathalie, bring Adrien to my office,' he said in a quiet but cold voice. 'I wish to speak with my son.'

'Yes, sir.'

A Few Weeks Later…

Stupid, stupid. He was being stupid! Adrien stormed down the street as tears threatened to spill down his cheeks. He wiped them away angrily. He shouldn't be crying dammit! Stupid.

But he couldn't get those words out his head.

You are a disappointment to the Agreste name.

You are worthless to me.

I thought you were my son?

I believed in you.

What would your mother think?

What would your mother THINK?

WHAT WOULD YOUR MOTHER THINK?

His father didn't deserve his tears. He knew that. And yet… Adrien stifled a sob. He wanted his father to shut up. He wanted his thoughts to SHUT UP!

'Adrien,' Plagg said over his shoulder, 'You need to calm down. How about some chee-'

'I'm FINE,' he snapped. He cringed. Plagg was only trying to help. But he just felt so angry.

How dare his father use his mother against him like that. Like…like he… shut up! He willed his mind to please stop thinking. He wanted it all to stop. To Stop, dammit! STUPID.

'ADRIEN!'

A cry from behind caused him to freeze.

'Marinette?' He turned around, thinking he'd heard his classmate call him. However instead he was met with an akuma fluttering in his face. He yelped and stumbled backwards, trying and failing to think happy thoughts.

A yoyo came out of nowhere, so close to his face that he could feel the wind as it passed, and snapped up the akuma. The shock made him trip over his feet, slamming him into the floor.

Adrien sucked in his breath as Ladybug landed a few metres in front of him. All his anger suddenly forgotten. Her chest was heaving and strands of hair fluttered loose from her usually perfect bunches. She had chased this akuma hard.

Adrien watched, hand clutched to his chest as Ladybug purified the akuma, her warm little smile as she said 'bye bye' lit a light in his heart. He didn't even realise he was still sitting on the floor until she walked over and knelt in front of him.

She was beautiful, mesmerising. He held his breath with wonder as Ladybug filled his vision. His heart pounded in his chest.

'Are you okay?' she asked. Just like that, memories and anger slammed back into his being. Tears rose in his eyes once more and his hands started to shake. She offered him her hand, her blue eyes were wide with concern.

'Do you want to talk about it?' Her voice was low and gentle. Despite all the spying gazes of the gathering crowd, her words seemed to form a wall around them. Her eyes were for him only.

'I-I…' Adrien stuttered as Ladybug gently pulled him to his feet. He averted his eyes as his father's words flashed through his head again. 'I don't know.' He felt so torn.

Ladybug opened her mouth to say something but yells of excitement rang out behind them.

'Ladybug, Ladybug!'

Both Ladybug and Adrien were jerked out of their little, walled world and back into reality as the surrounding crowd of people moved in to see their hero.

Ladybug's hand started to slip from Adrien's, but before the crowd could tear her away, he tightened his grip on her hand, forcing her to look into his eyes.

'Thank you, Ladybug,' he said, smiling sincerely.

Ladybug's eyes bore into his. She didn't smile. He shifted uncomfortably as those knowing blue eyes pierced deep into his soul, seeing things he wanted to hide from her. Her hand slipped from his as the crowd swarmed them and broke them apart.

Ladybug was perched on a rooftop. The night was dark and starless, but the city lights cast a yellow glow over the world. Her hair fluttered against her neck as she gazed down at the Agreste mansion.

One prick of light shone out from the cold, dark house; shining from Adrien Agreste's bedroom. The boy was sat huddled on his bed. Ladybug watched him. He was staring blankly ahead. Just as she'd thought, something was very wrong with him.

She used her yoyo to pull herself onto the mansion's rooftop and slowly slunk down until she was above his window. Suddenly, butterflies swarmed in her stomach. What was she doing? Sneaking out to see Adrien Agreste in the middle of the night? She shook her head and tried her best to quell the butterflies. She was simply doing her job as Ladybug, she tried to convince herself. But the butterflies refused to leave.

Taking a breath to steady herself, she slowly lowered herself so that she was hanging in front of his window, and knocked.

Adrien jumped when he heard a knock. His eyes widened when he saw Ladybug hanging in front of one of his windows. He hastily wiped his watery eyes and got up to let her in.

Ladybug gracefully dropped in through the window and smiled up at him. Adrien tried to convince himself that it was the sudden breath of cold, night air that rendered him speechless and not her piercing blue eyes.

'Hi Adrien,' Ladybug smiled.

