#i know ian’s a history teacher but i want a little freak working on their phd. caffeinated and sleep deprived and broke | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bee-kathony · 6 years

Photo

Fraser Memorial | Ch. 1 “Sutures”

Thank you @sassenachwaffles for being my beta on this chapter and thank you @jules-fraser for approving of my pictures and indulging me as I started another fic!

2015 | Scotland

The emergency room had been quiet all morning, only three people had come in with minor injuries that were fixed in minutes. My fingers ached to suture someone’s skin, fix a broken nose... anything that would take my focus off of my ex.

Frank Randall had cheated on me. Simple as that.

But it wasn’t simple, he was my fiancé, we’d been together for six years and had plans. Hopes and dreams that involved us buying a house, getting married, children… he ruined them when he slept with one of his students. A history professor at Oxford University, Frank had wooed me in my last year of school. He was a new professor and I was smitten with the teacher.

I should have known that something like this could have happened.

I was once the student, crushing on their professor, hoping he would ask to see me after class so we could talk those extra five minutes without anyone else around.

It’d only been three months since I found out he was sleeping with her and in that short time I had relocated to Edinburgh to get away from him and my shattered dreams. Thankfully the hospital accepted my transfer. It was rare that they would take on a resident from another hospital, especially since I was English.

I glanced down at my watch, only ten minutes had passed since I’d last checked it. Sighing, I ran my hand through my mass of curls, getting my finger stuck in a knot. “Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,” I cursed, yanking my hand and managing to make matters worse.

“Ye need scissors?” Geillis, a fellow resident, asked from behind the nurses station.

I huffed, “No, thank you. I’ve almost,” I pulled a bit more, “Got it!” My hand came free and only a few loose strands drifted to the white tiled floor.

“Ye ever think about cutting it? Yer hair?” Geillis pointed to my bird’s nest.

Shaking my head, I pulled my hair tie off my wrist and started putting it in a messy bun, “I would look horrific if I cut my hair,” I laughed, tucking loose bits into the bun. “They would stick out even more, if that’s even possible.”

“Aye, yer probably right.” She laughed and then we both turned our heads to the emergency room doors that were now opening with a bang. Finally.

A man with a slight limp walked through the doors, holding up a very large red headed man who appeared to be doubled over in pain.

“Mine!” I called before Geillis could and raced off to meet the men, leaving Geillis’ shouts of complaint behind me.

“How can I help?” I asked, my eyes taking stock of what was before me. The larger man’s face was twisted in pain, and his hand was clutching his opposite shoulder. Dislocated. There was also blood, and a lot of it, running down his arm.

“This idiot here thought he could lift a box of about forty-five bottles of whisky, clumsy dolt.” The blonde man laughed through his words, “Happened walkin’ up the stairs. Smashed all the whisky o’ course.” I chuckled lightly to myself, clearly the man was not too concerned about his friends pain.

“Come with me, we’ll get you set up in a bed and I’ll take a look at that shoulder.” I led the two men who slowly followed over to the row of beds. The large man laid down, wincing as he fell back against the pillows.

“You’ll probably want to sit up and not lean on that arm.” I instructed and moved my fingers in a ‘come forward’ motion.

“Aye, I think it’s broken.” The red haired man said, groaning as he sat up in the bed.

I laid my hand gently on his shoulder to assess the damage, it was in fact dislocated. This would be an easy fix. “It’s not broken, only dislocated.”

“Only,” he laughed and I looked into his eyes for the first time to find that they were the brightest blue I’d ever seen. Caught off guard, I shook my head slightly and turned my attention back to his shoulder.

“I’m going to pop it back into place, it’ll hurt but then feel a whole lot better.” I placed my hands firmly on his arm and he nodded, gritting his teeth and looked straight ahead.

Applying pressure, I forced his shoulder back and then up and it made a sort of popping noise as it reset. The man grunted but then let out his breath, looking down at his shoulder to see it good as new.

“Ah Dhia, it feels a thousand times better, thank ye Sassenach.” He smiled up at me and I felt my belly do a little flip.

