Eight: Assignment

Chat enlists the help of his New York superhero friend to get the upper hand with his nemesis – and return Marinette safely to his arms.

Standing on the balcony that rimmed my bedroom, I was wearing a slight smile as I folded my arms and watched my friend scuttle across the ceiling of my room. "I have to admit to a tad bit of jealousy," I said, narrowing my masked eyes as he swiftly reached into the second of two spotlights and quickly unscrewed it. "Clinging to any surface is a handy trick."

"I never get tired of it," came the laughing reply. Hanging unaided upside down, Peter Parker was clad in the Chat Noir costume I'd pulled from my closet, the faux tail swinging beneath him as he twisted the bulb a final time. That corner of my room was plunged into semi-darkness as the light winked out, though my night vision had no trouble seeing the impish look in his face as he deftly tossed the bulb to my waiting paws. "You should try it some time."

"Plagg assures me it's not in the black cat toolkit," I replied as he flipped from the ceiling and landed on the edge of the balcony. "Though there is apparently a Miraculous that grants that ability."

Pegasus had provided the portal to get Spider-Man from New York to the mansion less than an hour earlier, and remained on standby in case I needed him again. Spidey and I had spent the time since getting him decked out with the costume Gabriel had made for me and all of its associated trimmings. It had quickly become apparent I'd not accounted for the fact that I'd grown since Adrien had been tapped to make the music video; as Peter was slightly taller than I had been at the time, it had taken no small amount of squirming to get him zipped into the costume, making me quite thankful the fabric was as stretchy as it was – and that my magical version had simply, and subtly, adjusted on its own. I leaned on my skills as a supermodel to complete the subterfuge, though Peter had been less than enthusiastic about the eye makeup – something he been quite vocal about as the glue for the mask set.

"I've seen you walk sideways on a building," Peter countered, continuing our light conversation. Since his mask wasn't magical, it was hard to know if he was arching an eyebrow, though his tone implied he might be. "Are you sure you can't hang upside down?"

"It's just parkour," I laughed. "Get up enough speed and anyone can defy gravity for a few moments."

"I suspect it's more than that."

I shrugged. "Maybe." I stepped back and put a claw tip to my chin thoughtfully. "Do I really look like that when I perch?" Oddly, while he was perched on the handrail much like I would as Chat, it was hard for me not to see him in his red, white and blue outfit instead of unrelieved black and a blond wig with triangular cat ears.

Peter smiled. "I don't have much of a data set to go from, but from what I've seen, yes."

"Well, you're pretty convincing for me," I smiled. "I still can't believe the costume fit."

"It's definitely tight in a few spots," he reminded me. "I'm not going to flex it more than necessary – wouldn't do for Chat Noir to rip his trousers. But the contacts are amazingly uncomfortable. The only thing keeping me from rubbing my eyes are these claw tips."

Sliding my baton out, I snapped it open to the phone to check the time. "Hang in there for a few more minutes," I said as I flipped up and over the edge, landing on the floor below in a crouch. "Then you can go back to your normal skintight wardrobe sans lenses."

Lightly dropping to the floor next to me, he nodded. "Up on the window, then?"

"Yes," I replied as I stood.

Peter leapt to the window and did an end-over-end twist to land facing me, an amazing feat of acrobatics borne from his endless hours of soaring through New York City on those weblines of his. Perching on the edge, he gripped the front of the windowsill with one gloved hand. "Like this?"

"Slightly to the left," I said, watching carefully to ensure Peter's form was hidden just enough in the shadows. "Purrfect. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he smiled.

I nodded and stepped back toward the couch. This was the trickiest part of my plan, for I needed to de-transform in order to provide Lila with Adrien; doing so, though, would wipe my cat paw logo off of any Miraculous tracker Lila might be using. I had a way to handle that, but it presumed Lila was less familiar with the inner workings of the mansion that I feared she was. It was a gamble, one that I wouldn't have taken save for Marinette being in danger. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes.

"Plagg – claws in."

I could feel the green wave of transformation as it washed over me; opening my eyes, I found Plagg floating just in front of me. "This is dangerous," he said without preamble.

I nodded, knowing he'd essentially been following along with my preparations. "It's the only play I have. Do you have any sense of what Miraculous Lila is using?" I asked as I slid my phone out of my jeans. "I've not had a chance to ask you yet."

"Maybe," Plagg said thoughtfully. "I'm not fully aware of what other jewels were missing from Master Fu's box – other than the Moth and Peacock, of course."

Scrolling through my contacts, I nodded. "We'll deal with that after I find out what nefariousness Lila wants Adrien to perform. I just hope she buys into our little charade," I added as I turned my back to Peter and held the phone up, carefully arranging the shot.

