NIUNIU NOTE: Writing this chapter took a very long time..! I was out of energy and I hit an absolute rock bottom at work, crying 7 hours straight one day (don't worry loves, the task which stresses me a lot will end on August, if not earlier). I've concentrated on taking care of myself.

Thank you for your continuous support! It means a lot to me! u/u

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It made to the national news. It wasn't supposed to happen, it was supposed to stay as a secret operation, but the nosy people of the media somehow got their hands on the information and soon tabloids and TVs reported how Chat Blanc's sidekick Marinette Cheng had been caught. The city was torn in two; to those who rejoiced about this possibility to finally remove Chat Blank from the Paris's streets for good, and to those who feared something bad might come out from this. There were also non-believers, who found it hard to swallow a woman with an angelic face was Chat Blanc's advocate, thinking the man had most likely pressured or manipulated the poor woman. Some nasty rumors also speculated that perhaps this was some kind of a sick love affair, that maybe Ms. Cheng was either naïve or mentally imbalanced to get into any relationship with Chat Blanc.

Marinette noticed it was something the police also believed, as they didn't leave her be with their questions, which implied Marinette had much more going on with Chat Blanc than a regular agreement. After all, it was always suspicious if a man and a woman worked together – and no matter how much Marinette defended herself with the help of her attorney, the best her parents had managed to hire for her with their incomes, the situation didn't turn into any better. Marinette was kept under custody and heavy surveillance, just in case Chat Blanc would come up with something regarding the matter. The whole mess raged on and one for days and it was on the lips of every Parisian.

Gabriel Agreste wasn't one of them. He couldn't have cared less what was going on, as he had his own problems and more demanding matters to deal with. Of course he knew Marinette by name and remembered she had been one of Adrien's classmates – like he would have allowed his son to even think about going to a school without him doing some research about his classmates and their families beforehand.

Poor girl. Something must have gone crazy in her life to be now partners in crime with Chat Blanc.

He concentrated on the new ad campaign's emails, as there were some things he couldn't leave for his assistants. Gabriel Agreste was well used to have all the strings in his hands. This particular campaign was extremely important to Agreste design, which had been struggling since losing its iconic model, Adrien Agreste. This was the 5th anniversary of his mysterious disappearance and it would also have marked his 20th birthday if Adrien was still around. Thus Gabriel Agreste himself took this campaign very seriously, getting lot of a headache to find the right models to represent his new product. He sat in his office, listening classic music and mumbling himself as he thought how to form the email the best.

Suddenly a big hand grabbed Gabriel from behind, a cold, steely sensation landing just underneath his jaw.

"Good day, Mr. Agreste," he heard a low voice speaking into his ear, "We haven't met before, but I'm sure you are familiar with my name."

"…Chat Blanc?" Gabriel tottered unsurely, his hands still on the laptop's keypad.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Agreste," Chat purred, his claws digging into Gabriel's expensive suit.

"How did you get inside?" Gabriel hissed, the cool blade tightly against his throat.

"Cats go anywhere they like," Chat Blank whispered, tightening his grip even more.

"What do you want?" Gabriel asked as he tried to see Chat from the corner of his eye.

"To talk. So, do as I say and no harm will be done. No security, no guards. Just you and me, talking. Like a man to man. If you try anything funny, I will get funny myself, too." Chat explained, waiting for Gabriel's reply.

He nodded shortly and Chat moved away slowly, his eyes fixated on Gabriel. The man straightened his tie and sat with a straight face, entwining his fingers. If he was shocked by Chat visit, he was very good at hiding it underneath his stony façade.

"What was it you wanted to discuss about, Mr. Blanc?" Gabriel murmured, his tone dry like always. He eyed Chat's dual colored suit, but said nothing out loud about it.

Chat stood in front of Gabriel's huge wooden desk, his sword now over his hip on a white belt.

"About Marinette Cheng," he replied.

"Hmp, I figured it had to be something regarding that woman, though I must say that I can't comprehend why would you, Mr. Blanc, come to talk with me about such matter," Gabriel kept his voice steady, unemotional.

"To get her out from this mess. The police are trying to catch me and they will do it in Marinette's expense," Chat explained, his gaze never leaving from Gabriel Agreste.

Gabriel leaned against his elbow, his eyes narrowing.

"Then you should turn yourself in and tell them the truth, if you are implying Ms. Cheng is innocent."

"I can't. I have other businesses I need to take care of first and by then it might be too late," Chat answered with a growl.

"Concerned of the lady's safety?" Gabriel's eyebrow cocked curiously.

