Adrien had been led to believe that, for most teenagers in the school system, summer was seen as the blissful two months of freedom from the crushing confines of the educational system. To most students, summer was paradise. To him, it was hell. He longed for September.

His father was not much of a fan of idleness and free time (nor was he a fan of bliss, or even mild well-being). As far as Adrien could tell, Gabriel considered summer as an eight weeks period during which his son was finally under his absolute control, instead of wasting his time at school, studying material his private teachers had covered years before, in the company of disreputable hoodlums.

Adrien's schedule was even busier than during his school days, which was saying a lot. There was not a second of his week that was not somehow monitored or assigned to Important Activities. It had been near impossible to escape to help Ladybug with the constant Akuma attacks. Thankfully, Adrien - being a model whose complexion was to be preserved - was allowed long nights of sleep (which he employed to patrol Paris until he felt about to pass out). As for his days… He spent them at the company's headquarters, studying or modeling. Adrien's mastery of Chinese being "acceptable", Gabriel felt that his son could now tackle other languages, like Dutch and Spanish. On top of that, Adrien could not be allowed to "forget" what he had learnt during the year, so he had been given homework. And then there was sport, sport, sport, and more sport. And more modeling.

He had only seen Nino once in four weeks, and it had been as Chat Noir, during an Akuma attack on an open pool.

The only classmate he saw every day was Marinette, and Marinette… Marinette got jittery when he tried to talk to her. Very jittery. He couldn't figure out how she could go from "assertive class president" to "let me hide behind that curtain with a squeal of terror because you are talking to me" whenever he as much as said hi.

He still tried to talk to her, because he needed to talk to someone who was not Nathalie. After ten months surrounded with friends, he had lost the habit of being entirely isolated.

Gabriel did sometimes appear at the dinner table, or would grab a cup of coffee on his way out in the morning, but there was never a moment where he was not carrying a pile of files or a sketchbook or a telephonic conversation. He would ask "how was your day?" and listen for a second or so, then his attention would start to race back to his work. Adrien could see it every time, the way his eyes would dart to the documents he had brought in, even if he tried to fight it. Work always won. Adrien's answers turned to terse summaries, barely sentences, as the meals went on. What was there to say, anyway? His father knew full well how his days had gone. He checked his calendar. Nathalie reported to him.

There were days he could tell Gabriel started out interested by the sound of his voice - if not by his highly predictable words about this photo shoot and that fencing lesson - and then there were days where his father flat out did not care. It had been that way since Adrien's mother had disappeared, with ups and downs, and lower downs, and it was becoming difficult to remember that time when Gabriel would actually put his work aside to look at his son. It didn't seem like it was something that could occur to Gabriel without his wife's gentle prodding.

So, Adrien still tried to talk to Marinette. Marinette, who had come out first in three successive fashion contests held by his father, and who had won (and earned) an internship for the summer. She was at the office every day, fluttering about, learning, discovering, proving herself. Adrien got to watch her act like herself: a bit clumsy, but confident in a way he rarely witnessed, as she would shed all assertivity if she noticed his eyes on her. He also got to resent her.

His father was allocating ten minutes of his busy schedule, every day, to talking to her. He would look at her drawings and comment on them, and give her tips, and do everything to nurture the budding talent he planned to hire someday. It was all fake, of course. Gabriel went into full businessman mode, his every attention a commercial tactic, his every smile calculated. Still, Adrien was jealous. It was ten more minutes than he usually got, and if his father could lie and pretend with others, why couldn't he at least lie and pretend with his son?

Adrien would have settled for lies.

None of it was Marinette's fault, so he didn't take it out on her. He didn't take it out on anyone. He just waited for the night, so he would get to slip out and join Ladybug on their patrols.

That was how he found himself rolling across his bedrooms most evenings, his desk chair spiralling on the floor as he counted the minutes.

That was how he found himself at the window on the night he caught Ladybug spying on his house.

###

He turned the lights on (of course, the lights were off: proper moping had to take place in the dark or not at all). He tapped the window. He waved.

Ladybug was perched on the mansion's outer wall, looking not at his window, but at the building as a whole. She froze when the lights turned on, turned to an absolute iceberg when she noticed him, and stumbled and crashed into the courtyard.

He paled, opened the window, and tried to look down to check on her.

The yo-yo wrapped itself around the window frame, and Ladybug climbed to him.

"H-hi", she said.

He stared at her, mouth dry, brain disconnected. All he could think about was that Ladybug was sitting on the border of his window, which tended not to happen when he was awake.