“You’re welcome. It really wasn’t very — wait… what did you call me?” I shot my eyebrows up at him. I’m pretty sure that ‘Sassenach’ was not a very nice name to call someone.

The man blushed, his ears turning pink as he met my gaze full on, “Och, I didna mean it in a bad way, of course not, yer English are ye no’?”

“Well, yes I am.” I crossed my arms in front of me and waited for further explanation.

“So…” he drew out the word, “’Tis only a way of calling ye that, yer an outlander, lass. Please dinna take offense because I truly didna mean to offend ye. ’Tis only I dinna ken yer name.”

I looked down at my chest where my name tag should’ve been but it had somehow fallen off during the day. “Oh, I’m Claire. Claire Beauchamp.” I smiled and then I remembered the man’s friend and turned my head to him as well, offering him the same smile.

“This is Ian, my brother-in-law,” the man pointed to his friend with the limp, “and I’m Jamie. Now that we ken each other’s names maybe ye could attend to this blood that hasna stopped drippin’ out of my arm?”

I cursed under my breath. Christ, I had completely forgotten that he had been bleeding. His eyes were a distraction and his Scottish lilt was rather enchanting. Of course, I knew that by moving to Scotland, I would in fact hear plenty of Scottish accents but there was something in the Highland-lilt -- something about the way he said ‘Sassenach’.

“Jesus! I’m sorry,” my cheeks turned red and I moved over to the cabinet beside the bed, quickly pulling out what I would need. Definitely sutures, bandages, antiseptic and tweezers to pull out any remaining glass.

Once I set up the tray and had it arranged neatly, I rolled the small cart over beside the bed. “Hold out your arm please.”

Jamie lifted his arm, and I sucked in the air between my teeth, there was a large piece of glass sticking out. I normally had a strong stomach but sometimes, there were things that put me over the edge.

“Jamie, yer doctor’s afraid of blood. I told ye we shoulda gone to the other hospital,” Ian laughed and put his hand on Jamie’s back.

“I’m normally fine, blood doesn’t make me ill but seeing that,” I looked down at his arm again, “has made me just a wee bit nauseous.”

“Dinna fash, Sassenach. If ye throw up, I promise to make sure none of that hair on top of yer head gets in the vomit.” Jamie laughed and I would have hit him on the arm if he wasn’t injured.

“Thank you,” I said sarcastically and turned to grab the antiseptic and cloth to clean around his wound before I dislodged the glass shard.

While I cleaned his wound, Jamie didn’t complain, only pressed his lips tightly together and put on a brave face. “This may hurt,” I said in a soft tone as I held my tweezers near the glass.

“Just do it, lass.”

The glass came out easily enough, and thankfully it wasn’t very deep into his skin but he would definitely need sutures. I laid the shard on the tray and grabbed another cloth to clean him and this time Jamie let out a little yelp as the antiseptic touched his wound.

“Can deal with a dislocated shoulder but not a little sting?” I mused, smiling up at him as I continued to clean the remaining blood.

His arm twitched slightly but he didn’t pull it back, “Och, the stinging is verra painful, Sassenach, dinna make fun of me!”

“He’s a big baby, Claire, dinna listen to him,” Ian chimed, “He cries in sappy romantic movies too, don’t ye?”

Jamie glared at Ian, but there was a slight mischievous glint in his eye.

“I dinna cry, I have allergies,” Jamie grumbled, puffing out his chest a little.

I grabbed the needle and threaded the suture through the small hole and brought it to his skin. “I have allergies too, you know like when I watch ‘Titanic’ and Jack dies, somehow I always get allergies during that scene,” I joked, which earned me a nudge from Jamie’s other hand into my side.

“Dinna joke about ‘Titanic, Claire, ’tis verra serious, their love was forever.” He laughed and I had to admit to myself that he was very interesting. Jamie was such a large presence, one wouldn’t think at first glance that he was into romantic movies and even cried during them.

“Seems like ye’ll be awhile,” Ian said, “I’m gonna go and grab a snack out of the vending machine, ye need anything, Fraser?”

Fraser? Surely not…

I waited until Ian had walked away before asking Jamie what was currently making me freak out.

