Lila Rosi was living her best life— who else could possibly get a mysterious supervillain to do what she wanted besides her? And she actually modeled for the Gabriel Agreste in a photoshoot with his son. And she got the fashion designer himself to think she was the only trustworthy friend of his son's. Lila was basically the only person allowed to hang out with him.
She might as well have superpowers for how greatly Hawk Moth was willing to give them to her whenever she wanted. But unlike other Akumatized people she actually remembered what it was like. She wasn't mindless like them— she was different.
Sure, there was a little iffy period where she skipped school because Ladybug ruined her chances with Adrien Agreste— but even then she got away with not having to be in class all day. And he never said anything about it to anyone so he actually was all cool in her books.
People can't resist to hear what they like to hear.
And Hawk Moth was included in that.
At the end of her being Volpina again, tiring out the heroes on a wild goose chase before Hawk Moth sent out another akuma to try and finish them off, she told him:
"We should plan our attack at Ladybug more in advance. I bet we would at the very least come very close to winning."
"I'll consider it Volpina. Until next time."
Then she detransformed.
Hawk Moth lost, again . Like he always did. She basically expected him to lose at this point in time. It was pretty dumb in her opinion. Even though she hadn't been actively working against Ladybug for long she basically knew exactly how to bear her— but Hawk Moth was too full of himself to listen to her. She doubted he would seriously consider them working together more than just letting him akumatize her whenever he wanted.
But then he did actually consider it.
Lila Rossi wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't a butterfly squeezing its way through her bedroom window at six at night and flying into her computer.
That didn't mean she had no idea what to say to him however.
"Listen up Hawk Moth. There's a plan I want to try out to get Ladybug."
They have to play this smart and not just brute force it. Hawk Moth wasn't much for planning she had realized in the time they had this deal going on. That's where she was really good at. She could plan anyone's downfall if given enough time.
"Interesting." Hawk Moth stated. "Because I had a plan I was going to tell you."
"Well I want to do mine first. And mine includes very useful information you are not aware of that you'll definitely need to win. And in return I want to you to give me a set of subtle powers for me to use in my day life."
"You hold no power over me child ."
And yet she was the one on the frontlines doing all the dirty work.
"Then I won't help you anymore. And the idea I have will totally get her miraculous by the way."
It took a second for him to reply.
"Make it quick."
Exactly like she expected.
"I almost got Ladybug to give up her miraculous before— she totally has a crush on this boy at my school, when I made an illusion of him in danger she rushed to give me her miraculous, but Chat realized it was just an illusion— if it weren't one I bet I could get their miraculous." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that."
"You want me to kidnap someone?"
"Not just someone— the boy Ladybug has a crush on— I'll tell you his name, where he lives, his schedule, and even make it easy for you to get your hands on him. All you have to do is give me the power to—"
"—Out of the question." Hawk Moth sharply responded, interrupting her.
"But you didn't even listen to what I want!"
"The powers I give people are always based on how strong their emotions are and their desire. I could not give you the power of illusion or taking the form of someone you are not if falsehoods weren't an integral part of your being and tied to your anger."
Lila didn't know that— she's never even heard Ayla talk about it in all her chatter about superheroes and supervillains. Which meant she was getting a supervillain to spill their secrets. It also meant she didn't know if Hawk Moth could give her the power she needed if he wanted to.
"Fine. But what I wanted had to do with little fibs. You could definitely make it work."
"I still do not like your plan." Hawk Moth stated then he paused. She raised an eyebrow. It was foolproof— Ladybug would drop everything to save her crush. Then he finished by saying. "It's tactless."
Then she realized why he didn't like it.
"Aren't you supposed to be a supervillain— don't you want to beat Ladybug? You don't even want to know his name?"
And here she was thinking she was going to have to lie to him and pretend like she didn't also like him and had no intentions of dropping him off the edge of a building.
"I seriously doubt your so-called plan would work. I need both the ladybug and cat miraculous. Your plan only accounts for hers. Need I remind you of that time you had Chat Noir at your mercy and you went off chasing Ladybug! Her miraculous would be significantly easier to take if her partner was out of the equation. You do not get to insult my plans when you make calls like that."
