A/N: This story was a part of a challenge called Miraculous Big Bang 2k17. My partner salty-french-fry created some amazing art that you can check out on her tumblr or on this story posted on AO3 under the username LNC. Enjoy!
Chapter Two:
8:40 PM
Marinette shifted anxiously from one foot to the other as she and Alix watched Ivan slip around the back of Kim's house to the basement entrance.
During their earlier sweep of the building they were horrified to find Madame Le Chien's tenant out on the balcony, but when he caught them sneaking around the alleyway he merely waved them on and went back to his book. Catching Marinette's worried glance, Alix only smiled.
"Don't worry about Michel. He's cool."
But now, as they prepared to launch their first attack of the evening, Marinette couldn't help but worry. This was her first time at one of Alix's parties since she'd become Ladybug. She felt all of the nervous energy that accompanied a fight with none of the reassuring familiarity of her super suit.
Her mind kept running through scenarios. All of the ways their plan could go wrong. All of the ways Nino might escape before they made their grab. Every little movement, from the rustling of the trees to the back alley cats running through the trash cans had her hands twitching for her yoyo.
She kept finding one of Ivan's Super Soakers instead.
"Are you sure his mom will let us in?"
"Absolutely," Alix said, readjusting the bag at her side where she'd hidden her own weapon. "She loves me."
"But what if Kim warned her not to let you in?"
She shrugged. "It won't matter. She hopes Kim and I will be a thing."
Marinette looked away from the house to her friend. "Wait, I thought–"
"He is. But she doesn't know that."
Marinette's phone lit up with a text from Ivan letting them know he was in position. Alix's smile was downright evil.
"You ready Dupain-Cheng?"
Marinette grinned. "I was born ready."
Marinette was not ready.
From the moment she and Alix appeared at the top of the stairs it was chaos. The boys, previously lounging around a half-eaten box of pizza let out what she could only describe as squeals (no matter what Kim would later try to claim) and scrambled gracelessly to their feet.
Max and Nathaniel ran for what appeared to be a coat closet while Kim grabbed, of all things, a nearby baseball bat and waved it threateningly in their direction.
"Don't make me use this!"
Alix laughed. "You gonna take a swing at us, slugger?"
"Yes," Kim growled, but his shaking hands betrayed him.
Marinette ignored them both and focused on Nino who was predictably the first one at the back door. His trembling hands were fumbling with the deadbolt and she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him when his triumphant hah! transformed into a yelp as the door was wrenched open to reveal Ivan, his own water gun in hand, pointed directly at Nino's chest.
"Sup?" The giant said, grinning as the terrified boy scrambled back into the room where his back met the end of Marinette's gun.
"Hey there Mr. DJ," She crooned. "I think you've got something that belongs to– AGH!"
Marinette was blindsided by a tackle from her left. She barely had time to register the unsettlingly familiar voice of her attacker shouting run, Nino, run! before instinct kicked in and she rolled with her assailant, dropping her weapon in favor of wrestling them to the ground.
"Not this time," She grunted, smirking when she pinned both of her attacker's arms over their head. Squeezing her thighs around their struggling hips Marinette felt more than a little pleased that her reflexes remained just as sharp without her suit. Unfortunately her triumphant, you'll have to do better than that strangled in her throat the moment she met the very green, very startled eyes of one Adrien Agreste.
"A-A-Adrien?" She stammered.
His eyes were wide and just as disbelieving as a red flush to rival her own worked its way up his bare chest and neck and "Oh my god!" she shrieked as she realized she was straddling the nearly naked love of her life.
Marinette sprang off of him as if she were burned. "Why aren't you wearing pants? "
"Marinette!" Alix snapped. "Stop ogling and start running! Lahiffe's getting away!"
Marinette tore her eyes away from Adrien's bare stomach just in time to see Nino disappearing behind the door leading upstairs into Kim's house.
"Shit," She muttered, taking off after her friend and trying desperately to forget how it felt to have Adrien Agreste underneath her.
Now is not the time for your crush, Marinette.
As she ran out of the house, throwing out a rushed Au revoire Madame Le Chien! in her wake, she could hear Alix's fading cry of "Damn Agreste. I thought all of that was photoshopped in." followed quickly by muffled shouting from the others.