“Fraser? That’s your last name?” He jumped slightly as I poked him with the needle and began to suture his wound.

“Aye, James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, to be exact.”

“As in… Fraser Memorial… the name of this hospital?” I paused my work on his arm to look up into his face.

Jamie’s ear’s turned pink again, “Aye, well ’tis no’ like it’s me who owns the hospital. That’d be my Da Brian. One day though… it’ll be mine.”

He was practically my boss and here I was picturing late nights cuddled up next to him on the couch watching ‘Titanic’ and crying.

“So it’s named after your dad then? Kind of odd to name a hospital after yourself, aye?” I resumed suturing his wound, nearly done.

“Och, no. It’s named after my older brother Willie.” He replied, looking down to watch the needle go through the last bit of skin and I clipped the end and tied it off. “He passed away when I was a lad.” I watched as I saw his blue eyes go gray and his smile faded for a moment. “He had cancer.”

My hand lingered on his arm, offering comfort, “I’m so sorry Jamie. Was he treated at this hospital?”

“Aye,” his voice trembled, as if he was remembering his brother now, “My father partnered with a man and bought the hospital a year after Willie died. Then they renamed it for him, to remember.”

I bandaged his arm in silence, not quite knowing what to say, what could I ever say to that?

“You’re all done.” I tucked in the end of the bandage underneath, “You need to clean the wound daily, and for the first couple of days you’ll need to change out the bandage, some blood seeping through is normal.” I assured him, and looked over to see Ian returning with bags of crisps and candy in his arms.

“Och, yer finished? I had to go to three different floors to find what I wanted.” He groaned and offered Jamie a bag of crisps.

“Thank ye, Sassenach. For healing me wi’ yer wee hands so well.” Jamie grabbed my hand and placed his lips on the back of it. I could have sworn he heard my heart beating frantically in my chest.

“No problem at all, anything for a Fraser,” I laughed, hoping I didn’t sound like I was trying to suck up to the owner’s son.

“Will I need to come back to get the sutures taken out?”

“Oh, yes! Come back in about three weeks and I’ll take them out for you.” I only prayed that when he returned I would be on shift.

“Aye, three weeks then, Claire.” Jamie smiled and turned to leave with Ian, who was munching on a Snickers bar, going on and on about how stupid Jamie was to lift that heavy of a box.

My eyes never left the back of his head as I watched them walk away and just before they turned around the corner, Jamie’s eyes met mine and he grinned, setting butterflies loose in my belly.

Present day

I checked my reflection in the mirror, applying one more coat of mascara before I decided my make-up would just have to do for the evening. My dress was a simple black, that hugged every curve and line of my body. Just the way my husband liked, or so he showed me.

“Sassenach!” He called from the living room, “Are ye ready? We dinna want to be late!”

“Such an impatient man,” I fussed, grabbing my coat from the bed and slipping it on over my shoulders. Jamie was waiting for me, his arms crossed, looking down at his watch.

“I’m ready. I swear it!” I smiled and kissed him on the cheek as he turned his face to press his lips to mine.

“Don’t!” I pulled back, “You’ll mess up my lipstick and I don’t think you want to wait around for me to fix it.”

“I’d love to mess up yer lipstick, Sassenach. And that wee dress of yers too,” the color of his eyes turned into a deep blue, “but yer right, we must go.” He sighed, frowning as he settled for a kiss to my forehead and took my hand, leading me to the door.

“Are you nervous, Jamie?” I squeezed his hand as we walked to the car parked on the street.

“Aye, a wee bit.”

“Your speech will be great, I know it.” He stopped us before we climbed into the car, his hands slid down my body to rest on my hips.

“’Tis a big responsibility, bein’ an owner of a hospital.” He squeezed my sides making me jump, “With my father retiring and all, I ken it has to be me but I just worry I willna be good at it.”

Not caring about my lipstick or the stain it would leave on his lips, I pressed forward and closed our mouths together. “Jamie Fraser, you’re the bravest man I know. You’re ready for this, your father has trained you well. Besides…” I smirked, my hands sliding down over his arse, “I can’t wait until I can say I sleep with the boss.”

