Seventy-Three: Hostile Takeover

Adrien finds out the source of distress for Gabriel and Nathalie, and is unhappy to be pulled into the possible resolution. For it requires dealing with the one person he'd hoped to never see again.


Funk didn't even begin to describe my foul mood when Marinette found me many hours later sulking in the apartment. Strictly speaking, it was Ladybug who gracefully landed on the main balcony outside of our apartment, perhaps intending to make good on her promise to me far earlier that day, when we had been cozily cuddled together with only the normal worries that superheroes carried with them. But make no mistake: one look at me, sprawled across the chaise lounge we normally shared together still clad in the workout gear I'd donned moments prior to Father tossing his hand grenade into my life and she'd quickly dropped her transformation then slid onto the fabric of the cushion. Leaning over me, she pushed back a lock or two of my hair that, unencumbered by the normally requisite gel, seemed intent on covering my right eye.

"Now I understand why you cancelled our meeting," she said softly as her eyes took in my more disheveled than normal hair, two-day-old stubble, and half-full wineglass; they lingered slightly on the nearly empty bottle of pinot resting on the tile. "What happened?"

"Father," I sighed, dramatically throwing an arm over my eyes.

"Tell me everything," she said as she slid in next to me and wrapped an arm around my torso.

Putting down my wine so I could pull her close to me, I sighed. "I suppose it's not his fault – well, hell, I guess it is when you get right down to it. Everything I've been doing… all the effort…" I sighed again. "Look, you remember that cousin of mine, Felix?"

Marinette tilted her head up from where she had rested it against my compression muscle shirt. "How can I forget? Meeting him once was one time to many."

That made me smile, for the last time he'd been in Paris he'd used his nearly identical looks to impersonate me and had recorded a rather ugly video to my friends. Aside from the unusual triple akuma he'd managed to create as a result, it fortunately hadn't caused any real damage, and I'd not seen him in person since. "He wasn't always so cold and calculating," I said. "Growing up, he was the closest thing I had to a best friend. Until you."

"'Felix' and 'friend' don't fit in the same sentence."

"I suppose that is true," I replied.

"And hearing his name spoken in close contact to your father makes me very nervous."

"As well it should." I squeezed my eyes shut. "That meeting I was called in for?"

"Yeah…?"

I looked down at my fiancé. "He's in trouble."

"Felix?"

"No," I sighed, looking up at the gathering late evening dusk. "Father."

Marinette sat up and pulled me with her. "Not here," she said. "Let's do this someplace else – somewhere that will make you feel more calm."

I glanced meaningfully in the direction of the Miracle Box and its rather awkward gramophone disguise. "What about our wards?"

"I think they'll be safe for the duration." She made an exaggerated face as she sniffed me closely. "Decamping has the added benefit of allowing your transformation hide the fact you've not—"

"I get the idea," I grinned sheepishly as I twisted off the chaise. "It was a bummer of a day… I may or may not have actually tried to work out my angst before saying 'screw this' and simply coming home to crash…"

Marinette reached up and put her hand to my chin. "It happens to everyone from time to time. Even feline superheroes and their supermodel alter-egos. Let me see if I can't cheer you up a bit, and then you can tell me every bloody detail of what that devil has done this time."


It was extraordinarily unusual for Ladybug to skulk around Paris like Chat; that she did it as well as she did made me wonder if the years of her working side-by-side with the Black Cat of Destruction had caused some of my own proclivities to rub off on her. I tried not to be shocked when she guided me to toward – and then landed upon the glass roof of – the massive tropical greenhouse at the Jardin des Plantes; my jaw dropped when she efficiently located a large enough vent and deftly slipped around the edge. I quickly followed suit, landing beside her on a well-worn path that wound its way through a dense undergrowth of greenery. At that late hour, the greenhouse was not open to the public, but the tasteful landscape lighting was still on, providing dramatic spots of illumination here and there.

Reaching for my paw, Ladybug drew me toward her and we quietly walked the path, heading in the general direction of the massive water feature housed at one end; the space was humid, and the exotic scents of so many fragrant varieties of plants nearly overwhelmed my feline sense of smell. Still, the gentle burbling of the small brook running beside the trail and occasional chirping of a bird or two that had taken up residence started to drop my blood pressure exactly as Ladybug had anticipated it would. I smiled as I squeezed her gloved hand, and allowed my tail to snake its way around her waist.

"Thank you," I breathed as I kissed the top of her head.

"I can't do the purr therapy you can," she smiled up at me as we continued to stroll. "This was as close as I thought I could get."

We reached where the path widened out to something of a gallery space facing the water feature, and I leapt up to perch on the edge of a park bench. Ladybug sat down far more demurely, then leaned into me. My tail curled around her as my feline eyes took in the multitiered waterfall, appreciating how the cascading water seemed to wash away the last of my initial angst; there was plenty more there to mine, of course, but now at least I felt like I could get through the entire explanation for my partner without wanting to tear a door off its hinges or fling a gargoyle halfway across the city. Still, I waited another few moments to let the comfortable silence bring me to a final peace before beginning.

"You know how hard I've been working to right the ship at House of Gabriel?" I asked.

"Yes," she nodded against me. "Something of an upward struggle from what I've seen."

"It has been," I replied. "When I came on board after University as the official co-CEO, I had my first true look at our unaudited financials – and boy, were they grim. We'd lost a significant amount of market share, and from what I could tell, it had everything to do with Father's unwillingness to shift his designs with the times."

"That's why you did the partnership with Chateau Le Blanc, if I recall correctly."

