STOP AND READ THIS FIRST!

Spoilers through Season 2.

This is the seventh work of a series. You should read the following works in order, as they are direct continuations and I don't explain previous stories:

1) Fanboy

2) Cosplay Contest

3) Resident Expert

4) The Merchant of Paris

5) Miraculously in Concert

6) Autograph Session

Additionally, Gabriel does NOT know that Adrien is Chat Noir. I know what has occurred in the entire series thus far, and while it may or may not conflict with canon, Gabriel NOT knowing works better for this story.

A Fashionable Endeavor

Adrien intercepted Gabriel when he was headed to his office from the atelier with a handful of paper sketches in his hand.

"Are you going to host anything at the event?"

Gabriel glanced up from his work. "What?"

His son continued toward him with his phone outstretched. "For the Ladybug and Chat Noir community event, of course. Haven't you heard about it?"

Ugh. Not another one of these events. How much more standing around pretending to adore his archenemies could his sanity take? Adrien reached him and he accepted the offered phone.

"Mayor Bourgeois is making another Ladybug and Chat Noir appreciation event," Adrien began. "A bit like that first fair we went to together."

Despite the circumstances, Gabriel smiled a bit as he thought back to that day – complete with all of the annoyances, failed costume contests, and overwhelming sensations. But the smile was due to the happiness Adrien exuded all day. Happiness that Gabriel was all too eager to encourage after his wife's disappearance.

"But this time," Adrien continued, oblivious to Gabriel's reminiscence, "Mayor Bourgeois wanted to have the citizens of Paris show their appreciation by hosting their own events. Jagged Stone, XY, and Clara Nightingale are all giving singing and band lessons. There's going to be a cooking demonstration, a miming performance, and even animal handling from the zoo." Adrien ticked off the events on his fingers as he listed them aloud.

Gabriel scanned through the article as he listened to the teenager explain. Apparently, in addition to giving lessons and demonstrations, most of the people hosting segments concluded with a contest – and the winner would get an experience with the host. The singers planned to have their winners record a song in the studio with them, the chef an opportunity to work in the kitchens at the Grand Paris Hotel, and the actors offered a spot as an extra on stage at their next performance. He read through the names of a bunch of other well-known names and faces of prominent citizens in Paris and their contributions to the event.

"So, are you going to apply to host an event?" Adrien asked. "Ladybug and Chat Noir have expressed their approval and offered to act as judges for some of the contests."

"What would I be able to offer?" Gabriel asked.

"You could do a fashion show," Adrien replied, his response a bit too hasty for someone who just thought up this on the fly. Gabriel narrowed his eyes. Did his son have this planned out already? "And you could have the winner shadow you at the office."

Gabriel winced at the thought of some kid on his heels all day.

"Er, or you could have them shadow one of your other designers," Adrien amended, catching sight of Gabriel's expression. "I'm sure Ladybug would be happy to co-judge the contest with you. She's said many times you're her idol and she's really into fashion."

"I'll think on it, Adrien," Gabriel said, handing the phone back to his son.

Adrien frowned for a brief moment, looking as if he wanted to say something more. Instead, he just nodded. "Okay, Father," he said, before turning around and heading to his room.

Gabriel continued to his office. Once inside, he pulled up the details of the latest convention on his computer and spent the rest of the afternoon weighing the pros and cons of hosting his own fashion contest. The hours melted away as he plotted and planned and before he knew it, the day had faded into night. But still, he continued working through the late hours into the early morning.

His designs lay forgotten on the corner of his desk.

In the morning, he managed to catch Adrien before the boy went to school. "I've decided to enter and host a fashion show contest, as you suggested," he told him.

Adrien's eyes lit up and an enormous smile grew upon his face. "Wow, thank you, Father! This is going to be amazing!"

After Adrien left, Gabriel had Nathalie submit an application outlining his plan for a fashion show complete with a grand prize of spending a day in the Gabriel offices shadowing the designers. Then he spent the rest of the morning making up for the time he had lost the previous day, working on his designs and finalizing details on the sketches.

The next afternoon, his tablet dinged with a notification from the Ladyblog about a new interview posted during lunchtime. He swiped open the screen and clicked on the video to watch. The screen spent a moment buffering before the blogger flickered into view.

