Chapter 1
Marinette stared down at a live news feed from her phone, she frowned as she watched a purple and green blur darted between the buildings one moment launching over cars the other. The chat on the video was little help to what she was looking at besides that the few civilians saying that the blur made chirping sounds that the news cameras didn't pick up. She looked out at the sky line from her place from her balcony and the hectic movement displayed on her phone, trying to figure out where in Paris this burl could be heading.
"What are you looking at?" Tiki asked the red kwami peering over Marinette's shoulder.
Marinette pursed her lips and sighed "I'm not sure?" She moved the phone up to Tiki "Akuma?" She asked.
The kwami's eye narrowed and then tilled her head with a wide-eyed confusion "I'm not sure." Tiki's head shot up with a gasp. "Look up!"
Quickly Marinette turned her gaze to where Tiki had gestured. Launching up between to building the mysterious blur the tumbled and bounced to a stop on a nearby roof. She could make out the vague outline of some one as peered and felt a pang of worry seeing what the figure wasn't getting up.
"Tiki, spots on!" She said quickly activating her miraculous, transforming into Ladybug. She swung and leaped over to over to the prone figure.
Upon getting a closer to the figure, she grew more worried seeing that it was unmistakable a young girl. Appearing only a few years younger than Marinette she lay on her face, pigtails were spread out like tangles of black ribbon. The child was dressed in a purplish black suit with areas of matching raised armor on her knees elbows and chest, the outfit had a green reflective pattern from gloved fingertip to the shoes that molded to her feet with a silver band around one ankle.
The girl let out a pained groaned and Ladybug backed away letting her sit up. She started looking around through green tinted goggles, that made it difficult for Ladybug to make out the eyes of girl.
Ladybug readied herself for when girl eventual faced her "Hey there." She gave a small wave and spoke in her friendliest voice.
The girl gave a shriek jumping to her feet, her hair bristling as she shivered all over.
Ladybug held out her hands to try to show the child she wouldn't harm her "Calm down." The soothing tone was ineffective as her ears filled with sharp chirps her that tapped at her bones. "Wait back!" She shouted as the girl ran off roof the child's form blurring before she dropped to the street below.
Without a second's delay Ladybug went after her swinging from streetlights to stay close to the costumed girl. The sounds of the strange chirrups mixing with the sound of startled civilian helping her judge the girls exacted location in the city. "Gotch ya." She smiled as she heard the child looping around towards her. With a flip and flick of her wrist, Ladybug trend her Yo-Yo into a trip wire just in time to make to send the unnamed character sprawling on her back.
With a high-pitched chirp, the girl creeped to her feet readying to flee once more.
In a flash Ladybug grabbed the girl's hand "Please." She spoke softly feeling the girl vibrating in fear "I'm not going to hurt you." She looked into the girl's goggles letting her go and said "I'm Ladybug and you are?"
The girl emitted several chirps and Ladybug worried that she was going to runaway again "Lil' Cricket." The girl's voice was quite and sore like she had been crying.
"Okay, nice to meet you." Ladybug kneeled down a little to fully meet her face to face "Sorry if hurt you but, you're running around is scaring people." Her face and voice got sterner "Would you mind explaining yourself."
Lil' Cricket whimpers as the chirping became more frequent "I want to go home." Her voice cracked as she shifted from side to side.
Ladybug tilled her head in relief and confusion, she was sure that little girl was a villain. "It okay, I'll help you." Her eye's glanced to the silver band, but the girl moving around too much to get a look at it. "Where is your home?"
The young girl looked up at the Paris skyline "I don't know." Tears slipped between the seal of her goggles "I'm lost!" She cried the strange chirruping bleeding to an
"Hey, Hey!" Ladybug covered her ears "Clam down, you going to be okay." She did her hardest not to raise her voice and make the child's crying worse. When the crying or noise would slow, she gritted her teeth and warped her arm the strange child mimicking the sounds of a lullaby.
Lil' Cricket's body heaved against her the little girls sobbing slowed, the noise morphing into hiccupping peeps. "Daddy?" the work came out so weak Ladybug didn't hear her, the bright red hero rubbing her back comfortingly.
