Adrien honestly didn't really remember the events of that night. It was so hectic, so full of emotions and panic and rage that he'd basically just gone into survival mode and blacked out. Disassociated through everything. And now he sat in a hospital bed listening to the annoying beeping of a heart monitor, staring blankly at the wall.

Gabriel didn't go down without a fight, that man clawed and kicked and punched his way to near victory before Adrien could finally call 'cataclysm' and press his hand deep into his own fathers rib cage. He learnt that a cataclysm doesn't kill instantly, it's slow and painful. The black pigment spread from Gabriel's chest at the impact point to the rest of his body before it fell limp and crumbled into ash. Leaving only the butterfly miraculous and the twin ring behind. He wasn't sure how long he sat there heaving in pain from the fight, in shock over what he'd just done and tears over the overwhelming wave of relief that it was all over. Eventually Ladybug came up to him, took the butterfly miraculous back and simply places a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be ok" she told him "there was no other way, it was him... or all of Paris. Maybe even all of Europe"

At some point he'd been de transformed and swept up in an ambulance, he'd spend the past few days completely disassociated just letting the doctors and nurses tend to him. If it weren't for the painkiller he'd be in agony. He had a cracked rib, even just breathing was painful. His skin was littered with bruises and scrapes, his already chronically sore legs were practically burning. He knew he'd be permanently messed up from this, likely not able to walk long distances, without pain in his chest and legs. He hoped he could still use the miraculous, that maybe its powers would give him some extra strength or something. Not that he'd be fighting many villains anymore...

And the whole time he'd been lying there in pain, only half listening to the doctors and police about what was going to happen now hawkmoth, his dad, was gone, he'd only been thinking about Luka. Luka was practically all he had left, him and Nathalie who was his only legal guardian now. At least she was a better parent than Gabriel ever was...

Jueleka had made it out of the battle with only a few scrapes, so she was the one who came to tell him what was happening down in the other end of the hospital. Luka was alive, thank gods. But he wasn't awake, comatose. Given the nature of his injuries, he'd lost so much blood he was on the very brink of death by the time he was treated. His body too weak to do anything but slowly breathe and keep his heart beating. He had a lot of stitches, a skin graft and the scarring would likely end up looking like a severe burn. Up his whole right leg, mostly just below the hip, was completely wrapped in bandages. The bone was fractured, he needed a blood transfusion, it was a big rush job to save his life. Luckily for him having a twin with the same blood type, Jueleka was more than willing to give up some of her blood for him. But three days with no sign of him waking up had Adrien sick with worry. If it weren't for the meds making him so drowsy he'd be panicking and throwing up. He couldn't loose Luka, he just couldn't. He was the only one he had left who could get him through this, he needed Luka. They promised each other they'd be ok, that when the fight was over they'd go on a proper date as proper boyfriends.

The only thing he wanted to do right now, was find Luka's room, crawl into bed next to him and sleep in his arms.

"Adrien"

He looked over at the door way, barely snapping from his daze. It was Nathalie, back again from dealing with all the legal shit she'd been thrown into now. She sat at the end of his bed, put an assuring hand on his knee.

"You don't have to make a decision right now, but when you're discharged... we don't have to stay in that house. I have no legal ownership of it, your aunt will be the one who takes it. If you don't want to go back, we can move" She explained.

"I'm never going back there... someone can just... get the few things I want to keep and being them to me. I never want to see that place again, I never want to see anything to do with that man again..." he replied.

"Understandable..."

He was silent a moment, he still wasn't sure what to feel. All the rage and screaming had left his system during the fight. Now he was just... numb.

"Mum..." he muttered.

Nathalie knew she was mum now, it was still an odd feeling to know she and the late Emilie shared that title, but she knew Adrien needed it.

"Yeah?"

"Am I a murderer?"

How did she even answer that? It was nuanced. Different people would have different answers. Legally, he wasn't going to be charged with anything. The situation was ruled as self defence, and no one wanted to even try and charge the hero who saved the city and finally put an end to the horrors of hawkmoths reign. It was a unique set of circumstances that allowed for a unique ruling. He wasn't guilty by law, and no one in the city thought he was guilty either. But the fact of the matter was that his father did end up dust by his hand.

"No. You didn't have a choice, you'd never have taken that action if it was avoidable" Nathalie assured.

Adrien sighed, the breath making his chest ache. Nathalie gently wrapped an arm around him as to not hurt him any more than he was already hurt.

"This will pass Adrien, it'll be tough. But it will pass" she assured.

"Yeah..." he muttered.

The door opened again, this time it was more frantic and in the doorway the same girl who he'd told to rush Luka to the hospital stood looking buzzed.

"He's awake" Jueleka said.

"Wh- he's awake?" Adrien replied.

"He's awake. He woke up this morning, the doctors only told me and mum first. But you can see him now, he's awake"

Adrien almost leapt out of bed before Nathalie stopped him before he could hurt himself.

"Woah, woah! Slow down, careful... here" she said, helping him up and shakily onto his feet.

She wasn't about to make the very injured boy walk across the hospital, he could still walk but not very far in this condition. Instead she made him take a wheelchair, much to his annoyance because he wanted to run as fast as he could. The trip to the other end of the hospital was only about 3 minutes, but it was the longest three minutes of his life. Before Nathalie could even try and stop him, he immediately got up as soon as they reached the door and pushed it open. Sure enough, Luka was awake. He was a wreck, but he was awake. Hooked up to a million tubes and machines, covered in bandages and scrapes, but alive.

For a moment they simply stared at each other, taking the whole situation in. Before Adrien managed to limp over and crawl up onto Luka's bed and into his outstretched arms. Teary eyed and relieved, he squeezed him as tight as he could without hurting him.

"You're a fucking idiot" he sniffled.

"I love you too" Luka weakly laughed.

"You could have died!"

"I promised I'd protect you"

Everything hurt, everything was going to be very different for both of them, their world had been crumbled around them. But they were alive, it was all over now. They'd be ok.

"Thank gods..." Adrien sighed under his breath.

"I'm ok kitty, I'm alive" Luka assured.

"NEVER do that again"

"We won't ever be in that situation again"

As soon as they were out of hospital, they'd go on that proper date they promised. But with their injuries it'd be a little while until then. For now, they could sit together in bed, and plan exactly what that date would be. There was no better way to spend time sore in a boring hospital, than to plan your first date as offical boyfriends, glad to be alive and safe.