"Hello, fellow Parisians," Alya began with a smile. "We're here to talk to Ladybug and Chat Noir about the upcoming appreciation festival in their honor." The camera panned over to his two enemies, who waved hello. "For starters, how do you guys feel about a festival that's all about the community giving back to Paris?"

Chat Noir spoke first. "I think it's great, Alya. I love all of the conventions that this city has held – and believe me I've been to my fair share of them in my civilian form – and I just love the idea of people who we have helped doing something for everyone in the city."

Ladybug nodded. "It feels more like a festival of cooperation and sharing of talents, rather than just a monument to us." Her cheeks reddened slightly. "I love the idea of us helping out all of the different talented people ourselves."

"Oh?" Chat Noir said, turning to her. "Are you planning on showing up to a few of the contests?"

She shrugged in reply. "Why not? It's only fair we offer our assistance when we can."

Chat agreed with her. "I've already talked with a few of the sponsors of their individual events, and they've agreed to let me help judge some of the contests."

"Really?"

Chat nodded with a smile. "Yeah. I'm really looking forward to the cooking contest most of all," he said with a wink. "What about you? Are you excited about any in particular?"

"They all sound amazing," Ladybug said, ever the diplomat. "I'm not sure I can decide."

"Really? Not even the fashion contest?"

Ladybug froze. "What?"

"Gabriel Agreste is hosting a fashion contest," Chat explained. Ladybug's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "You've told me before that you like fashion. That doesn't interest you?"

"I had no idea..." Ladybug murmured, clearly uninformed about this development.

"I'm sure he would love having you guest judge with him," Chat said, and Gabriel was grateful he didn't have a mouthful of drink or he would have spat it all over the desk.

Ladybug blushed. "Chat, you can't just volunteer me for someone else's contest," she chided. "Mr. Agreste doesn't need any help judging fashion."

"Yeah, but he's our biggest fan," Chat pointed out, and Gabriel groaned in embarrassment. Was that really going to be his legacy? "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you co-judged with him."

"W-well, if he were to ask," Ladybug said, biting her thumb in uncertainty.

After he got over his initial shock, Gabriel admitted that it might be nice to have another opportunity to get close to Ladybug and uncover more hints to her identity. He began to draft an email to send to Alya through the Ladyblog formally inviting the heroine to be his co-judge in the contest. He peppered his email with enough gushing praise to appeal to Ladybug's ego, though she didn't seem like it would take too much convincing to get her to assist that day.

Not more than an hour later, he received an answer from Ladybug stating that she would be honored to judge with him. He smiled. The first step in his plan was a success. Hopefully, this would be a foreshadowing of things to come.

Word quickly spread that Ladybug would be judging his competition and the entrants to the contest started pouring in. Some were attracted by the opportunity to get critique from him, some by the job shadow prize, and some to get the chance to meet Ladybug in person. Gabriel was reading through the list of attendees when Adrien poked his head into the office.

"Hey Father," he said. "Marinette hasn't gotten any info from the contest yet, is there something I can give to her in school tomorrow?"

Gabriel glanced over to his son. "Your friend hasn't registered yet," he said. He had been keeping an eye out for her name as well, hoping to see what talented creations she would present.

"What?" Adrien stepped into the office and headed over to Gabriel. "She said she was going to register the other day," he said. "Can you sign her up for me? I'll just give her the packet tomorrow."

The elder designer shook his head. "I can't do that, Adrien, that's against the rules. Tell Marinette to register again and wait for the confirmation."

Adrien frowned and bit his lip. "Oh okay then," he said. "By the way, can Marinette and a couple of other friends come over tomorrow? We're working on a project together for class."

"That's fine, Adrien. Please keep the noise down as I'm working on a tight deadline to get these designs finished before the convention."

"Sure, Father. Thank you!"

And he vanished before Gabriel could say another word. With a shrug, the designer returned to his work.

The next day, Gabriel heard the sounds of Adrien and his friends coming through the front door. Despite his insistence they keep the noise down, he wanted to greet them. And speak with Marinette about signing up for the contest if she was having difficulty navigating the website.

He stepped out to find the kids in an animated discussion about the very thing he wanted to discuss.

"Girl, c'mon and tell me what you're going to design!" Alya wheedled.

The girl in question bit her lip and glanced to one side. "I don't know if I'm going to enter," she mumbled.

"Why not?" The chorus of surprise came from all three teens.

"Well, my parents might need me at the bakery that day," Marinette began.

