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Nathalie didn’t get paid enough for this crap. It felt like living in a comedy.
Several years ago, the woman Nathalie loved fell into a coma. Émilie Graham de Vanily - since marriage, now Émilie Agreste - had never returned Nathalie’s feelings, but that didn’t stop her from loving. Nathalie had even been the one to set her up with Gabriel, all those years ago.
When Émilie had fallen ill, and again when she fell into her coma, Nathalie vowed she would do anything to make her better again.
Apparently, Gabriel had made a similar promise.
When he’d told Nathalie what he’d been doing to get Émilie back, well- Nathalie hadn’t been expecting the specifics, exactly, but she was hardly surprised.
What had been surprising, was learning the identity of one Chat Noir; a superpowered individual who fancied themselves a hero, fighting Gabriel and Nathalie at every turn.
Of course, most of Paris agreed with Chat Noir’s perspective - that Gabriel and Nathalie, using the monikers Hawk Moth and Mayura, were the bad guys.
It was hardly true. Arguable at best. They were doing this to save someone, after all- and there had been no permanent effects to their actions thanks to a certain ladybug.
Still, some days Nathalie found herself wondering if she had it wrong. If Ladybug and Chat Noir were truly the heroes Paris made them out to be- if she and Gabriel were truly the villains everyone thought them to be.
Those days had only gotten more frequent after discovering that Chat Noir was Émilie’s own son, Adrien.
The number of times Gabriel had endangered his son was bad enough only counting the times it had been Adrien- when you counted Chat Noir, the number became nigh unforgivable.
What would Adrien think when he found out? Would he agree with his father’s methods? They were doing this for the boy’s mother, after all. Would Adrien believe that to be a noble enough cause, to justify what they’d done? Would Émilie?
The more Nathalie thought about what they’d done, the more she felt uncertain about what she and Gabriel had been doing. Holding an entire city emotionally hostage, just for one woman. A woman who might very well abhor what they were doing in her name.
Nathalie felt she would need to speak with Adrien, get his opinion on the matter. He was so alike Émilie, in so many ways. Whatever he thought of the situation, she would likely agree.
The only question remaining was how to approach him about it.
Ladybug crouched behind a chimney, trying to keep an eye on her partner several rooftops away. He knew she was there - but the person he was meeting did not.
“Remind me why we’re taking this meeting with Mayura seriously?” Ladybug asked, annoyed, over her earpiece.
In the distance, she saw Chat sigh. “My lady, it’s not like we’re actually trusting her,” he replied calmly. “We know to expect that she’s up to something, so she doesn’t have the element of surprise.”
Ladybug felt herself growling. They’d already had this discussion the day before, but she still wasn’t convinced it was worth putting Chat in danger just to find out what Mayura wanted. “What if it’s a distraction?” she asked, repeating her words from yesterday.
“That’s why Carapace and Rena are on patrol, bugaboo,” Chat said. From this distance, she couldn’t actually see it, but Ladybug knew he was looking her way with a reassuring smile. “We can’t pass up the chance, however small, to actually learn something from this meeting.”
She knew he was right. That didn’t mean she had to like it.
Several minutes of silence passed between the two, in which Ladybug occupied herself texting Rena and Carapace on her yo-yo.
“Thank you for meeting me,” the voice said. It took a moment for Ladybug to realize where it was coming from- she was picking it up over Chat’s earpiece.
“Get on with it,” Chat nearly spat the words out.
Ladybug peeked from her position, just in time to see Mayura nod. “Of course. I wanted to explain Hawk Moth’s motive to you.”
“What, does he think we’ll agree with him?” Chat accused. “Nothing could be worth what the two of you are doing.”
“Perhaps not. I must admit, I’ve started having my doubts.” Mayura paused. “To answer the question, he doesn’t think much of anything about this meeting. He doesn’t know about it.”
There was silence over the earpiece for a moment, and no movement that Ladybug could see. She squirmed, wanting to get closer, but not wanting Mayura to notice her.
“Hawk Moth lost someone,” Mayura finally said. “He plans to use the wish granted by your combined miraculouses to bring them back.”
Chat didn’t say anything for several seconds. “I know what it feels like to lose someone,” he said. “I’ve lost someone myself. That doesn’t excuse what he’s done.”
