Day Two - Afternoon

After Gabriel had left, Adrien turned to Marinette. "Don't worry," he said. "Father will sort everything out. He always does. He's used to having claims of this kind leveled against him in the business, so he always takes steps to prevent those accusations from sticking."

Marinette nodded, not feeling entirely reassured. So what if Gabriel managed to erase the false claims? They would have lost the entire day anyway. All that work last night creating more designs and getting more merchandise ready... all for nothing if they didn't have the opportunity to sell it.

"Hey wait a minute," Adrien said. "Father can just show them his designs! The program he uses to design automatically dates and stamps his logo onto any file, even a rough sketch. He can just show those to the officers and get this cleared up. He even has the receipts documented for his inventory for the basic gloves and scarves we used last night!"

"That's a wonderful idea, Adrien," Marinette praised. "But how will you get him to show the designs before the day is over?"

"He keeps copies in the cloud, and can easily access them on his tablet. I know he likes to sketch freehand on his pad, but he'll always scan them in and upload them to play around with the color palette on his program." Adrien looked around. "Ah! Father forgot his tablet! His designs have to be in here. I know he was working on a few for the new line while he was sitting around yesterday. I saw some of the sketches." He grabbed the tablet off the chair and scooted around the table. "You wait here, Marinette, I'll catch up to Father and give him the tablet back."

Marinette watched with a sigh as Adrien took off after Gabriel's tall form. She was hoping he would be easy to spot, towering over most of the attendees with his tall, lanky form and distinctive ashy blond haircut. Alone and with nothing to do, her eyes drifted around the convention hall and eventually settled again upon Aldéric, now courting several customers that surrounded his booth.

And the anger returned, bubbling up inside her like springwater, welling up from a deep unknown source. How dare he profit from a lie!

"Excuse me, can I buy these gloves?" A voice caught her attention and she turned to find a girl about her age holding up a pair of Chat Noir gloves.

"I'm sorry," Marinette told her, heavy with reluctance, "due to unforeseen circumstances, we're currently closed."

"What?" Dismay flickered across her face. "But I made sure to come back today especially to buy something from your booth."

Marinette felt certain her anger would overpower her, hearing the anguish in the girl's voice. "It seems someone didn't like the fact that we were doing well," she explained, glaring at Aldéric, "and decided to level some serious and entirely false accusations against us. We're attempting to get it resolved as soon as possible."

The girl followed her gaze and her own expression hardened. "That man again," she muttered. "I saw him harassing a merchant at the last festival and vowed never to buy anything from his booth ever. He's a parasite."

"Yes, he is," Marinette agreed, feeding off of the girl's mutual anger. A soft, familiar flutter caught her attention and she whirled around in horror to spot a blackened akuma-butterfly heading right for her. She backed away a step before standing firm, clenching her fists and squeezing her eyes closed.

Think happy thoughts, she told herself. Instantly, images of the weekend flew through her mind. Adrien and her laughing over a joke. Adrien handing her a cup of tea with a grin and roguish wink. Eating dinner with him the night before, giggling as they reminisced in the day while Gabriel let them chatter as he worked. Sitting alongside him in his car – so tantalizing close that she could feel his warmth seeping into her leg.

The light puff of wind caressing her cheek told her the akuma was right on top of her. She couldn't falter. Couldn't allow any negative emotion to affect her.

"Akuma!" she heard the girl who wanted to buy something gasp, and in an instant there were screams and shouts and cries of fear. Marinette kept her eyes screwed tight, for she could still hear the akuma's tiny wings fluttering right next to her. She took a deep, calming breath and her thoughts drifted further back upon the exhale.

In Gabriel's atelier, with Adrien beside her, concentrating so hard on sewing a button that his tongue poked out from between his lips. His proud declaration when he succeeded and the beaming smile he shot at her when it passed his father's inspection. Her joy as Gabriel praised her own designs and complimented her workmanship, with Adrien standing behind his father's back shooting her silent thumbs up in approval with a huge encouraging smile on his face. The comfortable closeness of him sitting near her, the concentration her work required distracting her from focusing on how close she really was to her crush.