Adrien shook his head. "Nope!" he declared with a proud smile. "I went over to the bakery yesterday and told your parents that Father was hosting a contest and that we both really hoped you would be able to enter, but that maybe they might need your help that day. Your mother assured me they could handle any orders alone. You're free to register!"

"W-what?" The young designer paled – her ghostly pallor standing out in stark contrast against her dark hair.

"Unless there's another reason you don't want to enter," Adrien continued, and for the briefest second Gabriel sensed his son's smile sharpening like a predator about to devour its prey. He blinked, and the moment vanished. Must be the stress of staring at the computer all day long getting to him.

"No way, girl, you're not flaking on this contest. It's your dream to become a fashion designer. You usually would kill for this job shadowing opportunity." Alya was nothing if not a force to be reckoned with. Gabriel wondered how his enemies managed to keep their composure when questioned by her. Surely any normal person would crack under the intensity with which the blogger sought information. He hoped Alya never interviewed him for anything more serious than a shallow fashion piece.

His son looked past Marinette and noticed him standing at the top of the stairs. "Marinette, your friends all believe you would do fantastic, and I know my father is eager to see what you'll create. Right, Father?"

The group turned as Adrien locked eyes with him. He cleared his throat. "I admit I am curious to see what delightful designs you'll introduce to me this time, Miss Marinette," he said, and she flushed through the pallid sheen of her panic when she discovered he was standing there. "I am rather surprised you haven't yet registered."

She must have caught some of the implied disappointment in his voice, because the flush vanished and the paleness took over.

"See, Marinette," Adrien said, "Father agrees with me. You should register."

"Okay," she finally relented. "I'll register once I get home."

"Why wait?" Adrien said. "I have a computer in my room."

Alya grabbed her hand and practically dragged her up the stairs after Adrien. Nino followed silently, hoping to avoid unwanted attention from Gabriel. The elder designer, for his part, merely pivoted around on his heels and returned to his office, where he spent the rest of the afternoon in peace and quiet.

When the day finally arrived, Gabriel was a bit surprised to realize he had butterflies in his stomach. The nervous excitement of possibly finding out more about Ladybug's identity (and maybe even grabbing her Miraculous right then and there!) kept the fashion designer up into the wee hours of the morning as he tossed and turned and visions of Miraculouses danced in his head.

He wasn't the only one jittery with eagerness, either. Adrien couldn't keep still in the car, bouncing his leg and shifting his weight every minute or so. Gabriel did his best to ignore him while he worked on his tablet to take his mind off of the anticipation of the day.

This might be it.

This could be it.

He would come out of this encounter the victor, for once.

When at last they arrived at the convention hall, Adrien almost bolted to the judging room where several of the entrants were already setting up their assigned stations. The blond model peered around the room, standing on his tiptoes as he swiveled his head around.

"Looking for Marinette?" Gabriel asked, a soft smile tugging at his lips at his son's obvious infatuation.

"And Ladybug," Adrien added absently.

The smile slid away. Why couldn't his son just focus upon Marinette? She was everything he approved of – and everything Ladybug wasn't (mainly, his archenemy). Why did his son continue to pine over the superhero?

His eyes drifted around the room, catching sight of a teenage boy with his father.

"Dad, come over here! They have Chat Noir action figures!"

"You mean dolls?" his father teased, a big smile upon his face.

"Daaaaaad, no way! These are collectibles!" The teen crossed his arms and pouted. "All the kids at school collect the heroes."

"Are you certain you don't want to go with your friends? You would enjoy the festival a lot more if you didn't have to hang around your stuffy old father."

"I'm meeting up with a few of them tonight and tomorrow, Dad. Today is just for us, like we always do." The boy turned and leveled a devious smile at the elder man. "Someone has to keep you out of trouble, or I might discover you stumbling into Jagged Stone's trailer thinking it was the bathroom again."

The father belted out a laugh. "You certainly aren't going to let me forget that one, are you?"

"Not a chance."

"If you keep this from your mother, I'll buy you one of those Licky Charms you're so fond of."

The boy's eyes lit up. "Deal!"

"Come on, let's see how many more ways I can embarrass my son. Maybe I'll trip in front of Ladybug and ask her if she would sign my hat." He pointed to the black cap upon his head. "With black marker."

"Daaaad." Despite the groaning, the teenager's lips twitched into a smile.

