Chapter Text
It was almost 4 in the morning when there came a loud knocking on the front door. Adrien only heard it because he had already been awake and talking to Plagg, fresh off a late night patrol with Ladybug. His first thought was how had someone gotten past the gates. His second was, who in the world would be here at this ungodly hour?
He knew he should’ve gotten someone up to go see who it was, but he didn’t want to bother Nathalie or his father, and his bodyguard wouldn’t show up for work for a few more hours. Once he reached the door and pulled it open, it took him a minute to realize just who he was looking at.
“Cousin! Thank goodness someone was awake,” Felix said before pulling him into a hug.
"Felix. I didn't know you were in Paris."
Adrien was still half asleep, but made sure to close the front door as quietly as possible after Felix dragged his suitcase into the foyer.
"I'm just…uh passing through, but mother insisted I come see you. I think my parents were just trying to get me away from them for a while."
"Why so early?"
"I took the early train so it wouldn't be packed. I do so detest being around others, especially when it comes to public transport."
"Oh…fair enough. I'd get my father or Nathalie but I don't want to wake them."
"Who's Nathalie?"
"She's my-"
"Adrien what are you doing…oh."
Both boys turned to see a figure walking down the stairs. Adrien immediately recognized Nathalie's voice, but the rest of her looked like a completely different person. Instead of the usual suit, she was dressed in a simple t-shirt and leggings and her glasses were gone, making her blue eyes stand out even more among her wavy black hair. She looked so much younger when she wasn't in work mode.
"Mrs. Agreste. I'm so sorry to have come at such an early hour, but I just couldn't wait to see the family."
Adrien's eyes went wide when he heard what Felix called her. He noticed her stiffen only slightly before her face went blank and her voice took on a more formal tone.
"You're mistaken. I'm Mr. Agreste's assistant, Nathalie. We weren't expecting you so early, but it's fine. Come with me and we'll find you a room."
"Oh yes. I'm sorry. I forgot you're just the help."
Nathalie raised a single brow at the comment, but decided not to grace him with a reply. Adrien wasn't sure why Felix had called her Mrs. Agreste, especially when he was pretty sure he had met her before.
He watched as Felix not so subtly nudged his suitcase toward the woman, but she made no move to grab it. Adrien hid his laugh behind a smirk. Nathalie would help with anything if you asked her, but that courtesy was only extended to the household and people she liked. He was sure Felix's comment had soured her opinion of him almost instantly.
“Adrien, I trust you can show your cousin to one of the guest rooms, right?” she asked as she turned to him.
“Yes, Nathalie. Of course.”
“Felix can carry his own bags. He must be full of a lot of energy right now if he was able to survive the early train. I’ll tell your father of his arrival when the day actually starts, but until then you both are to leave him be and do not wake him.”
She didn’t even wait for them to reply before she trudged back up the stairs. Little did they know, she was already dreading the extra coffee she was going to need and how she was going to have to fight off Duusu more than she normally had to. The kwami loved drinking her coffee when she wasn’t looking, but today she was going to need every last drop.
“I think we should do something about Felix.”
Gabriel barely looked up from his work as his disgruntled assistant and a cloud of angry emotions stormed into his office. She slammed the door behind her, causing Nooroo to jump on his shoulder.
“What did he do?”
“He’s been disrupting Adrien’s studies and causing general chaos at school for him as well as in the mansion. It's getting quite ridiculous, what you've been willing to put up with throughout this entire week.”
“He is simply doing what I expected him to do.”
“What?”
“Nat, you’ve met him before. Don’t tell me his behavior is surprising.”
“Well yes, it's definitely not, but I didn't think that was why you had him visit. I thought you wanted Adrien to not be so lonely for once.”
“That was part of it, but I also wanted him to bring his certain...talents along with him.”
“You wanted this to happen?”
“Of course I did. Felix has been a little shit since before he learned to walk. I figured he would be perfect to sow some discord among the people of Paris.”
“Gabriel, forgive me, but what the hell were you thinking?”
“I saw an opportunity to further our goals and took it. Are you not happy about that? Do you not relish the fact that this mere boy is giving us so many new victims?”
“Not when it involves Adrien.”
“He will be fine. I always make sure of it.”
“Yeah and see how well that’s worked out in the past. Does Gorizilla ring a bell? Style Queen, perhaps? Startrain??”
“I will admit that mistakes have been made, but you can’t expect perfection, ok?”
