What if Adrien had noticed the Peacock Miraculous in his father's safe? Spoilers for the second season of Miraculous Ladybug. Characters are owned by Zagtoon, not me.
The Turning of a Page
Chapter 1: The Broach
Adrien was running down the stairs, heading for the front door, when he heard his father's voice from a side room. He stopped to look in.
"I was right in the middle of something very important," said Gabriel Agreste, looking down at the book open in front of him on a table as he spoke on the telephone.
Gabriel went on about some fashion-related problems, but Adrien's attention was focused on the book. Why was it so important?
Adrien saw his father go to an open safe that he had never before realized was there, behind the large portrait of his mother, missing for almost a year. His father put the book into the safe, shut the door, and closed the portrait panel back over the safe.
"Call my assistant Nathalie. She'll give you some other names," said Gabriel as he walked out of the room and away. (Adrien hid behind a pillar to avoid being discovered.)
"He hides stuff behind the painting of Mom?" Adrien whispered to his kwami, Plagg, who floated beside him.
"I love dirty secrets!" said Plagg.
Adrien walked into the room, dropped his tote bag, and opened the secret panel.
"Yes, go on, go on!" urged Plagg.
Adrien saw a numerical control panel to enter a combination. "I can't. My dad wouldn't like me going through his stuff. Besides, I don't even know the code, and my fencing class is about to start."
"You're such a party-pooper," said Plagg, phasing right through the safe door and popping it open.
"Plagg, no!"
"My, my, what have we got in here? A book on Tibet, a flyer for a hotel, and a load of old junk. Come on, where's the good stuff?"
Plagg tossed out an old leather-bound book, which Adrien caught. Adrien opened it, looking at strange illustrations, one of which looked like an old-fashioned version of Ladybug.
"I've seen this book somewhere before," said Plagg, "But who cares, I'm famished. I need Camembert!"
"Why does my Dad keep this book in his safe?" asked Adrien to himself.
He turned a page, and came to an illustration of a masked woman in a purple outfit, holding a fan that looked like it was made of peacock feathers. She was posed leaping into the air, as if starting to fly. In another illustration on the facing page was a picture of a colorful piece of jewelry, a broach shaped like a peacock.
Adrien looked up from the book and there it was, on a shelf in the safe in front of a photo of his mother. He picked it up. Was this a real magical item like his ring, or was it just a copy?
"Cheese! Didn't you hear me?" asked Plagg.
Adrien heard footsteps coming. Nathalie and the Gorilla must have gotten tired of waiting for him at the car!
Arien hesitated, almost putting the book and broach back, but he had to know more. He shut the safe, closed up the painting, and stuffed both items into his bag.
The two employees came into the room, looking stern.
Nathalie said, "Adrien, you're going to be late."
"I was looking for my equipment," said Adrien, holding up his fencing mask. "Silly me."