Simon, also known by most people as 'the gorilla', rubbed his hands together, trying to keep them warm as he walked. The northern airs of Saint-Malo were cool enough without this winter being labeled one of the most extreme the continent had in years. Luckily for him it stopped raining a couple hours ago, otherwise his search would be a lot more frantic than it already was.
Adrien was late for dinner, again. Any other year and the bodyguard wouldn't stress *this* much about the boy being away from his sight, but their situation being what it was, he couldn't afford any gap between their agreed time to meet at the hotel and the boy actually showing up. Usually Adrien was very punctual, an important thing when the police and two superpowered men were after you, but today he was an hour late, so Simon had to go out in the cold and search for him.
As he looked around, the huge man also paid attention to the tiny earpiece he wore. The radio was as good as any other source of information in case the police knew something. It already happened a couple times that he had been able to locate the boy by listening to official information about a certain cat hero running on roofs. The gorilla knew that most of the time that Adrien was away, he was transformed into his alter ego, usually chasing off criminals or simply exploring. Simon already gave up on trying to convince the boy that fighting crime could wait until everything calmed down a little, that being a hero was not worth risking their safety. It only took one look of disappointment and stubbornness to help him understand that, whether he approved or not, Chat Noir would keep working.
"Pardon" Someone whispered after colliding with the bodyguard , then the smaller man continued on his way while Simon frowned as he watched him go.
Not a lot of people were outside at this hour and with this cold, and Simon had a propensity for paranoia, so making sure he didn't get anything stolen or that the man wasn't suspicious made him stop on his search for a moment. He was about to keep moving when he heard a faint 'pst' sound coming from the one alley he missed checking because of the small distraction. The man squinted and noticed the two green orbs floating in the dark, then as realization dawned on him he entered the dark alleyway.
"For once I'm lucky, you stopped right where I needed you" Said Chat Noir with a grin. The bodyguard wasn't so sure about that being a luck thing… if he hadn't collided with the man, he would have looked into the alley anyways. In fact, he almost missed him… Simon shook his head then regarded the hero closely.
The boy was acting as if nothing was wrong, but Simon immediately noticed how he was leaning too much on one of the alleys wall's, avoiding to put his weight on one of his legs. The man frowned and pointed at the cat's foot, knowing that he would be able to see the gesture even in this darkness.
"Oh, that…I was running around the rooftops and I kinda slipped? It was silly but I'm fine. It's probably nothing, but it kinda explains why I was late?..." The boy sighed "Sorry" He finished speaking. It was like he didn't bother to properly act nonchalant anymore, doubt making its way into his tone the more he spoke.
Simon shook his head and gruntled softly, then gave his back to the boy and waited for him to climb. He watched the green light with the corner of his vision as the hero turned into a normal seventeen year old boy, then started walking towards their hotel carrying him. Adrien trembled, the insulation provided by the magic suit no longer protecting him from the cold. Simon wasn't sure how good of an idea was to come to this particular corner of the country in the middle of winter.
"This place is surprisingly full of drunk people, I had to stop two fights and it's not even that late yet" The boy started chatting. He never did much before, when they were just a model and his bodyguard. Simon grunted.
"You are right, it's friday… I keep losing track. Hey we should go drinking too one of these days" He joked.
Adrien kept talking, pretending to know what the man's quiet sounds and grumbles meant. Simon kept making them, knowing that it helped the boy feel less alone. It wasn't usually that bad, only the two of them (And the little ball of cheese-loving sarcasm that was Plagg) together, but these last two months proved that the bodyguard not being able to talk was not exactly helpful in keeping a teenager isolated from his friends from feeling lonely. Ever since Adrien saw one of the agents watching him as he was about to send one of his letters to Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the need for him to chat just increased in proportion with his paranoia.
Simon noded in greeting to the hotel's receptionist who just raised an eyebrow at the sight of them, then put Adrien down once they were in the elevator. There weren't that many floors in the building, but it had one anyways. Thankfully, because the boy flinched once his left foot touched the floor and strong as Simon was, he was grateful for not having to carry him upstairs.
"What's for dinner anyways?" Asked the ex-model, taking the chance of having his two hands again to pull down his hoodie. It was custom for him now to keep it up, covering most of his face and his hair even though he dyed it black to conceal his identity. Simon grunted in answer as he opened the door to their rooms.