Chat slammed his hands on the table with force, growling. "Yes," he admitted with a spat.

Gabriel leaned back against in his leather chair, looking like he was, for a moment, surprised by Chat's answer. However, he quickly regained his trademark composure and took a direct look at Chat's face.

"Very well. I will hear you out for now, though I can't imagine how I could be any help for you or Ms. Cheng," he spoke blankly, leaning against his chair.

Chat stared at Gabriel silently for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'm very aware of your reputation, Mr. Agreste. Very," he spoke slowly, "To get out of this mess Marinette needs the best lawyer the whole France has got. I've got no means to find one, at least not legally, but you do. Everyone knows Gabriel Agreste's name. You've got resources, far beyond what hiring a top class lawyer requires."

Gabriel said nothing to Blanc's implement. He simply stood up and walked to the tall window, his hands behind his back, which was turned to Chat. He stood in front of the screen with straight back and chin high up in the air.

"Innocent or not, Ms. Cheng will gain nothing from me. Gabriel Agreste doesn't work with criminals," he scoffed and when Chat was about to open his mouth to speak back, Gabriel lifted his palm up in the air and continued, "Forcing me won't do any good either, Mr. Blanc. I've got nothing to lose anymore, nothing you could blackmail me with."

"I know about your wife and son," Chat blurted with a low tone. The man turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder, his eyes tired.

"Sure you do, Mr. Blanc. Everyone does," Gabriel replied, turning then to look back out from the window.

"I have a bargain for you, something you can't say no to," Chat said, shifting his weight to another leg. Gabriel remained on his spot, motionless, his face hidden from Chat.

"I highly doubt that, but let's hear it," he sighed after a pause, clearly unimpressed.

"If you use your resources to defend Marinette so that she gets her freedom, I promise to tell you where you find your son," Chat licked his lips, but made sure Gabriel didn't see or hear it.

As soon as Chat had laid his suggestion on the table, Gabriel burst in a full laughter, his voice echoing in the tall office room. He turned on his heels, looking at Chat with an amused look.

"That's a new one," he spoke smirking, but then his eyes grew forlorn, "Trust me, Mr. Blanc, when I say I highly doubt you have any information of my son. I've been looking for Adrien for years already, with any means and all the powers I have. Even Ladybug herself helped with the search, but nothing turned out. So, thank you but no thank you."

Chat took a step closer to Gabriel, a grin appearing on his lips, widening from ear to ear.

"Oh, but Mr. Agreste, while I do know about your famous son, I must say my information is a lot juicier than what the public knows. There's more, a lot more than you might think. But my lips are sealed, all the way until we have got a deal," he smirked, his eyes starting to glow with something which caught Gabriel's attention.

"I'm a man of my words, though. A gentleman a one might say," Chat continued, his chin cocking up, "How has it been, Mr. Agreste? Have you missed your son Adrien? You liked to keep him locked in so much. Like a little pretty bird."

Gabriel's eyes became stony, stern. His lip pressed together as he pushed his shoulders back.

"My relationship with my son doesn't concern you," he murmured.

Chat sat on the corner of Gabriel's office table, chuckling. He crossed his legs and took a deep, direct look at Gabriel with his cat eyes.

"Sure it does, a lot," he began, "But as said, my lips are sealed until we've got a deal I want."

"… Why would a villain like you be concerned of a woman like Ms. Cheng? Is it love, Mr. Blanc?" Gabriel asked suddenly with a calm tone. Chat snorted.

"I'm a gentleman, I told that much already," he waved his palm in the air nonchalantly. "Sure another gentleman understands how man's mind works."

Gabriel didn't reply to Chat Blanc. They stayed in a common silence for a good while, before Gabriel broke it with a determined voice.

"I have to turn your offer down, Mr. Blanc. You've got absolutely nothing to offer for me and I'm not interested in helping a villain. Though I feel sorry for Ms. Cheng, this matter doesn't concern me the slightest. You may leave and find another way to defend Ms. Cheng, if she's that important to you. A gentleman always takes responsibility of his actions," Gabriel noted and turned away from Chat with a one, fluid movement.

Chat measured him up and down with his eyes, frowning slightly.

"A loving father, I see," his voice was icy as he also stood up, earning Gabriel's attention, as the older man took a look at Chat over his shoulder. "Very well. I would have been able to give you back your son, but as you clearly aren't interesting in giving your all for finding him, I'll make my leave."

Immediately Gabriel faced Chat Blanc, closing the space between them within a second.