Ladybug felt her mouth drop open. She never would have guessed that he’d felt that pain.
Mayura spoke softly, gently. “Do you think she would want this?” she asked.
Ladybug tensed up. Chat didn’t seem to notice, but Ladybug had alarms going off in her head. It could be a clue to Hawk Moth’s identity- or it could mean Mayura knew Chat’s.
In the distance, Chat shook his head. “Never.”
Mayura dropped to her knees. “Then I surrender. Ladybug can have my miraculous.”
Chat started to reach out, but Mayura grabbed his hand to stop him. “I said Ladybug,” she said calmly. “It’s not that I don’t trust you to bring it to her, but- I don’t think you’re ready to know who I am.”
Ladybug felt her mind whirring, faster than ever before. The pieces were starting to click - Mayura probably knew Chat’s identity, and they likely knew each other as civilians.
Which meant - since they’d long known Hawk Moth and Mayura knew each other’s identities - Hawk Moth and Chat had likely lost the same person. It would certainly explain why Mayura had asked Chat what ‘she’ would have wanted.
If Chat found out who Mayura was, he’d probably connect the dots and figure out Hawk Moth’s identity- he was smart enough, and if he already knew them as a civilian he’d have the clues he’d need.
How would he react to knowing who Hawk Moth was? If they had both lost the same person, it wouldn’t be unthinkable that they were close to one another. He might be distraught enough for Hawk Moth to akumatize him. Which would be the reason Mayura doesn’t want him knowing her identity.
Ladybug took a breath. “Chat?” she asked, over the earpiece. “I believe her. Fall back, please.”
Chat snapped his head around to look right at Ladybug- giving away her position. Not that it mattered- Ladybug was planning to come out, after all. “I don’t like this, bugaboo,” he muttered. Nonetheless, Chat obeyed the request and vaulted away, leaving Mayura alone on a rooftop.
Ladybug took a few moments to compose herself, before joining Mayura.
“You’ve been listening in, I take it?” Mayura asked calmly. With a nod of confirmation from Ladybug, Mayura continued. “Can he hear me now?”
With a brief pause, taking a moment to reaffirm her decision, Ladybug turned off her earpiece. “Not anymore.”
Mayura looked Ladybug in the eyes, searching for something. “Are you going to take it?” she asked, “or are you waiting for me to give it to you?”
Ladybug glanced down at the peacock miraculous. “Neither, I think,” she said slowly. “If I know Chat, he’s probably watching to make sure I’m safe.”
Mayura gave a small nod. “Quite likely. He’s a compassionate young man.”
“You say that as though you know him,” Ladybug observed.
Another nod from Mayura. “Indeed I do. I discovered his identity quite by accident, actually.”
Ladybug took a moment to consider what she might say next. She finally settled on, “How?”
“I noticed his kwami sneaking about.” As simple as that. Plagg had gotten careless. “He doesn’t know.”
Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell Hawk Moth?”
Mayura shook her head slightly. “I didn’t, but that’s not what I meant. The kwami doesn’t know I saw him.”
“Why didn’t you tell Hawk Moth?” Ladybug asked, unsettled.
“My loyalty isn’t to him,” she said simply. “It’s to her.”
Mayura didn’t need to elaborate- it was clear who she meant. The woman Hawk Moth had lost- that Chat had lost.
Ladybug found herself looking Mayura up and down, searching for- something. She wasn’t really sure what she was looking for, other than a way to delay the inevitable. There was only one thing left to ask, really, before Ladybug would know. She wasn’t sure she was ready to know Chat’s identity- but she needed to know Hawk Moth’s.
“Her name,” Ladybug instructed.
“Émilie Graham de Vanily,” Mayura whispered, her voice full of sorrow and regret.
Ladybug didn’t recognize the name, not at first. There was only one place she’d seen it before, after all. But the memory flashed in her mind, and she knew.
A movie poster.
Solitude, starring Émilie Graham de Vanily.
The movie she’d seen with Adrien.
The movie starring Adrien’s mother.
Of course, there was no way on god’s green earth that Adrien could be Hawk Moth- which left only one possibility. One they’d even suspected before, frustratingly enough.
