GLE – Well, it's still Tuesday in my time zone… been very busy lately. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Dreamcatcher

Chapter 3: Spy Games

Gabriel fell into routine the following morning, eating breakfast with Adrien and reviewing some emails from work after that. When Adrien went out to spend the day with his friends, Gabriel set aside everything to go ahead with his new plan of action. The first thing he did was pull up information on a long-forgotten student fashion competition that the school had persuaded him to judge. There she was: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her bowler hat had been excellent, near professional level for someone so young. No wonder she could become his star designer in the future. And if she were to marry Adrien, a legacy of fashion for the Agreste family was even more likely to develop. Not that Gabriel should really get ahead of himself with these thoughts, but in both his best and worst possible futures, she had become his daughter-in-law. A little jolt in his stomach around that idea prompted him to dismiss it. It was still too early to think about his son getting married. There were still a few years, at least, in which he could repair his bond with him, could be the parent the boy still needed.

He retreated to his secret lair, startling the butterflies and setting them aflutter when he entered. Nooroo floated out of hiding and came to a stop in front of the man.

"We're doing something a little different today, Nooroo."

"Really? What would that be, Master?" asked the kwami somewhat guardedly.

"You'll see. Let's transform. Dark Wings, Rise!"

Hawkmoth stepped towards the window and closed his eyes, projecting his consciousness outwards across Paris. He felt a few spikes of negative emotion from various people, and a slight urge to akumatize them stirred within him, but he ignored it. What he was looking for, the type of person he was looking for, was a bit more difficult to find. It was like trying to pick out subtleties in an array of whites, each shade a tone brighter or darker or warmer or cooler than the last. This kind of challenge was exhilarating.

"…ducked around a corner just in time as his assailants entered the hall and beelined it for the room he'd just been in. That was a close call, but he'd gotten the information he'd needed. Hurrying to the window, he leapt down the fire escape, and disappeared from the area. In, out, and no one had seen him. He was like a ghost, and his pursuers would have an easier time trying to catch smoke with their bare hands."

Hugo Bonnisseau du Bain looked up from the book he was reading, planting an elbow on the table and his chin upon his hand.

"Aw man, being a spy must be so cool!" he lamented. "That's gotta be such an exciting life!"

He sighed and dropped his arm, leaning back in his chair as his sight drifted to the bookshelf beside him. The entire unit was full to the point of bursting with spy novels, the occasional ninja story, and other fictions in similar genres. His strong sense of longing to taste that kind of adventure was very palpable to Hawkmoth.

"You are exactly who I am looking for," said Paris's supervillain.

He opened his palm and a butterfly landed upon it. He covered it with his other hand, imbuing it with magic, and then released it. Its white colour had been replaced by a dark blue, and the butterfly took to the air.

"Go and transform him, my little yurei!" Hawkmoth ordered.

The butterfly was quick, finding Hugo and gravitating towards him. It landed on his book and dissolved in a sparkle of magical energy, connecting him with Hawkmoth.

"Double-O, I am Hawkmoth," he informed him. "I have a mission for you, and should you choose to accept it, I can grant you the powers to carry it out. It must be done in stealth and with finesse. No one must discover that you were even there. Interested?"

"Absolutely!" Hugo responded, taking on the full transformation. "What are my instructions?"

"You are to deliver a message for me…"

Hawkmoth disclosed the details with his champion, sharing a mental image of his target and location, then took a step back so the yureified man could proceed in his own way as Hawkmoth watched from his usual distance.

For a champion of Hawkmoth's, Double-O's wardrobe was far more subdued than all of his previous counterparts. In fact, he seemed to blend in with normal people to an exceptional degree, coming across as very unremarkable and unmemorable to anyone he walked by on his way to his destination. As he passed the school, he took a quick assessment of the upcoming vicinity. The bakery was on a road with heavy traffic. He would have to be careful not to be seen. He approached the back entrance casually, and stooped down to tie his shoelace.

As soon as a couple that was walking a dog rounded the corner, he hurried into the apartment complex that the bakery belonged to. It was quiet. He walked up to the first landing and paused. His book had transformed into a fancy toolbelt that wrapped around his waist, and from it he extracted a ball-shaped gadget. With well-practiced ease, he twisted the little plastic knob that stuck out from it and placed it down on the floor. It started ticking, like a wind-up toy waiting to take off.