It was stupidly easy to catch up to Nino as he ran screaming down the street. It was clear to Marinette that the DJ spent more time with his tracks than running track and he cursed her roundly when she inevitably caught up with him and wrestled the red hat from his head.
"Sorry Nino!" She said, laughing, not sorry at all as she stared down at her defeated friend. "I promise I'll take good care of it for you."
(Un)fortunately for Marinette, by the time she rejoined Ivan and Alix, Adrien was long gone. Her teammates' sour expressions eased marginally when they realized she'd snagged Nino's hat but it was clear they were frustrated that the other boy escaped. They all lost their super soakers in the attack and both Ivan and Alix appeared to be on the losing end of that particular fight.
Alix scowled as she wrung out her t-shirt.
"Now what? There's no way we can catch up to him now. That boy is like a freaking cheetah."
Ivan nodded. "He's more likely to accidentally run into the others than let us get him."
"Not to mention he's only got the one pair of boxers," Alix finished, letting her soaked shirt slap back onto her stomach.
Marinette's chest tightened with guilt. They all knew, even if her friends were too kind to say it, that it was her hesitation that cost them that particular prize.
She had to make it right.
As if sensing her thoughts she felt Tikki's agitated fluttering in her purse and knew that her kwami wouldn't approve of what she was planning.
Marinette ignored her.
"Well," She said, slowly, biting her bottom lip. "I may have an idea. Although it's not exactly… legal."
Ivan and Alix exchanged a look before breaking out into matching grins.
"We're in."
8:57 PM
His underwear.
His underwear.
Of all the goddamn things in the world–
Out of everything his father's guilt-ridden conscience ever bought for him–
Alix fucking Kubdel went and chose his underwear to be the holy grail of her birthday party.
Nino did not do nearly enough to warn him about this night.
"Some friend he is," Adrien muttered as he zig-zagged through the back alleyways of Kim's neighborhood in an attempt to throw off his pursuers and put as much distance between himself and the orchestrators of this insane night as possible.
"You can make this all stop if you just lose the boxers now, Agreste," Alix had said, grinning maniacally as she and Ivan closed in on him. Marinette's footsteps were just an echo on the stairwell as she took off after Nino.
Adrien, to his chagrin, was still stun-struck from the revelation that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was apparently a little bit in love with him and had the ability to pin him to the ground without breaking a sweat.
Her triumphant you'll have to do better than that and its accompanying grin sent a painful jolt straight to his heart and made him feel things best left unexamined until he was alone.
The night probably would have ended there if it weren't for Max and Nathaniel charging at his captors with old silly string and a tennis racket. Kim had joined in the attack by launching himself onto Ivan's back and screaming Go! Go! Go!
He was gone.
Up the back stairs and out into the alleyway. Past the lounging Michel and over the stone fence. Adrien Agreste didn't need to be told twice when to make a break for it.
This would be so much easier if I had Plagg.
If he had Plagg then he wouldn't be at the mercy of his classmates. If he had Plagg then he wouldn't be running the risk of complete and total social lockdown courtesy of one Gabriel Agreste. If he had Plagg his sockless feet wouldn't be chafing at the inside of his well-loved sneakers and if he had Plagg–
Adrien rounded another corner only to find himself at a dead end.
"Well, well, well," A deceptively cheerful voice said from behind him sending the hairs on the back of his neck standing up straight. "Look what I found girls."
Adrien sighed, resigned, and turned around.
Standing at the mouth of the alley, pink and smiling and absolutely terrifying , stood Sabrina, Mylene, and Rose. As they stepped closer, he could see their faces were covered in paint, each one of them sporting some variation of whiskers and flowers and butterflies.
"What are the odds you ladies will just let me go?"
Sabrina stepped forward with a small grin and placed a hand on his shoulder. He tried not to flinch.
"Don't worry, Adrien." She said sweetly. "We're not going to hurt you."
There was a sensation of cool metal encircling his wrist followed by a soft click. He looked down to see Rose's hand resting next to his. Or rather, he looked down to see Rose's hand handcuffed to his.
He tried to pull away, knowing it was futile, and watched in horror as Rose's dainty wrist followed. Her delighted giggling echoed in his ears.
"Where the hell did you guys get handcuffs?"
