Seven: Friends In Need
Chat awakens to find himself in the untenable position of doing Lila's bidding in order to protect Marinette. Except that her request proves to be problematic to say the least.
When the world came back to me, I found myself lying on my back against the cold cobblestones of what looked to be the alleyway Ladybug and I had dropped into nearly a lifetime ago. The sky was a brilliant blue slash between the buildings on either side, with a hint of clouds, once more the peaceful sun-filled day we'd been experiencing before Lila burst onto the scene. Pushing myself up by a paw, my vision swam for a moment as a wave of nausea washed over me; shaking my mane, I tried to clear the cobwebs from my feline brain before being shocked into action.
Flipping into my pounce-crouch, I quickly pivoted a full three-sixty, calling out as I did so: "Marinette? Marinette!"
Leaping into a standing position, I ran down the cobblestones, yelling every few meters until I reached the other end we'd tried to get to originally before realizing we were in Lila's trap. Turning quickly enough that my rubber soles squealed, I ran even faster down to the other end, though I knew in my heart, I wouldn't find Marinette. Even before my baton started to buzz with an incoming text, I found myself grimly frowning.
Snapping open the baton, my masked feline eyes scanned the text.
Mari: I'm fine, but Lila is obviously holding me in the oven.
My masked eyebrows furrowed. Oven? I thought. Is that some sort of…? Oh no…
Chat: I thought I was the only one that could raise your tempurrature.
Mari: True. As I said, we're only on simmer at the moment, but that could change if you don't follow Lila's instructions to the letter. This is important, Chat. To the letter.
My claws hovered over the baton's interface for a long moment, my blood having run cold. Not only did Lila have Marinette, but she'd also apparently taken the prudent step of using my girlfriend's family – and their bakery – as additional leverage. It was the classic superhero dilemma – the villain squeezing those we loved to get what they wanted, using our fear of their coming to harm against us. It wasn't the first time that I'd rather perversely been reminded of Ladybug's original reasoning for keeping our alter-egos safely hidden from each other. Now that the Chat was literally out of the bag, I grimly focused on how to get us out of this situation. Knowing Marinette was likely being monitored closely, I chose my next words carefully.
Chat: When have I ever not done that, Princess?
Mari: I think Ladybug has some stories to tell on that one.
I nodded to myself, knowing she was now warning me that Lila would expect me to deviate from any instructions she gave me. That was good to know – and gave me some insight into how thoroughly she had planned out whatever it was she was doing.
Chat: I'm feeling purrsicuted.
Mari: When the shoe fits.
Chat: I'm pawsitively excited now. What exactly does dearest Lila desire?
Mari: Step one requires you to locate Adrien Agreste…
That masked eyebrow of mine arched.
Mari: …as he apparently has access to the accounts at House of Gabriel.
It was hard not to keep frowning. Of course I had access to that – I was running the company, for crying out loud. That is, when I wasn't running around Paris in skintight magical black leather. I bit my lip and decided not to text back my snarky reply.
Chat: I thought he was staying with your family. He's not there?
Mari: Apparently not. My parents say he stepped out.
I nodded, slowly seeing how Marinette was carefully creating an alibi for my alter-ego. I tapped my claw tip against the metal of the baton, wondering how to tell her I understood, then smiled when it hit me.
Chat: I bet he went back to the mansion to pick up something.
Mari: It's worth purrsuing.
The smile grew wider at the implicit acknowledgement.
Chat: And then what?
Mari: Once you have him, text me. Lila will give you the next step then.
Chat: I'm not a kitten, she doesn't need to spoon feed me.
Mari: I won't give her the dignity of typing her response.
Chat: I'm already angry anyway. Tell her it will take some time to find Adrien.
Mari: She says you have three hours. And Chat?
Chat: ?
Mari: The next call will be video.
Chat: Aww… any excuse to ogle me…
Mari: Exactly. Be careful.
