“Welcome in!” A greeting that followed the chime of the bakery's bells. A habit Sabine and her family grew accustomed to saying in the years of owning the establishment. She had her back turned as she was looking for refills of carry-out boxes behind the register. “I do regret to say we don’t have much to offer this late in the day.”

She did not hear a reply and turned her head, becoming startled by the appearance of a young child drooling at the pastries behind the glass.

“Hello there little one.”

Sabine looked down at the little boy and offered him a gentle smile, her eyes scanning the outside of the bakery for any sign of his frantic mother or father. Or at least some type of parental figure looking for a child matching his description. The child looked to be about five years old, with a mess of unruly dark hair and chubby cheeks. Were the child's eyes light? Dark? A happy medium between two shades of blue? Did it really matter? As  his eyes were clearly big with awe. Not wavering from the impeccable morsels behind the glass. His little mind could only fathom the taste of one unattainable treat. 

Sabine thought about handing him a treat or two but with not knowing the history of said child, she did not want an allergy scare. Red 40, wheat, eggs, milk, gluten, nuts and whatever else could be put in a pastry. It was all  a possible death sentence with the unknown lurking in the shadows. "Your parents aren't with you, little one?"

He shook his head and impressively in broken French he managed to say "My mommy's dead."

Sabine's eyes widened realizing that it was too late in her life to become a child psychiatrist even if it was going to be a one off thing. "I am so sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. She's been dead a lot." He pointed to a pastry behind the glass. "Mommy liked those."

"She had good taste. Those colorful ones are called Macaroons." Sabine said as she knelt to his height.

The child nodded as he looked at the sugared treats with glossy eyes. "Can I have one, please?"

“How about we wait for your family to find you first? As good boys like to share.”

“Father says I don't have to share.”

Sabine tried to hold in a laugh as this child’s vocabulary reminded Sabine of one of those western cartoons that her daughter enjoyed. The main character dressed like an animal and swore he worked alone but kept adopting young boys. Sabine was very concerned as the morals of that character sounded suspicious. Marionette called it the ‘reluctant dad trope’. Tom was never worried as he was a big fan of this character and knew the lore from the top of his head. Sometimes Sabine felt outnumbered as the two would go on about these weird man and his bird children. Not that she should just, Paris was constantly saved by people dressed like animals.

“You don't have to share. He's right, you don't. Does the no sharing rule apply to strangers only or your father too?”

“I can eat his food but he can't eat mine.”

“That doesn't sound fair”

“Dead mom is not fair.” 

Sabine raised a brow. She could not comfort him or laugh as neither was exactly helpful for the child's benefit. “You are a handful, aren't you? I can just tell. What does your father look like?”

“Him” He points to a stack of mail that was stuffed in the corner. A freshly delivered GABRIEL magazine sat on top of the stack. One of Marinette’s subscriptions. Sabine stands up and walks around the counter to grab the magazine, not sure on how he saw it from his height. 

She points at the cover which has both Gabriel and Adrien on the front. Thinking that she may have stumbled on Gabriel's illegitimate child. “This man?” 

The child shakes his head and taps Adrien’s picture. “That one but he looks… happy like his father lets him run with scissors.”

“Your father looks like Adrian Agreste?” She questioned in disbelief as Adrien would have had  to be a young teenage dad if he was indeed a father to a child this age. Not it was unnecessarily unbelievable as Adrien did get caught having sex on school grounds according to Marinette. Adrien was starting to become trouble. More than Sabine wanted for her daughter. Sabine knew if her speculations were indeed true that she couldn't tell her daughter about this as it would crush her. Marinette was already dealing with so much. Then it hit her. The difference in the child's vocabulary. ‘LOOKS like not IS’ “He looks like him? How so? Is he blond?”

“He has blue eyes… I think. He's old but that man looks like father.”

Tom comes down from the back of the bakery. Sweat on his brow as he had just unloaded different bags of floor into the bakery. He sees Sabine with the child and the magazine.”What's this now?”

“He's lost.” She explained.