She relaxed.

And in the midst of all the shouting, she sensed the akuma retreating from her. She opened her eyes just in time to see the black butterfly settle onto the change purse of the girl who wanted to buy the pair of gloves. Instantly, the familiar pink mask formed around her face. Marinette wasted no time. She turned and darted out of the booth, sprinting away from the new victim. As fresh screams erupted behind her, she ducked behind a potted plant and flicked open her purse.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Hawkmoth felt the ebb and flow of emotions around his akuma as it fluttered through the crowd, locked on it's target. As it neared, he straightened up, placing his hands upon his crossed knees in anticipation of the moment he connected with his victim.

The emotions waned.

He frowned. Not this again. How is it that volatile girl could spike and cool her emotions so quickly?

"Stay close, akuma, I fear it won't be long before she relapses."

He monitored her mood. His akuma was close – so achingly close he could feel her breath upon the tiny butterfly. Just one little connection...

The akuma retreated.

"Go back, akuma," he ordered.

But it was too late. The akuma fluttered away, and the shock of a sudden connection grounded him. A suitable replacement.

"Pay-tron," he crooned into the mind of the emotionally distraught young woman, "I am Hawkmoth. Your planning has failed you today when your favorite booth got unexpectedly shut down. Your allowance is all saved up and there is nothing for you to buy."

"Yes, and it's not fair!"

"No, it isn't," Hawkmoth agreed, and for once he shared in that sentiment instead of idly feeding whatever promises his victim wished to hear. "I can give you the power to change that. All I ask in return is for a little something of my own to buy: Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses. What do you say?"

"Yes, Hawkmoth. If I can't buy what I want, then everything shall be turned into merchandise. Starting with Aldéric Bouchard."

Hawkmoth grinned as the power flooded through his latest akuma victim. So it seems she also shared something else in common with him: mutual dislike of the rival vendor. This might turn out to be a good akuma after all. Even if she failed, if she could cause a little distress to that irksome merchant, then he would consider it a win.

He mentally observed Pay-tron. She wasted no time targeting Aldéric Bouchard. She flung coins taken from her change purse at people and objects, turning them into fandom products for sale. Each came complete with a little tiny tag displaying the price: Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses. Booths and unlucky merchants were turned into wall scrolls and posters. Fleeing attendees got converted into dolls.

And just as she was bearing down upon her target of revenge, the irritating sound of whirring string announced the arrival of half of the annoyance in his life. This further confirmed that Ladybug was still at the convention. And when the other half of the annoyance in his life dropped beside her a moment later, Hawkmoth knew both heroes had to be close. The incredibly short time frame between akumatization and arrival all but revealed they were in attendance.

Sadly, Ladybug managed to zip Aldéric out of harm's path before the supercharged coin could connect and convert him into a backdrop. He sailed away with a very large shriek of terror. Hawkmoth winced as the noise pierced his ears even through his akuma. He hoped it affected Chat Noir's enhanced hearing, too.

"Pay-tron, if you wish to continue to get revenge upon Aldéric Bouchard, you must first get rid of Ladybug and Chat Noir, who seek to protect him."

"What kind of heroes protect liars?" Pay-tron screamed, and Hawkmoth couldn't agree more.

"Heroes protect everyone," Ladybug replied, and Hawkmoth almost smacked his forehead in reflex before he stopped himself. How utterly altruistic of them. What was wrong with wanting a little payback?

He couldn't help the rather large grin that spread across his face as Pay-tron eventually managed to snag Aldéric with one of her coins, turning him into a neat little wall scroll with his own price tag.

"Very good," he praised, bestowing genuine compliments upon his akuma villain for their success, and feeling immensely pleased with her progress. "Now that you've gotten your revenge, it's time to fulfill your end of our bargain. Bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses!"

"You'll have your merchandise soon enough, Hawkmoth," Pay-tron promised.