Sabrina smiled. "I know a guy."
"Oh my god."
"Don't be like that," Mylene sidled up to him with a smirk. "Think of it as a friendship bracelet."
"You guys are insane."
"Hardly," Sabrina rolled her eyes and consulted the piece of paper in her hand. "Now come on, Agreste. We've got places to be."
8:50 PM
"Fuck."
Chloe Bourgeois scowled as she watched a disheveled and hatless Nino Lahiffe slink back into the Le Chien house. It was just her fucking luck that not only had Adriekins decided to turn in early like the sheltered, little lamb he was (on the first day of summer no less she really needed to help that boy get a life) but their foiled attempt at collecting on one of the biggest items on the list meant that they missed their chance with Lahiffe's hat as well.
"Well that's just great," Alya said. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"
"Don't look at me. This isn't my fault."
"Oh really?" The wanna-be journalist snapped. "What was all that about 'Adriekins and I are like this'?"
Chloe grit her teeth. "Don't call him that."
Alya rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The point is we're down one pair of boxers, one hat, and we've got some major ground to cover if we want even a chance at winning this thing."
"I know how the game works, Cesaire."
Juleka slipped between the two girls who backed away quickly in an effort to avoid her hands. She smiled and held up their list.
"Some of the stuff on here is pretty specific. I don't think we should give up Nino's hat as a lost cause just yet."
Chloe snatched the paper out of her hand, scanning until she came to the item in question. Gotcha, she smirked. Shoving the list back to the others, she whipped out her phone until she reached the number of her father's hotel.
"Don't worry ladies," She sang. "The night is young and you've got me as your secret weapon."
Alya shared a look with Juleka before examining the list again. Her eyes skipped over the easier, less valuable tasks until they lighted on one that proved promising. For more reasons than one, Alya thought grimly as she watched her snotty teammate twirl her fingers through her ponytail and bark orders into her phone.
Chloe snapped it shut with a self-satisfied grin, flouncing over to them with a haughty you're welcome.
"Well, while we wait for the others I found something big we can cross off the list."
Alya's finger tapped tauntingly over the task. Juleka's soft oh was drowned out by Chloe's adamant absolutely not.
There was absolutely, positively, no way in hell she was going to… to… to do that.
Cesaire's know-it-all glare caught her own.
"I didn't take you for a coward, Bourgeois."
Motherfucker.
8:59 PM
Nino Lahiffe was a man undone.
Five years of being hunted, man-handled (girl-handled?) and stripped down like a pig in a butcher shop had taken its toll. No longer was he the fresh-faced eleven year-old boy who ran screaming like a terrified child from a bunch of girls.
Or rather, no longer anymore.
Nino rubbed his hands over his bare head, his missing cap revealing his defeat to his fallen comrades as he slowly descended the staircase into the basement.
"I can't believe your mom just let them in," Nathaniel said, picking up one of the chairs that had been knocked over during the struggle. Couch cushions, pillows, chairs, and clothes were only some of the casualties of the girls' assault.
"I can," Kim groaned.
"You okay, Nino?" Max asked as the boy in question slunk vacant-eyed and trembling into the room.
The answer was no, he was not okay.
He was furious.
The old Nino was dead. Sacrificed on the altar of birthday shenanigans.
But no more.
Not this year, not this time
not again.
Somewhere on the streets of Paris his best friend wandered. Defenseless, ill-informed, and unequipped to stop their classmates and their unholy reign of terror.
"Nathaniel," He said lowly. "Does your dad still have those paintball guns?"
"Uh, yeah. I think so. Why?"
Nino straightened his glasses with a grim smile.
"Boys, we're going out."
9:13 PM
Marinette scaled the walls of the Agreste mansion with all the trepidation of a thief. Which, technically, she was, despite what her costume might lead others to believe.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered as she pulled herself up onto what appeared to be a guest room balcony.
It would have been easier if she could have just swung directly into Adrien's bedroom, but with Alix and Ivan standing watch at the back gate (at Marinette's insistence) there was no way she would have been able to transform and enter through his window undetected.
It was miracle enough that she was able to convince her teammates to wait outside the property for her.
"And just how do you expect to get inside, D-C?"
