Chapter 6

Unlike the morning of his confrontation with Ladybug and Chat Noir, when the day of the convention arrived, an intense calm settled over Gabriel's body.

"Why do I feel no nervousness about today?" he asked Nooroo, staring at his reflection in the mirror as he straightened his ascot.

The kwami tilted his head. "I think that might be because you're not alone," he said. "Even though this is a big moment for you, Ladybug and Chat Noir support your decision. They'll be there to back you up. You aren't meant to be alone, Gabriel."

He closed his eyes and planted his fists on the counter, leaning his weight against it. His back hunched, he inhaled deeply. "Would you rather I give you up after today?" he asked, turning his head to face Nooroo.

A gentle smile. "No, Gabriel," he said. "Our work together is not yet complete. You need to show the people of Paris that Hawkmoth can be heroic, too."

Gabriel snorted and pushed himself off the countertop. "I'll settle for restoring your Miraculous back to neutrality," he said. "I'm no hero. That's Adrien." Despite the resigned tone of his words, a proud smile appeared upon his lips as he thought of his son.

Nooroo's own smile turned mysterious – or perhaps that was only his imagination. "You're changing, Gabriel," he said. "Who knows what kind of man you'll emerge into after your metamorphosis has completed."

He barked out a short laugh as he exited the bathroom. "You make me sound like some kind of actual caterpillar."

Nooroo sent him one last knowing smile before darting into his jacket.

There was just one last thing to do before leaving for the convention.

"Adrien?" he inquired as he knocked on his son's door. It opened a few seconds later.

"Yes, Father?" Adrien was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt combo. Plagg floated near his shoulder.

"I'm headed to the convention hall now to coordinate everything. Do you have your schedule memorized? Do you remember when you and Ladybug are supposed to meet me up on the stage?"

Adrien began to roll his eyes before he thought better of it, shifting his weight on his feet to cover the action instead. "Yes, Father," he replied. "Marinette and I know what we're supposed to do."

"Okay, good." He absently fiddled with his ascot, his eyes flickering around the room. "Do you know how to get to the stage, then? Plagg, you're sure that Adrien has the video USB drive? Are you certain you know what to do? I hate not having Nathalie's scheduling planner, but we can't afford to write any of this down." He paused, then met Adrien's eyes. "Do you need me to call you to remind you? Write this down on a piece of paper?" He began to pat his pockets. "I might have a scrap of paper somewhere around here..."

"Father!" Adrien interrupted his search, placing one palm upon Gabriel's chest to halt his nervous motions. "We'll be fine," he emphasized. "Marinette and I know what to do. We've gone over it with you and with each other for weeks. Besides, didn't you just say we shouldn't write anything down?"

"Right, of course." His hands dropped to his sides. "It's just...," he trailed off with a sigh. "Today is an important day."

The hand on his chest moved to his shoulder. "I know, Father." A warm smile. "But you'll be okay. You've always been great in front of crowds."

"I hate crowds," Gabriel muttered.

"But you've always been great in front of them, right?" Adrien looked at him expectantly.

He yielded. "Yes," he mumbled. He stood there for a while longer before Adrien nudged him.

"You should get going," he said. "You don't want to be late."

"Right. Yes, of course." Gabriel turned and stepped away. He hesitated, then pivoted back to his son. "Listen, Adrien," he said, walking back up to the door, "if things don't go well today, I just wanted to – "

"Don't say that, Father," Adrien cut in, "This is going to go off without a snag. Remember, Ladybug helped come up with this plan! Her plans never fail."

Gabriel gave a rueful chuckle. "Yes, but you forget you also had me working on this plan as well. And mine have always failed." He hurried through his next words, cognizant of the time ticking away. "Anyway, Adrien, I just wanted to say that if things go south today and I don't get another chance to say this, I need you to know that I am so incredibly proud of you." Adrien's jaw dropped open. Gabriel cleared his throat and continued. "It's been a long time since I've told you that," he said, pushing through the emotion that welled up at the sight of his son's flabbergasted expression. "I'm a terrible example to take anything from and I know that my approval is the last thing you're probably concerned with. But despite having someone like me for a father, you've grown into an amazing young man." He smiled at him, sad and regretful. "I wish your mother could be here to see you. Then I realize you've become just like her, and I know that she's been here all along. I was just too blind that I never noticed. I'm sorry, Adrien. You're a better person than I can ever hope to aspire to be."

He turned away before Adrien could respond and began to walk down the stairs. As he reached the bottom, arms circled around his waist from behind. He stopped. Adrien pressed his face against his back. Gabriel twisted around as best as he could despite Adrien not giving him much wiggle room as the boy buried his face in Gabriel's jacket.

When he finally managed to circle completely around, instead of pushing Adrien away, he wrapped his arms around his son's shoulders and returned the tight hug, resting his chin upon the sunshine-blond locks. As he closed his eyes, he wondered how much longer he would be able to do that before his son outgrew him, both physically and emotionally.

"I love you, Father," Adrien's muffled voice rumbled against his chest. "And I'm proud of what you're doing now." He looked up into his eyes. "It took a lot of courage to give up and to want to change for the better."

Gabriel rubbed circles along his son's back. "Not as much as you think," he replied.