Jamie laughed and pressed his lips to mine again, “I love ye, Sassenach. Truly, I do.”

“And I you, Jamie. Now let’s go! It’s bloody freezing out here, and I need those heated seats!”

He let go of my hips and opened the passenger door for me. The entire drive over, his hand never left mine - I squeezed it off and on, a matter of habit, to remind him I was there. I was always going to be there, I was always going to be his biggest supporter.

The tension was seeping out of his body. No normal person would have known that, but I knew James Fraser, and I knew just how big of a night this retirement gala at Fraser Memorial was going to be.

#fraser memorial #jamie fraser #claire beauchamp #jamie x claire #outlander fanfic #fanfiction #mclairefras #another one #chapter 1 #sutures

288 notes · View notes

miraculouspaon · 7 years

Text

More Things in Heaven and Earth

Chapter One

AO3

“Is that steak cooked enough?” Gabriel Agreste asked his wife.

Nathalie didn't look up. “It's fine, Gabriel.”

“The center looks pink.”

“You're imagining it,” she said, before taking another bite.

“No, I am not,” Gabriel said, annoyed. “Did you bully the chef into undercooking-”

“Well, now you're being paranoid.”

“I simply-”

“Gabriel. I have had a long day, and I intend to bite into something bloody. That can either be this steak, or your neck. Your choice.”

“The doctor-” Nathalie cut her husband off with a glare. Sighing, he turned to his son. “How was school?”

“Good,” Adrien said, biting back a grin. “Nino and I are almost done with our modern history project. We were gonna knock out the rest of it this weekend actually, start after school tomorrow and marathon it. Is it cool if he stays for dinner tomorrow?” His tone was just a little tight, a little controlled, as though he cared more about the answer than he was willing to let on.

“Of course,” Nathalie said. “Just tomorrow? He's welcome the whole weekend.”

“Oh. Um. Actually, I was gonna go over to Mom’s on Saturday.”

“Really?” his father asked, confused. “I thought she was out of the country for another month.”

Adrien shrugged. “I just got a text from her this afternoon, I guess some last minute business in Paris came up. She said she figured she might as well make a weekend out of it before going back to… you know, whatever it is she's doing.”

“Ah.”

“Or I could have her come over here?” Adrien suggested hesitantly.

Nathalie didn't quite succeed at biting back a groan. “Adrien, you know I’m usually happy to make an effort, but I've been exhausted lately-”

“Which is why you should reconsider your current work schedule,” Gabriel muttered.

“-and all of my energy is currently going towards not murdering your father,” Nathalie continued, glaring once again. “I don't think introducing Evelyn of all people into the mix is a good idea for anybody. Maybe when she’s back next month.”

Adrien nodded. “Of course,” he said.

“Speaking of your work schedule-”

“We weren't,” Nathalie interrupted.

“I don't see why you won't even consider at the very least a reduction in-”

“Because it took me almost a year to find this job!” Nathalie exclaimed. “For months, Gabriel, the only decent offers I got were from fashion companies that knew my reputation, and I couldn't take any of those because they were all with your competitors. I finally found a position outside the fashion industry where I'm respected and challenged, where my skills are put to good use. And I just took a month off for our honeymoon. I'm not taking any more time until I absolutely have to.”

“You don't have to work at all.”

“Yes, I do,” Nathalie said. “Not for the money, maybe, but for my own sanity.” She turned to Adrien. “I don't suppose you could get him to drop this?”

“Are you kidding?” Adrien said. “You're way better at getting him to do stuff than I am. If I knew how to get through to my father, my life would've looked completely different.”

Gabriel scowled. “Are you two quite done discussing me as though I'm not here?”