"Like you're one to complain! You always—"
"Lila are you talking to your friends?" Her mother opened her door without knocking.
Instantly she froze for a second too long to hide it, and looked over at her mother having been caught in the act. Then she realized there wasn't any purple in the corner of her vision.
"Oh um— yeah, I was just talking to a friend, you kinda scared me opening the door that fast so I shut my computer."
Her mother seemed to accept that.
"Alright, dinner will be in fifteen minutes."
Then she left, the door gently clicking shut behind her.
There was an immediate rush of adrenaline that spiked through her head.
She had no idea Hawk Moth could drop his symbol before the person was akumatized.
"Oh— you enjoyed that don't you." Hawk Moth said, purple reappearing in the peripherals of her sight. "You can't lie to an empath. Getting as close as you can to being discovered without being uncovered, it gives you a rush."
And here Lila thought empaths were supposed to be good people.
"I totally knew what I was doing." She said. "I got my mom to think the school was closed down for three months because of all the akuma attacks."
"No, I understand. I've made close calls before for the sake of seeing if I could make them."
Lila wondered what he meant by that, or if he was just lying to her.
"Can't you just get me a burner phone or something."
"I will contact you when I want you. Not the other way around."
Then the butterfly was gone.
And she realized he never told her what his plan was— nor did she tell him Ladybug's crush's name. He just left mid conversation.
This was why she wanted a burner phone.
"Anything new?" Gabriel asked, when Lila Rossi stepped into his limo.
He had thought the Ladyblog interview with Lila Rossi was just foolish kids not thinking, but then she somehow convinced The Gorilla and Nathalie to let her into his residence without his permission to see his son and they both tried to hide it from him.
That wasn't just kids not thinking about what they say and put out there. There was real talent there.
Lila Rossi wasn't a compulsive liar. She was a pathological liar. The difference was compulsive liars lie because that's what they do, while pathological ones do so with intent and goals.
"Adrien moved seats again this class but this time it was so he could talk to Nino. I really think he's the reason why Adrien got an A minus for this week's geometry quiz."
Right now she thought she had Gabriel right where she wanted him, believing her lies.
What she didn't know was that Gabriel was the one using her. Planting subtle seeds so she would cause disturbances at school he could capitalize on. She almost told the city's supervillain to threaten to kill his son the day before, and now she was sitting here under the guise that she was protecting his child from bad influences. Lying about everything happening around Adrien's life.
Of course Gabriel knew from the start everything she was telling him was lies. He wasn't offended by that. That's not why he had made this deal with her.
Lila was someone who was willing to sell his child out to a supervillain who she didn't know would bluff about killing.
That was unforgivable.
"And Marinette, she totally was trying to listen into their conversation the whole time. I heard from her friend Alya that she has an absurd amount of pictures of Adrien in her room."
Did she even know the severity of what she's done?
"Sometimes she tries to talk to him when he's alone— like this time at lunch today— but I invited him over to sit with me and Ayla and Max so he wouldn't have to talk to her if he didn't want to."
He shouldn't have changed his stance on her around his son. As Hawk Moth, months earlier he had created an akuma with the specific intentions of scaring her away from Adrien forever. But the drive that led her to tell his creation— who was threatening her life— that she would only stay away from his son if he got rid of Ladybug was astonishing.
"I'm sure she didn't mean too much harm by any of that." Gabriel stated. A gentle nudge went so much further than a web of lies. "I've met Miss. Dupain-Cheng in person several times. She even won a school contest of mine."
But in the end she was more trouble than she was worth.
"No— she's way different in school, away from adults. I've already told you before how much she hangs off Adrien whenever she gets a chance— she's completely obsessive."
"Thank you for the update. I'll see you next week, Miss Rossi."
That didn't mean he couldn't use her as psychological warfare one last time.
Lila was seriously getting on Marrinette's nerves today.
Chloe was way less bad then her because at the very least she was always mean to everyone all the time regardless of situation or anything else. Everyone knew what kind of person she was. But for some stupid reason no one could see what kind of person Lila was and that she was lying about everything.