"Your tongue is sneakier than you are, Mr. Blanc," Gabriel spoke venomously, looking like he wanted to say a lot more than he did, but his manners forbid him from slashing at Blanc, "Your threatening won't help you, Mr. Blanc. Unless there's a solid proof of your claims of knowing something essential of my son and his current location, something that can reunite me with Adrien, I won't even consider any deal with a villain," he noted calmly.

"And if there is?" Chat cocked his head, his eyes staring at Gabriel's tightly.

"Then I will offer my help for Ms. Cheng. I will help you get back someone important to you, as you will help me to get back someone important to me," Gabriel said without any hesitation. "But as said, I highly doubt you can offer me anything new."

Chat's face was unreadable and the silence in the air hung heavy. The villain broke the tension by turning around, hips lips pressing together into a thin line. He was quiet.

"Can you get hold on Mr. Henri Coulon?" Chat finally asked, his back turned to Gabriel.

"Mr. Coulon is a friend of mine and I'm sure he will offer his help if asked, if that's your request," Gabriel replied shortly.

Chat's face flashed with a pain.

"Ask me anything you want about your son, and I'll give you an answer," Chat said, his voice steady despite his expression, which was hidden from Gabriel.

"That won't do, Mr. Blanc, as I can't be sure of the source of your information. If you don't have anything else to offer me than word games, I'm not interested," Gabriel immediately shot down Chat's offer, all for Chat's dismal.

Chat turned his gaze to Gabriel, his purple eyes narrow, face stoic.

"What kind of information would satisfy you then?" Chat asked a bit too bitterly to keep up his stern façade.

Gabriel eyed him along the bridge of his nose, hands behind his back. He weighted his words carefully.

"Something which can't be denied in any way," he spoke calmly, seemingly understanding he had an upper hold of Chat.

The cat hesitated.

"Is bringing something which belongs to Adrien counted as reliable evidence?" he asked again and once more Gabriel shot down the offer.

"Nonsense. I've got everything Adrien owned right here. He didn't take anything with him. Any item you present to me will be either fake or stolen from here."

"…You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Agreste," Chat hissed between his teeth, his fists balling, "You are basically asking impossibilities from me."

"That's is a fair bargain, Mr. Blanc, for me to dirty my hands with the mess which you have caused and asking me help Ms. Cheng without knowing anything of this matter, and do it with the help of Mr. Coulon, while media can't find anything out of our deal. I'm sure you understand the gravity of your request, Mr. Blanc," Gabriel stared Chat down from underneath his eyebrows.

"Marinette is important. Her life can't be ruined because of this," Chat's voice rose up with an anger, his tongue slipping out something which made his position only worse.

Gabriel snorted slightly and shrugged his shoulders.

"Then, by all means, you must do everything you can in order to protect her, if she's important to you, even without any help. I can tell you are still very young, Mr. Blanc. A man must always be worth of his words and ready to do anything to protect his loved ones," Gabriel stopped for a moment, his gaze softening as he looked into the far distance, "…Anything," he sighed, his brows knitting with pain.

Chat didn't say anything. Just stood in the middle of Gabriel's office room, hands curled into fists, his eyes narrow and icy. Gabriel saw the look on his face from the corner of his eye and turned his attention back to Chat Blanc.

"It seems I'm unable to help you Mr. Blanc, so I must ask you to leave. I'll let you go in peace without calling guards or noting the police. Take this as my way of showing proper manners as a gentleman for another," he noted unemotionally and made his way back to his seat, focusing to his open inbox.

Chat was still standing on the same spot, glued on his feet. His face was serious and thoughtful.

"And before you even plan to harass Mr. Coulon, I beg you not to even consider it. Mr. Coulon isn't as much of a gentleman as I am and he will contact the authorities, making also Ms. Cheng's situation worse," Gabriel added, when Chat wasn't moving any muscle to get out from his room. "Looks like you are on your own, Mr. Blanc. Maybe this teaches you how important it is to keep your private things private and not to mess with unnecessary people," he finished his sentence, returning to his email he had been writing before getting ambushed by Chat.

The quietness spread into the room, as Gabriel Agreste ignored Chat Blanc's presence like he would have been nothing but air to the fashion mogul.

Chat gritted his fangs, eyes full with rage.

"You are free to leave, Mr. Blanc," Gabriel noted to Chat without taking his attention away from his laptop, "I'm in a middle of very important business and I need no further distractions."

"…In a theory it should work, but will it work practice…?" Chat suddenly murmured, his stare getting intense.

"We are done, Mr. Blanc," Gabriel's tone rose slightly with an annoyance, but Chat whirled around on his feet, slamming his hands on the Gabriel's desk with a force.