Ladybug let go of the costumed girl as she wiggled out of her hold. She watched the girl bounce and rapidly scale a nearby wall following quickly behind.
"Daddy!"
"Wha?" The unmistakable voice of Cat Noir which suddenly became alarmed "Get off me!" Lil' Cricket giggles heightened his startled words "Hey don't touch that!"
Once Ladybug made it on to the roof she nearly burst into laughter. Cat Noir bristled the way a feline gets when threated with a bath, Lil' Cricket's arms wrapped around his torso face pressed against his side. The duo looked weirdly adorable she was so caught up in the site, she almost didn't notice that the little girl had looked up to speak to her.
"Lady I'm okay, I found my Dad." The girl hopped and squeezed her presumed father.
"What!" The blond-haired hero awoke from his shock "No, no, no." He pushed the girl off, how made a confused and startled noise "This isn't my kid." He told Ladybug as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Cricket stomped her foot and crossed her arm "Daddy you liar." She wined as chirp popped with sharpness.
Ladybug readied herself and put a hand on her shoulder "Lil' Cricket, are sure that Cat Noir is your father?" She smiled suppressing laughter.
The girl nodded and looked up at Ladybug, the corners of her mouth pulled into a confused frown.
"I don't know this kid." The feline Miraculous holder said defensively staring at the two.
Ladybug gave him a similarly disgruntled look "She lost, Cat." She walked up to him, leaving Lil' Cricket by herself.
Cat Noir held up his gloved hands with an exhausted eye roll "Still doesn't mean she's mine." He then leaned in closer "Not saying I wouldn't want one." Flirtation filled his whisper.
The shrill sound of Lil' Cricket's alarm, stopped the red cheeked Ladybug from responding to Cat's comment.
"Gwa, what's that noise!" Chat Noir covered his ears at the abrasive noise.
"You made her upset!" Ladybug shout at him fist clenched.
He looked at her confused and annoyed "How?"
Ladybug ground and told him that should have been obvious to him "She lost and you look like her dad!"
"What do you want me to do about that?" He moved his hand to gestured to the costume girls.
When they glanced over to Lil' Cricket, the child had disappeared during they're quick spat. Ladybug gave him a frustrated glare and jumped to an adjacent roof to search for the girl.
Adrien fell on his bed as he watched the sky from his bed window slowly turn from azure to creamy orange. He spent his whole dad apologizing to Ladybug between looking for 'Lil' Cricket', the grill was more likely to be his little sister his daughter. He rolled over and stared at ceiling in cocompletion, it was child in superhero get-up wasn't sent by Hawkmoth. There were just too many opportunities for a villain like that to pass up, yet the girl was to young in his opinion to be using an actually miraculous. At least his dad had to leave suddenly on a business trip, which meant no one was to yell at him for being home late.
His thoughts were interrupted by Plagg zipping rapidly across his line of sight, the black kwami had been characteristically energetic since he deactivated his miraculous. Adrien keep his eye trained on Plagg as he slowly reached for a pillow. As the black kwami went to circle back around he flung the pillow up in hopes of catching Plagg.
Plagg zipped around the pillow and turned to look at Adrien "What was that for?"
"I thought holding you still might force you to have a catnap." The blonde-haired teen snarked up at the kwami.
"I'll take one, later."
"You, all right?" Adrien sat up with concerned.
"Of course." Plagg twitched slightly "I'm just a little buzzed?"
"Buzzed?"
"I feel a wound up, like I can do anything?"
Adrien started to worry for his kami, but before he could even bribe Plagg with cheese. The sound of Lil' Crickets siren squeal, the grating noise was unmistakable.
"Let's go! Let's go!" Plagg spun around with exitcement.
"Plagg, claws out!"
In a flash he transformed for the second time in the day Adrien transformed into Cat Noir. With a fluid and stealthy movement, he made his room and on the rooftops with out being noticed. Despite the spine chilling noise, he bounded in the direction of Lil' Cricket. The small girl giving a startled jump when she noticed him in the early night sky.
"What are you doing here?" He glared down at Lil' Cricket crossing his arms.
The shirking siren sound stopped as the girl wrapped her arms around him. Looking up at him through the thick colored goggles.