Swiftly heading up the next flight of stairs, he arrived at the apartment door of his target. A high-tech infrared camera was the next item to come out of his toolbelt, and he turned it on. He could see that a girl was sitting on a couch inside the apartment, watching tv. No one else appeared to be in the space.

He drew back, storing the camera as fast as he'd used it. Gripping the top of the doorframe, his foot finding purchase on the chair rail, he hefted himself upwards. Before getting too far up, he rang the doorbell, then whipped out some suction cups which he used to hold himself against the ceiling.

There was movement inside as the occupant stood to answer it.

"Hello?" she said as she opened the door.

The rounded object he'd left below reached zero on its timer and popped open with a happy chime, releasing a small cloud of pink gas.

"Whoa! What's going on?" The girl rushed down to investigate.

Using the distraction, Double-O dropped onto light feet and snuck into the apartment. He ducked behind the couch in a crouch. From this vantage point, he could see the other rooms on this floor. There was a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Based on the size of the bed and the decor in the room, he knew that wasn't where he needed to go. His eyes trailed over to the stairs. That seemed to be his best bet.

"…such a weird prank," muttered the girl as she returned to her home.

Taking his cue, Double-O hastily crept up the stairs and infiltrated the room at the top. He'd opened a hatch door to enter it, and closed it quietly once inside, so as not to draw attention to the fact that anyone was up there. Looking around the room, he could tell he'd made it to the right place. Pink walls, magazine cutouts of a teenage boy adorning them, and stuffed animals on the bed above made it clear this belonged to a teenage girl. He stood from his kneeling position and began walking towards her desk, but a movement on the desk had him using lightning-fast reflexes to dive behind the chaise across from it.

A small, red creature floated up and yawned.

"Marinette?" it asked in a sweet little voice.

It rubbed its eyes and looked around, but didn't see the girl, so it shrugged and settled down next to a plate of cookies on the edge of the desk away from its initial bed of yarn, picking one up and taking a bite.

What was that?

"It's a kwami," answered Hawkmoth in a breathless voice in Double-O's mind. "It's the kwami. Ladybug's kwami."

So Hawkmoth had gotten it right. Not that he had really doubted it, but it was good to know with absolute certainty that his message would be received by the correct party. He'd been hoping that she and her kwami would be out with Adrien. Since that wasn't the case, his champion would just have to be extra-cautious. Disregarding the photos of his son on the wall, though he wasn't really surprised by that either, Hawkmoth focused back on Double-O's assignment.

"Don't let the kwami catch you there," he warned. "As I said before, no one must know you are there. That includes magical beings."

Double-O merely gave a mental nod and remained as still as possible. He sat in that position for a good dozen minutes while the kwami devoured two cookies. A distant doorbell rang, and the girl answered it again. The conversation between her and the visitor was too quiet to hear. That was, until her voice suddenly shrieked, "Adrien?! Right now?!"

And then thunderous footsteps were pounding up the stairs towards the bedroom. The hatch opened and the target, Marinette, popped in.

"Tikki!" she whisper-yelled frantically. "Alya says Adrien and Nino are hanging out in the park right now and we can join them! Oh, what should I wear?"

Marinette started to glance around her room for any clothes she might've left out, and Double-O held his breath when her eyes swept above him. He wasn't hidden very well behind her chaise. He inched a fraction over towards the dress form that stood next to the chaise, hoping it might provide a little more cover.

The kwami took to the air, doing a loop as she approached the girl.

"What you're wearing already is fine, Marinette," she giggled. "So let's go! You don't want to keep Alya waiting, do you? Or Adrien for that matter!"

"Tikki!" Marinette gasped, clutching at her bright red cheeks. She took a breath and her goofy smile settled into a more relaxed one. "Okay. Let's do this!"

She walked over to her chaise – Double-O slid underneath it just in time – and grabbed her purse. The kwami zipped into the open pocket before Marinette clicked the pouch closed and vacated the room.

The yureified man stayed motionless for several long minutes, just to be sure. Then he crawled out from under the chaise and tiptoed towards the desk. It was a little cluttered with a sketchbook opened to a half-completed design, a cell phone, and the now empty cookie plate sharing the space with her computer. He took a typed letter out of his toolbelt and placed it in plain sight on the computer's keyboard. He wouldn't linger long now.

The door banging open again downstairs sent a rush of adrenaline through his system and he escaped up to the loft where the girl kept her bed. The window-hatch was already unlocked, so he climbed through it just in time as Marinette returned to her room. He dodged out of sight, heard her yell a "Got it!" to someone further down, and then her trapdoor slammed shut behind her once more.