"I wasn't spying or anything!" she exclaimed, scratching the back of her neck with a nervous laugh. "There's just… Ahem. I mean, people think they have spotted an Akuma around here. I was, er, checking everything was normal. That's it. That's absolutely it."

"Oh", he replied, because an answer was in order. "Oh."

He felt like hiding behind some curtains. He felt like beaming. He felt like slapping himself on the back of the head because there was an Akuma to deal with and his priorities were out of whack.

"You haven't n-noticed anything weird, have you?" she asked. "Flying p-people, explosions, pink monsters?"

"No. No, not really. Should I check the security cameras? I'm sure my father's assistant can take a look for you."

"I… Ah, that's very nice of you, but it looks like the reports were wrong, really. I gave the area a thorough check, I'm glad to say youverything look fine."

Had he misheard that? He wasn't sure. He blushed anyway.

"Ah, I'm. Glad. To hear it."

He saw her look inside. Straight at his computer. With the gigantic screens, all showing Alya's Ladybug blog. He nearly fainted. She… She blushed. Was he dreaming that?

He considered inventing a credible excuse not to look like a besotted fan, and discarded the idea.

"I'm a big fan!" he said with a grin. "I think what you are doing for the city is fantastic!"

He had seen her react to fans before, even to love confessions, even to the one marriage proposal, complete with engagement ring and a suitor on his knees. She had never lost her cool. Yet… She spluttered for a second before collecting herself.

"Thanks. I have to admit Chat Noir is doing most of the work", she said with a wink. "He deserves just as much praise."

"O-of course!"

"I should go", she declared. "Patrol won't patrol itself! Good night, Adrien!"

She knew his name.

Just like anyone who had ever opened a magazine or looked at a billboard.

"G-good night", he replied, watching her jump down into the courtyard and run away.

He stared at her silhouette until it vanished, then he stared some more. After a few minutes, Plagg flew up to him.

"How many centuries in a row will I have to endure a reenactment of this scene, exactly? You humans are very tiring."

"Uhuh."

"You know she was lying about that Akuma thing, right?"

Adrien gasped.

"Right. Plagg, claws out!"

###

Chat Noir found Ladybug easily enough. She had not gone far. Actually, she had not left the grounds, just circled the mansion so Adrien couldn't see her. She was peeking into his father's bedroom, which was mildly concerning.

"Hello, my lady", he greeted her, dropping next to her.

"Hush."

He snapped his mouth shut, waited ten seconds, then inched closer, curious and slightly worried.

"So, did mister Agreste turn into a supervillain?"

Ladybug frowned and climbed to the roof, waiting for him to join her.

"I'm investigating a lead", she announced when he crouched next to her, his concern hidden behind raised eyebrow and a dubious expression.

"A lead? What kind of lead?"

"I know someone who works for mister Agreste, and who noticed strange absences. Apparently, every time an Akuma shows up, Gabriel Agreste just vanishes. He's nowhere to be seen. He comes back after the fight is over, sometimes hours later."

Chat frowned, suddenly finding it difficult to keep his features neutral.

"I'm not sure I follow your meaning."

"I mean there is only one person who has a clear reason to go missing during every Akuma attack, and that's Hawk Moth."

Adrien couldn't stop himself from getting defensive.

"He's not Hawk Moth", he hissed, furious that Ladybug could even entertain that idea.

Her eyes went wide at his vehemence, and he bit his tongue.

"I mean, it's unlikely", he added, nonchalant. "He's too busy for that, what with him running the entire fashion world."

"I've been observing him for two weeks, now. That's seven Akuma attacks. He vanished for all of them. Every time, he was gone before I even learned there was an Akuma running wild. You have to admit that's suspicious."

Adrien bit the inside of his cheeks.

"It could mean anything. Business meetings, phone calls, or even just him locking himself in a quiet room to draw."

"It's still worth investigating, isn't it? We don't have the slightest clue of who Hawk Moth is yet, and we should. We should find him, and go after him, before he can hurt more people."

"That's not wrong, but… Mister Agreste, really? He's too high profile. He's too… He's not… It just can't be him."

"Think about it. Keeps vanishing, is known as a bit of a recluse… Is pleasant enough in public but it doesn't really add up. See, his son has that friend - Chloé Bourgeois - who lives literally next door… And I know from a source that mister Agreste has never met her. Did not even know her name until recently. And then there's the whole thing with the Bubbler and Adrien Agreste's 'birthday party'."

His father, Adrien realized, had made it easy for people to draw ridiculous conclusions.

