In the white and gold study, Emilie read the Ladyblog. "Young Mlle. Césaire is quite the amateur journalist. And you say that Ladybug is the Guardian, but how do you know?"

He'd forgotten how analytical his wife could be. "I was there when the previous Guardian passed the Miracle Box and the Guardianship to her."

She considered for a time. "Tomorrow, you and Nathalie are going to look for a suitable performer…"

.oO()Oo.

Ladybug leapt and swung across Paris toward a certain apartment, where a gentle tap on the glass very nearly earned her a punch in the face when Nora surged out ready to clean supervillain clock! Amazingly fast and quick, she still found herself bent over backwards, one hand in Ladybug's. After a forced walk back inside, she reluctantly sat down to listen.

"Before I start, can I trust you not to attack me again, or do I need to rope you up?" Ladybug asked, tone utterly serious.

Nora stiffened in outrage, "How dumb do you think I am!?"

"Um… dumb enough to attack a probable supervillain? One with completely unknown powers and abilities?" Alya said. She respected her sister's courage, and her physical prowess, but she was a bit too quick to go to the fist at times. "You wouldn't do that in the ring."

Nora snorted. "That's rich coming from you, miss intrepid reporter."

"There's a big difference: I try to record and report on supervillains, not fight them! You helped rally the citizens of Paris on Heroes' Day, and did everything you could to delay the akumatized, including me, and that was totally awesome and incredibly brave. But do you really think you could take a supervillain one on one?"

"Let's settle this the simple way," Ladybug said, and set her elbow on the table, hand open and raised.

Nora grinned. "You got it, flyweight," and took her position. "Alya says to go." Alya gave the word, and the contest was over in seconds. "I… get the point," she conceded. "OK, I'll keep it cool."

Good, Ladybug thought. That's one problem down. "I'm not sure I believe this, but Hawkmoth offered to give me his Miraculous."

.oO()Oo.

The alarm reached Marinette at a bit after 10 PM, and Ladybug reached Bois de Vincennes a few minutes later; the villain was easy to find, standing on the shore of the Ile de Bercy, backlit by the burning greenery. She was not alone; too bold for her own good as always, Nadja Chemack was on the scene, trying to get an interview.

"And here's the star of the show," declared the woman in the impossibly close-fitting royal blue tuxedo, gesturing gracefully with her tapered cane. "The Heroine of Paris, Ladybug," she declared in a tone of sincere delight. "Now all that's needed is her co-star," and as she spoke, a black-clad boy, there was no other word, fell onto the beach, landing gracefully as his staff retracted. "Cat Noir! Exquisite timing, my fine lad! And now, to introduce myself," she said. "But first," and she swept her cane in a broad arc as she spun, a spray of water quenching the flames, the greenery intact once the steam dissipated. Ladybug snared the cane with her yo-yo, pulled it in, and the woman snatched it out of thin air, leaving the heroine holding nothing. "That was positively rude, interrupting my introduction," she chided, then sang, "Mistress of magic, spells and illusion, enemies crumble in fear and confusion:" then back to speech, "Mandragora!" and when she struck her cane's foot upon the sand, the three vanished from the reporter's and her camera man's perception. "There. Now we have some privacy."

"So, what's your deal," Cat Noir asked.

Mandragoro grinned. "I'm actually just a messenger, empowered to get your attention. Hawkmoth wants to make a deal." The familiar outline appeared, and her voice shifted subtly. "Ladybug, I have an offer for you: I will give you my Miraculous, and that of Mayura. In exchange, you agree to cease your investigations into my true identity."

Her eyes narrowed. "And how do I know you'll keep your word?"

"I do not lie, Ladybug. Have I ever made a single false statement to anyone? Even to Mlle. Bourgeoise?"

"No," she reluctantly admitted. "So what's your plan?"

"Quite simple: Miss Alya Césaire will rent a post office box. Tomorrow, she will post the address on the Ladyblog at 10 PM precisely, then take it down not less than five minutes later, I will send the jewels to that address, and you will collect them from Miss Césaire. You will use the jewels to empower a rider and create a dragon to circle Paris and prove your receipt of them. I already know you can contact her at will."

"Please tell me you're not going to go along with this!" Cat Noir immediately said. "How can we possibly trust him?"

Ladybug nodded to that. "He's got a point: whatever else he is, he's not a liar as far as we've seen. He really does give people the power he promises." She knew that from experience, when she'd been briefly akumatized as Princess Justice. "And he's never hidden his goals. If we agree, we're not risking anything, not even Alya's safety. Except maybe disappointment if he reneges on his end."

Cat tried to consider that rationally. Logically, it made sense. But he hated the idea of Hawkmoth getting away clean. But if he didn't, Adrien would only be trading one heartache for a worse. He hated the idea of losing his father, and hated the idea of Hawkmoth just getting away clean. He couldn't bring himself to agree, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse, either, so, "It's up to you, m'lady."