Adrien pulled away and beamed a practiced smile at him, blinking away tears. Gabriel's own face could have been carved from stone. It would do neither of them any good to break down into puddles of emotional wrecks on the floor. Ladybug would have both of their hides if they skipped out on today. He wasn't ashamed to admit he was still more than a little afraid of the spitfire heroine.

"I'll see you at the convention center, okay, Father?"

He nodded and allowed a bit of his mask to drop, his lips curling up into a warm smile. "Yes, of course."

The smile grew mischievous. "You'll never be able to convince anyone you're not our biggest fan after today."

Gabriel stepped up and placed both hands upon Adrien's shoulders. "Just so long as you never forget that I'll always be your biggest fan. And I'll fight that girlfriend of yours for the title, too."

As Adrien laughed, the warmth shining in his eyes as his face morphed into one of genuine happiness, Gabriel released his son and exited the manor.

It was worth it to arrive a few minutes late to the convention center.

The early morning hours melted away as he prepped some last minute changes and ensured everything would run smoothly. The doors opened to the public at 8am, and he scheduled his welcome speech for 10am.

Which is when Ladybug and Chat Noir would make their appearance on stage with him.

So it felt like only seconds had passed since he arrived before he found himself upon the stage in the enormous amphitheater with the heroes standing beside him. In their transformed states, of course.

The lights stung his eyes. Too bright. Too hot. Sweat beaded and rolled down his temple. He glanced beside him at the two heroes standing there. How could they be so calm? Chat sent him an encouraging smile.

It was time.

He leaned into the microphone. "Good morning," he began, wincing as feedback screeched across the stadium. He straightened and tried again. "Thank you all for coming today. When I decided to put this convention together to honor Ladybug and Chat Noir, our beloved heroes of Paris, I had no idea how they would feel. After all, another convention designed in their honor? To my surprise, they contacted me with an unusual statement." He looked to the heroes. "I'll let them explain."

He stepped aside and Chat moved forward, pulling the microphone down to his level with ease. "Thank you, Mr. Agreste," he said. His voice echoed faintly in the auditorium, for everyone silently watched with rapt attention. "I know it's a lot to ask someone to place their blind trust in us with something, but Ladybug and I have a major announcement. And we decided that who better to broadcast it than our biggest fan." He winked at Gabriel, who resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Adrien definitely got his show-off tendencies from his mother.

Ladybug leaned in beside him and Chat tilted the microphone for her. "Thank you, people of Paris. If you'll indulge us for just a brief moment, we've decided that a video was the best course of action to display this announcement." As Chat stepped over to one of the computers Gabriel had brought up on the stage, she looked around to the monitors hanging from the room. "Uhm, bloggers and news reporters, if you're live-streaming, now would be a good time to get those cameras ready."

Chat pulled out a tiny USB drive from his baton (did he have one of those in his cane?) and stuck it into the laptop. A couple of taps later, and the video began to play across the entire stadium.

The heroes had requested it to be broadcast from every TV in the entire convention hall, so even those people that did not attend the opening ceremony could still see and hear.

Hawkmoth's image flickered on the screen. The crowd gasped.

"Good morning, people of Paris," he said, his voice carrying clear through the video. They decided to film in his lair, covering much of the beams with cloths to help with the sound (and preventing people from possibly identifying anything about it). "Please do not panic. I have not come to threaten anyone. Not anymore, at least."

That quieted everyone.

On screen, Hawkmoth nodded. "Yes, you heard me correctly. I have decided to forfeit my quest to acquire the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses. I am deeply and truly sorry for all of the suffering and horrors I have wrought upon this beautiful city. My decision comes at a time of personal self-reflection. I have come to realize my goals, while at one point I believed to be obtainable, have now reached a point of unacceptability. I have surrendered myself to our heroes, to mete out whatever punishment they see fit." At this, Hawkmoth lowered his head. "Words cannot express my apologies, just as words may not convince you of my sincerity. I plan to show you, people of Paris, the truthfulness of my intentions with my actions. Just as my actions have brought fear to this city, they'll now be used to brighten her up. Ladybug and Chat Noir will be with me every step of the way, ensuring I remain true to my word. I know I personally will never regain your trust, but I hope one day to remove the tarnish from the Butterfly Miraculous' name and restore it to its proper heroic status. The era of Hawkmoth has ended. I am deeply sorry."

The screen darkened as the video stopped.

Ladybug turned to the crowd with a smile. "So, any questions?"

Every hand shot skyward as the room erupted in pandemonium.

With a whining groan drowned out by the thunderous cacophony, Gabriel buried his head in his hands. They were going to be stuck here all day.

The end.

Author's Note: Like that ending? That was courtesy of RoseGardenTwilight. Check out her awesome works!

A sincere and special thank you to PerditaAlottachocolate for the wonderful beta-reading of this story. She's going strong on another connected story for Adrinette April, so fluffy rom-com shenanigans are in the works!

And also thank you to Lilafly for giving this a final lookover for last minute mistakes and errors.

I feel this story is a big weight off my chest, should I decide to quit writing for this fandom, at least I know I've given you guys the Gabriel Redemption you've been clamoring for since the third story and won't feel like I've left you guys without a satisfying resolution.

Thank you to everyone who has read this series and enjoyed it!