Gabriel didn't realize he was staring until the two got out of sight, both of them still exchanging friendly banter back and forth until their voices faded away. He blinked at the sharp pain of longing in his chest. He should be here with Emilie, both of them enjoying what the convention could offer while Adrien darted ahead in excitement.

He hated being alone.

Pushing down his annoyance (and knowing he would have to do that several more times today), Gabriel settled a hand upon Adrien's shoulder and guided him through the room, eager to escape the crowd of people slowly building around him. His son glanced at every station they passed, ignoring each the moment he realized none belonged to his dark-haired friend.

"H-hi, Adrien."

The breathless greeting caught their attention as both Adrien and Gabriel turned to the voice.

"Marinette!" Adrien beamed at her.

She smiled at his exuberance, her cheeks darkening slightly. She draped a black garment bag over her shoulder, hooked by one finger. "Good morning, Mr. Agreste," she said.

He offered a thin smile. "Good morning, Miss Marinette. How are you?"

"Worried," she confessed.

"What did you make?" Adrien asked, pointing at her bag.

"You'll see," she replied. "It wouldn't be fair to show you early."

"I'm sure it's amazing," Adrien said, and Marinette flushed. "Oh! Why don't I stay with you during the judging?"

Her eyes widened. "I-I don't know..."

"Father won't want me wandering around on my own. He'll just be talking about fashion with Ladybug most of the time anyway."

As much as Gabriel wanted the smallest amount of time alone with his archenemy, he had to admit that his desire to see Adrien forget about Ladybug entirely outweighed his disdain for his nemesis. Plus, he really shouldn't probably have his son around as he attempted to discern the heroine's identity. He took it as a very good sign that Adrien elected to remain with his friend instead of the object of his hero worship.

"I have no objections to you spending the time with Miss Marinette, Adrien, provided she is okay with that." He didn't see why she wouldn't be okay with the situation, but if she was nervous about the contest then she might prefer to be by herself.

His son beamed at his friend and planted both hands upon her shoulders. "What do you say, Marinette?"

That did her in. The red deepened on her cheeks as she mumbled out a dazed reply. "S-sure, Adrien."

"Perfect!" The hands dropped. "Well, Father, we'll let you get to the judging room and settle in. See you in a little while."

"I look forward to appraising your creation, Miss Marinette," Gabriel said. They exchanged goodbyes and the elder designer made his way over to the private room assigned to him and Ladybug to relax in before facing the contestants.

The room was empty save for a folding table, a few hard, plastic chairs, and a mini-fridge. Gabriel pulled it open and discovered several bottles of water, juice, and soda inside. A bowl of sealed snacks and fruit was in the middle of the table. He grimaced at the hard chairs. His back would be screaming in protest by the time they even started the judging.

A few minutes after he assessed the room, the door opened and a young man that appeared to be in his early or mid twenties entered, with a convention staff badge looped around his neck.

"Mr. Agreste, I've come to see if you needed anything."

With a wave at the chairs, he nodded. "Some more comfortable seating arrangements would be nice. If Ladybug and I are to remain here for hours, these plastic monstrosities won't do at all."

The young man pulled out a tiny pad and jotted something in it. "Yes, sir. I'll get on that right away. Is there anything else?"

"Not at the moment."

The man departed, returning several minutes later wheeling two leather conference room chairs in. "Are these acceptable, Mr. Agreste?" he asked.

"Yes, they are adequate, thank you."

The man nodded and left once more. Gabriel pulled out a bottle of water and settled in one of the chairs around the table. He immersed himself in his designs on his tablet for the next hour until the door opened once more and Ladybug peeked her head in.

"Hello," she greeted, shy and timid.

He stood to meet her. "Good morning, Ladybug," he said, plastering a fake smile upon his face. His gaze flickered to her earrings on instinct. "How are you today?"

"I'm well, Mr. Agreste. Thank you again for inviting me to co-judge with you. It's quite an honor." She sat down in the empty chair beside him.

"The honor is all mine, Ladybug," he replied smoothly. "All of these contests to assist with and you chose mine."

She smiled and blushed. "Well, you're my favorite fashion designer. I couldn't resist. I suppose it's a bit selfish of me to indulge my guilty pleasure by using my superhero form."

"Nonsense. There's nothing selfish about that. I would have just judged by myself had you declined."

She didn't really have a response to that, and fiddled a bit with her hands.