Gabriel Agreste.
Which would make Chat-
Well that wouldn’t make sense, would it? Because if Chat was Adrien, then-
Ladybug laughed. Gods, how she laughed. She couldn’t help it- she and Adrien had been chasing each other around in circles!
Then she stopped, almost choking on her own breath. Because she’d fallen for the kindness in Adrien, the selflessness- which she saw every day in Chat. And in spite of that, she’d gone and obsessed over some artificial public-image version of him. He probably deserved an apology for that.
Ladybug took a few breaths, letting herself recenter. Pulled back to the present, she gave Mayura another once-over. Mayura was, of course, looking at her like she was crazy.
In hindsight that was a fairly sensible reaction - Ladybug had seemingly laughed at the name of a dead woman, after all.
“Sorry,” Ladybug muttered. “It’s just- we suspected him before.” It wasn’t a lie, per se, just not relevant to the laughter at hand. And Ladybug didn’t really want Mayura of all people to know how she felt about Adrien.
Mayura smiled, slightly. “So you pieced it together, then. Just as I worried Adrien would.”
Ladybug nodded thoughtfully. “Everything but you,” she admitted. “I don’t see Gabriel trusting anyone to know what he was up to.”
“I loved her too, you know,” Mayura said softly. “I’m not sure if that’s why he trusted me- I didn’t think he knew how I felt.”
Ladybug reflected on what she knew of the Agrestes. Someone who Gabriel might trust, if he needed to choose an ally. Someone who cared about Adrien’s mom enough to want her back- and about Adrien enough to question fighting him.
“Ms. Sancoeur?” Ladybug asked, not entirely certain. The nod from Mayura confirmed it.
Adrien was pacing.
Plagg hated it, of course- something about restlessness being contagious, and he was trying to nap.
Not that Adrien could help it- his mind was going a little crazy trying to figure out what had happened between Ladybug and Mayura earlier. Mayura had been about to surrender her miraculous, and Ladybug had let her go.
For the life of him, Adrien couldn’t think of what Mayura could have possibly said to earn Ladybug’s trust. Ladybug wouldn’t tell him anything at the time.
“Mayura’s going to be a double agent,” she’d said. “She’s going to warn us about akumas and amoks whenever she can, and look for an opportunity to steal the butterfly miraculous.”
It was admittedly a good plan, but Adrien had his doubts. It all hinged on trusting Mayura- and he found he couldn’t. He’d have to settle for placing his trust in Ladybug, which came as easily as breathing. If she trusted Mayura, then Adrien would trust her judgement.
“I need to decide how much you can know,” Ladybug had said. “I’ll be in touch.”
It was painful- Ladybug knew Mayura’s identity, most likely. Possibly even Hawk Moth’s. Why would it even be a question as to whether Adrien should know? The more he knew, the better he could protect Ladybug. His one job was to protect her, and she was keeping information from him that could help. Did she not trust him? Adrien knew how to sit on information, how to wait for the right moment.
It was all Adrien could do to keep himself from transforming more than once an hour to check Chat’s baton for messages.
Just as he was about to transform again, there was a knock at his door. “Adrien?” Nathalie called.
Adrien sighed, dropping onto his couch. “Come in, Nathalie. Let’s not shout at each other through the door this time.”
“As you wish,” Nathalie replied, letting herself in. To Adrien’s surprise, she closed the door behind her. Nathalie stayed by the door, reading off from her tablet. “Your friend Marinette is at the front gate. She’s requested you accompany her for a short while.”
Adrien blinked. “What?” he found himself asking, disbelief at the situation. Normally Nathalie would have turned any of his friends away, based on his father’s standing orders. “Did father approve?” he asked cautiously, unsure if he was being trapped in some way.
“Your father is to remain unaware of this. To his knowledge, you will still be in your room, practicing the piano. I believe you have used this ruse in the past?”
This was utterly bizarre, but Adrien decided not to question it any further. Nathalie was risking her neck to offer Adrien time with a friend, and he was going to take it. Especially for Marinette- Adrien was sure she still found him intimidating.