"I have my ways," She said evasively, which ultimately backfired when Alix teased her for being 'such a stalker' and promised that as long as Marinette produced the goods she wouldn't report her to Sabrina's father.
Marinette tried to stammer out some kind of denial but Ivan merely grinned and gave her a thumbs up so she gave up her dignity as a lost cause.
It served her right for ogling Adrien's abs instead of keeping her head in the game.
She recalled Adrien's bedroom being on the third floor of the mansion so if she could just make it inside the house she should be able to locate it from there.
Unfortunately, nothing was ever that simple. Although why she should be surprised that Gabriel "I'm going to lock up my son to protect him from the outside world" Agreste would keep all of the doors and windows locked was anyone's guess.
But she wasn't Ladybug for nothing.
"Lucky Charm!" She whispered.
A red and black lockpick dropped into her hands. Marinette grinned and got to work.
From there it was surprisingly easy to find Adrien's room. Memories of her time here during Jackady gave her enough information to navigate the maze of rooms. She hesitated at his door, her heart pounding in that horrible mixture of terror and excitement that always accompanied thoughts of her crush, but she ruthlessly shoved them aside. She knew for a fact that he wasn't in there and she was on a mission dammit.
The lights from the city shone brightly through the large, floor to ceiling windows, illuminating the room in their soft glow. Marinette wondered idly whether the lights kept him up during the night or if they comforted him as he fell asleep. Sometimes on her worst nights, she would climb up onto her balcony and watch the lights blink in and out as the lives of Paris played out before her like an electric symphony. It was nice, sometimes, to be reminded that she wasn't alone. Maybe Adrien felt the same way.
Her earring beeped, forcing her to focus on the task at hand. Marinette's eyes scanned the room, ignoring the disaster of pillows and blankets half flung off the bed, until she found his closet.
Gotcha.
Fully aware of her limited time, she rushed forward and opened the closet door only to be hit in the face with something small and black and sharp.
Stifling a scream, Marinette flung the creature away and unhooked her yoyo, her eyes trying and failing to locate whatever it was that attacked her.
There was nothing.
Her earring beeped again and she cursed. Turning back towards the closet she yelped as she met a pair of narrowed, glowing green eyes.
"Where the hell is Adrien? "
9:32 PM
"Le Grand Paris?"
Adrien stared up at the gilded hotel with a burgeoning sense of dread.
This couldn't possibly be a good idea.
"Come on, Adrien," Rose giggled, pulling him forward. His motions were robotic as his arm followed hers in pitiable resignation.
Leave it to Sabrina to steal her father's handcuffs.
"How do you even expect to get inside?" He asked, trying and failing to keep his voice from cracking.
This had to be some sort of trap. There was no way this wasn't a trap.
If this night had taught him anything it was to not underestimate his classmates.
Adrien's eyes drifted over to Mylene, who, not even twenty minutes ago, had been nearly as exposed as himself and standing on a scandalized Mendeleive's doorstep.
At least she had a mask, he thought grimly, ducking down to hide his face as another wave of pedestrians passed by.
"Seriously isn't there anything else you guys can do?" He pleaded. "There's no way Chloe hasn't put the staff on guard."
Panic roiled in his stomach at the thought of being caught by Chloe and Alya. There's no telling what those two might do, even with Juleka there as a tempering presence.
Mylene merely waved the list towards him with a small grin. "Not for three points there's not."
Or not.
Adrien was quickly coming to the realization that even the supposedly sane ones were running mad tonight.
"So what's the plan, Sabrina?" She asked, ignoring the way their captive's face was turning green. "How are we getting to the roof?"
"The roof? " He squeaked.
Rose nodded enthusiastically. "That's where the pool is silly."
"The pool? "
"Already taken care of," Sabrina said, reaching into the collar of her shirt and pulling out what appeared to be an access card. "Jean Pierre and I are pretty tight."
Adrien groaned into his hands.
This was a terrible idea.
9:37 PM
This was a fantastic idea.
Anthony Gerard Charpentier grinned, clutching his camera gleefully to his chest as he climbed into the staff elevator of Le Grand Paris. One of his connections from school, a journalist moonlighting as a maid to make ends meet, was only too happy to leave the back entrance of the loading dock cracked open in exchange for fifty euros.
Sometimes it was just too easy.