"My favorite!" Well, at least his humor was intact, thought the bodyguard with a small smile as he entered the place. It was a two bed suite, small but neat and cozy. A tray with food was in the nightstand of one of the beds, probably already cold.
Adrien limped towards it and, sitting on the bed, grabbed a plate from the tray and started eating. Plagg came out of hiding seconds later and grabbed a piece of cheese. The gorilla closed the door, took his coat out then joined the boy and the kwami. They ate quietly, the silence not being awkward in the slightest, at least not anymore. Adrien finished first, but before he made any attempt at moving from his sitting position in the bed, simon grunted, then pointed at the boy's foot again.
"It's nothing, I'll take a shower" Said Adrien, ignoring the worried stare the man was giving him as he stood up then limped towards the bathroom.
When he heard the shower start running, Simon sighed loudly, shoulders dropping. After ten months of this, he was starting to think that they should just head back to Paris, even if it was for a little while. The bodyguard was no expert, and he certainly wasn't informed enough about magic and supernatural forces to make an educated guess, but he was convinced more and more as time passed that Adrien needed his city, his friends and his hero partner. He hadn't been long enough in this world to become superstitious, but he knew that black cats were supposed to be bad luck. Every time something like this happened, Simon had the feeling it was not a coincidence, especially since it seemed to be occurring more and more.
If he could talk, he would ask the floating tiny cat that was right now finishing Adrien's leftovers. The little god never seemed to be too concerned, giving his attention to cheese and the tv most of the time.
"What? Want some?" Asked Plagg once he noticed that Simon had been staring for a bit too long. The two of them usually didn't communicate all that much, with the bodyguard not being able to talk and the god not bothering with pretending he understood what his grunts meant, like Adrien did. Today though, Plagg joined in with the sighs, probably thinking the same things Simon was.
"His ankle is sprained, you should take a look, even if he says it's nothing" Said the kwami, dropping his usual demeanor of uncaring cheerfulness. The man nodded in response.
Simon stood up and went to the other side of the room, where he kept his things. He started searching in his bag for the medic kit he always carried when he remembered that it never made it back there from the other night. Adrien had scraped his hands on another fall and he had left the kit in his nightstand.
As the man went back to sit on his bed to wait for the boy with the kit ready, he realized how terribly fitting the phrase "Death by a thousand cuts" was to Adrien's awful luck these past months. It was almost even litteral, thought Simon bitterly as he saw the boy coming out, already in his pajamas. Adrien held his gaze for a second, then gave in to his silent request. The boy sat down in the bed and the gorilla started inspecting his left foot.
"It's fine, just need to rest it a bit" Said the not so blond anymore teenager, but when Simon moved his ankle a bit he couldn't help but flinch. The man lifted an eyebrow as he looked up again, skeptical, but remembered that recriminating him would lead them nowhere. So he just bandaged his foot so it wouldn't move much and went to the bathroom to take a shower himself.
"You should tell Ladybug about this" Simon heard Plagg say, the thin walls not protecting their conversation from his ears. The cat probably didn't care that he listened, though.
"About my ankle?" Teased Adrien, one last attempt at avoiding the topic.
"You know what I mean"
"I can't risk her safety, you know that"
"It was just that one time, they can't track every single letter you send to her! Or go downstairs and use the computer!" The frustration on the kwamis voice was a mirror to what Simon was feeling almost everyday now.
There was a moment of silence, the gorilla imagined the boy and the god used it to hold a little staring contest.
"I won't risk her identity and her life just because I've been a little unlucky lately" Said Adrien bitterly. Plagg let out half a syllable and got interrupted "I will be careful. More careful… just, I can't do that to her, you know I can't, Plagg"
"But you can leave her hanging, not knowing if you are even still alive" Quipped Plagg, his tone pure sarcasm.
It was Adrien's turn to grunt now "I'll figure out a way to contact her… just… I don't want those two near Marinette, ok?"
That was a sentiment Simon was all too familiar with, protectiveness… It didn't make it rational, though, just because he empathized with Adrien's need to keep Marinette away from danger. The man wasn't even sure if he should be dealing alone with the two adult miraculous wielders that were constantly on their tails. Again, he was no expert, but it seemed that being a grown up was a big advantage when it came to the magic jewels. Maybe the boy's plan was to stall long enough for that advantage to disappear...
One thing was certain, though. Time was not their friend. And neither was luck.
