Silence stretched as seconds, then eternities went by. Chat Noir breathed in, and out, and in, staring at his father. Gabriel was studying his face, expressionless. He made no comment, offered no comfort, just waited.

The boy looked up at the ceiling, taking a deeper breath of air.

He had expected something else. He had expected his father to have some kind of reason for his actions. He had hoped for explanations such as 'it was for the greater good', 'I was left without a choice', something . Not just 'I settled for cold-blooded murder'. Not that. Then again, his father was a liar, and there was no telling how many pieces were missing there.

Adrien would never know.

"Okay," he squeaked. "Okay."

Gabriel pursed his lips, sighed, and joined him, patting him on the head just the once. Warmth spread through his son at that unexpected gesture of comfort.

"I told you to drop it," his father murmured, with a trace of sadness in his voice. "I told you there was no point discussing the past."

" I see a point," Chat Noir retorted. "It is important history. It's… I…"

He opened and closed his right hand, the one he used for Cataclysm. He would never be tempted to make the same choice, he knew that. He could not wrap his mind around the idea.

"What happened?" he asked. "What were the circumstances? It was Hawk Moth, wasn't it?"

Gabriel sighed and sat next to him on the table. His fingers drummed on the polished wood. He wet his lips, swallowed so hard Chat Noir could hear it.

"It was Hawk Moth," he confirmed. "As for the circumstances, well… Our team was not performing well that day. Anne-Lau… Queen Bee was something like two months pregnant with severe morning sickness, Ladybug was unavailable. Hawk Moth saw an opening. He joined the fight, let his evilized victim handle us, and took a hostage. Then he prattled for hours. You know how villains are."

There was an attempt at humor there, but it fell flat. Unsurprisingly.

"I have nightmares about Cataclysm," Adrien said. "Sometimes, I just… I dream of accidents ."

His father sighed, his breathing a bit shaky, then nodded. Chat stared at the floor.

"How do you get to the point where using it on someone is acceptable? I don't get it!"

"And you never will , boy," Gabriel replied, putting a hand on his shoulder, while Adrien kept looking into the distance. "You are a good person. I am not. It's as simple as that."

Adrien's eyes snapped to his.

"Yes you are!"

"We met three times, Chat Noir," his father retorted. "Also, you eat the magical red goo your enemies throw at you. You have a very optimistic outlook on… everything. You are inclined to see the what little light someone has before you see their darkness. That's good. However, sometimes, the shadows outweigh the brightness. I get that you are curious, that I am your predecessor, that you would prefer to see the good in me… But If you want to know what kind of person Chat Noir should be, I am not the example you should look at. I should never have been given that ring."

"How can you say that?" Adrien exclaimed. "You had it for ten years. You were a hero for ten years. You couldn't have been out here, fighting evil, protecting the world, without goodness in you. And - if the internet is anything to go by - you had a wife who adored you, you have a son who loves you. You can't be that bad."

Gabriel collapsed into laughter. He tried to stifle it and ended up with a coughing fit. When he managed to breathe again, he shook his head.

"There is such a thing as bribing journalists." - He chuckled again. - "I was a terrible husband. I'm a terrible father. And I would not have called myself a hero. I am a good businessman . I built my company not thanks to my talent as a designer, but through to my willingness to do what it takes to climb to the top. You need character traits that are in no way heroic."

Chat Noir frowned. With the costume on, he was in no position to refute the 'terrible father' assessment. While there was some truth to it, the teenager felt like there was a difference between being bad at something and behaving horribly on purpose. Gabriel was a liar and a bit of a coward. If dragged out of his comfort zone, he lashed at you with ice and steel. But those were flaws he was aware of, and he had been trying to overcome those traits, over the last few weeks.

Maybe it was a little late, and maybe the attempts were not perfect, but there was intent. There was hope.

Not that 'Chat Noir' could say that out loud.

"Your flaws don't erase the good you did," he pointed out.

"We were discussing my attempting to murder an enemy in cold blood."

