Thanks to ArtEngine for betaing!
It was in another language. Or a cipher. Or maybe the writer was just insane. Because of course her life couldn't be easy, what was the fun in that?
"Let's see… hm… this illustration looks like… gold, maybe? Where am I supposed to find that? Then again, Gabriel's so rich and gaudy, he probably has a gold-plated toilet laying around somewhere…" she muttered.
A familiar wire wrapped around her, sending her crashing to the floor. "Ladybug?" she asked, huffing. It didn't really hurt - akumas are nearly invulnerable - but being tied up still wasn't her idea of a good time.
"You gave us a good chase, but-" Chat said.
"Don't hurt her!" a tiny voice pleaded.
Ladybug paused, blinking. "Who said that?"
Nooroo flew into view. "She's not being controlled anymore!" he explained, wings fluttering excitedly, and then bubbles were coming out of his mouth. Ladybug and Chat Noir flinched, but Nooroo sighed and shook his head before the heroes could ask him what was happening. "Hawkmoth is tied up, detransformed and paused. She's trying to undo his akumatizations!"
"You're…" Ladybug looked at her, gaping, with something like hope shining in her eyes. "You're… free?"
Alya nodded. "Can you let me off the floor now? It's kind of cold."
Ladybug retracted her yo-yo, allowing Alya to haul herself up. "Thanks," she said gratefully. "You know I- I never wanted to fight you. Not really. I didn't have much choice. Whenever he brings us out a compulsion settles over us. It hounds us, getting stronger and stronger until we can't resist anymore, until we give in."
"I never thought you would attack us of your own free will," Ladybug said. "You stand up for what's good and right. You'd never side with Hawkmoth unless you had no choice."
Huh? "Did you know me? I mean, before Hawkmoth got ahold of me?" she asked.
Ladybug bit her lip, looking away. "Yeah. You- you were my biggest fan." She glanced at Chat Noir. "Well, second-biggest. If you hadn't urged me to fight, if you hadn't cheered me on, helped with taking down Stoneheart that first day… I don't know that I would be Ladybug today."
Ladybug sounded sincere, and she was pretty sure the superhero was telling the truth, but she got the distinct feeling that Ladybug knew her better than she was letting on.
Right. She could get to that later. Freeing everyone was her first priority.
"Do you think you could translate this?" she asked, holding out the Miraculous Grimoire (as Nooroo had called it). "Butterfly Butt used a ritual from it to allow him to permanently akumatize us. Nooroo said it should have the deakumatization ritual as well, but well… take a look for yourself."
Ladybug took the book, gently. "This book…" she murmured. "It belongs to-"
"It can't be him," Chat said fiercely. "We disproved that, remember Milady? That giant butterfly head appeared while we were watching Gabriel!"
"That's actually what clued me into his identity," Alya admitted. "Evillustrator mentioned that Hawkmoth made him create and puppeteer that thing, but he didn't know why. I thought about what Hawkmoth's possible motives might be, asked Nino-"
"He's not being controlled either?! He remembers who he is?" Chat asked eagerly, tail twitching.
"Neither of us remember," she said. "But both of us could feel something was wrong. I first found out that I wasn't the only one with doubts when I caught him resisting attacking you."
"I knew it!" he crowed, his tail wagging. She was beginning to wonder how much experience the catboy actually had with cat behaviors. "I thought- I hoped- I just couldn't see him giving into Hawkmoth without a fight. Giving in to-"
The color drained from his face. "It's- it's really him, isn't it? Gabriel Agreste?" He looked like he was about to be marched to the gallows.
She nodded. "I saw him detransform himself. He's still paused in his lair where I left him."
Ladybug scowled. "I knew something was shady about him! All that talk about the city needing to keep people back from the warehouse to stop the akumas from hurting any friends or family who wanted to try to bring their loved ones to their senses, his advocating for sending supplies to the warehouse to keep everyone who was kidnapped comfortable - he made it all sound like it was for everyone's good, when in reality, he just wanted help keeping his army fed and comfortable. An uncomfortable army is a rebellious army."
"So people were looking out for us? Trying to get to us?" She blurted out.
"You have no idea," Ladybug said. "The number of times that I had to stop Juleka from sneaking in to find Princess Fragrance…" she shook her head. "Turns out, being quiet and receding into the background a lot makes her good at stealth. I'm still not sure that I caught her every time, she was pretty adamant that the akumas could be reasoned with." She winced. "And it looks like she was right."
"If Hawkmoth found out she was sneaking in like that, I don't think any amount of talking would have made a difference," Alya said darkly. "He would've sicced us on whoever infiltrated the warehouse just to make an example of them."
"I want to see him," Chat said grimly. "I want to look him in the eyes and make him tell me why he did this, why he thought it was right or justified to tear people away from their families! He knows what that feels like, and still-!" Choking on his last words, he abruptly cut off.
Ladybug laid a comforting hand on Chat's shoulder. "We'll bring him to justice, kitty. He won't be able to hurt anyone anymore."
"Except for his son," Chat mumbled.
Ladybug's eyes widened. "Adrien! Oh crap he doesn't know."
"Is he still floating in that bubble Nino sent?" Alya asked curiously. "We'd wanted to get him out of the way so that we could use him as a bargaining chip. Animan volunteered to keep him out of the way while Nino got someone to call Gabriel."
Ladybug and Chat Noir both looked away, Chat rubbing the back of his neck. "That uh, that may not have gone entirely to your plan," Chat coughed. "I ran into Adrien as he was looking for shelter and let's just say, your father is having a nice time enjoying a 360 degree view of a classroom."
Wait. Hold up.
"My what now?!"
"Your father-" Chat said, puzzled. He blinked. "You have amnesia," he said slowly. "So you didn't know who Animan was?"
She shook her head numbly. "I- I just knew that I felt comfortable with him, and him with me. Safe and warm, like I hadn't been since I could remember."
She gave a sharp laugh. "He- he said he was old enough to be my dad." How true that ended up being…
Ladybug laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "You'll see him again soon, and this time, you'll be back in your normal shapes, not what Gabriel warped you into."
"Thank you Ladybug," she said, giving her a small smile.
"But Adrien-" Ladybug continued, frowning again. "This- this is gonna devastate him. His father was all he had left, especially after- after everything that's happened this year." She bit her lip.
"His father wasn't the only person he had left," Chat said, voice full of some deep emotion that Alya couldn't quite place, something sad and hopeful at the same time. "He hasn't really had a father for a long time. But he does have friends left, dear ones, even after Hawkmoth tried to take them away, akumatizing them one by one. He'll be okay, milady. Even after everything, he's not alone."
Taking a shaky breath, Ladybug gave Chat a wavery smile. "Thanks kitty-cat. And the two of us can help him as best we can. I can't stop Gabriel from being a supervillain, but I can let him know he's not alone. I- I know how valuable that is."
Chat gave Ladybug a soft smile. "I'm sure he'd love that, milady."
Alya got the distinct impression she was intruding on something private, something intimate. And also that these two really needed to kiss already.
She coughed into her hand. "I'll fire up the secret elevator."