“Lost? Without a snack? That's two things wrong with the world right now. Let's remedy one of those, sport” Tom said as he went behind the counter the child's eyes lighting up with anticipation. “Did you know it's very important for Baker's to get feedback from their customers? You can be our honorary reviewer." He  grabbed a small eclair with a brown tissue sheet and handed it over the counter. The boy's eyes lit up with excitement as he took it, stuffing it into his mouth.

"Mmm!" He chewed with delight. He soon came to the understandable conclusion that if this one tasted that good then perhaps more would be better. “Mister, can I have more?”

Sabine shook her head as she was pretty sure Tom, although she loved him dearly, would kill half of Paris with kindness. As she thought about scolding him or explaining allergies again, but another customer entered.

“Welcome in!” Tom and Sabine said on instinct. 

An athletic woman possibly in her thirties, wearing a corduroy pantsuit, eyes glued on the few tasty treats behind the glass. She held a shiny, black, large, hard-shelled bag that added to her confident aura. “Oh, did you not receive a phone call about my arrival?”

She wasn't a customer. She was something else like a harbinger of an omen. A very very bad one.
_______________

Marinette  saw the man she called Adrien 2.0 walking frantically up and down the streets. She had circumvented meeting Adrien by using her superhero persona to avoid exiting the main entrance of the school so she wouldn't run into him. Was this cruel on her part? Absolutely. Add that her phone was blowing up with texts and calls from Adrien and her refusing to answer a single one of them made her sound and feel like a terrible person. Maybe she was but she needed mental clarity. 

“BRIGGAN!” “BRIGGAN!” The man yelled as he walked the streets.

“Sir are you okay?” Marinette asked as he looked like he lost something or someone. Maybe a dog? That was not too uncommon and people had a habit of giving their animals unusual names. 

He flinched, caught off guard by her appearance. It was familiar. Too familiar and he did not like that. “My son just ran off.” He wiped his face trying to focus on the task at hand. “He's too much like me.” A slight stretch of uncomfortable silence before he follows up with more information. “I too ran off from my father.”

“So you didn't learn from your father's mistakes then? I mean… that sounded so rude. Uh… where's the last place you saw him?” Especially to a man she was pretty sure was the Cat Miraculous holder before Adrien. 

“We were waiting for traffic to clear to cross and he slipped through my fingers and ran off. The one day I forget his leash.”

“You leash him?” She wasn't against putting a leash on a child as it was often more humane than it sounded and was practical if one had a runner. But it sounded as if he was talking about a pet not something that shares half his DNA.

“I also lost him so let's not keep account of my mistakes as a parent.”

“What’s his name?” She asked as maybe she heard wrong when she heard that ridiculous name be called out by Adrien 2.0. Not that she should complain. Her parents made her name an inside joke. ‘One who rises to make bread’ it was obvious they thought she would carry on the family business before she was even born into this world. She is glad they let her follow her own passions but now she’s stuck with this knowledge and a joke for a name.

“Briggan”

“Briggan? Did you want your kid to grow up and get bullied?”

“Hey, my late wife picked it out. It means bringer of snowfall. It's poetic.”

She paused for a moment. ‘Did he say LATE wife? Are they divorce? No, people usually use the EX prefix. Dead? She could be dead. Very very very dead. Aaaahhhh!  That doesn't bode well for me if she was the previous Ladybug. I want to ask. I need to ask.’ Despite her internal dilemma frying her mental circuits she still responded like a relatively normal being. “Doesn't make it any better.”

“I agree but she was very adamant that a male child would be named after her and a female child after me.”

“Like Felicia?”

Felix let out a chuckle. “Exactly.” He shakes his head as he could smell a scent off of her. An Alpha but not just that, it's an old smell. A recognizable scent that was not her's. “I don't recall telling you my name.”

Marinette’s eyes widened as he introduced himself to Ladybug not Marinette and he was calling her on it and in a mixed accent of all things. “You look like Felix the Cat, lanky and uh…. have a face that looks like it is in a constant existential crisis. Eh...Why are you focused on this? We've got a kid to find.”

