You and me against the world

"I'm Hawkmoth."

Yeah so umm, this hectic upload schedule is probably gonna continue for a while BUT we will be working on shortening it.
So here's the chapter, enjoy!

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Chat noir was a manifestation of his freedom.
An opportunity to be who he truly was.
With no restraints, no chains, just him.
When he was Chat Noir, he didn't need to pretend to be anything.
And what's best is, people actually loved him.
She loved him.
He was himself, and he was happy.
Was.
Never in a million years did he imagine he would one day need to hide behind a mask.
In front of her.
She looked so frail, so fragile, like she was one touch away from breaking.
One whisper away from shattering.
Hawkmoth's last attack left both of them scarred.
But this wasn't about him, his Lady mattered more.
She's the one who could fix everything.
She's the one who makes the plans.
But he noticed, she was slipping away slowly.
So he'll put up a front for her, he'll give her the strength to keep fighting.
He'll anchor her back to sanity.
He can do it.
He'll support her as Chat Noir and as Adrien.
He'll be there for her, for as long as she needs.
Until the sun waves its goodbye for the world and makes way for the moon to shine its gentle light.
Then, and only then, would he allow for his emotions to flood, and away from prying eyes and ears, he would cry.
He would finally allow himself to feel, to mourn, to grief.
And unbeknownst to him, his cries were heard by none other than the man he called father.
Gabriel didn't know what acting fatherly meant.
It was Emilie who always provided comfort for both him and his son.
But now, without her, he did not know how to silence the cries of agony of his child.
And it was eating him alive.
Because for once, he knew that this was his fault.
That's why Hawkmoth was off the map lately, because he needed some clarity about where to go from there.
He could see he was causing Adrien a great deal of pain.
And he knew he wasn't the best father anyone could ask for.
Perhaps, there is still time for him to change and make amends, and hopefully fix whatever father-son relationship he still had.
But.
Did a happy future truly exist with just him and Adrien?
Was he truly capable of change?
Would Adrien accept his plea to make amends?
He, who knows nothing of comfort of warmth, would he be able to put a smile again on his son's face?
As the voice of Adrien's pain continued to echo through the hall, Gabriel steeled himself for what was about to follow.
He found his answers.

The sun rays filtered through the window and landed on Adrien's face.
It still had some red taints from last night when he cried himself to sleep.
He stirred in his bed before he woke up suddenly.
It was odd.
Despite it being a sunday, normally Nathalie would wake him early for a photoshoot or something.
He wouldn't normally wake up on his own at ... 10:17 THAT'S A LOT LATER THAN USUAL.
Confused, he quickly got dressed then went downstairs, only for his confusion to multiply when he was greeted by his FATHER SITTING NEXT TO ADRIEN'S USUAL SEAT.
"Good morning son, please have a seat." He motioned next to him.
Adrien was suspicious, but alas he obeyed.
And he was kind of scared when he saw his father, who usually sat across from him, seated right next to him, SMILING.
"I told Nathalie to clear up your schedule for today."
Adrien's eyes widened in shock, then simply replied "why?"
"I just thought we'd bond together today."
"Bonding and fatherly things were never lf importance to you."
"Well, I realized my mistakes and came to know that you and I are family, yet we act like enemies. It's time we changed that."
Everything inside Adrien screamed at him to lash out and yell at his father for having the audacity to pretend like he can fix years of pain with just a day of father-son activities because the Lord finally gifted him with the power of human decency.
But a part of him, the yearning small child inside of him who craved for attention and affection, came to overpower his resentful part and came to accept his father's offer.
They had breakfast accompanied by the cringe worthy awkward silence they both chose to ignore.
"I have something I need to speak with you about." Gabriel announced once they both finished eating." Today is an important say for both you and me. Now if you may, please follow me."
They both stood in front of Emilie's portrait.
Adrien was perplexed with a frown on his face, while Gabriel was fidgeting with his ring, seemingly trying to find the right words.
"I remember" he started slowly, carefully "How happy you were in the past, before she disappeared." He turned to look at the portrait "She was truly the glue holding this family together and keeping me from straying and turning into the person I am today. Back then, life was simpler, gentler, happier. There's not a day that goes by where I don't wish she was still with us."
Adrien's expression softened as he reminisced about the past, before he looked at his father and weakly said "You never told me what happened to her. You just always said she disappeared one night."
Gabriel said then answered with a somewhat shaky voice "I'm about to now."