"It's not my fault I always get what I want." Lila whispered to her in the hallway before class.
"What are you talking about?" Marinette had immediately turned, alarmed by what she had said.
"You'll see."
Then she ran ahead and into the class before her.
Marinette ground her teeth. And slowly walked to her class.
When she got there Lila was sitting down next to Adrien with a smile.
"Oh hi Marrinette!" Lila happily said to her as if she didn't just vaguely threaten her in the halway. "It's so good to see you on time today!"
"Morning." Adrien greeted and gave a short wave as she walked by.
"Yeah hi great." She quickly said in return and rushed to her seat at the very back of the class.
Did she seriously mean to imply she was dating Adrien? His father would never allow that. Never mind the fact that Adrien knew she was a liar and wouldn't want to be with her because of it.
He just was dumb enough to think that she could change if he was nice to her or something.
At lunch break it was Alya who let her know what Lila had meant when she said she always gets what she wanted.
"Hey Marinette!" Alya had greeted. "Did you hear Lila is going to officially be modeling with Adrien this week?"
"Uh— what?"
"Yeah like those pictures she showed us before were from a test shoot and now she's going to start actually modeling new lines of clothes for his dad's company."
Sure, being mean to a bad guy didn't make them a good guy but rewarding their behavior didn't really make them not be bad either. Imagine if her and Chat stopped fighting Hawk Moth because being mean to him wouldn't make him good— that was just so stupid!
So now she sat in the bathroom— foregoing lunch completely. Frustrated out of her mind.
"It will be okay Marrinette." Tikki tried to comfort her.
But there was only so much a tiny floating god could do for a human, there were some things she really didn't understand.
"Ugh." She stomped her foot on the ground.
Finally.
"I sense… a kind soul greatly wrong by everyone around her!"
Dupain-Cheng would be perfect.
Hawk Moth almost had her, once. But Nathalie had fallen in wracking coughs behind him and he couldn't let her suffer. Princess Justice — he remembered calling her that.
Ostracized from her friends, expelled from the school. She would have had no one her age to trust— the strongest akumas were people who were wronged. Then, Gabriel could have had his son make friends with her— offer to pay her homeschooling— he would have gotten the miraculous and a promising new designer dedicated solely to him all in once sweep.
But Hawk Moth had nearly infinite second chances to get it right— unfortunately he had no Catalyst— she would unfortunately be his sole akuma, but a powerful one. Even if she failed, there was always next time.
It only takes the heros losing once for him to win forever.
"Fly my little akuma, and evilize her!"
He didn't have eyes and ears until the akuma made contact. Just feelings as to where to send it off to.
But his akuma didn't make it to the intended target. In a sharp bite his mind was connected to the wrong person.
"Hawk Moth, I am Lisa Rosi."
He let out a frustrated noise. Her again. If he had wanted her, then he would have gone for her in a less public area.
"I do not want you ." He sneered. "I want the Dupain-Cheng girl."
He removed his akuma immediately with a snap of his fingers. There was no telling how quickly her anger would fall, he had felt that happen twice before. Course correcting his butterfly, he sent it on it's correct path.
Only for his connection to it to be violently cut off with a sharp mental sting in his skull that caused him to wince and bring a hand to the side of his head.
It took him a moment to realize what had happened.
That girl had just killed his akuma. Completely baffled he stood there and came back to the room around him.
It was just an insect. He didn't particularly care that it died, but he did care about the message ending its lifespan sent.
Comply to her demands or she won't let his akuma's reach the intended target she said she would create. A bold statement that he would admire if it were directed at someone other than himself.
Hawk Moth came to a very quick decision.
"Dark wings fall."
Nooroo appeared in front of him, head tilted down. Gabriel knew that look.
"What is it Nooroo." He stated at the tiny god.
"Please don't tell me you plan on taking revenge on a child master?" It said to him.
"I'll give her enough rope to hang herself." Gabriel stated. He had been planning on doing so ever since she had mentioned his son's name to Hawk Moth. But apparently his Kawmi didn't pick up on that. Then he remembered the first time Lila was akumatized. "She's caused a lot of problems for a lot of people at her school, Ladybug herself seems to already hold a distaste towards her."