A moment later, he could hear the voices of the two girls distantly from the street below. He glanced around the balcony. It wasn't the ideal getaway, but he could make it work. He was a super secret-agent, after all.

He climbed onto the chimney and proceeded to parkour along the rooftops of Marinette's neighbours. It wouldn't do for anyone to see him, but hopefully if anyone heard him they'd just assume he was one of the city's superheroes out for a stroll. When he got to the end of the row, he took a running start and leapt towards the shorter building across the street. He landed in a tuck-and-roll on the flat roof and his momentum stopped as he returned to standing position. With a grin of triumph, Double-O strutted briskly to the emergency stairwell door.

Hawkmoth held back an eye roll. Of course his champion would want to show off a little with his powers. Well, at least the man was enjoying himself and Hawkmoth got to observe the extent of his abilities.

Out of his magical toolbelt, Double-O retrieved a set of lock-picking tools. He put them to use and managed to unlock the door in under ten seconds, opening it slowly as he slipped inside. The stairwell was empty, as expected, and Double-O hurried down the two flights, exiting into an unoccupied alley. He flipped his reversible jacket around to change his appearance a little, just in case, but otherwise knew he was in the clear. No one had seen him. He let out a whoop of excitement for his success.

"Mission complete!" he announced to Hawkmoth enthusiastically. "What's next?"

"The next part is all up to me, I'm afraid," said Hawkmoth, his lips twitching with a touch of amusement. "You have done a good job and a great service to me. Be proud of your accomplishment, Double-O."

The man beamed for a few seconds before the blue butterfly reappeared, drawing all of the magic out of Hugo and his book as it flew away. Hugo blinked several times and then scratched his head as he took in the book he was holding and his surroundings.

"Where am I?" he wondered, but there lingered a sense of having just been on a thrilling adventure. He remembered no more than that.

When the butterfly returned, Hawkmoth pulled the yurei powers out of it and they dissipated into thin air, leaving the creature pure white once again.

A third beep from his Miraculous aligned with his own thoughts that it was time to de-transform. He stared out the window for a long moment, taking in the feel of the mask upon his face and the staff in his hand.

Turning to leave as the window closed behind him, he murmured, "Dark Wings, Fall."

Nooroo appeared and Gabriel was left in Hawkmoth's place. The man pulled out the little package of food he carried with him and held it up for his kwami. Nooroo looked at him a little startled, but landed onto the man's hand and dug into his regenerative snack. When he was finished eating, he rose into the air again and Gabriel put the food away.

"Master," said Nooroo hesitantly. "I… I don't understand."

Gabriel gave him a sad smile from behind his glasses. "You will. It won't be long now."

He made his way back to his office and printed a short document, Nooroo trailing behind him timidly but stopping short of exiting the secret lair's passageway. Gabriel then strode down the hall, leaving his kwami behind, and entered Adrien's room. He took a brisk glance around. One of the windows was open, which was an asset to his plan. He chose the coffee table for his task, and exited as quickly as he'd arrived.

He returned to his home office and tried to get back to work, but he couldn't concentrate. He was uncharacteristically nervous. He declared it a lost cause after half an hour, and moved himself over to the couch, picking up his latest book and flipping through it idly without reading a word.

His messages to the heroes were typed on a single sheet of paper and placed in a simple envelope with their civilian names printed on the outside. Would Marinette and her kwami see it? Would she come? If he still knew his son by any extent, he knew Adrien would read it and be there. The message inside was straightforward:

Cat Noir,
(or in Marinette's case, Ladybug)

This is Hawkmoth. Yes, I have discovered your identity. Please meet me on the pool deck of the Grand Paris Hotel at 21:30. It is time we end this. I will not fight you and I will not be akumatizing anyone else. I will bring only myself and my Miraculous.

Sincerely,
Hawkmoth

Would they believe in his sincerity? Not likely, but he had to try. And since they both had school the next day, he couldn't keep them up too late, but he did need it to be at a time when no one would stumble upon them and he knew that the pool would close at 21:00. That location was also important as it needed to be somewhere he could return home from without using his powers. He could also explain his presence in the hotel as having forgotten or lost something during the Gala last night, should he run into someone on his way out.

Gabriel's grip tightened on his book. He really didn't feel ready for this sudden change, but he couldn't allow for that horrible future to become his. The dream future was a wonderful goal to aim for, and this was the first – and probably the hardest – step towards it. He was a successful designer and entrepreneur; he could succeed at being a reformed supervillain too. Hard work was in his nature.

