Gabriel Agreste knew full well that he was paranoid. After all, most parents didn't insist on their kids having bodyguards. Most parents let their kids walk to school or take public transportation, instead of having a private chauffeur drive them a couple blocks. Most parents let their kids go to public school instead of insisting on homeschooling, and even if they did do homeschooling, they tried to let their kids meet plenty of others their age to have friends with. And, while most people had some security measures in place in their homes, they didn't have the best security precautions that money could buy, ones practically equal to the measures found in banks and museums.

It was weird, and he knew perfectly well that it was weird. But in all fairness, he actually had fairly good reasons for being paranoid.

Sure, he could say that he had first gotten that way after his wife vanished. But that would be a blatant lie, considering that the security system had been installed long before that, and Adrien had been homeschooled ever since he first started learning. They had always had a chauffeur, since they were rich enough to afford one and Gabriel often got bursts of inspiration that he just had to sketch out while he was driving (or being driven) around Paris, so it was just more convenient. Admittedly, they hadn't always had a chauffeur who doubled as a very efficient bodyguard- that was a slightly more recent switch-out- but they had always had one on hand.

And he and his wife had initially tried to introduce Adrien to more kids his age, they really had. They had also tried to have birthday parties for Adrien, but that was way before Adrien could remember.

That was also before the attempted kidnapping...and the kidnapping that had actually worked.

Adrien's second birthday had been celebrated with a party at the Grand Paris. Of course, since a two-year-old really couldn't do much in the way of celebrating, it was more of an excuse for the adults in Mr. and Mrs. Agreste's circle of friends and acquaintances to get together and eat some cake. Their mistake had been not locking the door and not paying a whole lot of attention to who was coming and going, since there were so many people. The two of them had been so distracted with socializing that they almost missed seeing the man trying to sneak off with Adrien.

In fact, the would-be kidnapper would have succeeded that time, if it weren't for Adrien deciding that he was hungry and needed food right that instant. His loud, unhappy announcement (something he had picked up from Chloe, Gabriel had assumed; he had made a mental note to see if he could get Adrien to have playdates with some other child instead of the newly-elected mayor's spoiled daughter because clearly she was already a bad influence) had drawn the attention of nearly every adult in the room, and the would-be kidnapper had promptly dropped the boy and taken off. In the ensuing panic to make sure that Adrien was all right, the kidnapper had gotten away.

They had freaked out, but not for too long. After all, who was to say that the kidnapper had been after Adrien specifically? There had been quite a few rich people and their kids at Adrien's birthday party. Who was to say that someone hadn't just wanted some ransom money and had grabbed whatever kid they had seen first?

They were more careful for Adrien's third birthday, and his fourth. By his fifth birthday, they had long since stopped freaking out every time he was out of their eyesight or gone to someone else's house for a playdate. The party was at the hotel again, but since Adrien was old enough to have some friends that he actually recognized, it was a little less adult heavy and it was definitely a bit more kid-oriented.

Of course, the kids had wanted to play hide and seek. Mr. and Mrs. Agreste didn't notice when the kids first dashed out of the main room to hide in the lobby, but they did notice when Chloe came tearing back in, yelling about a man that had taken Adrien away.

The party ended pretty quickly after that, as the police were called and a search for kidnapper and boy started. The two worried parents huddled together as the police questioned them, terrified for their little boy. One hour bled into two, then three, then four and five and six...

Nothing.

Gabriel swore then and there that he hated birthday parties.

They were questioned again the next morning, after a sleepless night. Did they have any enemies? Any family members or friends that had been acting off recently? Employees that had been fired or spurned lately?

Never before had either of them been so tempted to tell an outsider about the Miraculous. Sure, they had enemies, but they weren't normal ones. They weren't ones that the police could really do anything about, even if they said something.

If superheroes couldn't find their enemies, then what chance did non-superpowered police have?

The first day dragged by, with hour after hour of no news. Day two started much the same, until the kidnapper was identified using the video from the hotel security cameras.

"Great, we have a face," Gabriel couldn't help but grumble when the police relayed the info. "A face, but no name or address or any other information whatsoever. Fabulous."

"It's a lead," his wife soothed, though she hadn't looked particularly impressed by the police when they couldn't immediately identify the kidnapper. Every minute, every hour meant that the criminal could be getting further and further away from Paris. "And maybe they have more information than they're letting on about this guy. Maybe they'll be finding the name soon enough, but they didn't want to get our hopes up right away."

And apparently she was right. Three days later, the kidnapper was behind bars and Adrien was back home. His parents fussed over him for a solid week, and then started looking up bodyguards that they could hire. Within a month, the old chauffeur was working for one of their friends and the Gorilla was being trained in.

Adrien didn't remember the ordeal at all. Gabriel wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, because on one hand it was good that his son didn't have to deal with any mental scarring or physiological issues stemming from having been kidnapped for several days. On the other hand, it meant that Adrien just didn't understand why Gabriel didn't treat him like a normal kid. It meant that he fought against the safety measures that Gabriel had put in place for him.

It meant that every year he asked for a birthday party, not understanding why his parents cringed every time the subject was brought up.

Realistically, Gabriel knew that the likelihood of someone attempting to kidnap Adrien again was low. His son was older now, and would know to fight back if an unknown adult tried taking him anywhere. Adrien knew how to fight well- Gabriel had made sure that he was proficient at both fencing and karate- and if he hosted a party in his own home, he could monitor everyone who came and went.

