"Darkwings fall." There was a flash of purple light, and where Hawk Moth had been a moment ago, Gabriel Agreste now stood in his place.

"No," Chat Noir breathed. "That's impossible. You were akumatized…"

"A necessary deception," his father explained calmly. "Ladybug was too close to the truth, and I had to take some risks to preserve my secret." His eyes narrowed accusingly. "But you'd understand that, wouldn't you, Adrien?"

Chat Noir was suddenly very glad that Ladybug had failed to come to his aid. "What makes you think that I'm Adrien?" he asked stubbornly.

"Does it matter?" his father asked. "Isn't it time for you and I to stop hiding from each other?"

A chirping sound came from his ring, reminding Chat Noir that if he couldn't escape, there would soon be little point to maintaining his charade. He didn't see any way out. He might as well detransform now, and get it over with. But he wanted to hold out as long as he could. He wanted to not be Adrien Agreste for as long as he could.

"In the spirit of honesty," his father went on. "Let me share with you the reason why I have done everything." He turned away from Chat Noir, towards the painting of Adrien's mother. "Unless you've already guessed," he said softly.

"What does any of this have to do with her?" Chat Noir said carefully, still refusing to confirm anything. His ring chirped again.

His father glanced over his shoulder, eyeing Chat Noir's ring. "Has Ladybug never told you the true power of your miraculous?" he asked. "Doesn't she trust you?"

"Of course she does," Chat Noir insisted, trying to sound casual about it, as if he really were someone else, and everything Gabriel was saying was nonsense. "Ladybug and I tell each other everything."

His father turned halfway back towards him. "Even your true identities?"

Chat Noir's ring chirped a third time. He said nothing.

"That's what I thought," his father said with a nod. "There are many things she has kept from you, including what your miraculous and hers would be capable of, if they were used together."

Chat Noir's curiosity got the better of him. "What would that be?" he asked without thinking.

His father might have looked pleased, but Chat Noir wasn't sure. It wasn't a look he saw very often. "If one person were to possess them both, they would be granted one wish," his father explained. "There would be no limits. They could alter reality itself." He turned back towards the portrait. "They could even undo the past."

"You want her back," Chat Noir said, his voice shaking.

"Don't you?" his father replied.

Chat Noir's ring chirped one last time, and with a flash of green light, he was Adrien again.

His father turned, walked towards him, and reached for him. Adrien flinched away, but his father made no move to take his ring. He only pulled his son into a hug. "I never wanted to hurt you," he said, cradling the back of Adrien's head in one hand. "Everything I have done has only ever been for the sake of our family."

Adrien pushed him away. "All those people you tried to hurt," he accused. "If Ladybug hadn't stopped you…"

"Then your mother would be here with us now," his father said darkly.

"That doesn't make it okay!" Adrien shouted. He had never shouted at his father before. Adrien never shouted. Chat Noir might lose his temper, but Adrien never did.

"If you find my methods unacceptable," his father replied, crossing his arms sternly, "then help me do things in a better way."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Adrien asked bitterly.

His father placed both hands on his shoulders. "I promise I will make no more attempts to take your miraculous, or Ladybug's," he offered, the very picture of sincerity. "If you can get her miraculous yourself."

"I can't," Adrien protested. He could never do that to Ladybug…

"Why not?" his father asked. "If you're really so close, I'm sure you can find some way to persuade her."

Adrien wished he could find strong words to refuse, that he could say it wasn't even tempting. But to have his mother with them again, no more cold distance between him and his father, no more akumas...no more Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Father, please," he said weakly. "Don't make me do this."

"I'm not making you do anything," his father replied. "I'm trusting you, Adrien, to do the right thing."