“Does Adrien not warrant that?”
“Careful now, Nathalie.”
“No. Adrien is your son. He is supposed to be the most important thing in your life. Any plan that has the remote chance of hurting him should instantly set off alarms in your head.”
“Are you insinuating that I don't care enough about him?”
“I said nothing of the sort, but if you want to see it that way…”
He reached forward and grabbed her wrist. His grip wasn’t tight, but she could feel it starting to restrict her the more he talked and the more angry he got.
“I don’t think I like your tone of voice right now,” he growled.
“So now you’re treating me like the child! Big powerful Gabriel Agreste. The great and terrible Hawkmoth. You just can’t stand it when someone calls you out, can you? You’re scared because deep down, you know I am right. You take liberties when it comes to his safety and one of these days, things aren’t going to turn out so well.”
“Do not talk down to me. I am your boss, remember?”
“Oh I remember plenty. I just wish you would do the same.”
She pulled her wrist out of his grip and turned on her heel, making a beeline for the door. She stopped in the doorway, but never turned to look at him when he yelled after her.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m taking my break early today. That might give you some time to think about some things. Goodbye, sir.”
She knew he hated when she called him that when they were alone, but he deserved it and she made sure to say it with as much disdain as she could. The little burst of anger that she felt from him after was more than enough to make her smirk. She knew she had gotten to him.
Once the sound of the front door slamming signaled that she was gone, Gabriel let out an angry shout. It was times like these that made him wish for an actual desk, so he could sweep its contents onto the floor. He was close to destroying the office like he had when he was akumatized, but a familiar feeling made him stop. He could feel an incredibly large amount of anger coming from the school, the work of Felix no doubt.
“Seems like there's someone in this awful town who is more upset than me. They’ll be perfect to relieve some stress.”
Nooroo flew out in front of him and try to reason with him.
“Master, is that wise? You shouldn’t take out your anger on others.”
“Do not question me Nooroo! I shall do whatever I please. You are here to serve!”
“Of course, but...”
“But what!?”
“Master, you never send out akumas when Nathalie is out of the house. Don’t you care about her safety?”
“She’ll be fine. She made her choice.”
The butterfly kwami merely nodded in response as his master glared ahead. When the usual lift was activated and took them to the lair, he could only hope that Nathalie and Duusu wouldn’t be caught by whatever Gabriel had planned.
“Nooroo, dark wings rise!”
Gabriel was glad of his transformation because he could now feel just how powerful the emotions he had sensed earlier really were. This akuma would be something. The only downside was that now he could also feel his assistant's feelings as well. Somewhere out there, she was feeling hurt and angry and it was all directed at him. A small part of him was screaming at him to at least get her back in the mansion before he did this, but the bigger and more angry part of him won out. She was lucky he didn’t akumatize her instead.
He plucked a stray butterfly from the air and turned it onto an akuma. His stress was already fading away, but he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something. He knew exactly who it was though he ignored it. No distractions today. Once the connection was made, he spoke to his three new victims through their telepathic link.
“Confucion, I am Hawkmoth. I can’t help but notice that someone tied all your shoelaces together. Such a shame that no one has reprimanded this boy who has caused you so much trouble. I sense you want justice for his acts and you shall have it. I’m giving you the power to judge all those that have evil in their hearts and distribute punishments to them. All I ask in return is that you bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir’s miraculous.”
The park was thankfully empty that day, leaving Nathalie with the rare opportunity to let Duusu wander around in public. She only flew around to inspect the trees and plants surrounding them for a few minutes before she flew back to sit on her shoulder.
“I’ve never seen you this upset. Mr. Gabriel must have done something very wrong,” she was thankfully being quiet.
“He just doesn’t think sometimes. It’s infuriating.”
“I can tell. You would be perfect for an akuma.”
“Unless he wants me to kill him, he’ll keep those butterflies of his far away from me.”
“I don’t understand. Don’t you want more akuma opportunities? Wouldn’t that be good?”
“I suppose it would, but he let Felix mess with Adrien and that is where I draw the line. When I agreed to help him, we both decided that no matter what, his son would be left out of all of this. Now he’s out here letting my so- I mean Adrien suffer at the hands of his evil little cousin.”
“But he hasn’t hurt anyone. He just annoys them.”
“I don’t care. If he’s messing with those around him, then an akuma is most likely going to get someone at that school. His school! Gabriel should not be this calm about letting his akumas loose so close to him.”