Adrien's mouth slammed shut.

Right .

"You ask how one can get to the point where the notion of using Cataclysm on another person becomes acceptable," his father said, staring at the wall. "I never got to that point. I started there. When you are detached enough to be able to think in terms of return on investment, risk mitigation and acceptable losses about human lives, you cannot be a hero. That is when you should surrender the ring, not obtain it."

"Soldiers think like that," the teenager commented.

"So do mercenaries, which would be a better description of the kind of Chat Noir I was."

"We don't exactly get paychecks. You can't be a mercenary if you have nothing to gain. What would you even… Oh," Adrien finished, realizing exactly what kind of reward his father had received for his efforts as Chat Noir: his partner's heart. "Did you even care about helping people?"

"I did. To some extent. I cared about results more than I cared about the mission, and I cared about the mission more than I cared about the helping. But I did."

Chat Noir nodded, letting their entire discussion sink in. He did not know what to think. Was he being too lenient on account of Gabriel being his father? Ladybug had not taken Tikki's revelations kindly.

"Did you free the hostage?"

"Yes."

Adrien nodded and swallowed.

"Was that when you… When… I mean-"

"Yes."

The boy took a shaky breath and turned his tongue in his mouth until he felt he could move it properly.

"W-what happened?"

His father hesitated. For a minute or so, he didn't speak, looking to the side and considering his options.

"I hit his armor. I thought it would… As it turns out, Bella is more powerful than an exhausted Plagg. There was a lot of damage to Hawk Moth's suit, but he was unharmed, and he had another minion lying in wait to rescue him. They both escaped."

"A-and you feel no remorse. Not even now?"

Gabriel mulled over his answer.

"No," he ended up replying. "I'm perfectly aware that I should, and that I am morally corrupt. I know what I did was wrong, but I do not feel that it was."

His son shivered, then shook his head and composed himself. He smiled.

"Can I ask you something?"

The question got him a quizzical look followed by a frown.

"I'm listening?"

"Can you promise me that you will let master Fu handle things, if you locate Hawk Moth?"

"Did I not already tell you I would inform the Kwamis of his identity?"

"You said that. I want a promise."

"I promise. In case you don't remember, I have old bones and a distinct lack of superpowers. What else could I do?"

Chat Noir nodded, though he knew a lie when he heard one.

He jumped to his feet and stretched, keeping his back turned to his father. He put his hands on his hips and tried to keep his voice casual when he spoke again.

"You know, I met your son, once or twice. After the Bubbler fight, and when that monster attacked his school."

The only answer he received was chilly silence. He turned to Gabriel.

"He'd be worried to know you're doing… this," the young hero said, gesturing at the room. "You know that, right?"

"Your point being?"

"My point being keep that promise . You might be a 'terrible dad' but you're the only one he has. I don't think he'd want you in danger. So think about him, okay?"

"Don't worry, Chat Noir. I always think of my son. On that note, once again , people in glass houses should not throw stones. Think of your parents, will you?"

###

Ladybug sat on the edge of the roof, above Pat Messmer's office, and waited.

She had no idea what she was doing there. By all means, she should have been home. The fight with Grenadine was over, the city was safe, Ladybug was no longer needed. Marinette had to devise a way to reapologize to Adrien, this time without angering him more. That would take skills she did not have, and there was no going to Alya for tips. How did one explain having reacted to information only one's secret identity knew?

Instead, she had found herself checking on the previous Chat Noir, worried as she was that he could do something terrible. Each fight against a supervillain was a chance for him to locate Hawk Moth and she knew they could not let that happen. Someone would die.

She had arrived in sight of his 'secret lair' just in time to see the lights of the office turn on. A second later, Chat Noir had dropped from the roof and entered the building through the window.

Ladybug had been waiting since then.