Antoine liked to think of himself as a cold hearted, logic-driven man. He pried on being able to carry on with his missions without flinching, his only worry being what he had to do next in order to get paid. In the back of his mind, who that money went to was always a presence, but he was getting better and better at ignoring them and just moving on, he had to. Only in the rare times when he was totally idle, the image of a black haired woman and three beautiful triplets appeared in his mind's eye, but he shooed it away before guilt reminded him that they would not approve of his... activities. He hadn't talked to them in the five long years he'd been working with Mister M. and he wasn't going to start all of a sudden now because some doubt was finally making settlements in his cold heart.
If only that stupid little girl hadn't died, her limp form in the floor, as he saw her after the gala in the news, looking all too familiar to him. He knew it was a possibility as soon as he heard her coughing and getting worse, but his job wasn't protecting kids from hurting themselves with things they shouldn't even be playing with. His job was to take their toys away, get his cash, and send it to the only people he could afford to care about. At thirty six, Antoine, lately known as Agent A., really was too late to be having these lessons in empathy thrown at him.
The stupid butterfly miraculous didn't help. It was supposed to be a tool to make his job easier, but as he walked around the turistic northern town of Saint-Malo, the feelings and emotions of everyone around him swarmed his brain, uninvited. He could always take it off, as he did when he received the jewel from Lila Rossi to pretend to work for her so she would give them the information they needed at the time, but if he did he wouldn't be able to track the particular teenager he had to locate.
For all the crap that happened to him lately, Adrien Agreste wasn't even all that angsty or emotional. It was as if the boy was used to misery, which Antoine seriously doubted, considering the privileged upbringing the brat had before the last year. Sure, his mommy was gone, but he had friends, family, money and even fame, his father being a supervillain likely to face the death penalty and having all his commodities taken away from him should make him more easily detectable than he currently was.
And that was the hardest part for Antoine, really. The moments when he actually picked up on the boys emotions, therefore knowing his approximate location. The brief moments when he had to share said feelings were the worst, the agent hated how much he actually related to Adrien Agreste. His need to run away from the ones he loved in order to protect them, his determination to keep doing his job in the face of danger, his shame for all the mistakes he did in the past... Antoine's own convictions faltering each time he connected with the ex-model were becoming something worse than a headache. He was actually starting to doubt he could finish this job. And that was forbidden.
His partner's shadiness and obsessive behavior in this particular mission was no help either. Agent T. was walking a couple steps ahead of him, far enough so they weren't forced to talk and pretend they knew each other so it didn't look weird, but close enough so that there wouldn't be any delay in their reactions should something happen. They knew the cat was in this town, they just had to find him, and that usually entailed following a crime being committed in real time, for the hero never failed to show up when that happened.
T. was as much a mystery to Antoine as a lot of other things regarding the organization they both worked for. He knew mister M. was some sort of collectionist, a rich man interested in special artifacts who stopped at nothing to get them. The miraculous became his interest the moment that temple suddenly reappeared in Tibet. Before that, Antoine's missions were less than legal and usually involved some sort of violence. This, though… dealing with superpowered kids, jewels that could give him, a less than worthy man, the same powers, that little creature that he had to feed each time he used said abilities… he knew that this was weird enough without his partner apparent lack of curiosity and, well, concern, regarding them.
And what was even more frustrating, the younger man (Antoine was sure T. was probably not even thirty yet) was the one that received all of their instructions. He was the link between himself and the rest of the organization, Antoine being too new apparently to be trusted with more information than necessary. And there was more information, the older agent was not naive, he knew he wouldn't (And probably shouldn't, honestly) be trusted with all the schemes his boss had going on, and he usually didn't let curiosity get in the way of getting paid, but little things were adding up to become a mountain of reasons why he was doubting his involvement in all of this.
In front of him, agent T. stopped briefly then, not even looking back at him, entered a cozy looking café. Antoine followed him, realizing that their search for the day was probably already over.
"His fall must have been worse than we thought, he must be bundled up somewhere" Said T. in a half whisper before Antoine could even sit down in front of him.
A friendly looking girl came to tend their table, T. ordered coffee for both of them then continued talking.
"Anything on your end?" Asked the man, his permanent frown directed at him now.
"Nope, our boy must be sleeping already" It certainly was a possibility, given how they themselves witnessed Chat Noir falling from a rooftop. The cat hero had been chasing a robber that ran on the streets and both agents were tailing him, planning to strike once the fight started. But it never did, and the two men were too far away (Avoiding being detected) to locate him once they lost sight of the hero.