“Maybe he will wait until school is over.”
“Duusu, when have you ever seen that man be patient? No, the minute he senses distress, he's going to jump on it. He can be so rash and blind and just…I hate it!”
“How about we go back and explain that to him, but with less yelling?”
“Yelling is the only way to get him to hear me sometimes.”
“That's not the only way. I see when you sit with him and talk, he listens to everything you say. He always relaxes when you’re near.”
“So what, I just walk in there, grab his hand, and tell him all of this?”
“Well, yeah! What’s the harm?”
“Oh you sweet summer child. It's not that simple.”
“Not that simple? You guys hold hands every other day and he’s always finding excuses to be near you or touch you. He trusts you.”
“If that were true then he would’ve listened earlier.”
“He isn’t going to listen when you’re angry and wounding his pride. We should go back and try to do it in a more calm manner. Give Mr. Gabriel more credit.”
“Sometimes I think I give him too much.”
Duusu smiled and opened her mouth to say something else, but a gasp came out instead. Nathalie was puzzled only for a second before she looked up and noticed people running down the street. They were running from something, but she hadn’t seen what that was yet.
“Oh great, he's projecting again,” she groaned.
She figured he had akumatized someone while she was far from the safety of the mansion just to spite her. He was such a baby sometimes. Maybe she’d tell him that later, if Duusu didn’t stop her first. Soon the monster of the day came into view as it slowly moved through the city.
The three girls were dressed in dark rags and looked like the witches you would see trying to tell fortunes or whisper some long forgotten prophecy to the hero in an old movie. They still looks young, but now had long wispy grey hair that danced around their heads like smoke. One had grey bandages wrapped around her eyes, another had them around her ears, and the third had them around her mouth. They were all kept together by golden chains tangled around their feet. The chains made an awful screeching sound as the akuma floated a few feet in the air, dragging them along the ground.
As they got closer, she could hear the words they chanted over and over again.
“See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. You are guilty and you shall be aptly punished for it.”
“Miss Nathalie, we really should go,” Duusu said near her ear.
She was frozen to the spot as she watched the akuma in action. The chains around its feet multiplied and stretched like the tentacles of an octopus, as it searched for victims. Every poor soul that was caught would have a chain latch around their feet and drag them back to the three girls. There they would hold them up and judge them for their supposed crimes.
She watched as one man was accused of lying to his wife and found guilty for the sin of speaking falsely. As a result, his voice was taken away when the girl with the bandage around her mouth simply raised her hand and pointed a finger at him. The chain then dropped him and they floated away, leaving him on all fours trying desperately to get his voice to work.
It was only when her kwami tugged on her sleeve with all her might, that Nathalie finally found her legs again. She ran as much as she could before she had to duck into a dark alley. She fell onto the ground and heaved for air. Times like these made her truly hate the cursed peacock miraculous for sapping her of all her stamina and strength.
Speaking of the miraculous, she had taken it out and was staring at it intently. She was supposed to use it sparingly and only when Hawkmoth needed her, but this could be classified as a special case. Duusu about lost her mind when she pinned the brooch to her shirt.
“Miss Nathalie, what are you doing!?” she asked, sounding almost...scared.
“It won’t attack Mayura, or at least I hope it won't.”
She had no idea how Gabriel felt about her at that moment so her safety wasn’t guaranteed, but it was better than her civilian form against an akuma.
“But, you’re still recovering. You need more time before you transform again.”
“What else can I do? I can’t outrun that thing on my own and I already know that I'm not immune to most akumas even if Hawkmoth is my boss. This can at least give me a fighting chance.”
“I don’t want you hurt.”
She looked at the kwami hovering in front of her now. Duusu had never looked more upset. She gently grabbed her and pressed against her cheek. It was as much of a hug as she could manage with the tiny being.
“I will be fine, ok? I won't even use my powers.”
“Fine…”
“Duusu! S-”
The words were caught in her mouth when she felt a chain wrap around her ankle and pull her forward. She tried to grab onto something to stop it from taking her, but it was useless. Duusu clung to her shoulder and whined as the chains pulled her high up into the air. When she finally came face to face with the akuma, she had to ignore the pounding in her head from being held upside down just so she could hear what they were saying to her.
“…you have been complaisant in the crimes of your boss against the people of this city and his own son. You stand by and listen to him tear down his own flesh and blood…”
She looked right into the middle one’s eyes and hoped he would see her.