I considered the final portion of the text message for a moment or two, reading between the lines as best as I could. Knowing in advance that a video connection was required told me two things: first, whatever instructions Lila planned to give were going to be relayed directly to Adrien; and, second, that I was going to have a hard time playing both parts simultaneously. At least, not without some help. And knowing how cagey Lila was, my sleight of hand was going to have to be pretty damn solid to keep her from connecting the dots between Chat and Adrien.
Fortunately, I was already formulating something of a plan.
Leaping into the air, I clawed my way to the rooftops and then hurled my feline body into the brilliant blue of the open skies over Paris; propelled by my baton, I quickly crossed the city in a series of giant arcs and vaults, landing at length on the rooftop across from the mansion. From my cat crouch, I scanned the hulking edifice much as we had done – well, now that I thought about it, nearly fourteen hours earlier. We'd been on the run ever since, explaining the hard-to-ignore urge to curl up in a convenient sunbeam and catch a few moments of shuteye. But I knew I was on a strict timeline and shoved the wonderful idea to the side as I leapt over the street and hit the fence, then paused for a moment, carefully perched atop the iron.
Trying to channel some of what I had learned from working with Ladybug, I knew that meant I had to consider I was being monitored in some way; slowly scanning the rooflines, my feline eyes didn't pick up anything unusual, but then again, we'd stumbled quite easily into the trap Lila had set for us. There was also our base assumption that somehow Lila had been able to use the Miraculous tracker we all came equipped with, which I was now nearly certain was how she'd been able to corral us so easily. Cocking my head at the mansion thoughtfully, I decided disarming the alarm and entering as if I owned the place was probably the wrong move, especially if Marinette had convinced Lila there was a solid chance Adrien had returned for something, ostensibly arriving well ahead of Chat.
Which gave me an idea.
Snapping open the baton, I flipped to the web browser and quickly tapped in the address for the web portal controlling the security system for the mansion. On my alter-ego's phone it was a simple-to-use app, but the baton still didn't support such niceties; it took two tries to remember my password, and then I was on the dashboard for the mansion. One tap and the system was disarmed; a second, and my feline ears picked up the gentle hissing of my bedroom window sliding open. Looking up at it from beneath my bangs, I waited a few moments before leaping to the sill, perching expectantly.
Keeping my baton out, I called into the empty room. "Hey, Adrien! Mind if I step inside?"
Cocking my head, I acted as though I was awaiting a response that never came, then waited another heartbeat or two before vaulting into the room and landing dead center on the floor just as I had always done. The late afternoon rays of sunshine were slanting across my couch, and for just a moment, I could nearly convince myself I was returning from a normal patrol, home for an afternoon of homework and studying at the spotless desk against the wall by my perfectly made bed. The entire space felt like a museum to both a person and a time that no longer existed.
Shaking off the nostalgia, I leapt to the door leading to my bathroom and slid it open. The walk-in closet was still overflowing with endless copies of the button-down, t-shirt and skinny jeans I'd worn as a walking advertisement for Gabriel each and every day; I smiled a bit at how quickly I'd left that behind, replacing all of it with far more comfortable clothing appropriate for a teenager. Moving quickly to the rear of the cavernous space, I reached a paw to the closet rod and slid back a few items to gain access to opaque garment bag hanging against the wall. Turning it slightly, I pulled down the zipper just enough to confirm I'd found my quarry; my smile grew wider when my feline eyes alighted on the boots carefully placed on the shelf above, right next to wig stand holding a blonde mop of hair topped with quite recognizable triangular feline ears.
For the first time since encountering Lila, I felt like I might be gaining the upper hand.
Retrieving my baton, I snapped it open and shifted to phone mode; scrolling through my contacts, I selected perhaps the only other person in the world who could help me pull this off. It took but a moment for the call to connect; when the face appeared, I smiled my best Chat smile.
"Hey, Pete," I said warmly. "How tall are you, exactly?"