"It is." I sighed. "That, plus changes I'd been able to make to our product lines have turned things around quite a bit." I shifted a bit uncomfortably. "It, uh, hasn't hurt that my, uh, enhanced physical assets have made my image as a model more bankable. Our sales have trended upward better when I'm in the campaign than any of our other models. But that's short term, as I've always said. Two or three years from now and I won't be as marketable."

"Unless you keep the Cat Miraculous," Ladybug pointed out. "That might extend your run a bit longer."

"I thought we weren't supposed to use them for purrsonal reasons?" I teased.

My partner rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, that's not the real issue. The problem is that before I arrived, Father had run into some cash flow problems – problems that are just now coming back to bite us."

"I don't like how you've not mentioned Felix to this point."

"With good reason." I watched a small hummingbird flit around one of the orchids planted in the face of the waterfall. "I didn't know until today he was our largest single investor – outside of myself and Father. It seems Father turned to my Aunt in his time of crisis; she passed away last year, leaving Felix with her stake in our company." I looked down to Ladybug. "As is typical with things in my family, the agreement Aunt Amelie had with Father came with some intriguing provisions."

"This doesn't sound good."

"It's not. The particular provision that Father called me in over is one allowing Felix to demand House of Gabriel buy back his stake in the company at any time; if we can't fully make him whole, a clause in the agreement kicks in, forcing a meeting of the Board of Directors to appoint a new CEO – namely, Felix."

Ladybug's eyes went wide. "He's… Felix could wind up running House of Gabriel?"

I frowned. "Yes. Father was desperate then – and more desperate now, for while we've done remarkably well over the last two years, we cannot buy out Felix's stake. And he knows that. Which I think is why he made his ultimatum to Father."

"But if he knows you can't repurchase his stake… I don't understand," she frowned. "What does he get by becoming CEO?"

"Control," I frowned. "Over Father and all that entails. His designs, the intellectual property." I paused, looking up at the glass ceiling. "Me."

"You?"

"I wasn't kidding when I said I was a valuable asset for House of Gabriel," I chuckled. "At the end of the day, I'm just another line on a spreadsheet he can do with as he pleases."

"That's insane!"

"It hasn't happened yet," I pointed out. "The threat is just that – a threat. He apparently wants something else from Father, something even more valuable to him that the company."

"What on earth is that?"

"A ring," I sighed, holding up my Cat Miraculous for a moment to gaze at the illuminated paw.

"A ring?" she said incredulously. "All this over a ring?"

"Not just any ring," I replied. "From what Father explained to me, he and my mother received a special set to use for their wedding; they were apparently heirlooms passed through the generations of my mother's family."

"Oh," she frowned. "Priceless to him, I imagine."

"Exactly. What I didn't know was Felix managed to steal one of them from Father the last time he was here – I would pay real money to know how he accomplished that – and now he wants the mate." I dropped my paw. "If Father gives him the other ring, Felix will allow us to buy back his stake at a quarter of the price they paid."

"Something makes me think your father's not willing to do that."

"He's not," I replied, narrowing my masked eyes in wry humor. "In fact, he's planning on stealing the ring back."

"Say what?"

"Yeah. But that's not the best part. He wants Chat Noir to do it."

Ladybug flipped off the park bench, eyes wild. "Does he know-?"

"No," I replied as I slipped down to take her hands. "He doesn't. What he does know is Adrien happens to be good friends with Alya, who, in turn, seems to have a direct line to Chat via her blog. Father is pressuring me to talk to Alya to talk to Chat on Father's behalf." I smiled wryly. "Aside from the headache that creates, that Father feels Chat Noir would so easily do his bidding is something else entirely."

"Holy kwami."

"Tell me about it."

Ladybug looked at me. "No wonder you were the way I found you. This is… terrible… and somewhat insane. Over a ring!"

"Yeah." I dropped my head. "I'm not sure what to do, Milady. Felix has already called for the Board meeting to be scheduled – we have less than a week. Setting aside how distasteful a proposition it would be for my cousin to run the company, doing Father's bidding feels even lower, if that's possible."

"It is," she replied. "He's got some nerve expecting a superhero to burgle someone."

"No kidding," I sighed again. "So… do I let my relative take over the company and control my life? Or do I submit to the nefariousness of my father and try to claw back Felix's leverage?" I leaned into my partner, my fiancé. "What do I do?"

"Take House of Gabriel over yourself," Ladybug said softly.

My ears went up in shock. "How in the world would I do that?"

"Let Felix call the Board meeting," she replied. "Then, persuade the Board to appoint you as full CEO instead of him. Or your father."

"How—"

"Tell them what you've just told me. Dig into the details of what you've been doing at House of Gabriel to turn it around, and show them the data to back it up. Make the case that you would be more effective – and more profitable to the shareholders – if you ran the whole thing, unencumbered by sharing control with Gabriel." She smiled slightly. "Felix can't top that. He's got an axe to grind and nothing else; your father is too tied to the past to mount much of a defense. At the end of the day, the Board will want a steady hand at the helm that will keep the money flowing."

"That would mean taking on Father myself," I said softly. "I'm not sure I'm up for that."

"Aren't you, my dearest kitty?" she smiled wider. "You've been taking him on ever since you got there. I direct your feline attention once more at the deal you brokered with my company – exhibit 'A' in a long list of them."

"But-"

"Look," she continued. "I've seen you take down akumas that were threatening to end life on the planet as we knew it. I'm not sure you'll even break a sweat removing your dad as head of House of Gabriel."

I blinked. "Really?"

"Really."

I thought about her idea for a minute, then another; after about ten, the sly Chat smile appeared as it dawned on me Ladybug had, once again, come up with a pitch-perfect plan. "I'm going to need some help pulling together an effective PowerPoint," I said. "Are you up for assisting a remedial feline?"

"Yes," she laughed, "but we both know you're anything but."