Gregory didn't know how the Miraculous worked but he had assumed it would make someone who was sick temporarily better while transformed. That was, until Adrien called Gregory up to his room where the boy was in the middle of hacking up a lung. When his coughing fit stopped, Adrien took off his ring and held it out to Greg. "Gorilla, there's an akuma and I need you to be Chat Noir and help me by helping Ladybug, please."
"Adrien, when I told you I knew you were Chat Noir and said that it was kind of cool to be a superhero's bodyguard, I did not mean I wanted to be a superhero myself." Adrien laughed, causing another coughing fit that turned into a sneeze, finishing off with a blown nose.
"I'm too sick to go and she needs help. It's only temporary until I'm better." Adrien's face became serious. Well, as serious as he could be with deep circles under his eyes and a string of snot running out of his nose. "You're the only one I trust with this." Gregory sighed, taking the ring from the sick as a cat boy. "Thank you Gorilla, I owe you one. The baton has a call button that can connect to cellphones. If you need any pointers, call me." Gregory nodded, giving a grunt in affirmation, putting on the ring.
Plagg popped out, swinging around to face Adrien. "Kid, I'm going to need more cheese than usual for doing this." The kwami spun to Gregory with arms crossed. "Just so you know, I'm not happy about this."
Greg rolled his eyes. "Trust me, the feeling is mutual."
Plagg gave a sharp nod. "Good. Now, a quick rundown. Cataclysm can only be used once, don't touch any living things with your right hand while it's activated, and you need to say claws out to transform."
"Okay, let's get this over with. Plagg, claws out." Watching the green light wash over his own body from the soles of his feet to the top of his head was a slight rush if Gregory were being honest. The tightness of Chat Noir's suit, not so much. Adrien chuckled from his bed.
Gregory shot him a disgruntled look and Adrien raised his hands in defense. "I'm sorry, it's just kind of funny seeing you in my costume. I mean, I'm the only one I've ever seen in on. It's surprisingly funny on someone else." Greg grumbled as he walked over to Adrien's already unlatched window and extended the baton down to the ground of the estate. "Be careful." Turning back to Adrien, Gregory gave him a signature Chat Noir two fingered salute which made Adrien laugh as Greg jumped out the window.
It was fairly easy to get the hang of vaulting through Paris with Chat Noir's baton, probably because of the magical transformation he was currently wrapped in. Gregory reached Ladybug rather quickly. She was crouched across the street from the akuma who was being quite docile for the moment. "Ladybug." She spun around at the unfamiliar voice.
"Gorilla?" He'd been expecting a question about who he was or where the real Chat Noir was, not the nickname that only Adrien and Adrien's friends used for him. Gregory saw Ladybug catch her slip up, her eyes widening. "Um, I mean, where is the real Chat Noir?"
"Sick." There was a slightly awkward silence at his one-word response.
"Okayyy…" Ladybug extended the word for a beat. "So why did Chat Noir choose Adrien's body guard to be Chat for a day?" Based on the fact that Ladybug knew he was Adrien's bodyguard and her use of the nickname only a few of Adrien's friends used, Gregory was pretty sure the hero standing in front of him was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. All the times Adrien called Marinette "just a friend" flashed through Greg's mind and he had to hold himself back from laughing.
Upon seeing the skepticism on Ladybug's face, Gregory's humor was replaced with panic. What if she connected that Adrien was Chat Noir because she'd recognized him. It wouldn't be too far of a leap to make. Ladybug smiled. "Of course, Chat must know how amazing Adrien is and with him being so busy, he went to the person who's able to protect Adrien so well." Gregory wanted to facepalm and cheer at the same time. On one hand, Greg was glad he wasn't the reason Ladybug found out Adrien was Chat Noir but on the other, how completely dense were these kids? The akuma roared from across the street. "Okay, let's get this done." A fierce determination appeared on Ladybug's face as she launched herself across the street.
Gregory vaulted off the roof, over shooting slightly and landing directly on the akuma, knocking it down. Ladybug stood stunned a few steps away, quickly shaking herself out of it. "Grab the wrench in their back pocket and cataclysm it." Gregory did as Ladybug said, calling on the destructive power and disintegrated the akumatized object.
Ladybug purified the butterfly and Gregory held up a fist for the signature Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bump. She looked at her hand and smiled sheepishly up at him. "Um, sorry, but that's kind of Chat Noir and mine's thing. Um, like the real Chat Noir. We could high five?" Ladybug held up her hand and Gregory chuckled as he high fived her. The miraculous beeped on his finger. "Welp, looks like you have to go."
"Looks like I do. It was nice working with you, see you later Marinette." Gregory heard a shrill shriek behind him as he vaulted back to the Agreste mansion. He went through Adrien's still open window, his transformation releasing as he entered. Adrien was still in bed, but he'd brought his laptop to his bed and was staring at the just ended live steam on the ladyblog.
Adrien looked up as Gregory was taking off the ring. "What did you say to Ladybug? She looked horrified as you left."
Greg shrugged. "I used her civilian name."
Vaulting out of bed, Adrien stumbled over to him. "You know who she is?"
"Well, it's pretty obvious." Adrien's mouth dropped open as he gawked up at the bodyguard.
"What?" Gregory nodded. "Either I'm so sick I'm hallucinating or you're actually telling me you know who my lady it." Greg smirked.
"Let's just say you should observe the people around you a bit better. Who knows, she might end up being just a friend." Based on the dumbfounded look on Adrien's face and the fact that these kids hadn't realized who the other is yet, Gregory knew he wasn't giving too much away. Plus, he got to laugh to himself over his own play on Adrien's past words.
The blond shook his head. "Nope, don't tell me anything more. We aren't revealing anything until we've both said we're ready for that." Both of them were adorably infuriating, Gregory couldn't wait to watch this love square unfold.
Gregory handed the cat miraculous back to it's rightful owner and Adrien slipped it back on his finger. They watched as Plagg shot off to the plate of cheese Adrien left on his desk. "Hey, thank you for taking over for the day Gorilla. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."
Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, Gregory smiled down at Adrien. "I may be your body guard Adrien, but you're like family to me. I'll always to my best to help you out when you need it. Plus, it was actually kind of fun, especially freaking Ladybug out like that."
Adrien wrapped his arms around Greg in a fierce hug as he sobbed lightly. It enraged Gregory that Adrien was shown such little affection that something so simple could affect him so much. If Adrien ever asked him to be a fill in Chat Noir again, Gabriel Agreste was certainly getting a visit and a punch in the face. Patting Adrien on the back, Gregory turned the blond towards his bed. "Now get some rest. I'm guessing instead of sleeping, you watched the livestream on the ladyblog."
"Well, I mean, yeah, obviously. I wasn't going to miss it. Awesome job with the akuma by the way. Falling on them is something that's never worked for me before." Adrien laughed.
Smiling, Gregory steered Adrien to his bed. "Sleep, now. You won't get better if you don't get enough rest." The boy slipped under the covers and Gregory made his way to the door. "Goodnight Adrien."
"Goodnight Gorilla. Thank you again." Gregory flipped off the light to his boy's room, shutting the door quietly behind him.