(This was inspired by a comment on Karmic Backlash I think)
Make one stupid mistake and your life is destroyed. No friends, no family, no home, not even Plagg. Then again, did you ever really have those in the beginning? Your mother treated you more as a doll to play with before abandoning you. Your father was never around long enough to acknowledge you half the time until it was beneficial to him. Ladybug, your first real crush, found you a nuisance and a bother and was happy to turn on you the moment you weren't an obedient kitten anymore. Your "friends" ditched you the moment you weren't 'perfect' Adrien anymore, and the outed son of Hawkmoth. The city hated you for just that distinction alone and had ran you out of the only ho- No. The only place you ever knew, just because you believed in second chances.
There was nothing left for you here, so you left.
This was Persée Baudelaire/formerly Adrien Agreste's life before he joined the French Foreign Legion. Back then, he had been a doormat and a people pleaser, trying to live up to the nonsensical expectations of everyone happy to ditch him once he was no longer prized or valuable. Even Ladybug, who he thought knew him better than anyone, or could at least understand his decision, but no. Even Ladybug, no Marinette, tossed him out like an old newspaper instead of just talking to him. Was he perfect? Frick no! However, was that worth the utter destruction of his life beforehand? How he struggle to survive until he was 17 after his mother disowned him? How many times he had to avoid being k*lled by some crazed Ladybug fan for betraying Ladybug?
It was not a happy time in his life to put it gently.
However, he had always been stubborn, so he kept living to spite the people who hated him.
At 17, he walked the 5 hours to Versailles and registered for the French Foreign Legion, and passed the physical and background checks, and was shipped to formal training. Now, that was BRUTAL. The emotional, physical, and psychological toll it took on you as well as your fellow recruits, laughing at the former pretty boy model actually passing. However, Adrien had been stubborn. He had already been through Hell, so what's another level?
Eventually, he passed basic training with flying colors and was sent to specialized training. Adrien even gained his fellow recruits' respect, and they began to reach out to him who eventually became his closest and, more importantly, truest friends.
Adrien went on many missions around the world and became highly respected, and on one of those missions, he met his wife. A beautiful doctor named Claude Baudelaire, who cared for him after a mission gone wrong. She was kind, honest, and non-judgmental, though Adrien resisted because of what he suffered with Marinette, but eventually Claude worked her way into his heart. Eventually, they married, where Adrien decided to officially change his name to Persée Baudelaire, and together they adopted some kids since Adrien made it his mission to deny his parents any more direct descendants.
After 20 years of service, Persée and his family returned full-time to France. Not Paris, never Paris, but the countryside in the far South, where no one has ever heard of Adrien Agreste, Ladybug, or Hawkmoth, and if they had, only vaguely. It was a quiet, simple life for him compared to what he once had, but he was free and happy in a world of laughter.
On the surface, Marinette had it all. She was the most famous fashion designer in the world; she had hundreds of adoring fans and prospective hopefuls, people in love with Ladybug who was basically a goddess to the people of Paris, loving parents who praised her every day, and a string of prospective suitors at her beck and call.
However, even at the top of the world, she still wasn't happy
She could never get past the perceived betrayal by her 'so-called' friends in college, and this has affected her relationships ever since. First, it was Luka who while usually on her side, did something (she doesn't remember but she knew it was bad) and had to break up with him and reveal what happened on the internet. So what if Luka had to deal with a little backlash? It was his fault for being just like Adrien! Then, this happened again with even her new friends turning their backs on her just like Alya did! They were just so selfish! They knew what she had been through, yet they still believed they could criticize her! They got so far only because of her!
After some time and more betrayals, Marinette knew she couldn't trust anyone because they would eventually stab her in the back. That was why most of her assistants and workers didn't last very long. Even the new heroes had basically become a rotating door of choices, so Marinette still had to do everything herself. Frankly, it's better this way. At least, then she knows it's being done right!
It was one of these times that Marinette had a vacation in Marseille since she deserved it after everything she's been dealing with, when she saw a familiar man and his family playing in the sea.
I hope that if Marinette even tries to approach Persée he'll deny knowing her and makes sure to cover his family.