Gabriel would make it look like it was the heroes who had pulled one over him.
"So… you're not going to do anything bad to her?"
"Nothing unforgivable to the sensible." He stated, then looked at the fluttering insects. The butterflies had lost their glow without his transformation activated, despite their white they were hard to see in the dark. "But first I'd like to send a wordless message."
When Marrinette came back from the bathroom everyone was gathered around Lila Rossi's desk.
Her only thought was: great here we go again.
"I hate to hurt a butterfly but…" She overheard Lila speak in that fake teary voice of hers. "I just couldn't let it get to anyone else! And now my book is all yucky because of the bug guts…"
"Can I see!" Ayla said. "Just to make sure I have the story right— it'll be a good one for my blog."
Marinette raised an eyebrow.
What was she saying this time?
"Woah, nasty." Ayla said.
"For real." Nino commented.
"Shouldn't you like throw that thing in the garbage? I'm not an expert but touching that is probably not good for your health."
Did she seriously fake an akuma? She realized what they were talking about and stood from her seat.
Everyone knew trying to kill an Akuma was useless— they were always sucked into whatever object you were trying to squish them with instead. There had been an official announcement from the mayor and police not to try and kill butterflies because of how useless it was and because people had been squishing regular— not even completely white— butterflies. Marrinette felt bad for all the little bugs that were now associated with Hawk Moth.
"Oh Marinette." Ayla said, holding her phone in her hand. "Check this out girl— Lila killed an akuma!"
And a few people scooted out of the way so she could look too.
It didn't not look real. For one, it was an actual butterfly.
"I'm the one who saw Hawk Moth's symbol on her face." Adrien told her with a pressed look.
And he was the only other person in this class who knew she was a big huge liar. Which meant it was probably true. There wasn't any way to fake the magic effects Hawk Moth did before akumatization.
Marinette was absolutely flabbergasted.
You could reject a butterfly once it was already inside the object? How was it Lila of all people who managed to do that? What was she even upset about?
"Yeah apparently she's way tougher than she looks." Nino added.
"I could have totally done the same thing." Chloe said, sitting a desk over and crossing her arms. "I'm the Queen Bee after all."
Marinette turned around and sat back at her desk.
Something was weird about this situation. Actually, everything about it was weird. She just didn't know what it meant.
An akuma flew into her bedroom and landed on her closed computer. Just like Lila expected it to.
"You will not ever kill my akumas again." Hawk Moth immediately spoke in her head, no introduction, anger very present in his voice.
She smiled.
"Then let me make this very clear and simple, I want you to give me the power to make anyone believe what I say as long as it's directed at them. And I'll tell you about Ladybug's little crush."
"You do not call the shots in this deal."
"You know what I think." She said. "I think you don't want to learn his name."
"I don't like your plan. And I am not willing to compromise to anyone. This isn't how our arrangement works."
"I'm the one who made Marinette that upset to begin with. Without me you'll never get to her."
Hawk Moth didn't respond for a few seconds too long. Lila took that as a win on her part.
"Fine. Tell me his name."
She always got what she wanted in the end.
"It's going to be a familiar one if you ever leave your house. Adrien Agreste. He's a teen idol. And I happen to go to school with him, and his dad trusts me completely. I can get him away from his bodyguard and exactly where you want him to be."
"In return for borrowing my powers I need you to cause sufficient distress to Dupain-Chang. And I need you not to grab every akuma you see. If I want you, I will send one for you specifically."
Lila raised her eyebrows.
Did he seriously think that girl was a better option for an akuma then her? So much so he would try and push his plan first, again.
"We'll try my plan first, or else." She told him.
Hawk Moth wasn't seriously trying to pull one over her was he? He always lost to Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"Or what— you'll say I'm secretly a bad person? The horror." Hawk Moth patronized. "We're done here."
The black butterfly left her computer.
She quickly smashed it between her hands with a clap before it could make its way out of the window.
If he sent an akuma after her in revenge, Ladybug and Chat would just save her and then she could tell everyone about it. It wasn't like he'd do anything else, she figured him too much of a coward to even try and actually kidnap Adrien after all.