“Hawkmoth, stop this! Make them let me go,” she pleaded.
“…You watch him commit atrocities every day and yet you never speak out…”
“I know you’re mad, but you always said I'd be safe. You promised!”
“…Nathalie Sancoeur, you are guilty of all three of the high sins and you shall be punished for it dearly…”
“Gabriel…”
She watched as the three simultaneously raised their hands, preparing to take away her voice, sight, and hearing all at once. He must have really been angry with her if he was refusing to exclude her from this. Perhaps she did deserve it. She closed her eyes and braced herself for their magic, but it never came.
“Look Miss,” Duusu whispered in her ear.
Though she was upside down, she could clearly see that the akuma had froze completely and was being spoken to by Hawkmoth. She watched as they argued with the inevitable voice in their heads.
“What…why?”
“But she is guilty to the highest degree!”
“As you wish Hawkmoth, but let this be the only sinner we spare.”
No sooner had the neon symbols disappeared from their eyes did the chain around her ankle slacken completely, sending her plummeting to the ground below. The fear came back in full force as she watched the road shoot towards her faster and faster. She had almost reserved herself to the fact that she was about to get seriously hurt when arms wrapped around her. Her head was still in a fog, but she knew exactly who was carrying her. If he was still mad at her, he was hiding it well. All she could feel coming from him was a mix of fear and relief.
He didn’t speak until he had set her on her feet in the lair. They stared at each other in silence for what seemed like forever. In the end, it was Nathalie who broke it.
“I’m sorry I left. I should’ve stayed and talked it out with you. Instead I ran off like a child.”
“Nathalie…”
“You had to leave the lair for me. You could have been seen! I’m such an idiot.”
“No you are not. I’m the idiot for taking out my anger with an akuma. I knew full well that you could possibly be caught in the crossfire, but I still went through with it. I am the one to blame here.”
He willed his legs to move and soon enough he found himself standing before her. It still caught him by surprise how much he dwarfed her when he was transformed. Still the woman before him cast a pretty big shadow.
“Seriously?” she whispered, her eyes glued to the floor.
“Would I lie about that?”
“No, but I just wanted to make sure I heard you right. Gabriel Agreste never admits defeat.”
“This is a special circumstance and nothing more. Do not expect this again.”
“I won't because I know you’re never doing that again.”
“Never in a million years…”
His tone had softened considerably, but she was still looking anywhere but him. It was only when he grabbed her chin and angled her face toward his that she was forced to finally meet his gaze.
“I’m sorry for being so careless. You were right about Adrien, as you are when it comes to most things. I need to control myself better," he said with a sigh.
“I’m glad you can see past your huge ego to understand that."
“Nat, I just saved your life, can you at least be a bit nicer? You can turn off assistant mode for now. I want my best friend."
She chucked at that. “I’m sorry. Duusu even suggested that I be nicer the next time we spoke. Guess I’m bad at listening.”
“I enjoy a woman that can keep me on my toes. It keeps me grounded.”
“Oh really?”
“But only sometimes.”
“Then just this once,” she said as she grabbed onto the black lapel of his suit jacket and pulled him down to her level. "Do that again and I will kill you."
He grinned, "Oh yeah?"
"Yes and don't even think for a second that I am bluffing."
"Oh I don't doubt you are. On the contrary, I think that would be a rather good way to go."
She glared at him before that inevitable smile of hers broke through her walls. He was lucky to be on her good side once again. He knew all too well that his assistant was someone you didn't want as an enemy. She let go of him and started to back away but he reached out and pulled her back in for a tight hug. She relaxed and pressed her face into his chest.
"Feel better?" his voice was only slightly muffled by her hair.
"Possibly."
"Good. I hate when you're upset."
She smiled before pulling out of his embrace. He returned it with equal fervor when she allowed him to briefly grab her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. There was a nagging urge at the back of his head to pull her closer and kiss her, but he ignored it like the plague, even if he wanted it more than anything. Those kinds of thoughts could spread like wildfire if unchecked.
"Where are you going?" he asked when she turned to leave.
"I’m making sure Adrien is ok and then I'm going to…talk to Felix. He’s due for a very long one for daring to mess with your boy."
He chuckled as she stormed out of the lair, but then noticed a strange feeling in his chest. Was that joy at the prospect of his secretary looking out for his son? He had to admit he liked how protective she was of him. He realized he liked that very much as he de-transformed.