She hated the idea of Chat interacting with Gabriel Agreste. It was not that she believed he could corrupt Chat, but he could hurt him. It would do her friend no good to get to know him better: it could only stain the picture of 'Chat Noir, the hero' the teenager had imagined. Agreste was all sharp edges, darkness and ice. The man lived on cold hatred and plans for revenge, and he made her skin crawl.

Marinette had not forgotten a word of Tikki's story.

"You have to understand that Gabriel was always efficient ," the Kwami had explained. "He was a strategist, and a cautious one. If he could not win, he did not play. And - as I just told you - he was not evil… but he was ruthless. He was perfectly willing to do whatever it took to accomplish his duties, which meant shouldering the guilt and consequences of his every decision. Now, he and Alice were a good team. Gabriel was rarely put in situations that left him with no choice, but it did happen."

"Like when he tried to kill Hawk Moth?"

"That… That was different," Tikki had murmured. "He had options, but he went for what he saw as the best possible outcome, and his sense of priorities is not yours nor mine. I think he always believed taking Hawk Moth out was necessary. Gabriel is unforgiving. But he never acted on that belief because he did not feel it was worth it. Then came a point where the benefits outweighed the costs."

Marinette had shivered.

"There's no 'best possible outcome' where you murder someone. You find another way. There's always another way. It's never worth it!"

Tikki had flown up to her, nodding.

"I agree. But he could not see it, and the circumstances were difficult."

"So what happened?"

The kwami had sighed and landed on Marinette's bed.

"Alice was pregnant. Obviously, she had been avoiding the battles. Chat Noir and Queen Bee did the heavy lifting, and Ladybug showed up at the end to purify the Akuma. Hawk Moth realized what was going on. He engineered a situation where all three of them had to intervene, then joined the fight and captured Ladybug."

"He got the Miraculous?" the girl had gasped.

"One of the two earrings. Alice swallowed the other one. That led to… threats, among other things. But Hawk Moth thought he had won and he got carried away rubbing that victory in Alice's face. In the meantime, Chat Noir had tracked them down and managed to sneak into Hawk Moth's headquarters. It was a warehouse. I watched Gabriel climb up to the beams, and make his way to us."

Marinette had frowned at that.

"So he was there, and Hawk Moth was threatening his pregnant wife. Did he go berserk? Is that what happened?"

Tikki had shaken her head, regretful.

"No. No. If he had, Kappa and Waspp would have considered letting him keep the ring. But the truth is it was not taken from him just because he tried to kill Hawk Moth. He was not the first to hero try and he won't be the last. It is the way he did it."

At that point, Marinette had realized how silly thinking he could have flown into a rage had been. The man was deadly set on controlling his emotions. Every time she had met him as Ladybug, she had felt the hatred and malevolence right under the surface, carefully kept in check. As for the Gabriel Agreste she had interacted with as an intern, she was not sure he actually existed. Much of his warmth and pleasantness had come from his desire to attach a promising young talent to his company. It had been business to him.

"He dropped down," Tikki had explained. "Behind Hawk Moth, without being seen. He walked to him while he was talking to Alice, then stopped to listen for a moment more. He thought about it. And then he slowly, quietly raised a hand and grabbed the back of Hawk Moth's head."

That was all Marinette needed to know.

Tikki could say that mister Agreste was not evil, but her chosen did not agree with that assessment. Her kwami was attached to the man. He had been the previous Ladybug's partner and husband. Tikki had lived in their home, had been close to them, and she still cared.

Marinette was not blinded by affection. As far as she was concerned, there was a line between good and evil, and deliberately attempting to kill someone crossed it.

She did not understand how he had been allowed to just walk away after that. So the Miraculous had been taken away. Tikki had forgiven him. His wife had not left him. She had let him be present in Adrien's life, even though the way he treated his son could only be described as neglect. He nearly murdered a man, and everyone else had swept that 'detail' under the rug.

And now he was trying to find Hawk Moth.