"Hey ask before you hug me!" He felt his hair stand on end as his voice pitched up.
"You're not my dad?" Lil' Cricket waited as if wanting to be proven wrong.
With a reluctant sigh he put her hand on her shoulder "Sorry kid, I'm not your pops." Cat told the young girl the truth.
With a sharp chirp Lil' Cricket dropped her arm, heads and shoulders slumped.
Cat Noir let out a depressed huff on behalf the little girl. With a serious face and kneeled down to little girl and put a hand on her shoulder "You're. It." The with a quick jump and spun on his heel and ran in the opposite direction.
Lil' Cricket jumped and squeaked with confusion, then hopping steps chased after him "No, you are!" With chin raised in pride as she pulled the strip of fabric that made up the tail of his costume. "Uh oh." She gave startled but playful noise jumped from roof zipping off admits the crowds below.
Watching the blur of the young girl, Cat Noir chuckled slightly before bounding after her on the roof tops. Instantly the chase was exhilarating making it arm reach of Lil' Cricket only for her to dart way all most out of sight. As time drew on when the air got colder and the sky turned into the velvety black of night, a creeping question of why his Miraculous hadn't showed signs of powering down.
"Pretty."
The sound of Lil' Cricket's voice derailed his thoughts as he quietly began to sneak up on the girl "Got you!" He pounced and tackled to her ground. His triumphant victory was short lived as he looked up to she Ladybug arms crossed looking at them with a readable expression.
"There you are." Her voice was soft and caring as she looked down Cricket "Is the big bad kitty picking on you." Ladybug gave a teasing remark.
Cricket crawled way from Cat shaking her head.
"We're just having some fun?" Cat stood up giving ladybug a friendly smile to Ladybug, yet she remined focus on the Lil' Cricket.
"Hey Cricket."
"Umm?"
"Stay right there." Ladybug's changed her tone gabbing Cat Noir by the arm. "We need to talk."
"What's up? I was going help her get home." Seeing the stern look on Ladybug's face he tried to explain his actions. "Just wanted her stop making that noise frist."
"Cat, Lil' might have a Miraculous."
"Might? so you don't know?" He raised an eyebrow at Ladybug, thinking the red suited heroin was jumping to conclusions "She just a kid, why don't you ask her, we've goanna have to anyways."
Ladybug's stance relaxed as she looked away "What if she's a trap that Hawkmoth set up?" Her eyes stared at the distant skyline "I get she's a kid but that makes her dangerous in some- hey!" She let out a irritated groan as she saw Cat Noir walking causally back to the little girl.
"Hey kido?" Cat gave a cheery tone to catch the little costumed girl's attention.
Lil' Cricket looked up at him with a questioning look then gave a small smile.
"Ever hear of a guy named Hawkmoth?" Cat Noir winced his hand shoot to his hears "Oh sh-, that's a yes!"
"He's awful." Lil' Cricket's voice cracked her chest heaving, cheeks turning pale as her clenched shaking.
Ladybug cautiously taking the opening Cat had against the intention, she asked the little girl "Do you know what a Miraculous is?"
"You're not goings to take Ching-Ching from me, are you?" The girl gave a frightened scream. The was swallowed up by the noise, Ladybug had caught to being Lil' Cricket's power, which was causing the glass in the building beneath them to vibrate.
"No." It was unclear if Lil' Cricket had heard the duo's answer but, the violence of her chirping died down.
Red faced the girl sobbed a "I just want to go home."
An ache erupted in Ladybugs heart an Akumatized villain with a major flaw or, being unwittingly chosen for a Miraculous. The sobbing girl in front of them was person who wanted nothing but return home "We'll help you, but we can't help unless we know something about you."
Lil' Cricket rubbed at her cheeks the tears from the goggles glitter off her hands "Tomorrow in the morning, I can take you to the last place I remember." She gave a shaky huff "It's a really bad place."
"We'll protect you." Ladybug clasped the girl's hands gently.
Lil' Cricket tilted her head at each of them "Promise?" She probed them apprehensive.
Cat Noir drew an X on his chest with a finger. "Hope to die."