Eventually though, Lucky Charm set off a cascade of events that sealed his villain's fate – and released Aldéric Bouchard (and countless other victims) from their artificial prisons. He sighed and released his transformation, not really too irate because this was a spur of the moment idea. He offered Nooroo a bit of his favorite snack as he crawled out from beneath the stage and dusted himself off, smoothing any flyaway strands in his ruffled hair. Any dirt could be safely explained away as him hiding from the akuma attack, so he wasn't too worried about being spotted in the room now. His kwami finished his treat and silently zoomed back into Gabriel's jacket.

Outside of the room, he turned back to the convention hall.

"Father!" The familiar voice caught his attention and he turned to the shout as Adrien ran up to him. Despite knowing his son was nowhere near the akuma attack (he had been monitoring for that through the akuma victim), he still gripped Adrien's shoulders as if to reassure himself his son was safe and real in front of him. "Where are you going? I thought you were heading over to talk to the officials."

Ah, right. His lie. "I came to check on you, of course," he answered immediately. "Are you unharmed?"

"Yeah, I went and hid when the attack started."

"And Miss Marinette?"

His son froze, as if just remembering his friend. The look of dawning horror growing on his face verified that. "I uh... Marinette, oh no!"

"Relax, I'm sure she is okay. Calm down, we don't need another akuma attack because you're panicking, right?" Gabriel knew there would be no attack, but he had to stop his son from bolting from his grip. "What are you doing here?"

That seemed to redirect Adrien's attention. He looked down at his hands before holding up the tablet. "You forgot this. You can show them your designs and prove that our stuff is legit. I remember that your files are all time stamped and embossed with your logo."

That was a good idea. Pride welled up in him at his son's cleverness. He accepted the tablet. "Thank you, Adrien, that was very smart of you. Go check on your friend. I'll join you both shortly."

And Adrien took off before the words had barely left Gabriel's lips.

Gabriel flipped through the images on the tablet, a faint smile of satisfaction appearing as he approached the main security center. This would work perfectly. He would have to reemphasize his thanks to Adrien for the idea. But for now, he had channel his inner André and throw his weight around.

Thirty minutes later, Gabriel led a procession of officers back to his booth. The crowd parted almost instantly in the presence of so many officers and the overwhelming confidence Gabriel exuded. He arrived at his booth, where Marinette and Adrien were seated together, conversing in a subdued manner. They both looked up at him as he approached.

"Father? What's going on?"

He willed himself to show no expression lest he give it away, but something in his face must have alerted the teens because they stood simultaneously. "Did you get the charges reversed, Mr. Agreste?" Marinette asked, holding her fists to her face, her eyes wide and anxious as they stared at him.

This girl was certainly a puzzle, and he tilted his head, wishing to figure out exactly how she could turn her roller coaster of emotions on and off like a faucet. He blinked. Later he could come up with theories. Right now, he had to bestow karma upon someone. It felt odd not to do this as his alter-ego.

"We do apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Agreste," one of the officers was saying. "Your shop can reopen and continue to sell your merchandise."

Marinette gasped in surprise. Adrien pumped a fist in the air with a whoop of joy. Marinette giggled and wrapped her arms around Adrien's neck. "Your father did it!" she cried. He scooped her up and twirled her around before setting her down.

At once, she realized what she had done. A furious blush appeared on her cheeks and she squeaked and dropped her arms. A similar shade of crimson appeared on his son's cheeks as he backed up and ducked his head. "Sorry, Marinette," he apologized, "I got carried away."

Gabriel refrained from chuckling at his son's inadvertent play-on-words, the Hawkmoth side of him giving Adrien a mental high-five.

While the kids continued to celebrate their success, more of the officers surrounded Aldéric Bouchard's booth.

"What's going on, Father?" Adrien asked, coming up beside him. Marinette, still with a faint pink of blush on her cheeks, sidled up next to him and followed their line of sight.

"Just watch, Adrien," Gabriel replied, a strange sort of smile upon his face as he stared at the man from across the way.