Giving a quick nod to Nathalie - not trusting himself to speak, for fear he’d break the spell and be told to stay home - Adrien subtly scooped up Plagg as he tidied his desk, and made for the door.
As promised, Marinette was waiting at the front gate. Nathalie must have been at the controls inside, because the gate opened as Adrien approached it and closed behind him.
Adrien was surprised when Marinette grabbed his hand and led him away from the mansion, but he let it happen. Too many things were going unexplained today for him to have any energy left to question this.
Marinette had always been different around Adrien than everyone else. Adrien figured that, between his being a model and who his father was, he was simply intimidating to talk to for Marinette, an aspiring designer. For some time, he’d thought he had yet to be forgiven for the gum incident on his first day- but soon discovered Marinette was not the type to hold a grudge.
As Adrien reflected on this, he noticed idly that Marinette had led him to the Trocadéro. She sat on a bench facing the Eiffel Tower, and indicated for Adrien to do the same. He sat as instructed, still transfixed by the strangeness of the situation.
“You should know,” Marinette finally said, speaking a little quickly, “that I find it hard to talk to you because I’ve had a crush on you for a long time. But I’m trying to be brave tonight considering everything that’s going on.”
Adrien nodded dumbly, the words not registering in his brain quite yet.
“I’m not even really sure how to say this. I thought about saying something clever but I don’t know if you’d pick up on it. But it feels weird to just say it outright, you know?”
Adrien didn’t know.
“Besides, if I say it outright, you might not believe me anyway. So I decided the easiest way to do it was to introduce you to Tikki. I mean, you’ve met Tikki, but you know what I mean. Or you will.”
Adrien stared blankly at Marinette, trying to process what she was saying. It was difficult, between his general confusion and the speed she was talking. Where had he heard the name Tikki before?
The unvoiced question went answered when a familiar red kwami appeared out of Marinette’s purse. “I’m still not allowed to be the first one to say it, Marinette,” the kwami- Tikki- said. “We told you about the spell.”
Adrien looked back and forth between Tikki and Marinette. “Why aren’t you with Ladybug?” he asked Tikki, before scanning his surroundings.
Tikki gave Marinette a knowing look, which Adrien struggled to parse.
“Could Plagg tell him?” Marinette asked quietly. “I don’t think I can do it myself.”
“Tell me what?” Adrien asked, matching his volume to Marinette’s. “What’s going on?”
Plagg, of course, could hear everything. Upon hearing his name, he made himself known. “Sorry pigtails,” he said sharply. “Thanks to the whole Reflekdoll thing, Ladybug counts as one of my holders too. I can’t do any better than Sugarcube.”
Adrien tried to force his brain into gear. Surely he had enough information to at least form a hypothesis, after all.
“Plagg,” Tikki said calmly, “You’ve always been better at bending the rules than I have.”
Plagg beamed at what he considered praise. “Of course I am. I’m a rebel,” he said proudly.
Tikki continued. “Could you please do me and Marinette a favour, and try to make Adrien realize?” She asked politely. More politely than Plagg probably deserved, Adrien thought.
Plagg considered it for a moment. “You do realize I’m enjoying things the way they are,” he said.
“Plagg,” Marinette said blankly. “He already knows I wielded your miraculous once.”
Adrien blinked for a few moments, before remembering Multimouse. He still couldn’t explain how Marinette knew Plagg would be with Adrien, or why Tikki was there, or why Nathalie had let him out of the house, especially without telling father, or what had happened between Ladybug and Mayura, or…
“More than once, pigtails. I’ll thank you to remember that.”
That wasn’t right. Multinoir was a one-time thing, because Adrien almost never went without his miraculous. The only other time he’d given it up was the day he became Mister Bug.
…
Which was the day Ladybug had used the cat miraculous.
Adrien could tell he was on the verge of realizing something, but he needed one last push.
Plagg turned to Adrien, which was when Adrien realized he’d been staring. “Oh look,” Plagg commented. “He’s almost got it.” Plagg paused for a moment, searching Adrien’s eyes for… something. “Kid?” Plagg called. “There’s only one pot.”
What a strange thing to say, Adrien thought. Then a memory clicked itself into place.
“I don't see the problem in keeping two pots simmering on the stove,” Plagg had said.
