Wow... I got so many incredible responses from people, thank you all! I didn't imagine it would ever be this well received!

To answer a few people's questions, I'm planning on updating this about every four/five days, though this will largely depend on how long the chapter is and how important it is in the story as I tend to edit those more. As for the rating, I don't know if that will change... I'll have to see what people think and go from there.

Anyway please enjoy the chapter!

"Are you ready for this?" Nino turned Adrien as they both stood in front of the big black door that lead into one of the interrogation rooms. Behind that door was the akuma they had arrested earlier who, despite struggling when arrested, hadn't said a word since they had arrived at the station. That had been nearly an hour ago and the pair of them had spent the time since prepping for their second encounter with the strange young woman who they knew next to nothing about except of course for her akuma persona. There was still a part of Nino that couldn't believe this had gone so well. So many top policemen with honours that outstripped theirs ten times over had gone nowhere with this case yet he and Adrien had managed to capture one in a matter of hours. He studied his friend's face and saw the determination there just from the way he was looking at the door like he was ready to break it down. That was just Adrien's way, he thought, when he gets his teeth into something, he just won't rest until he's completed it, no matter what he has to do.

Adrien looked over at him, a sly grin on his face that Nino quickly found himself returning. "I was born ready for this." He answered, taking a sip of the hot coffee he had just made for himself and Nino. This time it was just right, he could practically feel the electric sweetness at the back of his throat and it felt like it was spurring him on. "Remember what we planned?"

Nino rolled his eyes. "Dude you only went through this five minutes ago. I'm good." Adrien chuckled as Nino put his hand on the door knocker, tensing his fingers to turn it. "Let's do this bro."

Adrien only gave a nod as they entered the room and went straight to the table that sat in the middle of the room that would have otherwise been bare. There were two empty chairs on one side of it and he took one and rested his coffee and his papers on the table space in front of him, not looking up at the figure he knew was sitting on the other side of the table. That was his first tactic; ignore the akuma completely for a while to make them uneasy and make them sweat a little. He felt Nino sit in the chair next to his and he took the opportunity to shuffle the papers a little whilst Nino took a long sip of his coffee. It was only after a long moment of silence had passed in the small grey room that they both looked up and took in the woman that was in front of him.

The first thing that struck them both was how young she looked. Even though she couldn't have been older than them, the way she was sitting alone in her chair made her look like a lost little girl. She was partly slumped but they could still tell she was tall and under her akuma costume, her frame was very skinny. Her outfit consisted of a pink Lolita style dress with long sleeves that puffed out at the shoulders, a high neckline with a large pink ruffle detail that stuck out from the joint of her neck and shoulder and a bell-shaped skirt with a white lace hem that ended at her knees. The dress was patterned with what looked like staring white eyes and the effect, Adrien had to admit, was uncanny as they appeared to be staring at him in judgement. Underneath the dress, she wore a pair of bright pink tights in the same shade as the dress and a pair of pink wedge-heeled boots that were so high the two of them wondered how she could walk in them let alone run. The hat she had been wearing was sat crumpled on the table in front of her, sagging as the three pointed corners that made it look like a jester's hat drooped like wilting flowers. Without her hat, her hair had been unleashed and it spilled down her back in a cascade of black that ended at the tips in a deep violet. Her round face had been plastered in thick white make-up when she had arrived but that had been wiped from her face, along with the heavy pink eyeliner and false eyelashes. The smears of it still left on her pale skin made her look even more vulnerable but the look on her face told them she certainly didn't feel that way. Hazel eyes glared at them darkly from underneath a sweeping purple-tipped fringe and her lips, still faintly tinted purple from her bright lipstick, were set in a grim line. When Adrien met her eyes she gave him a scowl that could have melted steel but he just gave a casual smile whilst Nino started up the recorder. As his friend spoke clearly into the machine, he made sure his eyes never left hers and she did the same, her angry gaze unwavering.

"Alrighty then," Nino suddenly said, his voice appearing to echo slightly in the empty room. "Could you please state your name for the recording."

"Reflekta." She answered with a growl as she turned her eyes towards Nino, giving him the same look. He looked a little perturbed by it but Adrien kept the smile on his face as he then spoke.

"No mademoiselle, we didn't ask for your akuma name, we already know that." Reflekta gave a loud sniff as she leant back in the chair, her eyes glowering like hot coals at them both. "We asked for your real name."

"I told you, it's Reflekta," She snapped at them angrily. "And that's the only name you're going to get out of me."

