Hi all, Ep here. Icarus and I are hard at work on the next installment of Chat's Capers, which will start regular updates in January 2020. While we both realize this is a loooooong time out, we wanted to rough in a spot where this story would appear and then tease you just a bit with the hint of what is to come that we added to the end of Chat's Five. Enjoy and we'll see you in the New Year.

It took all of her prowess at deception for Lila Rossi to talk her way into the VIP wing of La Santé; in the end, though, she'd been forced to go for the basic bawl-and-shawl routine, convincing the guards there had been some sort of amazing bureaucratic mess that would prevent her from seeing her incarcerated Uncle Gabriel. As the French Government was notorious in the mixed-up paperwork department, the overworked officer had opted to forgo calling up the food chain to confirm her story and instead placed the crying woman in the private visitor room before dispatching an underling to retrieve the disgraced designer.

Once the door was closed, the tears stopped and she rearranged herself in preparation for her visit, pulling out a compact mirror from her purse to adjust her hair and makeup. She expected to wait, and did; twenty minutes later, the opposite door was thrust open and two burly guards escorted the handcuffed Gabriel Agreste to the metal table. Lila tried to looked shocked at his appearance, which wasn't much of a stretch: in the month since Chat Noir and Ladybug had turned him over to the authorities, he'd lost some weight, but the emotional force of his presence was still there being the rimless glasses.

And the flame of anger.

The guards unlocked the cuffs and then withdrew from the room, leaving the two of them visibly alone - though the camera in the corner of the room blinked it's red warning light that it was operational. Lila waited for the door to close before speaking. "You look awful, Uncle," she smiled.

Gabriel smiled the cold smile of his. "It is what it is," he said. "What kept you? I expected you a few weeks ago."

It was Lila's turn to smile coldly. "There was a slight change in plans," she said.

He arched an eyebrow. "How much of a change?" he asked, lowering his voice. "Our timeline was already pretty tight."

"Your timeline," she reminded him. "Mine is, shall we say, a little different."

Gabriel leaned forward, and the motion carried with it an implied threat. "What have you done?" he asked with deadly earnestness.

Smiling wider, she pulled a small clip from her hair and placed it between them on the table. Outwardly it looked like an overly fancy hair barrette, one with a stylized flying animal of some sort at the top; upon seeing it, Gabriel leaned forward more. "You had no right to take it," he said, anger lacing each syllable. "This was not meant for you."

"Then you shouldn't have left it laying about, carelessly," she laughed as she pulled it away and slipped it back into her hair.

"I didn't," he replied, and then leaned back in his metal chair. Inclining his head, he looked at her anew. "Can I assume, then, our original arrangement has been voided?"

"That would be a safe bet," she said. Standing, she moved around her chair and placed her hands upon the back. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here. When the time is right."

"I told you before, we have no time for your personal vendetta--"

Eyes flashing, Lila cut him off. "From where I'm standing, you don't appear to be in a position to dictate terms."

Gabriel took his glasses off and very, very carefully, used an edge of his jumpsuit sleeve to clean one and then the other lense. "True," he said as he put the spectacles back on. "If you wish to excise your high school demons, I cannot stop you. But if I may provide some unsolicited advice?"

Lila nodded. "If it makes you feel better."

He looked at her directly, and Lila tried not to flinch. "These are not the teenagers you once knew. They are experienced. And they are quite capable of defeating you."

"People don't change," she scoffed, then smiled as she pulled the hairpin out once more, brandishing it under the poor lighting of the room. "And with a little encouragement, old grievances can be rekindled. Lines can once more be drawn."

Gabriel shook his head sadly. "That is not the path forward."

"I don't want to go forward," Lila fairly growled. "At least, not before I've put this behind me." Smiling once more as she slid the hairpin back, she added. "I have to thank you, Gabriel, for including me in your backup plan. For it's the only way I'd ever have had this opportunity."

Lila moved to the door and knocked, alerting the guard she was through. "You've given me the means to defeat those two infernally smug do-gooding heroes, and in a surprise bonus, access to the Cat and Bug Miraculous when I succeed." She smiled cruelly. "And I will succeed."

Continuing to shake his head, Gabriel was unsure of what he could say to the young woman whom fate had driven into his path. He'd accounted for a possible double-cross, of course, and would now need to set his backup-to-the-backup plan into motion. But he knew without a doubt that whatever machinations Lila had planned would be well underway by the time he'd taste outside air again.

Just before the guard opened the door, he finally broke the silence. "I won't wish you luck," he said grimly. "For you won't have it on your side."

"Won't I?" Lila said, eyes flashing dangerously. "They won't know what hit them until it's over." She paused for effect before adding: "If then."

With that, she was gone, leaving Gabriel alone in the space. He sat there, waiting for the guards to return him to his cell, and began to adjust his to the new reality he'd just been presented with.

And for the first time he could remember, Hawkmoth found himself actually rooting for Chat Noir and Ladybug to come out on top...