"He's not Hawk Moth", he said. "Just a very private man who has had a very bad few years. I talked to his son, you know? After the Bubbler incident. He talked about his dad, a little."

"He did?" Ladybug exclaimed.

Chat Noir nodded.

"What do you know about them?" he asked, knowing what he would hear.

If his partner knew something, it would be what the press had written, and the press had not written anything pleasant.

"Not… Not much. His work is renowned. His life, not so much. There was a lot of rumors a few years ago, when his wife left-"

"She didn't leave", Chat corrected, keeping his voice casual. "She went missing. She was on a trip in Brazil, and she just vanished into thin air. Mister Agreste is still looking for her. Not as much and not as hard than… right after it happened, for obvious reasons, but he is still in contact with law enforcement in Brazil and in South America in general."

He knew that sounded like wishful thinking. Maybe it was.

Ladybug stared at him, horrified.

"That's… I didn't know, no."

He smiled.

"Anyway, Adrien swore to me that his father was a good person, just… not the best at communication. I'm inclined to believe him."

She considered that, but only grew darker. She sighed.

"A good man with a missing wife might have even more use for the Miraculous than an evil one", she pointed out.

That was one rebuttal too many.

Adrien stood, jaw clenched.

"Fine", he exclaimed. "There's two of us. We'll watch him, and we'll figure out what he's doing during the Akuma attacks quickly enough. I'm sure you're wrong, however."

"I hope I am."

###

Nine Akuma attacks had not been enough for Chat Noir to disprove Ladybug's theory.

She had been right: his father was nowhere to be found when the city was under attack. Adrien could not always pinpoint when he had left the office, or their house, but Gabriel had only ever reappeared after the villain of the day had been defeated. So far.

Now, watching his every step was not very easy when you happened to be needed to fight the Akumas. You couldn't exactly tell Paris: "Sorry, stalking my dad today", especially not when buildings were collapsing around you. Adrien had raced away from several fights right as they finished, while Ladybug was freeing the butterflies and fixing the damage. Still… The battles were long over when Adrien arrived wherever his father was supposed to be, to the point that his presence would not have proved a thing.

He had tried to check Nathalie's tablet to see Gabriel's schedule, and discovered entire hours allocated to R&D, which told him nothing.

The teenager needed proof. He didn't believe his father was Hawk Moth, but the idea was eating away at him. "A good man with a missing wife" was not such an unlikely candidate and, for all his faults, Gabriel had loved Adrien's mother from the bottom of his heart. He still did. At least, Adrien thought so.

He knew his father couldn't be Hawk Moth. He just wanted to convince his partner. That was all.

It took a tenth battle - a tense fight against a flying monster who had been near indistinguishable under the moonlight - for Adrien to get an opportunity to gather actual proof. The Akuma had attacked a mere block away from the company's office, and Gabriel's office window was brightly lit when Chat Noir landed on the opposite roof.

Every other window around the block was dark. It was past midnight. No one but Gabriel would be working so late, not when no shows were planned for three weeks.

Chat's ring had three paws left. He jumped across the street, landing on the fire stairs of the office building. He peeked inside Gabriel's office.

There was someone inside, but it was not his father: Nathalie was sitting at the desk, organizing piles of documents and photographs. She was alone.

If Hawk Moth is a Miraculous user, then his transformation might not have worn out , Adrien told himself, looking at his own ring. Now, with the Akuma defeated, there was no obvious point maintaining the transformation, but maybe Hawk Moth had some reason to make use of every second of his.

He saw Nathalie move, and turned back to the window. The woman had been startled by the door, that had opened on Gabriel. Once again, he was appearing too late to prove that he was no supervillain. He walked in and locked the door behind him, talking to Nathalie without bothering to look at her. Questions were asked, answers were given, documents were handed back and forth, until Adrien's father found himself standing behind Nathalie, looking over her shoulder to examine the files on the desk.

Then, something happened that made Adrien whirl away from the window in horrified surprise, peek back to make sure of what he had seen, and leave.

It was as simple as his father undoing Nathalie's bun and smoothing her hair. It was as simple as him putting his hands on her shoulders and leaning a little closer.

As horrifying as the Hawk Moth theory was, Adrien couldn't say he liked this discovery much better. "Good men with missing wives" were one thing, but what were you supposed to believe when the wives were no longer missed? A hairdo undone, and one's life came apart at the seams. You started to wonder why your father had moved on, if he had given up, or been given a reason to. Every question you had refused to ask yourself came knocking at the door. You kept the door closed.

New questions begged for answers. You didn't want them. You would ask for them anyway.

###