There was a long moment of silence before Adrien clicked his tongue and shuffled his papers again. Nino couldn't help being impressed; Adrien had always been good at hiding his true emotions from people to the point where even he didn't know what was passing through his mind. "Very well," He said calmly, causing her to look at him surprised. This was his second tactic; he had known she wasn't going to give them her real name and his plan was to drop it and hopefully lower her guard a little before he hit her with the harder questions. "How about we ask you instead what you and your friends were doing earlier at that particular store?"

She snorted. "Why the fuck would I do that?"

Nino raised his eyebrow at the sudden language but his only other action was to drink a mouthful of coffee. Adrien did the same, their movements almost fluid with each other, and they could see the flicker of confusion that passed over her face. Now was the time to apply some pressure, Adrien thought. This was going exactly as planned.

"Indeed. Why would you tell us?" He said smoothly, using the same voice he had used on the chief just a few hours ago. "You know we have plenty of evidence to send you to prison already. We have you down on vandalism charges, breaking and entering, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage…"

"Not to mention all the things you've done in your career as an akuma." Nino's voice seamlessly tacked on to the end of Adrien's. This was another thing they had practised and they had done it for many years. They were now so good at it, their sentences practically danced together and the effect was very unsettling. They could see the uneasiness in her eyes that told them it was working. The air in the room was dripping with tension and it felt like it was pooling on the other side of the table. "If I were you, I would start talking."

She laughed hollowly, trying to make the sound powerful and carefree but it came out brittle and almost deranged. "You really think I'm going to do that? I don't talk to police." She snapped her jaw down on the last word, making her contempt for them clear. Nino and Adrien just exchanged a glance.

"Hmm." Adrien lightly hummed, as he separated a sheet of paper from his stack. "Maybe you won't for your sake. I know how deep your loyalty runs, I've seen it before." Her eyes narrowed at him but she didn't say anything. "But would you talk perhaps about your friends?" Her eyes flashed with surprise as he pressed the sheet of paper flat on the table, the blown-up image facing her. It showed a shot of them all standing on the roof, gathered around the point where they had entered the building, about to jump in. Six figures were huddled there and Reflekta's eyes went wide at the clarity of the image. The CCTV camera from across the street that Adrien had strategically angled had really outdone itself.

"We know the akumas work in gangs of about five or six," Nino said as she continued to stare down at the picture. "We know yours is the most senior group, led by the second in command herself. You see her there, don't you?" Nino reached and pointed at the bottom of the picture. One figure had already dropped down into the building and they were only a dark silhouette against the night. The only thing that could be made out was the outline of a head and shoulders with two pigtails flying out either side like wings. "We know you each have certain areas that you each call your own. We know each of you have special skills. What's yours again?"

"Disguise." She said bluntly, cursing under her breath that she had given them an answer. "I work on completely disguising people, helping them to come up with their akuma forms and then working out how to make that possible. If we ever need to go undercover," She went on proudly. "I'm the one they come to. I'm an expert in the art of not being noticed."

"Impressive." Adrien replied and she looked at him strangely. "That didn't quite work here though, did it?" He pointed down at the picture where Reflekta was standing there in her full akuma glory. "You're one of the most obvious ones." She growled at him but he just gave a smile. "You know that we targeted you, don't you?" Her eyes went wide again as she looked panicked. Nino kept his face blank. They both knew it was a complete bare-faced lie but that was their third tactic; make her feel like their group really was threatened.

"You didn't?" Adrien smirked as he went through the names. "We could target any one of these people next you know. Stoneheart." She gave no reaction. "Evillustrator." Still nothing. "Lady Wifi." Her face was set like stone. "Princess Fragrance."

At once, the name seemed to pass through her like electricity as her body shot forwards in the chair like she had been propelled and her breath hitched in what almost sounded like a name. She looked back up at them and the amber in her eyes was suddenly burning like fire. "You touch one hair on her head and I'll make you pay for it." She snarled and the two cops looked at each other in shock. They really had touched a nerve there.

"We won't have to," Adrien said as he swiped the paper away and tucked it back in the pile. "If you talk to us."

She bit her lip hard and suddenly went quiet, her skin as pale as her previous make up. They could see how torn she was in her face, torn between her group and this one member that clearly meant a lot to her. "I don't know how much I can tell you." She finally said honestly. "It's more than my life's worth. And Hawkmoth doesn't tell us everything for this exact reason, so we can't spill on anything. I don't know many of the akumas outside my own group. The only ones who know everything are Hawkmoth and Ladybug." She stared at them pleadingly and they could see she was telling the truth.