Nathalie grinned. “If you didn’t want us teaming up against you, Gabriel, you shouldn’t have made us family.”

~~~

Nathalie was almost fully asleep by the time Gabriel came to bed. She didn’t register his presence until she felt his lips pressed against her temple. Nathalie curled against him, acting more on instinct than conscious decision-making. “Too tired,” she whispered. “Tomorrow night, I promise. Sorry.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gabriel murmured, continuing to kiss her temple, the top of her head, the streak of red in her hair. “I’m simply apologizing.”

Nathalie yawned. “Those usually start with some version of, ‘I’m sorry’,” she said.

“I’m sorry.” Gabriel slid an arm around Nathalie’s waist and pulled her close, her naked back now pressed against his chest. “I know lately I’ve been a bit…”

“Overbearing?”

“Well, yes.” He kissed her again. “I worry.”

“The doctor said everything looks perfect,” Nathalie said, her eyes still closed.

“I know.” Gabriel sighed. “Paranoia is a more difficult habit to break than I’d anticipated, I suppose.”

“Apologies don’t usually end with excuses.”

“I’ll stop.”

Nathalie snorted. “No, you won’t.”

Gabriel bent his head down a little and pressed his lips to Nathalie’s soulmark. “I’ll work on it,” he amended. “Happy?”

“Mm hmm.” Nathalie took her husband’s hand in hers and pulled his arm around herself more tightly. Within minutes, she was asleep.

~~~

“Is that your first cup?”

Nathalie raised an eyebrow and shot Gabriel a cool look over the top of her coffee mug as he entered their kitchen. “What happened to, ‘Good morning’?” she asked, taking a sip.

“I was simply-”

“For that matter, what happened to, ‘I’ll work on it’?”

“It’s just a question.”

Nathalie took another sip. “I don’t need you micromanaging my caffeine intake, Gabriel.”

Gabriel sighed. “Good morning, Nathalie,” he said. She grinned, then placed her empty mug on the countertop before crossing the room.

“I have to run,” she said, going up on her toes and kissing his cheek. “Should I come home for lunch, or will you be working?”

Gabriel put a hand on the small of Nathalie’s back and pulled her closer for a more intimate kiss. “Come home,” he said. “I’ll move some things around, I’m sure I can come up with twenty minutes or so.”

“Twenty? You spoil me,” Nathalie teased.

“That’s twice as long as my usual lunch, you know.”

“I do.” Nathalie kissed her husband again before bidding him adieu.

~~~

Nathalie’s morning wasn’t any more hectic or stressful than usual, but she still found herself eagerly counting down the minutes until her break. Finally, noon rolled around and she gathered her things up before leaving. “I’ll be back at two,” she told the junior assistant on her way out of the reception area. “Call me if anything you can’t handle comes up.”

Nathalie had almost reached her car in the employee parking lot when she heard a “Mrs. Agreste! Mrs. Agreste!” from the other side of the lot. It took her a moment to recognize it as her name. She wasn’t sure when she’d get used to it, but it hadn’t happened yet. Nathalie looked up and saw a young, friendly-looking man approach.

“Yes?” Nathalie asked as he reached her.

He took a second to catch his breath. “Sorry,” he said, grinning apologetically. “Ian Girard.” He held his hand out, but Nathalie made no move to shake it.

“What is it?” she asked impatiently. “I’m in a hurry.”

“Right. Sorry. You’re Mr. Laurent’s assistant, right?”

“That is correct,” she said. “And?”

“Well, I’m applying for the position of his personal driver-”

“Your name isn’t on the list of applicants,” Nathalie interrupted. “I was just looking at it an hour ago.”

“Right, no, it isn’t,” Ian agreed. “That’s, uh, kind of the problem, actually, I’m having a little bit of trouble with the online application form, I was hoping to just give you my information directly?”

Nathalie bit back an irritated sigh. “I don’t have time to take it now,” she said. She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. “Here. Call this number after two and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Perfect, thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” Ian reached for the card.

As Ian’s fingers brushed against Nathalie’s, everything went black.

~~~

“You haven’t started?” Marinette shouted, her voice squeaking slightly on the last word.

“I’ll get around to it,” Nino said casually. “I’ve got time.”

“Nino, university applications are due in a month, this is your future, you’re not going to have enough time for revisions, what if-”

“Girl, not everybody needs fifth drafts of everything,” Alya interrupted. She patted Marinette on the shoulder, then looked at Nino. “Nino, you know Marinette gets anxiety by proxy, you know better than to tell her something like that.”