The next day at school Marinette was greeted halfway through class by Chloe standing up dramatically with a screech from her chair and pointing to the window.
"Oh my gosh— this is horrible!" She yelled.
Marrinette rolled her eyes, except when she did look to where she was pointing she realized Chloe wasn't being dramatic.
White butterflies.
Hundreds of white butterflies. All gathered in the center of their school yard.
If this did not scream Hawk Moth then literally nothing did.
Everyone in the classroom had an immediate reaction to seeing the butterflies outside, and quickly the classroom was a mess of talking and disruptions.
Marinette knew she could control ladybugs too, but most of the time it was only the magical ones created by her miraculous. After all, having a hoard of the little bugs flying around her room or window or near her would be a dead giveaway of her identity.
But why at her school? Had he figured it out? She thought with a spike of nervousness.
"Everyone stay calm. Stay inside the classroom." Miss. Bustier instructed.
Lila, predictably, looked very scared and was clinging onto Adrien who mostly looked like he wanted get out of here as soon as possible. But something was wrong about how scared she looked, Marrinette just couldn't put her finger on it.
"They are just regular butterflies according to my analysis." Stated Max.
"What!" Chloe exclaimed. "You seriously cannot see a hoard of thousands of white butterflies and not immediately think something hasn't gone horribly wrong somewhere or is about to go wrong right here right now!"
Marrinette hated to say it but she agreed with Chloe.
"Should we evacuate?" Adrien asked.
"We don't know if they're dangerous or not. Maybe we should all stay inside." Lila added.
"Well it looks like other classes are being let out." Ayla said and pointed out the window. "Look! They all seem fine?"
Nothing was happening to the students leaving the other classrooms. They were just regular butterflies, but that didn't mean they weren't a bad omen.
"Let's treat this like an Akuma attack then. All of you go home immediately, and your schoolwork will be emailed to you to complete at home." Miss Bustier said.
Then people started to leave the classroom. First one out the door was Ayla, practically running out past everyone else. Marrinette tried to keep her cool and speed walk to the out of the class and down the stairs.
Marrinette immediately stood behind a pillar and opened her purse.
"Tikki!" The red kawami appeared looking up at her from her bag. "Butterflies everywhere, not good."
"They're just regular ones though." She tilted her head.
"Yeah but there here— in my school!"
"If Hawk Moth knew who you were wouldn't he just break into your house while you were sleeping and steal your miraculous then?" Tikki questioned.
And that did make a lot more sense than whatever was happening here.
"But what does this all mean then?"
She took a look around the pillar to see what was going on. Some people had started to look significantly less afraid when there wasn't immediately impending doom like with most akuma attacks. A few of them didn't look like they were heading home at all.
And Ayla was blogging this. Of course.
Marrinette moved from her hiding spot and approached her listening to her talk to her phone.
"Did you know the type of butterfly Hawk Moth makes into his akumas are the West Virginia white— native to only America. Which means somewhere in Paris, Hawk Moth must have a greenhouse filled with thousands of these!" Ayla live blogged, recording herself. "Look at them all!"
She then turned the phone around to face the school courtyard.
Marrinette never really thought of the logistics of Hawk Moth using one specific species of butterfly until now. She wondered why he chose this one and not one that was found in France. White butterflies didn't exactly instinctively scream evil supervillain, but then again no butterfly really did.
"Do you think he just… tripped and fell and accidentally released them all?" Marrinette asked, approaching her side.
"Not unless he has a secret lair under our school. And probably not seeing as it looks like they're all concentrated specially here. None of them are leaving the area."
"But why here? I mean— if they aren't acting like regular bugs then that must mean Hawk Moth is making them be here."
"Well… maybe it has something to do with Lila being close to Ladybug and all. Like a show of power?"
Marinette didn't even think of that. Probably because she wasn't actually friends with her. She didn't really think of Hawk Moth targeting her might mean anything different than trying to akumatize her.
Hawk Moth would be sorely disappointed if this was supposed to scare Ladybug in some way. Like some sort of wordless threat that he knew who her best friend was and where she went to school. But if it was that then he probably would have done it sooner.