Ladybug knew Agreste wanted their enemy dead. She was not stupid. What she did not know was what to do about it. He would never talk to her, especially not while she was wearing his wife's costume. Stalking him was pointless. Chat got through to him, but she wanted her friend nowhere near his predecessor. But Chat Noir was kind to everyone, and he was curious, and she had to trust him to make his own decisions.

Someday soon, they would have to discuss how mister Agreste was likely planning an execution. Marinette had promised Tikki not to discuss Gabriel's past actions, but the present was something else entirely.

In the meantime, she could only wait and worry while her friend talked to the man.

More than one hour went by before Chat Noir finally left the building. She chased after him, joining him on a neighboring roof.

The look on his face wrenched her heart.

Of course, as soon as he noticed her, he grinned and stopped.

"Stalking the strange old man, m'lady?" he joked.

"Kind of. I saw the lights were on. And then I spotted you going in. I figured I would wait for you."

He breathed in, his expression flickering as if he would have prefered for her not to have done so, but he kept smiling.

"I gave him your letter," he said, his voice casual. "He'll see it it can help the detectives he hired. Also, he gave me constructive criticism on the fight with Grenadine. Lots of it."

"Useful criticism?"

"Definitely."

Ladybug nodded. Chat rocked on his heels. There was a lull in the conversation.

"Also, we talked about what he did," he announced. "There is that."

"Oh, Chat ," Marinette exclaimed, squeezing his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, don't worry. It was nothing I didn't expect. It's just… heavy, you know?"

She nodded.

"I know. I heard the story from Tikki."

Her partner sighed, looking to the sky, unblinking. She waited and waited, but he did not answer, so she coughed and tried to revive the conversation.

"He will try again," she commented, gesturing at the hideout's building. "That's what all of this is is about."

Chat Noir clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"I know."

"Then we have to stop him!" Ladybug exclaimed. "That's -"

"Don't worry about it," her partner cut in. "Let me deal with that. It will be fine."

"What?"

Chat smiled, the sadness clear on his face.

"It will be fine. He won't actually do it."

"I… I wouldn't be so sure of that," Ladybug murmured. "He is driven."

Her partner shrugged.

"I know. He still won't do it. I'm sure he believes he will, and I'm sure he has the skill and the means. It won't matter in the end. He'll see the flaws in his thinking. Trust me on this. I know people like him. My whole family is like that."

She winced. Chat had never discussed his family (just as she had never talked about hers) but, considering his sunny personality, she had always thought he was surrounded by warm, cheerful (and most likely obnoxious) people. It chilled her a little to realize he was not that lucky.

"I… Alright. I'll still keep an eye on him, though," she replied.

Her friend nodded.

"I'll try to nudge him in the right direction," he declared. "And if he does not come to his senses, well, I can still threaten to tell his son. That would make him hate my guts, but I'm pretty sure it would work." - He looked around and frowned. - "I have to run. I should have been home hours ago, I'm going to be in caaaaatastrophic trouble."

He grinned and bowed, then ran to the edge of the roof and waved.

"See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, kitten! Careful on your way home. Don't taste weird goo on the way!"

"AAAAAGH. I'm never going to live that down, will I?"

"Nope. I'm going to milk that one for a long, long while."

"I'll let you know it was jam."

"It was magical villain-made jam. And it was on the ground anyway."

"I'm. Super. Late," Chat replied, sticking his tongue out. "Bye, my lady!"

And he jumped.

Ladybug sighed, walking to the edge of the roof and staring into the distance. 'Trust me on this'. It was easier said than done. She could not trust Gabriel . She spent the next ten minutes turning and twisting the problem in her head. She got nowhere.

In the end, she was snapped out of her thoughts by repeated flashes of light coming from the street underneath. She looked down and spotted a woman waving at her, her phone in her hand, the flashlight turned on and pointed up. Marinette wrinkled her nose, curious, then lowered herself down to the street with her yoyo.

The stranger joined her, heels clicking on the pavement. Ladybug scowled when she recognized her: it was Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste's assistant. The woman clasped her hands behind her back, studying Ladybug's face.

"We need to talk."

###