He sighed and pulled a large book from his messenger bag beside him, letting it hit the surface of the display with a loud thud. He paused to stare at the cover, and absently feeling the brooch in his pocket.
The last mementos from his mother, a thick leather bound journal (That turned out to be a spellbook with her research in it.) and what he now knew was the Peacock Miraculous. The book gave him an insight on her life after she moved to America and joined the military, about her use of gems to protect, and heal, and inspire.
Dusuu quietly watched from his position in Adrien's apron pocket. The boy really did remind him of Emilie, in personality and visually. The same explosive temper, same smile, same affinity for magic. Their bond was farther along than it should have been at this point, due to that affinity.
With a thoughtful hum and mouthful of muffin crumbs, Dusuu watched as the boy quietly carved symbols into the black onyx, already understanding the durability and energy storage spells on the stone. The means used to acquire the gem hadn't had Dusuu's approval, but he wouldn't complain about the steady supply of blueberry muffin he had been given today.
Adrien just managed to attach the onyx to a necklace when the door opened and the bell rang. A girl walked through the door, practically carrying her friend with her, excitedly chattering about something or other. He barely managed to stow his project when they reached the display.
"One large caramel frappuccino and a large black coffee, please." The first girl said, hoisting her friend's arm over her shoulder. Adrien took a moment to examine both.
The first, who ordered, was shorter than him but taller than her friend. She had dark skin and deep auburn hair, wearing a flannel, jeans, and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. The other, draped over first's shoulder, had pale skin, black hair, and was wearing a blue jacket and pink jeans.
"12.50, name?" Adrien responded easily, fingers dancing across the register quickly.
"Alya." she responds, grabbing the receipt and wandering over to a small table, beginning their chatter again.
Over the droning of the coffee machine, he heard Alya rambling about Ladybug and a 'Ladyblog'? He quickly capped the drinks and walked to the front.
"Alya?" he called out, carefully placing the drinks on the counter and returning to his place by the register, quietly toying with the leather string the onyx hung from. He stood there, waiting for either new customers or for the two to leave.
He listened as both girls seemed to completely wake, the second quickly drinking a startling amount of black coffee for someone her size. The conversation quickly shifted towards the mystery thief, and his recent escapades in the richer sectors.
Both eventually left, much more awake than they arrived and on seemingly happier topics. He watched as both walked into the bustling city.
Pavone watched the rapidly darkening skyline of Paris, enjoying the familiar weight of the mask on his face and the bag on his shoulder. He brushed his fingers across the dark leather bag, before jumping out into the Parisian night.
Ladybug swung through the cool night, listening to the occasional taps of Rena's flute and Carapace's feet. She loved nights like these, defending her city with her friends, stopping criminals and saving innocents. The only thing she couldn't understand was this new thief.
This thief never went through the stores, nor any of the lower class. Or the middle class for that matter, he only went to the rich. The rich of the rich too, the multi-billionaire CEO's of Paris. He was some sort of modern day Robin Hood. Nobody ever caught sight of him, either, not even the hundreds of security cameras he must have passed at some point.
That had led them to make a plan. With the help of the rich population, they singled out the houses that hadn't been stolen from yet, and decided to patrol around there instead of their usual routes. They could only hope that the thief picked a new house every night, their hopeful guess. And they were right. The three stared from an opposite rooftop as a hooded figure slunk into the house of a Mr. Bernard Arnault.
They waited for a minute before following him into the building. Luck had been on their side (which, for a superhero named Ladybug, seemed a given), and they went undetected by the thief, which gave her time to examine his outfit.
Alarm bells rang in her head at the sight. The first thing she noticed was the long tail of peacock feathers hovering just above the ground behind him, as well as the peacock blue color of his relatively monochrome outfit. A bluish-grey messenger bag rested against his lower back, barely bouncing with each silent step.
He hadn't noticed them, though Alya looked ready to pounce him if it weren't for Nino's arm around her waist. Thief moved purposefully, headed exactly where Mr. Arnault had his safe hidden. It seemed like he had been there before, she noted, or that he had at least seen the layout before.
