Keep the Mask, It Goes With Your Costume

~Chapter Nineteen: The Arrest~

Adrien woke up early to the sound of loud sirens the next morning. They sounded pretty close, so he looked out his window to see if they were near enough for him to spot. But he was horrified at what he saw, 4 police cars parked right outside his own house! They must have just gotten there moments before he woke up because 6 police men were just walking up to the door and he heard a pounding followed by "Open the door Mr. Agreste!"

The teenage boy was dumbfounded and almost began to cry, did his dad do something? Was he going to get arrested?! Adrien ran out of his room to see his father in their open foyer, holding his arms out behind his back to be cuffed. Adrien couldn't believe what he was watching, and didn't want to believe it.

"Dad!" He called out so they would notice him, it was the first time he called his father 'dad' in a while.

Mr. Agreste and the two policemen next to him looked up to see Adrien still in his pajamas, on the verge of crying seeing his father get arrested.

"I'm so sorry Adrien" Gabriel apologized. "Nathalie will take care of you, you will be fine."

Adrien was still for a moment, then ran back into his room so they wouldn't see him pouring his eyes out.

The policemen were being pretty gentle with Mr. Agreste because he was going with them willingly. He had gone to check on Ladybug very early that morning only to see empty chains in her place, and knew exactly what happened, so he was accepting his punishment. The policemen arrived just an hour after that, 7:15am. Knowing his predicament and how great the punishment would be, Gabriel was surprised when the policemen in front of him told him his offence.

"Mr. Gabriel Agreste, you are under arrest for knowingly selling illegal clothing items from a government banned material and sentenced 2 years in prison." He told him, and Gabriel was shocked at the statement since it wasn't even something he did! Plus it was way less of a sentence than he expected. The policeman continued, "oh I almost forgot. Ladybug brought your issue to the attention of our superior today. I don't know why but she has this note she wanted you to read. I guess the heroes do more than just defeat akumas huh? Don't even know how she found out before the rest of us. Anyway, here you go." He handed him a vanilla colored envelope with a red and black spotted sticker, and beautiful cursive lettering on the front that simply said 'Mr. Agreste.' He placed the letter in his pocket and moved out into the police cab, then the sirens turned off and he was driven away.

Ladybug had watched the entire thing from on top of the Agreste mansion, and she cried too, herself knowing more about it than anyone else in the city. She knew Gabriel never meant any harm, he just wanted to see the love of his life and went too far.

But she felt even worse for his son, poor Adrien had now lost his partner, his friend, and his father, he must be feeling more alone than she ever did. Plus she now knew that he too had to carry the same weight she carried, hiding everything to be a hero. She couldn't even imagine how much he felt he needed to hide now, with no one to listen.

She swung away with a heavy heart and heavy tears, trying to console herself by saying over and over, this is what a hero must do, this is what a hero must do, this is what a hero must do.

_

Adrien didn't know what to believe or who to even trust anymore. How could his father do that? How could his father be so cruel? If only he knew the real reason he was getting arrested, Adrien may never be able to forgive him. He watched out the window as the cabs drove away, but then his focus was changed upward when he saw something in the sky.....it looked like..."LADYBUG!? SHE ESCAPED?!" Adrien blurt out to his Kwami, suddenly beaming and forgetting what a horrible situation he was in. Adrien was ecstatic that she was alive! But he knew that if he was going to set things right he had to talk to her, as soon as possible. Plus, he could really use a good talk with someone like Ladybug right now. "Plagg, let's go see her, claws out!" he said, and immediately texted Ladybug.

CN- Hey ladybug, I saw you swinging this morning and I got really excited. Can we meet so I can apologize for yesterday? For real this time? I'm really glad Hawkmoth didn't get you.

He typed this out, assuming Hawkmoth never actually got her since she obviously wasn't in his custody. Ladybug got the message right away as she landed on her balcony. She was almost a little mad at first, of course Hawkmoth 'got her', she was just cunning enough to defeat him and escape on her own. But then she remembered it was Adrien, and that Adrien must be feeling horrible right now. The problem was she really didn't want to see Cat Noir- or rather, Adrien, especially after all she'd done to him that he didn't even realize. She knew the moment she saw his face she would remember Mrs. Agreste, and how Ladybug just left her and didn't save her and the happiness of the Agreste family. Plus, being ladybug was too much for her now, she was soo ready to take off the suit and be good old Marinette again, she didn't want to talk with Cat Noir.

LB- Cat Noir I did get captured, and I got chained up, and I got interrogated by Hawkmoth. But I defeated him, I have his miraculous, and he is no longer a threat to our city. That being said............
...I'm done Cat Noir.
I don't want to be ladybug anymore.
I'm going to go back to living a normal life.
I mean, what choice do I have since Paris hates me as Ladybug anyway? And it's not like they'd even believe me now if I told them Hawkmoth was gone, they'd probably just think I'm siding with him. So, I guess this is goodbye Cat Noir.

sent

Cat Noir read the message with a heavy heart, upset when he remembered what he did to her other than trade her away, he ruined her reputation. She had no reason to trust him anymore, and it seemed like she really didn't. Yet even when everyone hated her she still did what was best for the people that were against her, and she saved them from the biggest threat the city had ever faced. She was so amazing and he wished he could tell her without her being in doubt. If only everyone in Paris still-..............wait a second, there was still someone in Paris who believed Ladybug was a hero! He suddenly remembered back to a couple nights ago when Chloe called him, maybe she could help since she knew Ladybug didn't do anything wrong!

So out Cat Noir went, towards Paris' most known hotel, desperately hoping the girl there could offer him some sort of help on gaining Ladybugs' trust back.

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I love you all and give you hope and prayers during this COVID-19 pandemic, especially to my international readers who have it worse than I do in America, remember you can reach out to me anytime on wattpad dms or instagram dms. Or you can always shoot me an email at youreverdayladybug@gmail.com, I'm here for you!

-your every day ladybug, elise🐞🌹💞