"Or maybe it's to get back at Lila for killing one of his akumas the other day." Ayla added.
Marinette raised her eyebrows. She had forgotten about that. This was still a really weird way to get revenge on someone— if that's what it was. She looked out at all her classmates who weren't making their way home.
Chloe was jumping and trying to look up at the rooftops. Likely looking for Hawk Moth himself she realized. But Marinette knew he wouldn't be here. He didn't really do public appearances— because that was basically the one thing preventing herself and Chat from taking his miraculous and unmasking him.
She looked over at the classmates who weren't too cautious of the situation, the ones who had walked up to the center of the gathering of little fluttering bugs.
There were so many of them it was like they were standing under flowering trees on a windy day and the little bugs were the petals.
More than a few of the butterflies had taken to landing on Adrien, who looked to be curious about it with Nino laughing by his side. And Marinette was not going to lie to herself— it looked like a picture from a fairytale except Adrien was the princess. But Lila was also standing next to him, of course. Ruining the picture.
She didn't look too happy.
Marinette kept an ear out to try and hear what they were saying.
"Hey Adrien… maybe we should leave?" Lila spoke.
"You can leave if you want Lila." He responded.
"But what if the butterflies do something bad to you?"
"They're just bugs. Not akumas dude." Nino told her.
"But why are they landing on you in particular? Isn't that suspicious?"
Aidren looked to be in thought for a moment.
"Maybe you're like a bug whisperer dude." Nino said.
"I think… if he was going to do something bad to me wouldn't be as harmless as this. Maybe there's…" Adrien trailed off. "Maybe it's for you?"
It seemed like everyone was coming to the conclusion that this event— whatever it was— was Lila Rossi instigated. Of course, because she apparently wasn't making her life hard enough.
"Oh— but now I really don't want to go home alone, what if something happens to me!" Lila said and put her hand on Adrien's arm.
Then all at once the butterflies stopped being contained in the invisible square and flew up and away from the school— suddenly acting like regular bugs they scattered to the wind in every direction.
"Woah." Ayla said, recording them leave. Then she put her phone away and walked up to the three of them. "I'm sure Ladybug will protect you. She always beats Hawk Moth— you can't show him you're scared girl that's probably what he wants."
Except there was not going to be Ladybug following her around and protecting her at every moment because they weren't actually friends.
Marrinette turned sharply and made her way home. Whatever they were talking about now didn't matter, she told herself. Hawk Moth's whatever this was, was over and now she had to be Ladybug and try to figure out what was going on. All she really did know was it probably had something to do with Lila Rossi.
It was Chat Noir who messaged her about the situation first.
Chat Noir:
Did you see the news about Françoise Dupont?
Ladybug:
Yes. It's a weird move, there were no akumas. I wonder what it means.
Chat Noir:
I hope it doesn't mean what I think it means.
She paused. Did he have an idea somehow? Maybe he had seen something she didn't see. Been on the outside instead of inside like she had been.
Ladybug:
What do you mean by that?
Chat Noir:
Don't think I can tell you about worst case scenario yet and it's definitely not out of the question. But I talked about it with Plagg. He thinks more likely it might have something to do with what was posted on the Ladyblog yesterday. Apparently one of the students that go there rejected Hawk Moth and killed an akuma.
Marrinette clenched her jaw. She didn't bother to read whatever Ayla said on the situation yet— but she would bet it was the long version of what Chat just said.
But what was the unmentioned worst case scenario? She wondered. That implied he did know something that wasn't already being passed around all of Paris by now.
Ladybug:
I'll keep an eye out.
Gabriel would need a plan where Ladybug and Chat Noir see Lila Rossi was working with him, willingly.
Which meant he would have to create a situation where the two heroes would find out he wasn't working entirely alone. Not that he would consider Rossi a working ally like Nathalie, but they didn't need to know that.
Perhaps it was about time to exploit Ladybug and his Adrien's mutual crush on one another.
A few times he's thought about it, but he felt as if it were too much of a gamble. It might be too suspicious if he pressed Adrien on his crush. Logistically it would be difficult for Ladybug to entertain her crush for him considering the mask. She was far more cautious with her secret identity than he originally thought she would be.
