Finally Found

T W E N T Y - T H R E E

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"I know you can hear me."

A moment passed without any response.

"Yes, Marinette. I can hear you."
Hawkmoth spoke.

It was definitely a first for her to talk to him like this. She could actually have a conversation with him so she needed to use her time wisely.

"You killed my friend." She said, trying to swallow her pain.

A small amount of time passed before he responded. "That was never supposed to happen. No one was supposed to get hurt."

"Well someone did. My best friend lost her life because of you." She felt the direction Hawkmoth was in like a sixth sense almost and followed where it led.

She landed on the window atop the Agreste Mansion and peeped in. When she saw Hawkmoth standing there, cane in hand. Once she was akumatized and sensed Hawkmoths whereabouts, the connection was instant. She knew exactly who was under the mask. It broke her heart when she realized exactly what this would do to her kitty.

She crept through the window and landed in front of the villain she'd come to know over the last couple years.

"You've been fooling everyone this entire time." Ladybug spoke in a low tone of voice, the anger she felt towards him was evident.

Without wanting to hesitate and risk everything she'd done to get there, she sent her yoyo flying and caught Hawkmoth in her grasp, wrapped in her web of string, leaving him nothing but defenceless now.

She walked up to him, pulling tightly on the string and hoping it caused him pain. "What about Adrien? Don't you care about what this would do to him?" Her voice cracked.

"You know nothing of my reasons Ladybug." Hawkmoth boomed. "Or should I say Marinette? That's your name isn't it? I remember you. Adrien's friend."

Her response was ready in her mind and was about to reply to the moth when she got interrupted, recognising the voice immediately she faltered slightly.

"Ladybug?" The heroine and villain both turned their heads in the direction of Chats voice.

He'd followed Ladybugs instructions and entered the room and saw the two of them, mid conversation.

"You actually did it." He said after a moment, feeling proud of the girl he loved. "You found him."

Ladybug nodded quietly, not wanting to say anymore.

"But what exactly are we doing in the Agreste Mansion?" He asked, feeling more puzzled than ever.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Chat Noir?" Hawkmoth mused, a smile growing on his mouth. "I may as well tell you since your partner here already knows."

He paused.

Grinned wickedly.

"This is my house."

...

...

"Wait." Chat froze.

He looked over to the girl he loved, but she wouldn't even meet his eyes. She didn't want to see him figure it out. She didn't want to see the walls crumble around him. She didn't want to feel the pain he felt when he found out that the villain they were fighting against this entire time, was his father.

"That means you're m.. you're Gabriel Agreste?" He hesitated, almost giving his identity away. He didn't want to do that just yet. He wanted to see how his father behaved unbeknownst to the fact that his son was merely a few feet away from him.

"Indeed Chat Noir! I am the man, the myth and the legend, the one and only Gabriel Agreste. Hiding in plain sight and fooling every last one of you imbeciles." Hawkmoth boasted, proud that he'd gone undetected for so long.

Marionette watched closely, waiting to see Chats reaction.

But there was none.

He was as blank as a fresh page.

"Chat?" She called, still holding on tightly to the string that was confining the villain.

She waited for something, anything that told her that Adrian was in there somewhere under all the shock he'd just experienced.

But there was absolutely nothing.

He didn't blink or turn or move or acknowledge that she even spoke at all. Nothing. He stood almost frozen.

"Oh come on little black cat, it can't be that much of a surprise?" Hawkmoth questioned. "I thought you'd be more pleased to learn my identity."

"You think I'm pleased?" Chat finally spoke with venom in his tone. "I'm disgusted. You're idolised by so many. Children, teenagers, adults... your own son?"

"Do not speak of my son!" He shouted, making the room tremble slightly. "This is all for him. None of you would understand the burdens a parent carries. You don't know the sacrifices made in order to better the life of your child."

"So help us understand." Said Chat. "What are your reasons for doing all this evil?"

Hawkmoth chuckled. "Now that you know who I am and what my story is, I'm sure you can put the pieces together."

Chat stood for a moment, and thought.

"You want our miraculouses to use them together? Using them together gives you a wish to alter reality." He walked himself through, trying to understand what was going on in his fathers mind.

"But what could you possibly want to change? You have it all, fame, money, power, lov..."

He stopped.  Suddenly it all became very clear to him.

"Love. You don't have love."

The room fell into complete silence as the realisation dawned upon Adrian and Marinette.

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