Who had Plagg been talking about? Adrien tried to remember, but something was trying to keep him from the knowledge, and the understanding that would follow.
Adrien did his best to force himself to remember the conversation that preceded Plagg’s comment. Something about… Something about his love for Ladybug.
And before that? Plagg had been teasing Adrien about something. Affection for someone else, maybe? Something about… Someone had confessed their love for Chat Noir.
Adrien shook his head violently, trying to escape the headache clouding his thoughts. He refocused on the new memory, of someone confessing their love. For some reason, their identity eluded him for the moment, so he tried to focus on other details.
He had been holding baby August. He’d followed Ladybug, because she’d still had August’s pacifier. She had jumped over a rooftop, and when he followed there had been… someone in her place. Ladybug had left that someone August’s pacifier before leaving.
Still struggling to remember details about the person, Adrien shifted his focus to their surroundings. The plants, the furniture, the… Marinette’s balcony.
Marinette had confessed feelings for Chat Noir.
Plagg had teased him about it.
Plagg suggested keeping two “pots on the stove,” so to speak.
There was only one pot.
Marinette had appeared right after Ladybug left, holding what Ladybug had been holding.
There was only one pot.
Marinette had feelings for Chat Noir.
There was only one pot.
“Are you sure he’ll be okay?” Marinette asked, concerned.
Adrien had gone all but catatonic (CAT-atonic), for several minutes.
“I told you, Marinette,” Tikki chirped in response, “He just needs a few more minutes. The mental strain of overcoming the magic that keeps your identities safe did quite a number on him, but there won’t be any lasting effects.”
Marinette petted the kwami resting on her hand, looking at Adrien as she did. “I hope you’re right, Tikki. I just don’t get why I didn’t have the same problem.”
Plagg took over the exposition. “You had a bit of a workaround. Mayura isn’t bound by the same spell as me and Tikki, so she gave you more concrete evidence. Practically told you his identity.”
Marinette scowled. She didn’t like the idea that she had- how had Plagg phrased it? ‘Gotten Adrien’s thoughts stuck in a loop.’ If she’d had the courage to speak for herself, if she hadn’t made Plagg and Tikki do it…
“I don’t know how to talk to you anymore.”
Marinette shook herself back into the present. Adrien was lucid again, and looking at her.
“It was always so easy with Ladybug, and I had to tread on eggshells around Marinette. How are you so different?”
Marinette let herself smile. “I found it easier with Chat, too.”
Adrien got a faraway look, suddenly. “Idea,” he said quickly. “We transform, pretend we don’t know. It might make the conversation easier.”
“Then let’s make our excuses,” Marinette replied quietly. “Ladybug and Chat are supposed to patrol soon.”
“I need to go…” Adrien started to say. “Um, I need to go and think of a better excuse. Bye.”
Marinette rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself at Chat’s antics. He was such a goofball sometimes.
Chat bounded up the side of the Eiffel Tower, perching himself at the usual meeting spot.
While he waited for Ladybug, Chat went over a mental list of questions.
Did Marinette really have feelings for Chat Noir?
If so, why didn’t Ladybug?
Why is Marinette so uncomfortable around Adrien?
Is it the gum incident? His father?
How did you pull off Multimouse?
Who’s the boy you keep turning me down for?
What happened with Mayura?
Ladybug landed behind Chat, the only noise giving her away the telltale zip of her yo-yo.
Chat turned, smiling. “Nice to see you, bugaboo. Talk to any handsome men this evening?”
Ladybug let out a chuckle. “So full of yourself,” she muttered.
“I can hardly help it,” Chat replied with a devilish grin. “You said I’m easier to talk to like this.”
“I guess I did,” Ladybug admitted. “Anyway, I have some questions for you.”
Chat rolled his eyes. “Like I don’t have any for you?” he quipped.
Ladybug smirked. “Sorry, kitty. Ladies first.”
Chat dropped his face into a mock frown, his ears and tail giving away his enjoyment of the banter.
“Adrien and Chat seem so different,” Ladybug observed, her voice calm and measured. “Care to comment?”
“I could say the same about you,” Chat muttered. “Adrien Agreste is a brand representative for his father’s company. I think that explains well enough.”