"Aldéric Bouchard," the head officer was saying, "you accused a local colleague of counterfeiting wares and selling them. Not only did you accuse a prominent and respected citizen of Paris, but you also accused without proof. This man has provided proof that everything sold in his shop belongs to the intellectual property of his company. Furthermore, because of your accusation and disrupting of the events today, the committee has ruled that you are hereby banned from attending not only the remainder of this convention, but any other convention held in this hall and any other convention that involves Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"You can't ban me from conventions outside of this facility," Aldéric protested, his face growing redder and redder with each decree.

"Not directly, no," the officer agreed. "But word will spread and I believe you'll find your application to sell items rejected at future events."

"This is absurd! Those are fakes over there!"

The officer intercepted him as the man attempted to head over to their booth. "I would think again if you're going to accuse Gabriel Agreste of counterfeiting," he warned.

At the name, Aldéric blanched. Gabriel glowered at him from across the way, and the man shrunk back further. Realizing he had been beaten, Aldéric began to scoop his items into his bag under the watchful eyes of the officers before being escorted off the property.

"Thank you, Mr. Agreste," Marinette's soft voice cut through Gabriel's own mental victory dance. It was eerily similar to the dance he imagined when he finally got his hands upon the Miraculouses.

He blinked, and the dancing butterflies vanished from his mind. "You're welcome, Miss Marinette. You are unharmed from the akuma attack? I would hate to have your parents forbid you from attending another convention on account of my not doing my job properly." His villain job, but she didn't need to know that. He couldn't really insist to her parents that she would have been perfectly safe as his villain. And likely a really powerful one, too. That definitely wouldn't help his argument.

"I'm fine, thanks. I hid when everything started to go haywire."

"That was very smart."

She blushed under his praise and he turned away and went to sit back down. He was tired. Supervillainy and slight heroics didn't mix too well, and his body was reeling from the juxtaposition of each scenario. He chided Nooroo who teased him along the way to the security center about his fresh batch of heroism – at least heroic to Adrien and his good friend. Sure, the charges would have eventually been dropped, but right now he was most certainly a hero in their eyes.

It felt good.

Not that he would admit that to Nooroo. He had a mission. A goal. And the real heroes of Paris wouldn't cooperate and just surrender! Maybe one day he could fantasize about having his alter-ego praised along with Ladybug and Chat Noir's. But today, he'll settle for his son's beaming smile instead of the entirety of Paris.

A young girl ran up to the booth, distraught and in tears. "I'm so sorry," she wailed, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Adrien and Gabriel stared at her as Marinette giggled and waved her hands. "No, no, not at all," she assured her. "I was perfectly safe. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I just got so scared when I saw that akuma heading right for you," the girl continued, managing to quiet her anxious blubbering, wiping away her tears. "I thought you were going to be akumatized."

"Me, too," Marinette said. She smiled gently at the girl. "I just closed my eyes and thought of happy things. I guess that redirected the akuma to you. If anything, I should be the one apologizing."

"It was amazing how you managed to stop it!" the girl gushed. "It was so close to you. It kept hovering near your earrings, then your bell choker, then your headband. It almost touched you several times."

Marinette flushed, and Gabriel and Adrien listened in. Adrien made no effort to hide his astonishment and Gabriel merely wanted to know more about how this girl was able to thwart his akuma. Maybe he could learn from this mistake. What had she done?

"I tried not to think about it," she answered. "But that's all in the past now, and everything worked out okay." She reached into a box and withdrew a pair of gloves. "You can be our first customer!"

The girl giggled and handed over some money. "Okay then, thanks."

After she left, Adrien rounded on Marinette. "You were almost akumatized?" he demanded.

Marinette blushed bright red again, now that her crush's intense gaze bore into her. "W-well, maybe? I guess I was angrier over that man's accusations than I thought."

"How did you stop the akuma from targeting you?"

Gabriel leaned forward, eager to hear her reasoning. She had been demurely modest with her customer, but perhaps she would be a bit more truthful with Adrien.