The part about not akumatizing anyone in his note was also very true. It must be poetic justice somehow that his final akumatized villain was the one that managed to open his eyes. When Dreamcatcher's powers manifested, he'd thought they were interesting and would probably put a lot of people to sleep. He hadn't imagined that he'd experience firsthand what her victims would go through, and just how profound of an impact that would make on his entire life moving forward.

His yureifying of Double-O this afternoon was his final champion. For something other than an evilized akuma, his yurei had performed very well. A yurei was neither good nor evil. If he'd been using the Miraculous the way it was probably intended, his champions would have been empowered with the good of tenshi instead. Even though it was just a yurei, perhaps Nooroo had enjoyed the lack of negative charge around his butterflies. Would Gabriel miss the fluttering of their wings once Nooroo was gone? Those butterflies only showed up because of his Miraculous. They were attracted there because of Nooroo and they would leave once he gave him up. Would Gabriel miss Nooroo when this was over?

"Good evening, Father. I'm home," said Adrien from the doorway, startling the man from his thoughts.

Gabriel closed the book he wasn't reading and set it aside. He looked up to see Adrien's small smile upon his face. It seemed the boy had not yet gone to his room. Gabriel gave him a brief smile of his own, trying to drown his nerves. He couldn't let them affect him.

"Did you have a good afternoon with your friends?"

"I did!" said Adrien happily. "Thank you for letting me hang out with them today!"

This time, Gabriel's smile was warmer, more genuine. "Of course, Adrien. Being social with your friends is important too."

His son seemed a touch surprised by that response, but accepted it earnestly nonetheless.

"I'm going to head to my room now," he said. "See you at dinner?"

And just as quickly as he'd relaxed, Gabriel felt a tightness in his core. "Yes. See you at dinner."

Forty-five minutes later, the two of them were seated at the dining table together. Adrien's mood had changed since he'd arrived home, as expected. The boy was anxious and kept alternating between rushing through his food and pushing it around on his plate without taking a bite.

Gabriel cleared his throat to get his attention.

"Adrien, I've been thinking about making some changes," he announced. "I know I've been overworking myself a lot since your mo… since… for a while now. And I feel like I've been missing out on your life. Also, if the Gala yesterday were any indication, having to avert two last-minute disasters right before the event – which could have easily been avoided with proper communication – demonstrates that the event itself hadn't been prioritized well enough. With the work done for the Cannes Film Festival and the next couple of projects on the books, I can confidently say that the Gala and the Formal Wear Line itself had been a bit of a rush job all around. I've committed to the upcoming endeavours, but after those, I can cut back a little on the workload for the company. I can certainly cut back on your workload if you feel like you are being overworked yourself. Is there an area of your life that you'd like to have more time for? An area of your life you'd like to spend less time on?"

Adrien looked shocked, to say the least. "I, wow Father, I don't know what to say…" Confusion and hopefulness seemed to join the anxiety the boy was feeling. "This is pretty important. Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course." Gabriel finished off his glass of wine. With the letter from Hawkmoth surely swimming through Adrien's head, he didn't expect the boy to be able to mull over much else until that was resolved. "I'm sure you'll have a lot to think about." He set down his napkin on the table, but didn't stand to leave just yet. "And about my… absence in your life of late, I really would like to make up for it. But you can tell me later how you feel about that, and what I can do, if anything, to repair our bond."

Adrien was at a loss for words now, but Gabriel wouldn't let the mood become awkward. They both had something else to prepare for, and dinner was over.

"Well, I'm going to get back to my reading," he said as he stood. "Goodnight, Adrien."

Adrien set aside his napkin and stood as well, giving him a warm smile. "Goodnight, Father."

Gabriel entered his office to pick up his book, but waited a moment longer as he heard Adrien pass by in the hall. When he was sure his son had returned to his room, he opened the secret passage to his lair.

"Nooroo," he said quietly. "Come with me."

The little purple kwami floated out of the darkness to join him, trying and failing to hide his puzzled expression. "Yes, Master," he answered dutifully.

Briskly, Gabriel strode to his own room, Nooroo keeping pace beside him. Several white butterflies followed along as if magnetized by Nooroo's presence. Gabriel closed the door behind him as soon as the last butterfly fluttered in from the hall. He did his best to ignore them, even while a few more made their way in through his window, and he set aside his book on his night table before beelining it to his walk-in closet.