"You want a prove of me knowing anything you can ever imagine about your son, Mr. Agreste," his name came out like a poisoned hiss from Chat's snarling lips, his back of a hair standing up with his fury, "I will give it a try, a theory of mine, which I wasn't planning to use on or for anyone."

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Gabriel's voice had a slight shock in it, his eyes widening under Chat's furious aura as the villain's energy consumed the air around the desk. It was hard to breath.

"I'll show you my knowledge, so be ready to keep the end of your deal, Mr. Agreste, or I will make your life as a living nightmare," Chat's voice hissed deep from his throat, his eyes flaring with purple light.

He slammed his right hand on the edge of the wooden desk, leaving only his nameless finger with the black corrupted ring to rest on the table. Then he reached out for his sword, unsheathing it.

"I'm sorry for your desk and carpet, but I don't worry; you've got cleaners to cover it up," Chat gave to horrified looking Agreste a final smirk, before he swung the sword with all his might, without any hesitation, separating his finger from his body, just underneath the black ring.

It hurt him like hell. Chat dropped the sword on the floor and took a hold of his bleeding hand with a pained grunt. On the other side of the table Gabriel Agreste was gasping in shock.

"You tell anyone about this and I'll ruin you. Tear you down to the ground, to the lowest pits of hell from where you shall never rise up," Chat gurgled in pain, his words coming out from his mouth in short, raging gasp as the blood seeped out from his palm. He staggered backwards from the table, seeing how Gabriel had jumped up from his seat and stared now the scene with an utter disbelief.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Gabriel hissed between is gritted teeth, still too shocked to be able to keep his voice from not stammering.

"If you claim to be who you are, if your devotion to Adrien runs as deep as you say, then…. then your soul, your company, everything belongs to me," Chat continued, his body suddenly starting to convulse. He bit his teeth together not to cry out, not to alarm anyone other in the building. A bright light covered Chat completely, his struggle audible in the silent room as the light got brighter, blinding Gabriel so much he had to shield his eyes with his arm.

When the light had died out, after what seemed like an eternity, Gabriel squinted his eyes to see what was going on. His face dropped dead pale when he saw a young blond man in shredded, too tiny clothes, standing on the opposite side of the desk.

It was his son. His Adrien. As tall as his father now, with longer hair than he remembered, with ab acute face and broad shoulders, but the softness in his green eyes from the teenager years had died, being replaced with something menacing, something which chilled one's bones down to their core.

"A—Adrien?" Gabriel tottered, his face white as sheet. He made his way closer to his son, hands trembling.

"Father, do you love me?" Adrien asked, his stare as cold as ice. His hand was still bleeding, staining the remains of his clothes and the expensive designer carpet underneath his feet. Pearls of sweat rolled on his fair forehead.

Gabriel's mouth was gaping, closing and opening as he tried to understand what he was seeing, "Wh—? Of course I do! Do you know how much I have looked for you, how much I have sweated to find you?! How could you—"

"Enough!" Adrien barked furiously, stopping Gabriel in mid-sentence. He snatched his cut-off finger from the table, yanked the ring off from it and put it into his left nameless with bloody hands. The white and black mists spurted out from the ring and in mere seconds Adrien was gone. Only Chat Blanc stood there.

The bleeding had stopped with the transformation, but the place where his nameless had used to be remained empty.

"Do you understand now, Mr. Agreste? Your love towards me commands you to help me out. You said that yourself, that a man is always ready to do anything for their loved ones, and to prove you aren't just shit talking, I demand a favor. You, your empire, your everything, belongs to me. I can bring you down in a mere second if it turns out your son, Adrien Agreste, is the Paris's terrorizing villain everyone's hunting down. If you think your reputation has been ruined by Adrien's disappearance, you have yet seen nothing. I'm the one who is in charge with this deal," Chat Blanc crept close to Gabriel, his head up high and shoulders pushed back. He stared the older man down maliciously.

"What have you done, Adrien?!" Gabriel hissed angrily, visibly shaking.

"Adrien is not here right now, but I, Chat Blanc, may speak for him," Chat sneered, his fangs flashing, "You want to save your son? Better start to act like a good father then. Then I might return him to you. Right now Chat Blanc has unfinished businesses and Adrien won't be even close by until Chat is done."

"I demand, Adrien, you must stop this nonsense! If this is somehow my fault, I will figure a way to fix it, but before that you must take that ring off and stop this stupid villain play. Come back home," Gabriel croaked, his tone of a voice becoming almost helpless.