"We don't need to know much." Adrien told her, his voice softer. "We just need to know a few things. Do you know the real identities of the akumas in your group?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to give us any?"

"Not on your fucking life." She answered venomously and Adrien backtracked a little.

"OK. Did you know their identities from the start?"

She laughed again, the sound now mocking him like he had said the most stupid thing on the planet. "Of course not! That would be asking for trouble!" She stared at him levelly before she started to explain. "When you first become an akuma, you know nobody. You know them only by their akuma name and you only see them as their akuma selves. Being like this… It's like you are seeing the true side of someone, you see the deepest darkest side of them. Once you know that, you know them inside and out. It's only when you earn their trust will they tell you their identity and it is the same with you. Our identity is the only thing we have to show our trust-once you know someone else's real name, it is like a bond between you. You have to work at knowing everyone's names, it took a long time for me to learn all their names and equally it was a long time before I told them mine." She glared at them, feeling like she had said too much. "I'm not giving you any names mind, I value my head too much for that. Hawkmoth is good to us, he's a fair leader and he never goes back on his promises but that doesn't mean he wouldn't strike us down if we acted out of turn."

"I see. I won't press you anymore." Adrien said. His voice sounded a little distant and Nino gave him a strange look as he made to stand up. "One final question though. How did you get to become an akuma?"

Reflekta shrugged. "You have to get yourself noticed." She answered plainly. "You have to do something to grab Hawkmoth's attention. I did it by disguising myself as a man and robbing a bank. I was so convincing, all the police were searching for a man with blonde hair and blue eyes." She grinned and gave a cackle as she proudly remembered it before her attention went back to the two cops who had turned off the recorder and were walking towards the door. "But what has that got to do with anything?"

"Oh nothing." Adrien answered wistfully as he left the room and didn't look back. "Nothing at all."

OOO

"Dude, is something up?" Nino chased Adrien down the corridor, his arms full of the papers he had nearly left on the desk whilst each hand held at cup of rapidly-cooling coffee. "Why did you leave so suddenly? We were getting somewhere!"

"We did get somewhere," Adrien said, still strolling purposefully down the corridor at a pace Nino could only just keep up with. "We learnt how their group really works. I knew it was all trust based but to have it on that level…" He stopped suddenly and sighed, taking his coffee from a buckling Nino and sipping at it. "Hawkmoth really is good. He's got his organisation so tightly sewn up, they will do anything for him even if they are kept in the dark."

"Yeah it does look like it." Nino agreed, dumping the papers on the nearest available surface and staring at his friend. "What do you think she meant by he always keeps his promises? That's a funny thing to point out."

"I don't know." Adrien finished off his coffee in one gulp and looked intently down at the dregs in the bottom as he swilled them around like they could provide the answer. "Maybe he offers them some deal in exchange for working for him. Remember, we don't know a thing about their backgrounds and where they came from. They could be pretty desperate people."

"Maybe." Nino nodded in satisfaction. "At least we now know more about their group dynamic. It seems pretty tight though it must have taken them forever to learn each other's names. I mean, they could be literally anybody!"

"Literally anybody…" Adrien repeated like he was in a daze and his hand froze as the seed of an idea was planted in his mind. "I need to go talk to the chief."

"The chief's gone home man," Nino told him. "It's like the middle of the night, all the cops on the day shift are long gone. We should probably go home and get some rest ourselves, it's been a long day and we've done a lot already. Tiring ourselves out won't help us catch Hawkmoth." As if to prove this, he gave a huge yawn that felt like it nearly dislocated his jaw and Adrien could feel one of his own rising in his chest. He gave a nod as the pair made their way towards the front door, clicking at the lights as they went so the offices behind them were lost to the darkness.

"What will happen with Reflekta?" He asked as they stood in the doorway.

"The cops on night shift will take her back to her cell." Nino replied. "She'll probably be charged tomorrow with all the stuff we told her and I know no amount of money will get her bail. She'll stay here for a while which is good for us if we need to question her again."

"Yeah it is." Adrien yawned as exhaustion clamped down on his eyelids. His body was practically begging him to go to bed but he had to get to his flat before he could collapse. "I'm gonna head off now, I'm surprised I'm still standing."

"You and me both." Nino laughed but he looked concerned at how suddenly tired his friend was. "Hey do you want me to give you a lift home?"

"Nah, it's too far out of your way." Adrien said. "Besides I can walk there, it doesn't take long and the fresh air will do me good."