"On one of our travels, we were both hiking in the mountains when we came across two odd pieces of jewellery. One of them seemed broken but your mother took a liking to it, so we just assumed that someone lost them and took them. Then, when your mother tried it a creature appeared out of it, a kwami."
Adrien's eyes winded as the gears in his head started turning.
"It wasn't any jewellery, it was a miraculous, like Ladybug and Chat Noir's"
Adrien's expression turned blank at the sudden realization.
There were 2? So that means...
It can't be.
Adrien's head snapped towards his father as he met his eyes with fearful anticipation for where this conversation was heading.
Gabriel removed his scarf to reveal a brooch.
A brooch strikingly similar to the one master Fu told him about before.
The butterfly miraculous.
So that means.
"I'm Hawkmoth." Gabriel simply announced.

Adrien's expression turned blank.
His eyes, widened and his jaw hung loose as his fears were confirmed.
His mind was a war zone as realization after realization crashed down on him.
My father is hawkmoth.
My father terrorized Paris for years.
My father killed innocent people.
MY FATHER KILLED TOM AND SABINE.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO THIS CITY! HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT KNOWING THAT INNOCENT PEOPLE DIED BY YOUR HANDS." Adrien couldn't register his voice, but from the pain in his throat he knew he was definitely yelling.
His hands were clenched into fists so hard his knuckle turned white and he tried not to jump and beat the hell out of him.
And he wouldn't even think of meeting his eyes.
But before he could do anything he could hear his father's voice saying" in the eyes of the unknowing what I did would seem atrocious, but I can explain to you everything and why I did what I did and then you may pass your judgement, you can desert me and reveal my identity to the world, or you may join me and work with me."
I would rather die before I do that.
Gabriel pressed some spots on the portrait that seemed to be buttons, then suddenly they were in an elevator leading them down to a repository, with a few plants here and there and... A lot of white butterflies.
Makes sense.
They started marching slowly to the front as Adrien stared at the place in disbelief, when he noticed some sort of... coffin?
To say he was bewildered is an understatement.
Because once they got close enough, Adrien could make out the lifeless body of the woman who was once his mother.
He didn't understand what kind of emotion was going on inside of him, it was all too much, TOO MUCH.
And he was about ready to collapse and curl up on himself to try and process everything.
But he was interrupted by his father speaking, but he didn't understand much, he was too focused on regulating his breathing to pay attention to whatever nonsense his father was spitting now.
".... I'm doing this for her, for us, so we can be together again, when the ladybug and the black cat's miraculous are unified the user is granted a wish I'm going to use it to-
"You" adrien started menacingly "Do you have ANY IDEA HOW SELFISH YOU'RE BEING? THIS IS SELFISH AND CONDESCENDING! PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR FAMILIES! MY LA- I MEAN MARINETTE LOST HER PARENTS BECAUSE OF YOUR SELFISH DESIRE AND YOUR INABILITY TO MOVE ON! I MOURNED HER I CRIED FOR HER BUT I LET GO AND NOW DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THIS DREAM OF YOURS IS HURTING ME?" He fought back his tears and restrained himself from potentially killing his father right there and then.
"It's because I hurt you, that I stopped."Gabriel answered calmly.
"What?"
"You wished for Hawkmoth to stop, and I did, and I genuinely considered retiring, but I simply can't live without your mother, that is why I will follow through with my plans, if blood must be shed then so be it. After all, others are mere inevitable sacrifice."
Adrien could feel his blood boil and he was about ready to transform and cataclysm his father.
But.
That is not right.
Wouldn't doing that make him the same as his father?
So instead, for once, he rationalized, and managed to stop himself from doing anything until ladybug and him can make a plan, so for now he'll just have to put another mask on.
Easy, simple, been there done that.
Just make sure he doesn't find out I'm Chat Noir.
"So you mean to tell me that for years you have been using my friends, children, A LITTERAL BABY, people have become scared of their emotions AND SOME ARE EVEN TRAUMATIZED AND OTHERS ARE DEAD, I HAD TO WATCH MY FRIENDS SUFFER AND COME CLOSE TO DEATH ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS JUST SO THE THREE OF US CAN BE A HAPPY FAMILY. I LOST PEOPLE I CARED ABOUT. YOU HURT ME. JUST THE THOUGHT OF ALL OF THIS TRANSPIRING RIGHT IN MY HOUSE AND SLEEPING UKDER THE SAME ROOF AS YOU MAKES ME SICK. I WONDER WHAT MOM WOULD THINK.
"YOUR MOM" Gabriel was about to, shout but then took a deep breath and calmed down "she wouldn't mind this, or she would come to accept all of it eventually, just like you would. And don't tell me that those friends of yours are more important than your own mother. You loved her just as much as I did, maybe even more."
Adrien stared at nothing in particular as he pretended to study his options. His heart is set.
While it's true, he does want his mom back, badly, but it's not right and it's not worth the massacres and the bloodshed.
"So, are you with me on this?" Gabriel gave a genuine smile.
"I... I need a minute to process things. I'll think about this, can I go to my room?"
"Of course."
The second Adrien closed his door, he transformed into chat noir and leapt through the window.