"Here is your coffee, let me know if you need anything else" Said the girl smiling as she deposited two mugs in the table. Her gaze stood longer than needed on T. then left. Antoine raised an eyebrow.
"You should talk to her" He suggested, smirking as the scowl on the younger man deepend. He never showed any interest in anything other than the job, but the older man was pretty sure T. was not immune to beautiful people either. Maybe girls were not his thing.
"Tomorrow we will go for the hotels again, he must be in one of the more expensive ones" T. changed the subject.
They had 'scanned' most hotels and lodgings when they reached the town that morning, but Adrien must have gotten a lot more money out than they thought, if he was still able to afford the ones they didn't check because, well, they were stupidly expensive. Surely he must be becoming more wary of how he uses his reserves after a year of running away, right?. Then again, the emotional radar was not perfect, so he could have slipped away or been somewhere else other than his room when they went checking most of the rational options. There was a reason why this was taking so damn long. What Antoine didn't get is why were they chasing a single miraculous, when everyone on the planet knew that Paris was still the home of the rest of the heroes. Not to mention the entire freaking box they failed to retrieve from Lila Rossi.
His partner finished his mug and immediately called for the bill. The girl was still smiling, but Antoine could see she had already given up on trying to talk to the younger agent by the way she kept her professionalism up this time. A pity, he thought, another chance to see T. act like a proper human being, gone. That was his main source of amusement these past years, but it was becoming clear that the younger man was even more passionate about their job than Antoine was. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Not that he cared, but maybe he should.
They left the café and took different roads. They never shared lodging, not because of some compelling work reason but because they had this tacit agreement of not talking to each other about much other than their work, Antoine's little provocations notwithstanding. Before losing sight of his partner, however, a faint ringing came from his winter coat. Antoine knew that the only people that he ever talked to were their superiors. The older agent pretended to turn his corner, then checked that T. had done the same with his before quickly following him.
He wasn't sure why his curiosity finally took a hold of him, but this was a chance he rarely had to get some answers, and he decided to take it. The moth wielder hid himself from the sight of his partner as he took the call, thankfully not moving farther away down the alley.
"We are closer than befo-…yes...I know… I know, father! … you can send others to Paris, I want the cat!, just give me a bit more time and I'll get you all of them, alright?... I need him to- can you stop interrupting me? I know you are the boss of this whole shitshow, but I need Antoine so I can track the cat, I have a plan, ok? I need that jewell before I go for the rest, they won't leave Paris… if you are in such a hurry maybe you should send more agents- " Antoine couldn't hear the voice on the other end of that conversation, but he could tell by T.'s frustrated hanging up that it was becoming too heated for his tolerance. He heard the younger man groan in frustration.
The whole thing sounded like a repeated occurrence more than a new dialogue between his partner and what he could only assume was Mister M. … his partners father. Well, he certainly discovered something with his sudden need for answers. T. started walking away when Antoine heard a tiny voice on his ear.
"Ohhh what are you going to do now?" Said the purple kwami, he sounded honestly concerned about this whole thing even though the creature knew even less than Antoine did.
"What are you doing out? Get back inside before anyone sees you!" He whispered brusquely, getting up from his hiding spot. He looked around, but the street was almost deserted now. It was not even that late, but the recent rain, the cold and the high tides kept most people inside their homes or the various cafés and bars.
Usually the kwami never even talked to him except to remind him that he had to eat. Apparently his sudden change of behavior picked the creature's interest too. He sighed.
"I've been working with my boss's son this whole time, no wonder our mission doesn't make sense. Yet another rich boy who doesn't know when to stop playing with dangerous toys" He muttered, certain that the purple creature was able to hear him. The night was weird already, might as well talk to someone about it.
"I just hope I get paid well for this, babysitting was not in my job description" He said bitterly after a while, no reply coming from the kwami.
Antoine knew that, with the dragon miraculous, T. was more than capable of taking care of himself even if he really wasn't a trained agent. In their mission before this one, he never noticed the younger man slipping up other than to become overly emotional sometimes. But he never was this attached to one particular artifact like he seemed to be with the cat miraculous, either.
He should probably just stop thinking too much and concentrate on finding Adrien. If he kept letting his curiosity get the best of him, his prided cold heart could end up melting once again. And he was already suffering the consequences of that.