"Do you know what would really do you good?" Nino shot back with a sly look. "A girl in your life! You need someone to look after you bro, someone besides me to tell you to stop working so hard! Plus, there are some other perks…" He elbowed him whilst waggling his eyebrows and Adrien laughed as he shoved him away.

"Get out of here!" He said. "I don't need a girlfriend, I've told you a million times! I spend way too much time at work for that. And you can talk, your ass is just as single as mine!"

"Yeah but at least I've had girlfriends!" Nino defended himself. "I've never seen you show as much as a passing interest in one! Dude I was convinced you were gay at one point!"

"Nino!" Adrien shoved him again as he burst into howling laughter. "I'm only going to say this once, I don't need a girlfriend! Justice is my woman!" He declared, punching a fist in the air as he too started to laugh whilst Nino clutched his stomach. "I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night!"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow bro!" Nino yelled after Adrien's retreating figure as he recovered and walked away from him across the car park. Even though it was summer, the night air still had a hint of bitterness to it and Nino could see from a distance how Adrien stuffed his hands in his pockets to fight the small chill.

Oh Adrien, he thought with a slight shake of his head as he got in his car and started the engine. What am I going to do with you?

OOO

The next morning Nino was the first in the office. His head still felt a little groggy from the late night he had had and the few hours of sleep he had managed hadn't seemed to help. He had only just sat in his chair and started looking for a pen when Adrien suddenly appeared in the doorway, looking rejuvenated. Even though he had gotten less sleep than Nino and had only just made it to his sofa when he did get home, his eyes were bright with energy and he was rushing to get started.

"Hey Nino!" He greeted his friend cheerfully. "I'm going to go see the chief now. There's something I need to discuss with him. While I'm there, you listen to the tape from yesterday, see if there's anything we missed or could be interpreted differently. I'll be back in a minute!"

Before Nino could reply, Adrien had already dashed off, moving like he was possessed until he reached the chief's door. He briskly knocked before the door opened in front of him and the police chief stood there, his mouth open when he saw Adrien standing there.

"Agreste!" He barked in surprise, standing frozen in the doorway for a moment before realising Adrien wanted to go inside and stepping away to motion him in. "I wasn't expecting you here. I figured you'd still be going over that akuma of yours." He shook his head in disbelief as he heavily sat down in his desk chair whilst Adrien remained standing. "I still can't believe you managed to arrest one. And in a matter of hours no less! Which one was it?"

"Reflekta Sir." Adrien said respectfully and the chief gave a low whistle. "She has actually been very helpful with our enquiries. At first she was a little reluctant but we won her round and she has given us some details which has given me an idea on how I can take this investigation forwards."

"Oh really?" The chief looked at him from under his cap as he raised an eyebrow. "What kind of plan?"

Adrien started to tell the chief exactly what he had in mind and with every passing minute, his expression looked more and more horrified. When Adrien had finally finished, his eyes looked ready to bulge from his head and his jaw was at his desk. Adrien, however, didn't seem to see this as he shot him a smile and said "So what do you think?"

"What do I think?!" The chief almost exploded. "I think you're insane! You can't seriously be thinking of doing something like this! Infiltrating a group like that… It's far too dangerous!"

"Believe me Sir, I know the risks of doing something like this," Adrien said determinedly. "And it is not something I've taken lightly. I've been pondering it all night and I've decided this is how we can move the investigation forwards. Nobody else has tried to get close to Hawkmoth like this and with an akuma in jail, this is an opportunity we won't get again. Besides," He gave a wide cocky grin that the chief had never seen before from him. "I think it will be quite a thrill."

The boy's gone mad. That was the only thought that entered the chief's head as he gave a defeated groan. "Agreste I swear you will be the death of me." He sighed and Adrien knew he had won.

"Thank you Sir." He smiled again, now looking almost as excited as he had when he had been given the case. "I only have one request Sir. Can you make sure nobody else knows about this? If my colleagues knew about it, I fear they would hold back in pursuing the akumas and that could easily rouse suspicion."

"Very well." The chief waved a weary hand at him as Adrien moved to leave. He had only just got in and already he felt like going to lie down. He took a long drag of coffee and turned to his paperwork, his mind still churning. He does look like he knows what he's doing, he thought as he saw Adrien stroll levelly back down the corridor towards his office. The question is, do I?

Adrien walked back to his office still with a big grin on his face and when Nino perked his head up at his arrival and gave him a strange look, his only response was to carry on smiling before ploughing into a pile of paperwork.

"Hey," Nino called over. "What did you go to the chief for?"

Adrien gave one look up and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh nothing," He answered in an almost bored tone. "Nothing at all."