"I uhm, I thought about uh... well, about the booth," she said, her blush deepening, and if Gabriel wasn't so interested in hearing how exactly she defeated his akuma he would be fascinated with how red this girl seemed to be turning. "I uh, just thought of you encouraging me, a-and our first sale, and working side by side with you in the last few weeks in your father's atelier..." she trailed off. "I guess you could say that you're the reason I wasn't akumatized."

Adrien blinked in surprise. "Oh."

Her eyes blew wide. "It wasn't just you, of course. I mean, of course it was you, you're awesome like that... but... uh... well, it was you... a-and your father, of course! Designing with him and you know..."

Wait just one minute. He was part the reason she wasn't akumatized? That wasn't right, he was supposed to be the reason she was akumatized! Maybe he would have to amp up his critiques and sharp-tongued assessments.

Adrien's laughter cut in through her babble of an explanation, interrupting his irritated thoughts as well. "I'm honored, Marinette. I didn't know our friendship meant so much to you. I'm happy you weren't akumatized."

She smiled bashfully at him. "Thank you, Adrien."

Well, he thought as he watched the two of them interact, shy and innocent, maybe sacrificing one potential akuma opportunity was worth it to see Adrien like this.

He turned away and sat back down in his chair, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him.

It turns out that news of the commotion and subsequent expulsion of Aldéric spread like wildfire through the convention. The vendors wasted no time gossiping among themselves, and in turn, Gabriel's name was whispered along with that of Ladybug and Chat Noir's.

The fans flooded the booth. Within an hour, their stuff was picked clean. Sold completely out.

Gabriel watched as the two teenagers began to strike empty boxes, flattening them for easy storage and toting home. Adrien set the equipment next to Gabriel along with the metal box of cash. He didn't want anyone doing a snatch-and-grab of either the valuable equipment or their hard earned money while the two teens were distracted cleaning up.

Adrien pawed through the boxes for a moment before straightening and looking around. "Did you sell that hat? The blue one with the ladybug path?"

That caught Gabriel's attention because he had been keeping a careful eye on that hat as well, in addition to any interested party in the hopes he might recognize Ladybug in her civilian form.

"Yes, not too long ago," Marinette answered, bending over and reaching for another box.

A choked sob of anguish threatened to bubble from his throat, for how could he have missed this? Fortunately, Adrien seemed to follow a similar line of thought.

"What? When? Who bought it?"

Gabriel tried really hard not to act interested, but he couldn't help it. He zeroed in on Marinette, watching her with baited breath as she set a small box on the table and turned to Adrien.

"I did," she said, reaching into the box and withdrawing the hat. She held it out to Adrien with a small blush.

Gabriel felt his heart rate return to normal. So Ladybug didn't end up getting the hat, he thought. A pity. That would have been the perfect identifier.

"I know how much you really wanted to give it to Ladybug, so... here you go. It wasn't fair of me to have yelled at you yesterday." The blush on her cheeks deepened and Gabriel wanted to simultaneously gag at the obvious infatuation and smack his son in frustration over his obliviousness.

Adrien accepted the hat with a small smile, turning it over in his hands as he examined the delicate pattern once more. "Nah," he said at last, reaching up and plopping it firmly upon Marinette's startled head, "you keep it. I think it looks better on you anyway." He ended with a wink.

She gaped at him for a long moment. "Y-you mean it? But you really wanted to give it to Ladybug," she said.

He shrugged. "I would rather you have something to remember this convention by."

As if she would ever forget this weekend, Gabriel thought. Clearly his son needed another nudge in the right direction.

"I had a great time this weekend, and it was all thanks to you, Marinette," Adrien said.

"Me, too, Adrien. Thank you for inviting me." She abruptly turned to Gabriel, who instantly buried his head into his tablet and pretended to not have been listening. "And thank you, Mr. Agreste, for allowing me to assist you both in designing and selling your merchandise at this convention."

"You're welcome, Miss Marinette. Your talents made this booth a success."

She flushed and turned back to Adrien. "I'll be a bit sad tomorrow when I don't have anything left to do."