He's never even thought about akumatizing his son before. Never entertained that idea for even a moment. If he found out Gabriel was Hawk Moth it would be an unforgivable action. He almost gave up this whole thing when Style Queen had turned him into a statue. Maybe he could say that was an accident but— choosing who gets akumatized has almost always been completely under his control.
However he wasn't truly going to do that— just talk.
First as Gabriel he would speak to his son about his new friend Lila, acting suspicious of her. Then he would send out an akuma to Adrien and lay out the idea that Hawk Moth was working with someone and wanted another person to work with, imply the first to be Lila Rossi by having her be accidently caught speaking with him. Then he would have an akuma attack him so Ladybug would have to save him, that is when he hoped Adrien would pass on the news. After that, all he has to do is allow the girl to be caught conspiring with him. Ladybug and Chat Noir would do the rest of the legwork.
Perhaps he'll even give into her demands to prove it wasn't a one sided connection but a working arrangement.
If his son was anything like him, then even if he refused to work with Hawk Moth he would grasp at any straws to unearth his plan, pretend to consider it— just for a little bit.
In the unexpected event where Adrien agreed to help Hawk Moth, even better. In that case he'll be able to reveal his identity to his son, he can stop hiding from him, putting up the front of a recluse.
The best laid plans are ones that succeed even when they fail.
Typically, his son kept one of his windows open, but not today— that was the first thing Gabriel noted when he stepped into his room.
The second thing he noted was that his son didn't feel surprised to see him— usually he felt some slight surprise whenever he came to him in his room.
"Adrien. I would like to speak with you about something." Gabriel said.
"Of course father."
"Your new friend Lila Rossi." Adrien immediately looked up. "Have you ever seen her… talking to herself?"
"No?" He said and pushed his eyebrows together, looking and feeling very confused. "Why?"
"It is likely nothing but… before I spoke to her about a photoshoot, in the hallway I overheard her speaking to herself. Natalie always takes her phone before she's let into my house. There were pauses where I believe someone might be speaking back although I heard nothing."
Adrien gave him another confused look, and didn't respond.
"Perhaps my… paranoia is getting to me. If you haven't seen anything then I'll let her remain as your friend and keep her as a model."
He didn't seem too upset by the admission that Gabriel was thinking of not allowing him to see her anymore. It was only now that he realized Rossi might be lying about being a good friend to him. But if that were that case and Adrien didn't like her at all, he likely would have told Gabriel by now.
"Oh um… alright." Adrien said, then he trailed off. "I thought you were…"
He didn't immediately speak his mind, so Gabriel prompted him to.
"Thought I was what?"
Still, he paused a long moment before answering. He was slightly anxious about something.
"I just thought you came here to talk about what happened in school today."
Perhaps it was odd that his protective father would say nothing about the strange action from the city's supervillain that had been passed around the news all day. He's almost taken him out of public school for less.
"If it were anything harmful I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir would have shown up and taken care of it." Gabriel said.
He felt a spike of anxiety from his son at that statement— but his face didn't show anything different than how he typically looked. Adrien was schooled perfectly, only showing what he wanted to show.
Then Gabriel remembered his windows were closed today. Perhaps he was scared that Hawk Moth might target him because of what happened at school. Although he didn't understand why he would think that, he's never taken any hostage before, and that time the Gorilla had been akumatized and grabbed him, he didn't really seem too scared about being hurt.
"Okay." Adrien responded.
And Gabriel just had to accept that, he couldn't push him to answer based on the things he felt from him only because of the butterfly miraculous.
"Don't talk to me now!"
Lila was at a photoshoot. They only ever had them in intervals of an hour— that included dress up and hair and makeup— meaning the actual photoshoot only ever took fifteen minutes. Gabriel had said something about not overworking kids when she asked for a longer one, but sitting for pictures was hardly work by any means. It was more fun than anything else.
"I will speak with you whenever I want." Hawk Moth said. "Besides, I've changed my mind."
"You sent thousands of butterflies to my school."
She looked over her shoulder, no one was looking. Lila wondered if the villain could see out of her eyes or if he could only do that when he fully akumatized people.
