Adrien barely caught Plagg in time once he made it back to his room. His kwami didn't even spare a look for his cheese as he flew out Adrien's jacket towards the window.

"Plagg! What are you doing?"

"I have to go tell Tikki what's going on."

"No!" Adrien whisper-shouted, perhaps a touch too harshly. It reminded him of his father's scolding, and he hated it. This was why he needed his mother back. To return to the happy family they used to be. "Let me talk to Ladybug. I need to explain it to her on my own terms."

Deep in his heart, he didn't want to explain it to Ladybug. He wanted her to talk him out of it. He could barely believe what he was doing, but every time his father looked at him with that level of pride, every time his mother smiled at him from his computer background, every time he flipped through the scrapbooks his mom made, he could never bring himself to argue against it.

There's a solution to all of this, he told himself over and over again. He can have both the love of his lady and the love of his family. He can, he can, he can. But only if he helps his father.

"The guardian needs to know you just joined the enemy she's fighting against!" Plagg protested, more invested in this issue than he had been about anything not involving cheese.

"You're right. Just, please, I need to do it. I only want to save my mother. I promise, after that, I'll return the miraculous, I'll undo any damage."

Plagg floated for a moment in hesitation, but eventually slipped back into Adrien's pocket.

"Tonight. You need to tell her tonight."

Adrien really had meant to make it to patrol with Ladybug. He'd never want to disappoint his lady. But ever since he became Hawkmoth's sidekick, sneaking out as Chat Noir became more and more difficult.

His father had added nightly miraculous training sessions to his already packed schedule. He disguised it as "family bonding nights" on the written schedule, which Adrien would re-read over and over again every morning. When his mother was still alive, they used to have family dinners and movie nights every Friday. Maybe, soon, they could have them again.

As his father came down gracefully into Hawkmoth's lair, Adrien was pulled back into the present. It was 8 pm, and Adrien was an hour late to patrol. His father had somehow become even more protective, and Adrien was now either stuck in the basement, at school, or asleep. Even his modeling time had been removed in favor of more training, with Gabriel excusing that based on him working on a secret new collection.

That wasn't exactly untrue; Gabriel was trying to secretly collect two very important things. And yes, he needed two. Adrien wasn't ready to give up the Chat Noir miraculous yet. First, he needed to figure out if bringing his mother back was even possible. Then, he needed to convince Ladybug to help him and willingly give over her miraculous, not take it from her.

Of course, he couldn't explain that to his father yet. How do you tell your supervillain dad that you're one of the superheroes you're both now trying to defeat?

Speaking of which, Adrien now had another alter-ego, and alter-alter-ego if you will. Paon, the holder of the peacock miraculous. It wasn't his choice - Gabriel instructed Adrien to take the peacock miraculous. "Hawkmoth and Paon," he said, beaming, "the perfect duo."

Adrien, like always, did as his father said. He slipped the peacock miraculous on the side of his jacket, the pin piercing into him.

He figured he deserved it.

"Duusu, spread my feathers," Adrien called half-heartedly. It was strange not calling for Plagg, and he was glad he caught himself before calling out his true kwami's name. He hoped that after this was all over, Duusu would be able to convince Plagg to forgive him.

Adrien stood still as the costume coated him. A long cape of peacock feathers shot behind him, where his tail would normally be, combined with a matching teal suit underneath. His hair shifted, turning a dark purple and blue at the ends. It reminded him a bit of Luka, Marinette's ex-boyfriend, although Luka would never betray Marinette like Adrien was. An ornate mask formed across his face, with a lone feather poking out the side. Adrien sneezed. Why, oh why did his father have to give him the miraculous of the only animal he was allergic to?

Gabriel smiled, proud of his design. Adrien hadn't chosen the outfit - if he had, it would be far more flexible and comfortable. Surprisingly, his leather catsuit was easier to breathe in than this look.

"Wonderful. Now for your first sentimonster, start with something small. It will take practice before you can reach the larger ones Nathalie and I create," Gabriel instructed. Adrien knew it was his father underneath, but instinctively shuddered in the presence of Hawkmoth towering over him. In all honesty, Adrien wasn't sure which one he feared more.

He closed his eyes, imagining all the details of the first thing that came to mind and moving his hands as if drawing it out in a game of Pictoinary. As he felt the object forming with his power, he wondered if this was how Ladybug felt when creating her lucky charms. Being the hero of destruction, he was familiar with the feeling of this dusting in his hands, but creating (even for villainous purposes) was an altogether different and beautiful experience. It reminded him of the time he was Misterbug, which only made him long for his lady even more.

"Eugh, of course," Gabriel groaned, pinching his nose as a result of the floating piece of Camembert. "Now make it disappear. I don't know how you stand, much less enjoy, the smell."

Now destruction, he knew. But he couldn't bring himself to snap his fingers. His mind drifted to Buginette, the sentimonster Mayura cruelly killed. Nathalie had killed Ladybug; maybe not his love, but a version of her. Could this floating Camembert feel?

He didn't understand these new powers, and it scared him. He wanted his mom back - no, he needed his mom back - but he didn't want to hurt innocent people in the process.

As he stared up at Hawkmoth's menacing glare though, he realized he wouldn't have much of a choice.

Adrien snapped his fingers, and the Camembert disappeared.

And, as Plagg watched hidden in the corner, any hopes of bringing back the old Chat Noir did too.

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thanks for reading the first two chapters! Figured now would be a good place to just clear a few things up about this AU.

First, as you might have been able to tell with these first few chapters, Gabriel is slightly less abusive in this fic than he is in the show. He's still super protective, but that also leads to him not wanting to sacrifice Adrien for the miraculous. Think more Gorizilla Hawkmoth than Chat Blanc Hawkmoth. This will come up a bit in character development later.

Also, and this is probably the most important change, but kwamis can't distance themselves too far from their miraculous without their holder's permission. Obviously this fic would be over pretty quick if Plagg could run and tell Tikki, and this piece of lore only adds more Adrien angst with his relationship as Chat Noir.

Happy reading!