As he reached the safe, Ladybug sprung into action, only to have it blocked by… a hand fan? When he turned around she finally confirmed her suspicions at the sight of a gleaming brooch against iridescent blue. The peacock miraculous, and the title 'Thief' was just that much more accurate.
They all just stared at each other for a moment, frozen in collective shock, until a loud BANG echoed in the mansion as the thief stumbled forward in shock. Behind him, stood Mr. Arnault, pointing a smoking gun where the boy was standing. He seemed both triumphant and shaken, which Thief capitalized on. He darted from the room, throwing himself out of a window with as much grace as he could muster.
That jolted them into action. Rena lunged out the window in pursuit, followed by Ladybug, then by Carapace who had snatched the gun from the millionaire first.
Pavone, as he called himself, was trying desperately to ignore the flaming pain in his hip as well as escaping the rapidly encroaching heroes. Daylight was rapidly approaching and he could only hope to make it to the sewers before then.
Instinct caused him to drop into a roll to avoid the shield headed for his chest. He quickly stood and pivoted on his heel to face his foes, ignoring the steady drip of blood from his waist.
"It's over, Thief, hand over all that you've stolen, including the Peacock miraculous." Rena called from his right, brandishing her flute at him. After steadying his breathing, he slowly slipped his onyx charm into the palm of his hand, readying one of his fans in the other.
"You need medical attention, dude, don't make this harder than it has to be. Just come with us and we can talk this out." Carapace called from Pavone's front, slowly lowering his shield.
He stared at Carapace for a long moment.
"Pavone."
"What?" they all tensed at the first word he said that night.
"Call me Pavone." He darted forward, swinging his charm diagonally, forming a shield to block the yo-yo and flute thrown at his back. He vaulted over a surprised Carapace, before throwing himself down towards the manhole and slipping inside. By the time the three heroes made it to the edge, he was gone.
They hunted all over for him, Rena even going so far as to hunt in the sewers, with no success. Wherever he was now, he was probably detransformed, long from their reach. Rena was furious, Carapace was grudgingly awed, and Ladybug was slightly fearful. They needed to visit the Guardian yesterday.
Adrien stumbled into the building as quietly as he could, pressing a torn piece of his T-shirt to the wound. It had been a torturous walk home without adrenaline or help from Dusuu, every step was agony. He barely withheld a scream of pain when he stumbled and bumped a table with his injured hip. He slowly limped around the corner, bracing against the wall with his hand, to be met with a where-have-you-been face from Nathalie that quickly changed to a sweet-blueberries-what-did-you-do as she practically carried him to the bathroom.
"I would ask what you were doing out this late, but this speaks for itself." Nathalie growled when she finally saw the bullet wound, quickly opening a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and pouring a generous amount on the wound.
"Sorry, Nathalie." Adrien ground out, practically denting the edge of the bathtub in a white-knuckled grip. Adrien had been terrified that Nathalie would try to take Dusuu when she found out, but she had taken it fairly well, and they made a deal. He keeps the miraculous, and she gets to know about so much as a paper cut.
"I was out hunting," he paused when a pair of tweezers poked into the flesh of his hip, minutely hissing "The heroes set a trap with some Richie with a twitchy trigger finger, got lucky, was too shocked seein' them there to throw up a barrier." his breathing became ragged when she started pulling the bullet out, involuntarily curling away from Nathalie before flinching visibly.
She quietly glared at him, dropping the mutilated chunk into the bathtub, trading tweezers for a needle. While he could barely see through tears, Nathalie's borderline panic was clear.
"I'm sorry, just tryin'a help." Adrien looked down and away, staring at the now bloody side of the bathtub.
"You can not keep doing this, Adrien, we can find a different way. We can find a different way, we don't need to rely on only you. This 'Robin Hood' gig needs to stop." Nathalie had finished the rest of the stitches by that point, then quietly wrapped him with gauze. He quietly spread his arms in request, which Nathalie accepted quickly. Both sat embraced, quietly calming, with Nathalie's chin resting on Adrien's head.
He drifted to sleep, sitting on the bathtub in Nathalie's arms.