'Ladybug, hi.' He felt the blood rising in his cheeks. He suddenly felt incredibly self-aware. He caught a glimpse of himself in the dark window and blanched at the sight of his dishevelled hair. He ran his hands through it in an attempt to flatten it. He hoped his eyes weren't too red. He hoped Ladybug couldn't tell he'd been crying.

The look on her face though indicated otherwise.

The silence lengthened between them.

Ladybug smiled, trying to diffuse the awkwardness. 'Sorry for dropping in like this.'

Adrien smiled, but it was weak and fleeting. His heart wasn't in it to laugh at the pun.

'It's always a pleasure to see you Ladybug.'

Ladybug's smile faltered for a split second.

If he was anyone else he wouldn't have noticed it. He cursed internally. Of course she'd see right through him.

'I just wanted to check up on you,' she said as if nothing had happened. 'Today was the third time an akuma almost got you. So either Hawkmoth is targeting you,' she joked but the smile slid off her face pretty quick, 'or you're not okay.'

Adrien averted his gaze and bit down on his tongue.

'You don't have to talk about it,' Ladybug said, 'but just know I'm here if you ever do.

Adrien blinked. 'That's nice of you,' he whispered.

She smiled.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, 'I'd rather not talk about it if that's alright with you. But a distraction would be nice.' He smiled shyly up at her.

She grinned, 'Sure! What do you want to do?'

Adrien glanced around his room. 'Do you know how to play Ultimate Mecha Strike 3?'

He felt warmth flood his body when Ladybug's eyes lit up.

Ladybug was good. Really good. Adrien was amazed. He hadn't taken her for a gamer. Though her fighting style did seem vaguely familiar...

While they had both been a little awkward at first, they had soon relaxed and enjoyed battling each other on the console. Their fighting was punctuated with laughter and mock yelling. They whiled away an hour like this, giggling and smashing each other to bits on the game console. Eventually though, they started to get a little tired. After one more round, where Adrien was thoroughly thrashed by Ladybug, they both flopped back onto the couch and smiled at each other. Adrien couldn't keep the grin off his face. He felt so warm inside. He looked at Ladybug. She too looked so happy. Her cheeks were flushed and eyes sparkled. Adrien couldn't believe his luck.

Ladybug shifted her body so she was facing Adrien, she rested her elbow on the sofa top and propped her head up.

'How are you feeling?' she asked.

Adrien's smile slowly slid off his face as he remembered the reason she was here in the first place. His father's words echoed around his head. The warmth in his heart started to fade.

'It's my father,' he said quietly.

Ladybug tensed, but her eyes were filled with nothing but concern.

Adrien hesitated, but then words started to spill. 'He's been more strict with me than usual lately, and he's started saying…things he's never said before.' He fidged with the controller in his hand. 'I mean, he's probably just on edge. Maybe work's been kinda stressful recently?' He didn't really believe this, and he could tell Ladybug didn't either. 'I don't know, ever since mum disappeared he's acted different, but recently it's gotten worse. And I don't know what to do about it.' He gave a small sad shrug.

'He shouldn't be taking it out on you, though.' Ladybug said

'I know, but what can I do?'

They both fell silent. Adrien felt an ache at the back of his head as a wave of tiredness suddenly washed over him. He yawned but was startled when Ladybug suddenly jumped up.

'I'm sorry, I didn't realise the time! You need to sleep,' she said.

Adrien shook his head, forcing his eyes wide, 'No, no its fine! I'm not that tired, really!'

Ladybug laughed, 'I should probably be getting back anyway. It's been fun though, I hope we can do this-'

Adrien's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her's.

'Don't go.'

Ladybug blinked at him in surprise. He could feel the heat rise in his cheeks as Ladybug's wide eyes held his, but he refused to let her hand slip away.

'Okay,' she said simply, her expression softening. Adrien released his breath.

Still holding his hand, she climbed back onto the couch, ending up a lot closer to him than before. Adrien shifted his grip so that their fingers were entwined.

He looked into her eyes and felt his heart pump in his chest.

'I like having you here, Ladybug.'

Ladybug's cheeks flushed. 'I like being here,' she said.

A Little Extra Scene

Adrien was slowly drifting off to sleep. He was so warm curled up on the sofa with Ladybug, he wanted to stay here forever and never move. However, he was disturbed when she lifted her head.

'Ladybug?' he murmured. He opened his bleary eyes to see her staring ahead, wide awake. 'Are you alright?'

Ladybug bit her lip and gave Adrien a cautious glance. 'I can't help but think, what if Hawkmoth is targeting you?'

Adrien laughed. The sound muffled as he dug his head back against Ladybug's neck.

'Hey, I know I'm kinda well known but, come on. Who'd want to akumatise me?'