He didn't want the conversation to die out, so he set his tablet aside. "So you're interested in fashion?"

She nodded and straightened in her chair. "Oh yes! I enjoy designing and creating my own outfits."

Gabriel opened his mouth to question them further when a knock sounded on the door. He stood to answer it and discovered Adrien on the other side. "Adrien?"

Adrien peeked around him, spotting Ladybug sitting in the chair. "Oh, hello, Ladybug. Sorry to bother you, Father, but I was wondering if you've seen Marinette."

"No, I haven't," Gabriel admitted. "I've been in this room since I last saw you. Did something happen?"

Adrien continued to stare at Ladybug even as he answered Gabriel. "No, nothing important, I suppose. She left to go to the bathroom and hasn't returned yet. I didn't know if something had happened to her. I was starting to get worried."

"Miss Marinette has not been here. If she's feeling unwell, she may have gone to the infirmary," Gabriel suggested, recalling the last time he stepped foot in a convention and his son's own visitation to first aid.

"Yeah, maybe," Adrien agreed. He finally tore his gaze away from Ladybug and smiled at his father. "Well, I'll get back to the station now. I hope Marinette turns up soon. I heard rumors they were going to start judging now that Ladybug has arrived and I hope she doesn't miss out on it." He cast one last look at Ladybug before pulling the door shut behind him.

Gabriel refrained from breathing a huge sigh of relief that his son didn't insist on staying there with Ladybug. He turned back around, only to discover the hero rising from her chair.

"There's something I forgot to do," she said. "I'll be right back. I'm sorry, Mr. Agreste. I won't be long."

She scooted past him and pulled open the door, nearly barreling into the staff worker from earlier.

"Ah! I'm so terribly sorry, Ladybug," the man exclaimed.

"Uhm, I just need to get by," the heroine said, pointing past him to the convention hall.

The man cringed. "Sorry, but the organizers have asked that you two remain here until the official judging as to not be influenced by what you might see ahead of time."

Ladybug frowned. "It will just take a moment."

"I'm sorry, those are the rules."

She harrumphed and turned around, pushing the door shut and sliding back down into her chair again.

Though Gabriel really didn't care about Ladybug, he knew that a silent Ladybug was a secretive Ladybug, and that just won't do while he had the perfect opportunity to glean clues from their interaction.

"I'm really looking forward to judging this contest with you," he said after several minutes of mentally pep-talking himself into saying those damning words.

She smiled at him. "Me too, Mr. Agreste." She slumped back down in her chair, silent once again.

"Is something bothering you?" he inquired, noting her distant stare and forlorn expression.

"No!"

He eyed her over the rims of his glasses.

She wilted under his stern expression.

"Well, yes. Kind of."

"Kind of?" he repeated.

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way," she began. "I'm really really honored to be judging with you."

"Except...?" he prodded.

She traced a doodle on the tabletop with her finger. "Except, I kind of wanted you to judge my own entry. I get that this is a really awesome opportunity, and I really don't want you to think that I'm ungrateful or anything. I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions on all of the contest entries and learning from your critiques, but... I really wanted some personal critical advice from you. This is fun, yes, but your critiques would have been more helpful to me in the long run."

Oh. Well he didn't know what to say exactly to that. It was very observant of her to recognize that even though she was spending time in his company for several hours, a few minutes of tailored critiques on her own work would be a better boon to her. That was a very smart conclusion.

"Why didn't you decline my invitation, then?" he asked.

She flushed. "Well, it's partly our duty to participate in some of the events," she began. "And well, it's kind of hard to explain, but I got somewhat caught up in everything without realizing exactly what I was agreeing to. Once everything sank in, I had already accepted and it wouldn't have been fair to you to withdraw as a judge."

A strong sense of duty. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. Once committed to something, her moral compass prevented her from straying from that decision.

Or perhaps he could appeal to some other desire of hers.

"If you want, I could critique your work privately afterward," he offered. "You could bring your design by my home one day and I would be happy to give you the kind of feedback you would have received here."

The opportunity to glimpse her designing style in the hopes of recognizing it in the future? Oh, most definitely.

She brightened and looked at him, hope shining in her eyes. "Oh wow, do you really mean that?"

"Of course," he said, sending her his warmest smile. "I could even look at additional designs of yours, and not just the one you had planned for today."