Ladybug nodded. "Thank you." Then to Mandragora, "Agreed… but with one more condition. You stop trying to learn our true identities."

"Agreed," Hawkmoth said through Mandragora before the outline faded. The magician grinned. "Now the show's over," she struck again with her cane's foot, returning to the perception of others, "Could someone give me a lift to the bus stop? I don't have any special movement powers."

Cat Noir grinned. "I'll handle that. M'lady, you too. You go piggyback, I'll hold Mandragora." The others agreed, and a series of staff extensions and controlled falls took them back to the streets. From there, they could each reach their needed destination quickly and easily.

.oO()Oo.

"Oh, man. I heard about the fire, but…"

"But Dad flat-out ordered her to stay here. A supervillain on the street's one thing, a whole island on fire's another," Nora said. "I still had to sit on her to keep her here."

Ladybug giggled at that image. "Back on topic. Will you rent the box? I'll come by on Tuesday night to collect the Miraculous."

"No way, bug girl! It's way too dangerous!" Nora protested. "Everyone will know she's holding the Miraculous, every criminal in the city will be after her!"

"I'm not that dumb, sis," Alya shot back. "I'm just going to put the box address on the blog for a few minutes, not what it's about. And on Monday or Tuesday, I'll just be another person picking up a package."

"Maybe… but what happens when the twins get hold of them?"

Alya grinned. "That's easy. They can't use them without knowing the kwami's name and the transformation phrase, and nobody knows them. Not even Ladybug, right?"

Ladybug nodded sharply. "I've made a point of not learning them until the Miraculous are back in the box. No matter how much trouble they can be, the girls are still just little kids."

"Wait a second… How do you know that, sis?" Nora demanded.

Alya rolled her eyes. "Nora, you're not that dumb. The cameras at the Trocadero got every second of Chloé's total failure to transform into… Combo Queen or whatever."

Nora glared at both girls, but reluctantly nodded. "Fine. But I still don't like this!"

"I'll keep an eye out," Ladybug promised. "And I need to get going. Bug out!" and she leapt and swung in the wrong direction until out of Alya's sight.

.oO()Oo.

The evening of Emilie's return was… odd for Adrien. Having her back had him all smiles, even if she kept looking at him as if he were almost a stranger. Then again, he was a fast-growing teenager, so he could at least understand that. And she was going between those looks and genuinely warm smiles, and showing a genuine interest in his life and friends. Yet to his father, she was a chunk of Plutonian ice, so cold it burned. And though the dinner was excellent, if unusually simple, probably Mother's comfort foods.

As the dinner drew to a close, Emilie turned to face him. "Adrien, I'd like you to stay away from our rooms tonight. Go where you will, just not there. Your father and I need to discuss certain matters, and that might get a bit intense."

"Yes, Mother," he said, unable to hide his disappointment.

She gave him a warm smile. "We'll all be back on an even keel soon, Adrien. I promise you."

He managed a smile in return. Maybe he'd invite a few friends over.

.oO()Oo.

He didn't, not when the voices started to echo faintly through the house; instead, he put on his headphones for some online multiplayer UMS.

.oO()Oo.

"No more lies, Gabriel! What were you really after? And what's this garbage about a wish anyway?" Emelie demanded. The bedroom, in white and black and silver, was spacious and stark and severe as ever, and beautiful for just those reasons, but she saw none of that.

Gabriel drew himself to his full, and quite impressive, height, over 190cm. "The earrings of the Ladybug and the ring of the Black Cat can be combined to grant a single wish. Any wish. Mine would have been to have the Peacock never have been damaged, so you would never have fallen in that sleep."

Emilie just gasped. "You… you… Gabriel, that's impressive and actually pretty sweet, but… how could you possibly be so stupid! That plan could never work! THINK! You change the past, then what?"

"What else? We would come back to Paris to operate as Patang and Mayura, heroes of Paris."

"And then what? Gabriel, if you remove the reason to change the past, then how could you change it?"

He started to answer, then stopped, working it through slowly. If he repaired the Peacock before Emilie fell into her endless sleep, there would be no need to become Hawkmoth. But if he never became Hawkmoth, then he'd never be able to make the wish. His head started to hurt. "I… see your point."

She smiled slightly, sadly. "Oh, Gabriel. You could never have won, the very structure of the universe was against you. But we can still do good in the world: endow scholarships, create charities, and of course lead by example in choosing our suppliers and manufacturers."

He sat down on the bed. "I… see your point. I was a fool, I shouldn't hold the Moth."

"And I don't want to even think about holding the Peacock," she said with a shudder. "So as soon as we can, we send them to the Guardian. Where's my iPad?"