"What part of 'Adrien is not here' you didn't understand?" Chat spat pushing his head so close to Gabriel their noses almost touched. He gritted his teeth together, "Are we clear with our deal now, Mr. Agreste? Or shall I prove Chat Blanc is a man of his words and does what he plans to, without any hesitation?"

Gabriel searched Chat Blanc's eyes to find even a hint of his son from there, but he saw nothing of Adrien. Only malicious fury and determination whirled in those glowing orbs. He remained quiet under Chat's stare for a short moment before finding his voice.

"I don't understand what is going on, but I had a bad feeling about how my gut feeling would be right…" he said, sounding like he was mostly speaking to himself. "Alright, Mr. Blanc, I understand you clearly. We have a deal. Just between us, man to man."

"Good," Chat grinned, pulling back from Gabriel's face. "You can keep this. As a reminder of our deal," Chat placed his cut-off human finger on the office desk from his hold, sliding it closer to Gabriel in a slow movement.

Gabriel stared the finger, his skin pale as sheet.

"I will help Ms. Cheng out and you will return back home and we sort this out. If I need to cover you, I will do it," he managed to say without tottering, tearing his eyes away from the grim sight.

Pleased with himself Chat started to walk away to the door where he had managed to slip in, a smug grin dancing on his lips.

"I knew we could find a common agreement. It's been a pleasure, Mr. Agreste," Chat chuckled darkly at the door.

"I do this all only because you are my son. Your mother might be gone forever, but if I have a chance to bring back my son, I'll do whatever it needs," Gabriel corrected Chat, his shoulders hunching down as his facial expression turned into sadness. "I'll contact Henri Coulon immediately."

Chat said nothing. Just took a quick, thoughtful look at Gabriel before he sneaked out from the office room, hastily going back via his earlier tracks and finding a safe place to come out from the manor. Quickly he scanned the area before proceeding to find a good hiding place, stopping into a darkness of a tiny alley, far away from any sights. He landed on the ground silently and immediately took a hold of his aching palm, hissing with agony.

His theory had worked. He had been playing around with the idea that the transformation might come off if the finger with the ring was cut off while the ring was on the finger. It could disturb the energetic connection, some odd abracadabra-quantum physical shit Chat couldn't really understand completely. He had started to ponder that idea just lately, forced by the fate. Never had Chat Blanc imagined he would actually do it. Today, however, had been the day when such drastic measures were needed.

While taking a look at his aching hollow spot on the right hand Chat pondered had he been too hasty. What if he could have been able to pursue his plan to free Marinette in some other way? When doubt started to grew to heavy Chat had to remind himself of how he had already gone through all other possibilities to save Marinette. Ever since he had heard from Marinette's arrest, he had been pondering a way to free her. His last options, which wouldn't cause any harm to Marinette, were either turn to Ladybug – who had mysteriously vanished and who absolutely would turn him to the authorities, that woman was too much into the justice shit – or to Gabriel Agreste. The man with fame, power, money and connections. The man he had called a father in the past. The man who was someone you couldn't not negotiate with without drastic measures.

An image of his mother's face flashed in Chat's mind suddenly and he shook his head, ridding himself from such vision. He didn't need that now. Now he needed to worry for Marinette and a one woman at time was enough for Chat to deal and worry with.

He hadn't really even understood how much he worried for Marinette, but in Chat's eyes it was logical; she was his VIP-pass to Ladybug's presence. He hadn't forgot his initiative, which was to capture Ladybug. If he wanted her, he needed Marinette.

Cussing at his aching hand he remembered he had forgotten his sword on Agreste's manor's floor. Hastily Chat turned to look at his side, seeing only an empty sheath and spotting also something dramatic going on with his suit;

It had turned almost completely black. Only a white spot over his chest was visible.

He paled, not wanting to think what these constant changes meant and where they were coming from. He needed to find Ladybug before it was too late. Before his suit would be completely black, which would lead to an unknown result, maybe even being fatal to him. That's what Chat feared now when he stared at his suit's sleek black surface – to get killed by his own suit's malfunctioning, suit's which was supposed to be his ally.

He needed to hurry. Hurry with everything.

He would free Marinette and then hunt down Ladybug even if it was the last thing he would do on this Earth.

Chat Blanc had made up his mind. For good.

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Next day Marinette got a visitor in her cell; the Paris's best attorney, Mr. Henri Coulon, who had been provided and hired to replace the attorney Marinette's parents had got her, and no other was behind this new support campaign than the fashion guru Gabriel Agreste himself.