Ladybug nodded, having thought as much. “So you’re more like yourself as Chat?” she confirmed.
“Sorta. I guess I exaggerate a little as Chat. To make up for it.” Chat found himself rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed at the introspection.
“Understandable,” Ladybug said simply with a nod.
Chat looked her over. “What about you? Marinette and Ladybug?”
“That’s-” Ladybug paused, taking a breath. “I’d like to leave that for later. For the most part, I think Ladybug is just braver- thanks to the suit.”
Chat frowned slightly, figuring his suspicions must be correct. “So you do find Adrien intimidating.”
“I- I guess that’s pretty much true, to an extent,” Ladybug stammered out.
“It’s my father, isn’t it?” Adrien nearly spat the words in his frustration.
Ladybug shook her head. “It really isn’t.”
Adrien shook himself, trying to fall back into ‘Chat’ mode. “My fame?” he asked with a smirk. “My stunning good looks?”
Ladybug laughed, hitting him in the shoulder. “Stop it, Chat!”
Chat let his smirk grow back into a devilish smile. “I can’t help it, milady. It’s just who I am.”
Ladybug huffed. “Fine. Remember when you asked me about the boy I like?”
“Who is he, by the way?” Chat asked, his curiosity piqued.
“One thing at a time,” Ladybug scolded. “You asked me to imagine if he wasn’t around, if I might’ve fallen for Chat instead.”
“Right, I remember.”
Ladybug paused for a beat. Or PAWsed. “I told you it was impossible to imagine.”
Chat smiled warmly. “I still think that’s selling your imagination a little short, bugaboo.”
“Chat, we were surrounded by billboards of his face.” Ladybug had - some sort of expression. Like she was waiting for a reaction.
Chat reflected on the moment in question. He could remember the rooftop they were on, the billboards around them- “No, those were all…”
Realization hit Chat like a tonne of bricks.
“Oh,” he said meekly.
“Oh,” Ladybug replied.
“Well,” Chat observed quietly, “That changes everything.”
Ladybug merely nodded.
“That’s why you…”
“Yeah.”
“Do you still…?”
“Do you?”
“Always, bugaboo.”
Ladybug swallowed, looking away. “I…”
“You don’t have to answer right now,” Chat said quietly. “I know it’s a lot to process. I kinda got lucky, already seeing both sides of you like that.”
“You did?” Ladybug asked meekly, her voice barely audible as she continued to look away.
“I didn’t want to admit it, even to myself, but I think so.”
“I always thought…” Ladybug trailed off for a moment, but Chat waited patiently for her to finish. “I always thought once you found out, you’d be disappointed.”
Chat smirked - mostly to himself, since Ladybug was still looking away. “How could I be disappointed,” he asked slowly, “with our everyday Ladybug?”
Ladybug choked out a laugh. “You gave me a heart attack when you said that!”
“It was a compliment,” Chat purred. “The highest I’m capable of.”
“I thought you knew,” Ladybug accused. “It was terrifying.”
Chat gave her a smirk. “Like I haven’t had my share of scares.”
Ladybug leveled a disbelieving glare at him.
“Nino forwarded me a photo from Alya,” he explained. “Our second month. She’d drawn on a photo of Adrien to give me Chat’s outfit.”
A laugh erupted from Ladybug. “I remember that!” she shouted. “Gods, I told her there was no way Chat was as cool as Adrien.”
“I-” Chat paused, trying to find a response. “I’m not sure if I should be flattered or offended.”
“That’s about how I feel when Chloé compares me to Ladybug.”
Chat’s jaw dropped. “She adores you,” he breathed.
“She loathes me,” Ladybug corrected. Chat could only nod.
There were several moments of silence between the pair.
“So,” Chat finally said. “Mayura?”
Ladybug didn’t answer right away. “I… I don’t know how to tell you this,” she finally said, quiet as a mouse. Quiet as a multimouse? “I guess I should just say it,” Ladybug continued. “She told me who Hawk Moth is.”
“Why?”
“That’s what you ask? Not who?”
“Well, that was question two.”
“She surrendered because she found out your identity.”
“Didn’t want to fight the fabulous model?” Chat quipped, trying to inject humour into the conversation. “Too pretty to maim, or something?”