"An oversight on my part." He responded. Which wasn't much of an apology if that's what it was supposed to be. "Although I hoped you understood my wordless message. I'm willing to give you powers for your personal use."
"Well that's great, but talk some other time."
The purple disappeared from her vision.
At least he had the brain to know she wasn't saying anything if she didn't want to. Again, this was why she wanted a burner phone or something like that. Scheduled meetings in person would also be cool but Hawk Moth has only ever been seen twice by the public in the year he's been out and about chasing Ladybug and Chat Noir and failing at every turn. He had a better chance now with her on his side and she hoped he wasn't dumb enough to miss that and take her for granted.
"Lila?" Adrien questioned from behind her. "Are you… alright?"
"Huh?" She quickly turned around. "Yeah I'm totally fine, I just wanted a longer break. Thanks for worrying about me so much."
He pressed his eyebrows together.
"Alright." Adrien said, and turned away.
Another close call.
The akuma left her bracelet and lost its dark color. Maybe Hawk Moth can see what she sees if he could tell when a good moment to leave is.
Except Adrien then looked back and his eyes shifted away from her for a second, and he blinked twice before looking down.
"Let's get back to the photoshoot. My father hates when things are running late."
He didn't realize what had been happening at all.
She smiled.
Getting as close as you can to being uncovered without being discovered. She remembered Hawk Moth say.
"Of course— I'd just hate to disappoint him."
Talking to Adrien as Hawk Moth would be strange.
He called a butterfly to his open hand and gently covered it with the other, infusing it with his power.
Then he sent it off without a word. Watching it flutter out the window then down to the house below. Really, there wasn't anything he could say. He knew Adrien was worried about something ever since his wordless stunt at his school. This would only fuel that flame.
But it had to be done.
"Adrien Agreste." He stated into his mind.
"Please no."
Hawk Moth winced at the sharp emotional distress his contact caused. Adrien was desperately afraid of him. More so than when he had been grabbed by an akumatized version of his bodyguard and dropped off the edge of a building.
"You haven't even heard my proposal." Emotionless, Hawk Moth said.
It almost felt like someone else was doing the talking for him, he was letting his persona carry him away. With Adrien's emotions seeping into his bones it was hard to act with a sane mind.
"Whatever it is you want I won't give it to you." Adrien responded firmly— stronger then he's ever heard him respond to anything before. Then with a stubborn growl he told him. "Get out of my head."
In some strange way he was proud of Adrien for being so strong against him. For not giving in. Of course he couldn't be mad at him for it when he was completely unaware of who Hawk Moth was and why he was doing what he did.
"I'll be upfront about this then." He told him. "I need to use you because I know for a fact Ladybug has romantic interest in you. In return I'll let you request to use my powers— if accepted freely you'll have full control of your actions. Split yourself in two, be able to spend time with your friends and keep up appearances doing everything dear old dad wants."
Gabriel didn't have to delve hard into his head to know what he wanted.
"Ladybug… likes me?"
That was what he addressed first?
"All I need from you is to get her to a specific time at a specific date."
"No. I won't do it."
He felt a push of refusal back at the front of his head.
"Trying to force me out won't change anything. I'm not going to akumatize you Adrien. I'm just talking." He stated in a low voice, dragging out the last word. "You wouldn't be the first I've made such an arrangement with."
His son picked up on his insinuation immediately.
"You're… working with someone else."
"Someone just like you. I make friends in all sorts of places for all sorts of reasons. She gives me the perfect subjects to akumatize and you'll deliver me Ladybug herself. In fact, she's the one who revealed Ladybug's affection for you to me. But remember this isn't a one way deal, you'll get something out of it as well— you get to make the choice, call the shots. For once be the one in control of what you want."
"My answer is no Hawk Moth." He responded. "And you're a fool to tell me as much as you have."
His Adrien picked up on that then. Bragging about winning was more of a trait of his mother however, Gabriel would have never revealed his enemy was releasing too much information.
He promised himself he would make up for this, one day.
"My dear, that's only because no one will ever believe you."
Then he let the butterfly go.