A few greased palms here, a well placed search engine alert there, and some impeccable sleuthing on his part made finding the Agreste boy a piece of cake.
He still wasn't entirely sure what the boy was up to but that didn't make the photos he'd snagged so far any less valuable.
The handcuffs are a nice touch, he thought, pausing on the image of Adrien Agreste being shackled to a blonde pixie girl. He didn't recognize any of the three young women, although the red headed one looked a bit familiar. That homework could be done when he was out of the field.
The elevator pinged softly as he hit the rooftop and he was grateful that the service elevator emptied out onto the opposite end of the roof than the pool. Creeping slowly around the edge of the wall, Anthony raised his camera into position as he caught sight of the four teens huddled on the deck.
"No way. Absolutely not!" The Agreste boy shouted, scrambling away from the edge of the water and pulling the blonde pixie with him.
"You have to," Another said. "Rose, Sabrina, and I all have to jump which means you're jumping too."
"I am not going to get what little clothes I do have wet."
The pixie laughed and shook their joined wrists. "You don't have much of a choice."
"You can let me go," Agreste said and the three girls laughed.
Interesting.
"Not a chance, Adrien," The redheaded one said, coming up behind him with a grin.
"You can't make m–ack! "
His words were cut off with a loud splash! Followed quickly by two more as the remaining girls joined their soaking friends.
Anthony's fingers were trigger quick as he caught the sequence, filing away their conversation for later.
The lighthearted giggling of teenage girls echoed across the rooftop as the model sputtered out curses.
Unfortunately (for them) the teenagers were quickly swarmed on all sides as what appeared to be hotel security stumbled out from behind the guest elevator on the opposite side of the deck. They were lead by a man in an impeccably tailored black and white suit and Anthony recognized him as the head butler for the hotel staff.
He should know. He'd been chased out by him many times before.
There was a soft gasp from one of the girls in the pool and a betrayed, "Jean Pierre?"
The butler in question shook his head, albeit a bit chagrined.
"I'm sorry Miss Raincomprix. But Miss Bourgeois made a call."
Raincomprix?
Anthony narrowed his eyes at the name before realization struck. Smirking, he snapped a few more shots before slinking back into the service elevator.
This night just keeps getting better and better.
9:27 PM
This night is a complete disaster.
Marinette sat slumped on the floor, her back pressed against the side of Adrien's - no Chat's - couch, numb and disbelieving as she watched the red and black kwamis dance excitedly around each other.
Oh god.
Chat Noir.
Her partner.
Adrien freaking Agreste.
"Motherfu– "
"Marinette!" Tikki scolded, cutting off her charge's incredulous whisper.
"It's okay, pigtails." The black kawmi said, floating over to rest on her limp knee. "The boy's not as pathetic as he seems."
"Plagg!"
"That's a good thing, Tikki." The strange kwami - Plagg? - rolled his eyes and gave Marinette a toothy grin. "Honestly, how do you put up with her?"
She blinked and shook her head slowly. "Um."
Plagg sighed. "You're usually much more articulate."
His eyes lit up then with an unholy sort of gleam. "Well, most of the time."
Marinette couldn't stop the loud squeak that escaped her then nor could she hide the fire engine red blush blazing its way up her neck. In her distress she ended up launching the kwami off of her knees as she buried her face in her arms on her legs.
Oh my god Adrien is Chat Noir.
"You know," A teasing voice said near her ear. "The quicker you accept it, the quicker we can get to the fun part of the evening."
Marinette raised her head just enough so she could make eye contact with Plagg.
"What do you mean?" She asked, more than a little suspicious. Especially when she saw Tikki fluttering behind him, her small body shaking in agitated disapproval.
"Plagg," Her kwami said, a warning clear in her voice. "Don't."
Plagg ignored her and focused on Marinette. It was strange, she thought, to see Chat Noir's familiar gaze in his own.
"Come on, bug. Think about it. Thanks to those idiots in your class my kitten is out there defenseless and almost as naked as the day he was born."
I know, she thought with not nearly as much shame as she should have felt. I was straddling him.
"And just whose fault is that? " Tikki snapped, flying between the black kwami and her charge. "You should have gone with him."
"And just where would I have gone, Tikki? It's not like he was wearing anything I could have hid in and I am not doing that again."