But some associations were just too hard to shake. Gabriel preferred to try to ignore the existence of birthdays altogether.

As Adrien got older, Gabriel wondered if maybe he should just tell him about the kidnapping. He was probably old enough to learn about it and not freak out and become scared of his shadow. But his wife wasn't so sure. She insisted on keeping it secret for a little longer, a little longer, a little longer...

And then she vanished, leaving absolutely no clues behind.

And just like that, Gabriel's cautious optimism that maybe, just maybe it was time to back off a little on the overprotective measures vanished. He updated all of the security around the house, double-checked the security measures surrounding Adrien's various activities, and got increasingly more uptight about Adrien's various escapes from his bodyguard.

Really, one would think that Mrs. Agreste's mysterious disappearance would make Adrien more cautious, but instead it just made him more restless, now that he had one fewer person in the house to talk to. It didn't pair well with Mr. Agreste's increasingly strict attempts to keep him safely in sight. It took Nathalie's influence to make Gabriel realize that letting Adrien go to school like he wanted would actually be safer than trying to keep him at home, since he would (in theory, at least) stop trying to sneak out.

(And, in all honesty, it didn't take that much persuasion on Nathalie's part. Gabriel's wife had been the one who hadn't wanted Adrien to go to public school in the first place, and security and the possibility of a kidnapping had definitely been a valid concern when Adrien was younger and less able to defend himself. But Nathalie had reviewed the safety measures around the school and reminded him that Adrien had demonstrated excellent skills in all of his fighting and defense activities, which meant that really, going to school would be no more risky than going to a photoshoot.)

So going to school was no longer something that Gabriel Agreste had a problem with. But, despite all evidence pointing to the conclusion that it was perfectly safe...birthday parties were still a bit of a (perhaps somewhat illogical) no.

Well. Maybe a bit of a no would be understatement. A very cutting, explosive no would probably be more accurate. A very cutting, explosive no that ended with his son's best friend being expelled rather decisively from the mansion.

And now that he was back alone in his office, Gabriel couldn't help but feel that maybe, just perhaps... he had overreacted. Just a little bit. After all, since even Adrien didn't know (or, more precisely, didn't remember) about the kidnapping on his birthday, his friend definitely didn't know. He couldn't know, unless he had gone out of his way to look up "Adrien Agreste" "birthday" and "kidnapping", which in itself (even Gabriel had to admit) was highly unlikely, and even then...would articles that old even still be online?

He certainly wasn't at all inclined to look himself and see. He didn't want any reminders of those awful days.

Perhaps he could have been a tad kinder with turning down Adrien's friend... Nino, was it? He had let his temper get the best of him, the stress he always felt on Adrien's birthday combined with the irritation of being called "dude" and the additional stressor mention of a birthday party combining to bring out the explosive temper he normally kept reserved only for adults who should have known better. Gabriel certainly wasn't going to enforce the whole "never allowed in this house again" thing (though perhaps he would speak to Nathalie about talking to the boy about manners and how to address adults properly), and he could (despite all outward appearances) recognize that Adrien's friend clearly cared about him.

(...not that he would tell anyone that. If Gabriel Agreste apologized every time he blew up at someone, no one would take him seriously anymore. Perhaps some of his blow-outs were somewhat unjustified, but he'd be darned if they don't result in some level of behavior correction.)

There was a scream outside and Gabriel spared a glance out the window, only to see a fashion disaster of what had to be another akuma zip past the window, trailing bubbles as it went. He stood up and peered outside, curious, only to see the bubbles enveloping adults and hauling them into the sky. He could already see both Nathalie and the Gorilla, each in their own bubbles. His first thought was to be concerned- if Adrien's bodyguard was gone, who would protect Adrien from another birthday-themed kidnapping?

Then he noticed something- it was only adults being targeted by the bubbles. In fact, it looked like all of the adults in the city were being whisked off. That meant that any potential kidnappers would also be off the street.

A noise at the window across the room caught Gabriel's attention, and he spun around to see one of the purple bubbles squeezing its way in. Before it could reach him, Gabriel snatched up his phone, sketchbook, and a handful of pencils before the bubble could reach him, tucking them away in his jacket.

If he was going to get hauled away from the office for any length of time, he was going to take advantage of it, thank you very much. Perhaps seeing the city from above would provide some inspiration. He had been somewhat lacking in that as of late, and he had certainly heard of other designers chartering plane or helicopter rides in hopes of getting inspiration from the view from above.

But for now, he had a client from out of town to text to reschedule her meeting before he got out of signal range. After all, even if he was floating above the city in a giant unbreakable bubble, it would be simply unprofessional to not contact his clients to let them know.

He could only hope that the attack wouldn't last for long. After all, he had a call scheduled for an absolutely impossible client at three, and they would not react well at all to rescheduling.

A/N: As with most of my stories, this is a one-shot and is therefore complete. Please leave reviews, they really make my day! :)

I actually really enjoyed writing this! Gabriel Agreste is a really interesting character, largely because so much of his (and Adrien's) backstory is a mystery at the moment. I find it really hard to believe that Mr. Agreste would act the way he does re: Adrien without some reason, and the fact that Mrs. Agreste is mysteriously missing is just support for that theory. This whole thing mostly stemmed out of me wondering why he reacts so strongly to the simple suggestion of throwing Adrien a birthday party, because it is absolutely ridiculous...unless something had happened before to make Gabriel hate birthday parties forevermore.