“Sorry. Seriously, though, it’s fine, you know I work best under pressure.” Nino pulled out his wallet and threw a few bills down onto the pile at the center of their table. “That should cover my part of lunch, right? We ready to head back to school?”

“Yeah, let’s-hang on.” Adrien pulled his phone out of his pocket and read the alert. Nino leaned over, draping his arm around Adrien’s shoulders to get a better look.

“Is that from your dad?” Nino asked. “I didn’t even know he knew how to text.”

“Neither did I.” Adrien read the message aloud. “‘Have you heard from Nathalie?’. Huh.” He typed back a quick response, then got up. As the group made their way to the exit, Adrien’s phone buzzed again. He read the new message, then froze.

“What’s wrong?” Marinette asked.

“I don’t know. My father just sent a message asking where I am, insisting I stay put until the bodyguard he’s sending can pick me up.” He frowned as his phone continued to buzz. “I guess he can’t get in touch with Nathalie.”

Alya raised an eyebrow. “So, what, your stepmom’s phone died and now your dad’s freaking out?”

Adrien sighed. “Yeah, probably,” he said.

“You want us to wait with you?” Nino asked as they left the restaurant.

“No, you guys head back to school,” Adrien said quickly. “Let the teacher know I had a family emergency. It’s probably nothing though. Alya’s right, my father’s been panicking over every little thing with Nathalie lately.” His three friends hesitated in unison. “Seriously, go,” he insisted, and they finally did so, waving goodbye reluctantly as they went.

About a minute later, Adrien’s phone buzzed again. To his surprise, the message this time was not from his father, but from Marinette. Let me know if anything’s wrong, she sent. Then, a few moments later, Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. Then, just in case Adrien hadn’t gotten the underlying message, she followed it up with an emoji of a ladybug. Smiling to himself, Adrien typed a message back: I will. Thank you, added a green paw print, and pressed send.

~~~

Adrien entered his father’s office just as the man was slamming a phone down. “Adrien, how many more thousands of euros do I need to donate to the damn police department before it actually transforms into a functional organization?” he demanded. A second later he seemed to realize who he was talking to, and he narrowed his eyes in concern. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Adrien said. “What’s going on? Nathalie’s not answering her phone?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Do give me some credit, Adrien, I would not have pulled you out of school if Nathalie were simply not answering her phone. She screens half the calls I make to her nowadays anyway.”

“Oh,” Adrien said. “So-”

“She left her office for lunch,” Gabriel said. “She was going to come back here, but she never made it to her car. It’s still sitting in the parking lot.” Adrien paled. “Nobody approached you, spoke to you, nothing unusual happened to you today?”

Adrien shook his head. “No, nothing weird,” he said.

“Hmm.” Gabriel tapped his fingers against his desk for a moment. “I need you to search Paris for her. I’ll continue to make calls, pull strings, take advantage of whatever connections I can, but if something sinister has happened to her, mundane methods won’t find her quickly enough. You can cover the entire city in an hour or so, correct?”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah, but…” he frowned. “I don't know, finding people, that's not really something we’ve had to do before.”

Gabriel scowled. “I could scan the entire city for her in a matter of minutes if I had the-” he stopped himself from finishing the sentence. “Well, nevermind. I'm sure you and Ladybug will do your best.”

Adrien nodded. “We’ll find her.” Gabriel nodded, then picked up his office phone and began dialing. Adrien left the office, pulling out his phone and reading the last message he'd sent Marinette before typing a new one: Something’s wrong.

About thirty seconds later, her response came through: On my way.

~~~

Twelve hours later, none of them were any closer to finding Nathalie than when they'd begun searching.

Adrien returned to the mansion from his sixth search of the city, dropping his transformation as he landed through the open window of his bedroom before making his way back downstairs to his father’s study. Inside, he found his father sitting at the desk staring blankly at the phone, and Nino asleep on the room’s small couch, his cell phone in one hand and a list of all the city’s hospitals in the other. Nino had called once school let out, and insisted on coming over the second he'd heard what was going on. He'd been calling hospitals ever since arriving, checking for any Jane Does that even vaguely matched Nathalie’s physical description.