Adrien smiled. "Well, we didn't get to look at very many things this time. Would you like to come with me to the next convention? I'll show you around. Make up for commandeering all your time this weekend. Well, the last two months, actually."

She gaped up at him. "M-me? Next time?"

Oh, please say yes, Gabriel thought, anything to get me out of attending another one of these blasted events.

"Sure," Adrien beamed. "Maybe not all weekend, since this has become kind of a tradition between Father and I, and I know he would be disappointed if he couldn't go."

No, I wouldn't!

"But," Adrien leaned over and mock-whispered to Marinette, "I think he secretly likes to check out things without me there." He winked at her. Gabriel scowled at his son. Marinette took no notice, and giggled at his antics.

"I would like that, Adrien," she answered.

"Perfect! We'll coordinate the next time there's an event in town."

The grin on Marinette's face stretched so wide it threatened to split her face into two.

Immediately, a microphone was thrust in her face. She blinked as a camera flashed. That caught Gabriel's attention.

"Hello, Marinette," the person greeted.

"Hello, Mrs. Chamack," Marinette replied.

"I got word that your booth sold completely out of merchandise, mostly propelled by visits from Ladybug and Chat Noir. Care to give a short statement on that?"

"Well, it isn't my booth," Marinette began, "it's Mr. Agreste's. I was just helping Adrien out by selling a few things."

The reporter flickered her gaze from Marinette to Adrien and briefly to him before landing back on Marinette. "Well, then, congratulations are in order to you as well, Mr. Agreste," she answered. He inclined his head politely.

"What do you plan to do with the money?" she asked.

He cleared his throat. "The children have put forth ample amount of time and dedication to this event. The money is theirs to do with whatever they wish."

Nadja turned her microphone back to rest between Adrien and Marinette. "Well, then, what plans do you both have for the money? Any ideas on branching out and selling things full time?"

"I don't think we're going to do that," Marinette said. "The designs were created by Mr. Agreste, and I don't believe he has any plans to sell them through his company."

"But I think I have an idea on what to do with the money we made this weekend," Adrien cut in smoothly. He leaned forward and whispered something into Marinette's ear, who nodded in approval. Adrien smiled and turned back to the microphone. "We're going to donate it all to a charity to support Ladybug and Chat Noir! It's only fair that we do something to help the heroes that have helped all of us, right?"

Nadja laughed. "What a brilliant idea! Well, congratulations again, Marinette. And you, Adrien and of course you as well, Mr. Agreste."

She departed with her cameraman in tow, already scribbling something down on her notepad as she walked away.

And with that, the long, tiring event came to a close. Gabriel relished the idea of having his future afternoons free of giggling teenagers (even if said teenager was exceptionally talented, he grudgingly admitted). He could finally put this wild idea of Adrien's safely behind him. And he managed to make it through an entire event without something backfiring on him! Maybe these things weren't so bad, after all, he thought as he watched Adrien and Marinette sneak peeks at each other. At least Adrien isn't so infatuated with Ladybug anymore. He could safely say that this weekend worked out in his favor.

Until he caught a glimpse of the headline in Monday's paper. A headline Adrien joyously read aloud at breakfast, much to Gabriel's horror.

FASHION MOGUL GABRIEL AGRESTE DONATES PROFITS FROM MERCHANDISE LINE TO LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR CHARITY

He didn't know what was worse: the fact that they credited him with starting a fund in honor of his mortal enemies or the fact that both Adrien and Nathalie seemed to revel in the idea that the whole city knew of his growing 'fanboy-ness' (as his son dubbed it). Adrien waved the paper gleefully at him all during breakfast. Nooroo flipped through one in his atelier before lunch. He discovered three copies on Nathalie's desk that afternoon.

He burned them all.

Author's Note: Thank you all for reading! I'm already working on another story in this universe, and the theme was hinted at in this current story ;) Hopefully it won't be nearly as long as this one was!

Special thanks to PerditaAlottachocolate and Kellarhi for beta-reading this!