Marinette fought off another blush and pushed away all thoughts of Adrien (Chat Noir!) and his state of undress. Plagg noticed her glazed expression however and flashed her another toothy grin.
She caught it and a part of her just died.
"Besides," He said lazily, flying around his ruffled partner to once again take a place on Marinette's knee. "The kid is due for a little crazy."
"So you don't want us to bring him back to you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes as she sized up the mischievous god.
"Well, not right away." He sniffed, feigning disinterest. "He'll be fine. Just take me with you in case any… trouble… comes up. I can keep watch over him from afar."
"Hah! You just want to watch him make a fool of himself." Tikki said. "What we should do is get you back to him right away."
"Yeaaaaah," Plag said. "But where's the fun in that?"
He caught Marinette's assessing look and winked.
"Stop trying to corrupt my Ladybug!"
Marinette ignored Tikki's outburst and met Plagg's sly smile with a grin of her own.
"You're a bad kwami aren't you?"
He looked her up and down. "I could say the same about you, pigtails."
Tikki let out a tiny shriek of frustration.
This was going to be fun.
9:41 PM
Adrien wanted a refund.
He didn't know who he needed to talk to or what cosmic complaint department he needed to deal with but at this point he was ready to storm the metaphorical manager's office and raise hell.
When Plagg told him he was the embodiment of bad luck he never anticipated anything like this.
Drenched like a rat in the rain, wet hair clinging to his forehead, and trying desperately to keep his sopping boxers from clinging to his skin and giving his captors a show no one paid to see.
Greater cosmic forces must be at work and Adrien was fairly confident that Ladybug never had to deal with this kind of thing.
Adrien scowled and burrowed further into one of the large, white towels that Jean Pierre had so graciously provided for them.
Well, as gracious as one can be when they're holding you hostage.
"I'm so sorry guys," Sabrina said quietly. "I honestly thought we wouldn't get caught."
"Hey," Mylene said, resting a hand on the disappointed girl's shoulder. "Don't even worry about it. We never would have even made it in here without you."
"Yeah," Rose smiled. "Besides we completed the task! Nothing Chloe does can take those points away."
Sabrina shook her head and gestured to Adrien. "But we've probably lost him and his points in the process."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that!" Rose said, swinging her cuffed arm and Adrien's along with it. "He's not going anywhere."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that."
Adrien shuddered at the sheer glee he heard in Chloe's voice before Rose's abrupt turn towards the office entrance yanked him around as well.
Even years of training couldn't hide his shock as he caught sight of his childhood friend.
Sabrina let out a horrified gasp.
"Chloe, your hair!"
"Not. A. Word." She growled, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides as if she were trying to strangle the air. She tossed her now jet-black locks and stared down the room. "I don't want to hear a word from anyone."
"Chill out, Bourgeois. Your sacrifice was worth four points alone." Alya smirked, sticking her head around the glowering girl to peek into the room. Her eyes lit up when she spotted him. "Well, well, well. Looks like sunshine made it out of the house tonight after all."
"Hi Alya."
She laughed side-stepping Chloe entirely. "You don't sound too happy to see me."
"Forgive me," Adrien said, rolling his eyes. "It's been a rough night."
"I can see that." Alya gave him a once over and grinned. "Felt like putting on a show did ya?"
Adrien buried his face in his hands and let out a frustrated whine.
She laughed.
"Where's Juleka?" Rose asked.
"Oh she's around," Chloe said just as Juleka reappeared with a large man in coveralls. Rose (and therefore Adrien) gave an excited wave which the goth girl returned with a smile. Chloe pointed the man in his direction and it was then that Adrien noticed the pair of bolt cutters in his hands.
"Him, Marcel. If you can just cut that off we'll be on our way."
"Wait!" Sabrina shouted, jumping in front of Marcel. "You can't cut him loose my dad will kill me if he finds out I took his handcuffs."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at her best friend. "Then I guess you have a decision to make don't you?"
Sabrina frowned and shared a look with her teammates. Mylene and Rose nodded but not before sending a nasty look in their captor's direction. Sighing, the girl pulled a small silver key from her pocket and unlocked the cuff from Rose's wrist.
Adrien only had a moment to celebrate his freedom before Alya grabbed his other hand and cuffed it with the first.