Ladybug just shook her head, still frowning. “Chat, they’re doing this for your mother.”
Chat could only blink.
“Hawk Moth wants to use the wish to bring her back,” Ladybug said quietly. “And I’m sorry, but we can’t let him.”
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why my mother, of all people?”
“Chat…”
“Answer me.”
“It’s your father.”
Chat went pale, turning his attention to the Agreste mansion in the distance. The source of the akumas he’d been fighting. The place that hadn’t felt like a home since…
“Chat?” Ladybug asked, trying to pry his attention back.
“We can’t let him,” Chat said. A simple fact.
“I didn’t think it would be that easy for you to accept,” Ladybug admitted.
“I miss her, but I started moving on. He didn’t. Besides, she wouldn’t want this. She’d want him stopped.”
“I’d understand if you couldn’t do it yourself.”
“You should take my miraculous,” Chat said, standing up.
“No,” Ladybug replied. “Even if you don’t want to fight him, I can’t leave you defenseless.”
“Oh, I’m fighting. Just not with Plagg.”
“Adrien, what are you planning?”
“A little father-son talk. I’m hoping it goes well, but if not…”
“Chat…”
“We can’t risk him getting half of what he wants. You hold onto Plagg while I talk to him, okay?”
“I can’t let you do this.”
“Good luck stopping me.”
Gabriel sat in his office, sketching out a design for the fall collection.
It was fairly mindless work, so he could think about other matters.
How to obtain a pair of miraculous, for instance.
Unfortunately, he was disturbed from his ruminations by an unwelcome visitor to his study.
"Adrien," Gabriel said. His voice was fairly quiet, and measured, but strict.
"Father, we need to talk," Adrien said brashly. Without an ounce of the respect due to an authority figure such as a father. "I know what you've been up to."
Gabriel eyed his son carefully, looking for evidence of what the boy might be referring to. "I'm not sure what you mean," he eventually said.
"I know you're Hawk Moth."
Ah. Gabriel set down his digital pen, rising to his feet. "I see," he said quietly, turning to face the painting of Émilie behind him. "Do you know why?"
"She wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want people hurt."
How dare he speak of her as though he knew anything! "You have no idea what she would want!" Gabriel declared, his voice on the verge of a shout.
"I know she wouldn't want you to become a terrorist for her sake! No sane person would!" Adrien raised his voice even louder than Gabriel had, turning the conversation into shouting match.
"Don't you want her back?!"
"Of course I do! But not like this!"
"It doesn't matter how!"
"It would to her!"
Gabriel took a moment to recenter himself, facing Adrien as he did. "If you don't wish to help me, Adrien, then at least leave me be."
"I can't do that, father."
"You could do me the favour of mourning her loss enough to be akumatized," Gabriel muttered. "Not once have you shown enough negative emotion for it, Adrien. Not even on the anniversary of her death."
"You would really akumatize your own son?"
"For her, I would!"
"I'm her son too!"
"Perhaps you're right. Perhaps I wouldn't akumatize you. But it doesn't change the fact that I can sense your emotions. I know how little you care for her."
"Father, that's not fair. Of course I miss her, I just try not to let it consume me. I try to move on, because that's what she would want."
"You know nothing of what she would want."
"I know the wish comes with a price, father. Could you really face her again knowing what you've done to bring her back? Do you think she'd ever forgive you?"
"She doesn't have to forgive me! She just needs to live. To be here for you, Adrien."
"Please, father. Surrender your miraculous. Let Nooroo go free."
At the mention of his name, Nooroo emerged from Gabriel's ascot. "Master," the kwami said quietly. "I've tried to ask you to consider her wishes before."
"Silence!" Gabriel shouted, glaring at the lavender kwami. "You will not participate in this conversation."
The order caused Nooroo to fall silent immediately.
"Father!" Adrien called, sounding desperate. "How could you be so cruel?"
The boy moved over, scooping up Nooroo into his hands. "It's okay, Nooroo. We know where you are, now. It won't be long."
"I grow tired of this," Gabriel spat. "That creature is nothing more than a servant, designed to be so by the mages who created the miraculous. Nooroo! Dark wings, rise!"