She mulled over this for a long time, biting her lip as she waged an internal debate. At last, she sighed and looked back up at him. "I'm quite honored, Mr. Agreste, really. But I'm going to have to decline. It's for safety reasons. My identity may be compromised that way." Her bottom lip wavered. This must be one of the hardest decisions she's ever had to face. Perhaps a little encouragement would tilt the scales back into his favor?

"I wouldn't tell anyone," he sought to reassure her.

"It's not that," she said. "Suppose someone spotted me going to and from your home? And word got back to Hawkmoth? You've already been targeted by him before. He won't hesitate to use you to his advantage if he believes you may know something." She blinked hard and he realized she was fighting tears. This really was killing her that she wasn't able to accept personal criticism from her idol. He squashed down the grudging admiration that began to manifest. It would not do to have him sympathize with his archenemy! He had to get her Miraculous!

He was about to open his mouth and attempt to persuade her to change her mind, when she added, "Or he might decide to go after Adrien to get to you."

A sudden chill went down his spine at the mention of Adrien in any danger. It was silly, he knew, because he was Hawkmoth! But he recalled how often Adrien seemed to just materialize into dangerous situations, despite his best efforts to keep him safe. His son ended up a wild card in several of his akuma plans that he had not accounted for.

Ladybug took his silence to mean he agreed with her. Which he reluctantly did, despite every fiber of his body protesting to push to encourage her to reverse her decision.

Time to change the topic. Maybe he could get a chance to examine those Miraculous earrings again. If he got close enough, he might be able to...

It would just take one swift strike...

Even if he were to brush it off as an accident and hand the earrings back to her, he would have unequivocal proof of Ladybug's identity in his hands.

"Have you ever considered giving up on being Ladybug?" he asked. "If it's interfering with how you want to truly live your life?"

She flushed deeper than he would have expected from a rhetorical question. Hmm, that was interesting. Had she considered just surrendering at times? She fiddled with her hands for a moment before answering. "No one else knows this, not even Chat. But," she took a deep breath, "yes, at one point I considered giving up."

"What changed your mind?" This was certainly an interesting development. He wondered if he could delve deeper into the enigma of the heroine in front of him. What other glimpses into her identity might she slip in while they were talking?

"My friends were in danger. I couldn't stand by and do nothing. I realized right then and there that it might be a burden and I might think I'm not worthy enough at times, but I was chosen and it's my responsibility to shoulder it."

Ugh, more altruistic nobility from her. He should have known. "Do you ever think you might surrender your Miraculous one day in the future?"

She shrugged. "Maybe one day, when Hawkmoth isn't terrorizing the city anymore."

He refrained from snapping a defensive retort back to her and instead took the opportunity to shift the focus upon his alter-ego. "What do you think he wants the Miraculous for?" If Ladybug was getting close to figuring out his identity, he might need to deflect attention from himself again like he had earlier.

She stood up and went over to the refrigerator, where she pulled out a bottle of water, uncapping it and taking a sip before returning to her seat. "Chat and I overheard an akuma talking to him once. He mentioned a wish of some kind."

"A wish?"

She nodded. "It would appear Hawkmoth wants to use our Miraculouses for a wish."

"What would that be?"

"We don't know. But regardless, that would never work." She set the water bottle down on the table and favored him with what she probably assumed was a reassuring smile. It failed, as he was astonished by the conviction in her seemingly offhand remark.

"Why not?"

Ladybug bit her lip for a moment, contemplating her words before opening her mouth and explaining. "Something that powerful requires the very fabric of the universe to shift – to wrinkle and crumple and shudder. If such a thing were to happen, everyone in the world would feel the effects. And we would be at ground zero. We wouldn't stand a chance against the rippling effects."

"What if the wish was spoken to ensure such a thing didn't take place?"

She tilted her head. "You can try to cover a can of soda to keep the pressure from leaking out. But the pressure will still build and build and build. And eventually... a pinprick of weakness will be discovered. And the resulting explosion leaves everything covered in shards of aluminum and sticky soda. I don't think Hawkmoth – no matter how clever he thinks he is – can account for every possibility of magical entrapment."

"What if it's not a big wish?"

"It has to be. Whatever he's doing has to be big enough to risk everything. But either way, he's just using that as an excuse. He refuses to face reality. To change his own life. To adapt. He clings to an archaic notion that a simple wish will right everything and he doesn't realize what he might have already lost while going down that path."