"Seriously?"
"Let's go Sunshine. We're on a deadline."
As Alya and Juleka lead him out like the prisoner he was Adrien heard Chloe tell her butler to keep the others locked up for another half hour before setting them loose.
He frowned when she rejoined them. "Really Chloe?"
"What? I'm being nice. Last year I locked Marinette in a closet for the entire night."
She stood up on her tiptoes to plant a quick kiss on his cheek. "Aren't you proud of me?"
Adrien sighed, resigned.
At least it was an improvement.
10:10 PM
"Open up Kubdel! I know you're in there!"
Nino's fist pounded against the large, ornate front door with all the righteous indignation of a man wronged.
Too long. The girls had gone unchecked for far too long.
"Maybe he's asleep?" Nathaniel offered.
"Oh no. There's no way the only adult supervision – don't give me that look Nino I'm using the word generously – for Alix's crazy hoard went to bed while they're still running rampage across the city." Kim's fist joined Nino's. "Jalil we know you're in there! We can keep this up all night if we have to."
There was some muffled shuffling on the other side of the door. Jalil opened the door with a beleaguered sigh and leaned against the frame.
"Can I help you?"
"Where's Alix?" Nino growled.
"Out."
Nathaniel surreptitiously reached out to take his father's paintball gun out of Nino's shaking hands as the angry boy took a step closer to Jalil.
Jalil didn't flinch. He caught sight of Nino's bare head and smiled.
"Oh they got you already did they?"
"I swear–"
"Hey!" Kim said, slapping his friend hard on the back. "We're cool here. It's all good."
Jalil's eyes focused in on the paint ball guns and the girls' confiscated super soakers. "I can see that."
"Actually," Kim said. "We were wondering if you would be interested in a trade."
"A trade?" He asked skeptically.
"Of information." Max clarified. "Alix mentioned you were encountering some difficulties with your artifact reconstruction project. I believe we can help you there."
Kim shoved Nathaniel forward nearly knocking him off his feet. "You won't believe what this guy can do with a brush."
Jalil considered them for a moment before opening the door wide and gesturing for them to come in.
"I'm listening."
10:12 PM
Nathalie Sancouer needed a vacation.
10 PM on a Friday night and she was still on the clock. Although technically she was never really off the clock. Not when her boss was an international fashion mogul who occasionally moonlighted as a super villain.
I don't get paid nearly enough for this.
Nathalie scowled as she worked through the last minute changes to her employer's schedule. Sure Gabriel Agreste sometimes possessed innocent civilians but keeping her until all hours of the night on what was supposed to be her weekend off was downright evil.
When she originally applied for the position of his personal assistant she hadn't realized she would be taking on the roles of housekeeper, henchman, and nanny along with it.
Her employer could design a whole line of hats based on the number of jobs she took on.
She would give him a piece of her mind if she didn't know that's exactly what he wanted. Nathalie had a sneaking suspicion that the sudden spike in late-even-for-her nights were a not-so-subtle attempt at trying to akumatize her.
I definitely don't get paid enough for that.
A loud ping from her tablet grabbed her attention. She sighed, setting aside her endless paperwork.
Gabriel Agreste's hyper fixation with image and the family name meant that she was required to keep a particularly close eye on any potential developments, harmful or otherwise. She had long ago set up an alert system when key phrases appeared online. Usually they were harmless like mentions of an upcoming runway show or Hawkmoth's latest akuma.
Sometimes however…
Rumor has it that golden boy Adrien Agreste just made a splash at Le Grand Paris. Looks like the teenager is ready to let it all hang out. Photos to come.
Goddammit.
Nathalie didn't have to check his room to know that it would be empty. Adrien had gotten adept at sneaking out of the house over the years although he was usually more discrete than this.
Briefly, she considered finding her employer and alerting him to the possible scandal unfolding somewhere on the streets of Paris. That thought was quickly pushed away however when an image of the poor boy put back under house arrest flashed in her mind.
No. This was a problem that required tact and stealth not a rampaging akuma destroying half the city.
She turned on her bluetooth and dialed the number for Adrien's bodyguard.
I never had to deal with this shit when I worked with Rabanne.
A/N: nathalie does not get paid enough to deal with this shit