As he rummaged through the clothes he kept there, he wondered whether he'd hear Adrien pleasantly wish him a goodnight ever again. Or had that been the last? What would Adrien think of their conversation tonight once he knew the truth?

There'd only been two hours left before the meeting, but time seemed to drag every single individual minute out.

At 21:00, Gabriel transformed, opened his window, and stepped up onto its ledge. He had barely done anything like this since he'd gotten his powers, but like other Miraculous users, he could use his weapon to get around. Hawkmoth held his staff out in front of him and twisted the top with his other hand. Two wings popped out along the length of it, snapping into place at an angle. His staff now looked very much like the hang glider it had become. He raised it above his head and waved a hand towards it. The numerous butterflies that had made themselves comfortable in his bedroom obeyed his silent command and gathered beneath the wings of his glider. The air movement they created from their little fluttering motion bolstered the glider, and Hawkmoth allowed it to raise him into the air.

He went straight up, gaining a lot of height, his home shrinking below him. Then he changed direction and flew towards the hotel. He circled around the pool deck as he gently lowered down to land on it. He retracted the hang glider back into his staff, and the butterflies spread out, some alighting on the deck and chairs, others continuing to flit about.

All of this took a mere three minutes, and as planned, no one was there. The pool and doors to the elevator and stairs were lit, but otherwise, the rooftop deck was mostly dark. He sat down sideways on a lounge chair beneath an umbrella away from the doors, leaning his hands on the top of his staff and his chin on top of that. And then, he waited.

-(x)-

GLE – Hugo Bonnisseau du Bain is a play on the name Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, the fictional character OSS 117, French equivalent to 007 James Bond (actually, predates Bond by 4 years). "Bain" is the French word for "bath" (its gender is masculine, hence "du" instead of "de la". …Yeah, all nouns in French have genders. Your desk – "pupitre" or "bureau" – is masculine, while your garbage bin – "poubelle" – is feminine. This affects how you address them – "le" or "la" – and the gender of adjectives associated with them – for example "blanc" or "blanche" for the colour white).

Since "akuma" (meaning: demon) was borrowed from Japanese, I decided to borrow another word from there too – "yurei" (meaning: ghost). "Akumatizing" someone clearly seems to infuse them with evil energy, and that's not what Gabriel wanted to do with Double-O. But what he did do wasn't exactly as noble as a "tenshi" (meaning: angel)would be, so that's why I picked yurei. And Double-O was acting like a ghost too, so there's a bit of a double meaning there!

I studied the hallway up to Marinette's apartment fairly meticulously to figure out its layout. You have to go up two flights of stairs from the ground floor to get to the door to her apartment, and I incorporated that in this chapter.

Why did Marinette suddenly return after leaving with Alya? She forgot her cell phone on her desk and Alya was trying to convince her it was a great opportunity for them to get photos with the boys. Without her phone, how would Marinette get those photos?

I strongly feel that like Lucky Charm and Cataclysm, Hawkmoth only has one shot at creating a champion per transformation, and will have to refuel Nooroo before doing another one. With Timebreaker, he managed two, since one arrived from the future and he hadn't created her yet, so he was able to do it again "for the first time". Also, since he has more time after using his powers, it might take more time for Nooroo to recharge (Tikki and Plagg can eat pretty quickly and be ready to go again in a few minutes; I'm thinking Nooroo needs a little longer), which is why he's not sending endless akuma after akuma every moment he can (though I didn't put this theory in the story… I had Nooroo eat pretty quickly after yureifying Double-O). And like I said in a previous author's note, Vanisher was akumatized well over a day before Antibug was created. Hawkmoth must've detransformed and gone to sleep between those days.

About Gabriel reading a book, I believe that fits his character, if for no other reason than he is successful and rich (every successful and rich person I know reads; btw, that's a hint for you if you want to become successful and rich someday) (the two books that pretty much every successful person I know has read are: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill).

Adrien's window being open was an asset to Gabriel's plan because he didn't want to be confronted by Adrien in their home. He wanted to meet Ladybug and Cat Noir properly as Hawkmoth. In Gabriel's mind, if Adrien spends any time wondering how the letter got there, the open window would allow for the option that Hawkmoth came in from outside, and he wouldn't be likely to suspect his father.

Well, that's all I've got for now! What's your take on Hawkmoth's powers? Do my theories align or clash with yours?