Adrien walked over to his father’s side. “Nothing,” Gabriel whispered as his son reached him. “Nobody knows anything. What is the point of being one of the most powerful men in Paris if this is what it gets me when someone I love is in need?”

Before Adrien could answer, the door to the study opened again and Ladybug walked through. Her face was just as grim as it had been when she’d left a couple of hours earlier, and Adrien’s heart sank. “Nothing?” he whispered.

“I’m sorry,” Ladybug said. “The Guardian wasn’t able to find her.”

“I could find her,” Gabriel said immediately. “If I had-”

“Nobody thinks it’s a good idea for you to have a Miraculous,” Ladybug snapped. Gabriel clenched his jaw.

“Nathalie returned the Butterfly Miraculous to him two years ago,” Gabriel said. “The Guardian owes it to her to use every tool at his disposal to attempt to find her. If he won’t give it back to me, someone else should wield it. Although whoever he gives it to, I must say, will not be nearly as experienced using it as I am, or as intimately familiar with Nathalie’s emotional signature.” His voice softened. “Please. Please, I would not take advantage of this, not with my wife’s well-being on the line.”

Ladybug bit her lip. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, “but the Guardian has his own methods of scanning the city, methods that are way more accurate than anything the Butterfly Miraculous can accomplish.”

“And?” Adrien asked, his voice a whisper. Ladybug looked at him and sighed.

“The Guardian,” she said slowly, “doesn’t think Nathalie is in Paris at all. He wasn’t able to detect any trace of her whatsoever. Even if she was… even if something had happened to her, he’d be able to pick up on something. Unlike the Butterfly Miraculous,” she added, looking at Gabriel pointedly, “which would be useless if she was unconscious or-well. Anyway. The Guardian will search beyond the city, but the larger the radius gets the longer it takes him to get accurate results.”

Gabriel nodded. “I see.” For a moment it looked like he might say more, but then he simply returned his gaze to the silent phone sitting on the desk before him. Adrien and Ladybug exchanged a glance, and then Adrien sighed and walked out of the study. Ladybug followed him to one of the mansion’s side entrances.

“Thanks,” he said, as he opened the door. “I really… you don’t know how much this means to me. You don’t know how much Nathalie-” his voice broke, and Ladybug immediately threw her arms around him.

“It’s okay, kitty,” she murmured. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” Adrien whispered. Ladybug sighed.

“I know. I’m sorry. I wish I could do more, I wish my powers were any use here, but… I could search the city again, maybe at this hour with everyone asleep it would be easier for me to pick up on-”

“No,” Adrien interrupted. “No, you’ve done way more than enough. You should go home, get some sleep. We’ll regroup tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Adrien nodded. “Well… okay, but you get some sleep, too. Promise? You won’t be any good to Nathalie if you’re a zombie.”

Adrien nodded. “I promise. And I’ll call if anything comes up.”

“Good.” Ladybug gave Adrien a quick, comforting peck on the cheek, and then she was gone.

Sighing, Adrien closed the door behind her and made his way back to the study. His father hadn’t moved a muscle. “You should go upstairs, get some sleep,” Adrien said.

“No. Someone might call.”

“At this hour?”

“Adrien, I honestly don’t know what kind of hours kidnappers and ransomers keep,” Gabriel replied. “Shockingly, this is the first I’ve had to deal with any.”

“There’s a phone in your room,” Adrien pointed out. “You should-”

“Adrien.” Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment, his expression pained. “Adrien, do not ask me to go upstairs again, do not ask me to go to that bed alone.”

After a moment, Adrien sighed. “Okay,” he said softly. He crossed the room and sat down next to Nino, still asleep on the couch. Adrien pried the list of hospitals from Nino’s grasp, scanned the list for the first name not crossed off, then pulled out his phone and began dialing the number.

#more things in heaven and earth #ml fanfic #gabenath #nathalie sancoeur #gabriel agreste #well i told you i'd do it told you i'd do it #looking forward to giving more characters bigger roles in this one

22 notes · View notes