Felix moved his glasses and rubbed his face trying to refocus. ‘Find Briggan. Find Briggan. Find Briggan. But she smelled like…. regret. As if all the past I left behind long ago is punching me mentally. I deserve respite. But the universe will never let me rest, that is my burden.’

Marinette started yelling “BRIGGAN!” as she walked the streets with Felix searching for him. She knew she could cover more ground as Ladybug. Even more if she asked ChatNoir for help. She could not do that as she wasn't talking to Adrien. Not right now. Not until she figured out if she should tell him or not. She wanted to and felt very guilty for making him choose between Ladybug and Marinette. She was still her either way. Maybe she liked making him squirm. Or maybe she's just a toxic person. “BRIGGAN!”

“BRIGGAN! “ Felix called trying to pick up his scent but the smell of baked goods and the smell of Paris snuffed his nostrils. ‘What's the use of being an Alpha when it's situational? She would not have had this problem if she was here. He would probably be an Angel not the feral raccoon on roller skates he manifests as. Maybe he's too much like her? Free spirited to his own detriment. Or worse, too much like him when he's comfortable with someone?’

“Does he like sweets? My parents' bakery isn't to far.” Marinette was trying to think like a child as if he was not taken by someone and walking of his own accord, where would he go?

“We can try, might as well try all the options. I have nothing to lose, only something to gain back.” He said following her. “My wife was an excellent baker, not that he remembers what she made. He does like sweets a lot and I would like to think its because he remembers something about her. I sound like a sentimentalist. Maybe is because he has a little extra weight on his face so he looks more like her when indulging. Yet another reason I'm a terrible parent. I am promoting a eating disorder.”

“I genuinely think this is how I would be if I was a parent. I can't keep track of pattern pieces let alone something with legs.”

“You are young unless you do something stupid like I did at your age, you won't have to worry about this. Ever.”

“Stupid?”

“No protection.”

“Oh.” She said as she felt bad for asking. “Weren't you educated?”

“Sometimes educated people make stupid decisions. It felt like the right thing to do at the time as my mind was occupied on the then and now and not the consequences of my actions.” He sighs. “Briggan is an accident. I would say I love him anyway but on days like today I hate that little shit.”

Marinette laughs at his comment thinking that she's glad she has been careful. She has NOT been careful but she is mentally not ready for THAT revelation. Let her live in her glass bubble a little longer. She enters the Bakery and a boy stands there with chocolate all over his face.

“Briggan Liang!” Felix scolds kneeling in front of the boy and wiping his son's face with his sleeve. “You had me worried sick. We had this discussion many times, no running off.”

“But father, I got treats!” 

“I see the evidence on your face. Its a chocolate massacre. Did any of it go in your mouth?”

Briggan just laughs instead of apologizing to his father. As he knew what he wanted to do and it wasn't his job to update his father on what impulse he had. His feet went where they went.

Sabine was surprised at how accurate the boy's description was. His father looked very much like an older Adrien which would explain why Marinette arrived with him. “Your name?” Sabine asked curiously as he looked quite familiar. Like at the very least a cousin of Adrien.

Felix let out a reluctant sigh. “Felix Laing, thanks for watching my brat, Ma'am.”

Meanwhile, Tom was in the back of the bakery on guard as his jaw tighten with unspoken tension. He drew the short straw and had to have this conversation without his wife as she watched the lost boy.

“I sincerely apologize to you, Mr.Dupain and your wife,  Mrs.Cheng for my sudden appearance. My name is Jacinthe Richelieu and I work for the World Wide Helpful Omega Registry, W.W.H.O.R. for short.”

“Would you like something sweet to go with your tea?” He asked knowing this was going to be a conversation about Marinette but he still wanted to be civil. A conversation he didn't want to have. Marinette was his only child and he did not want some government agency ripping her from his home. He considered himself a pacifist but he would fight this.

“I wish I could but I’m a diabetic.” She said, opening her bag pulling out files. “I have Alphas that are already interested in her. I hand selected ones that have good standings. I recommend you and your wife picking someone as once she's in the system officially as an adult, there is no telling who she will end up with. Or she can bond with an Alpha beforehand. Omegas rarely get a choice in their fate, the sooner she is bonded, the better it is for her.”