It took the most self-restraint he's ever had not to snap and lunge and protest and transform right then and there and attack her for her earrings. He slowed his breathing and clenched his hands. Ladybug continued, oblivious to his inner rage.

"Take you, for instance," she said, and that diverted the river of anger enough for him to get a better handle upon his emotions.

"What?"

She smiled, still blissfully oblivious at the hornet's nest she continued to poke. "Well, I know Adrien has mentioned his mother a few times. She must have been someone dear to both of you."

How dare she bring up the memory of his beloved! Her name didn't deserve to be spoken from those devil-lips of Ladybug!

"But you two have forged a really remarkable bond from it," his nemesis continued, and in doing so shocked him into utter silence. "I've seen you and Adrien at these events. You're both so happy together. You've really created something amazing with your son that he'll cherish his entire life. He may grow more distant from you in the future, but I know for a fact he'll always look upon these times with fondness. It's something you both share together. Father-son time."

She propped up her face with her fist, leaning on the table. "I wonder if you two would have the same kind of bond if these kinds of events never happened," she mused absently. "Did you two share any hobbies before attending these conventions?"

Gabriel swallowed hard. "No," he whispered at last, his voice hoarse as he admitted to the lack of a relationship with his son.

"Nothing at all? Nothing that was just between you and him that would make him gleefully declare 'that was our time together, just me and my father'?"

He reflected upon the different activities that Adrien did – piano and fencing – while he locked himself away in his office designing and managing his business. He remembered many things he shared exclusively with his wife, and several more of Adrien with the two of them, but he couldn't think of a single instance that he could claim was reserved just for him and his son.

Until now.

He didn't like the guilt that welled up inside him. He didn't like his archenemy of all people thrusting his weaknesses in his face. And he especially didn't like the way she wheedled him into self-reflection. He hated her. He hated Chat Noir. He hated the entity that robbed him of his wife for the last two years.

But the longer he sat and turned over Ladybug's gentle reflections in his mind, the longer he realized he misdirected his hatred. He didn't really hate her, or Chat Noir, or even his wife for leaving him all alone.

He hated himself.

He hated what he had become. What he had lost. What he had missed.

He stood abruptly, annoyed with the entire convention as guilt and frustration and unfocused anger sloshed inside him, combining into a very nauseating mixture.

He was Hawkmoth! And Ladybug would curse the very day she ever showed him sympathy!

"I guess you're lucky, then," Ladybug said, her voice whisper soft, "that you have something now."

His hands shook as her words sank in. He had to admit over the last several months, he and Adrien had certainly become closer. Despite the teasing and sly ribbing, he enjoyed spending these days with his son as the boy darted around with the eagerness of a puppy and the energy of a hummingbird. Would a similar relationship have developed between the two of them if Hawkmoth had never entered the scene? If Ladybug and Chat Noir never answered the heroic call? If none of them ever existed, what would his relationship be like with Adrien today?

He couldn't answer that.

He thought back to the father and son he had seen earlier that day. The father seemed so pleased to be going with his teenage son, and the son didn't seem to mind tagging along with his father. They shared several inside jokes and laughs between them.

He and Adrien shared the same.

He gave himself a mental shake. Stop this, Gabriel! He was getting too distracted from his goal. He needed those Miraculouses. And no amount of sweet talking or inner reflections would change that!

Still, he couldn't help but lapse into silence for the remainder of their time together, ruminating upon Ladybug's words. Much to his relief, it wasn't much longer before the door opened and the young man entered to announce they were ready to begin judging. Ladybug shot to her feet instantly and was almost out the door before Gabriel could even rise from his own chair.

"I have to use the restroom," she called over her shoulder. "Start the judging without me, I'll be right back."

"No, that's..." he started to say, but she had vanished from sight before he could stop her. He looked at the young man. "It's not really fair for the contestants to only have one judge, right?"

"Uhm," the man struggled to find something to say against him.

Gabriel sighed. "Don't bother answering. Please inform everyone that Ladybug had to deal with a situation that arose unexpectedly and as soon as she returns we'll be able to begin the contest judging."

"Certainly, Mr. Agreste."

And as the door closed, Gabriel was once again left with his own consuming thoughts.

Author's Note: Special thanks to PerditaAlottachocolate for help with brainstorming, plotting, and beta-reading, and RoseGardenTwilight for brainstorming assistance.