"Good luck," Plagg said before slipping beneath my shirt.

Taking another breath, I donned a worried expression (which wasn't hard) and then dialed Marinette. She picked up nearly immediately, her face smiling for a moment when she caught the tableau. "Adrien. I'm so sorry about this."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled slightly. "Chat filled me in on what happened," I added, twisting slightly to show the shaded form of Peter on the windowsill. "Suffice it to say, he's infurriated."

I caught the momentary expression on Marinette's face. "I'm sure. Hold on, Lila wants to talk to you."

The video shifted and then resolved to the smug face of my least-favorite schoolmate, radiating with the power she apparently had gained from her jewels. I wondered if that meant she'd recharged her kwami while I'd been busily preparing. "Adrien," she said sweetly, laced with menace. "So good to see you again, my friend. Where have you been hiding out?"

"Nowhere in particular," I replied.

"You weren't at the mansion when I stopped there earlier," she said.

"I've been staying with Marinette and her family," I replied. "They've opened their home to me; if I'd known you wanted to see me, I'd have made myself available to you, friend."

"I doubt that," she said, her eyes flicking over my shoulder. "Chat Noir is there with you?"

"Obviously," I said.

Glancing off screen for a moment, I saw her frown; it looked like I had my answer about her tracking us, unfortunate confirmation that I'd need to be exceedingly careful. But it also provided an opening, one that I had planned for if it appeared.

"Something wrong?" I asked with as much innocence as my model training would allow.

"No," she said slowly, returning her gaze to me.

"Your video is a little rough," I added, lying slightly. "Whatever it was Father added during that last security upgrade seriously screws with my cell coverage. I'm surprised I was able to get this connection, frankly."

"Security?" she asked, frowning again.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I don't know much about it other than Father was worried about people stealing his secrets. For all the good it did."

I waited, watching her consider what I'd said; my hope was she'd combine my white lie with what she had to have already known about the security system from her earlier break in. I knew from our final encounter with Hawkmoth inside the mansion that Father had installed a signal blocking system – something that had temporarily cut Spider-Man and I off from Ladybug at a critical moment in the battle. Slowly, she nodded to herself, providing me with another confirmation.

It was a bit scary how well I knew – or at the very least, understood – Lila.

"Well, now that I have you," she continued. "I need to ask a favor."

I frowned. "People asking favors generally don't do so while holding someone hostage."

"True," she laughed. "Think of it as motivation. More for Chat than you, I think. But motivation, nonetheless."

It wasn't difficult to let my anger appear. "What do you want, Lila?"

"I need access," she said simply. "You can log into House of Gabriel's network?"

"Yes," I said.

"Good. I need you to access your father's data files."

"Why?" I asked bluntly.

"That's not your concern," she smiled sweetly. "You're looking for a folder named 'Project Guilford.' Download all of it and post it to the cloud share I will text you."

Keeping my face passive, I rapidly sorted through my responses. "I don't think I can access that from the mansion," I hedged. "But you would know that if you already tried from here."

She nodded, confirming she needed my physical access to House of Gabriel. It made me wonder whether she was truly after a set of data files, or something buried within the office space; I started when I realized Ladybug and I had skipped over searching Father's office in our quest for answers.

"And I'm not doing anything unless you let Marinette go."

"Oh, I think you will," Lila replied.

"No," I said firmly. "I won't. You need me to get into House of Gabriel. Let her go and I'll get the file for you."

Lila considered me for a long moment, and though I'd expected her to cave to my demand, I also figured it would come with a counter. Which it did. "I'll let her go once you access the files."

I played like I was considering her kind offer. "How about this. I'll get Chat through the security at House of Gabriel, and then give him my credentials for the network."

"I need you to be there," Lila said quickly before realizing she'd tipped her hand.

"That's kind of what I figured," I replied, trying not to smile; I was becoming more inclined by the moment that she needed a person – namely, Adrien – instead of a thing from House of Gabriel. What that knowledge netted me was vague at the moment. "I think I'll stay right here, cozily ensconced within the fully operational security system," I emphasized. "Chat will get your files and you'll let Marinette go."

A flare of anger appeared on her face before she replaced it with a cruel smile; I wondered if I'd overcooked it a bit, since Adrien wasn't known for playing hardball. "All right," she nodded slowly. "I'm sending you the link now. Put Chat on so I can give him the details."

"He can hear you just fine, Lila," I countered. "He'll call when he's sent the files," I added before killing the connection.

Relaxing slightly as Peter leapt to my side, I sorted through multiple emotions. "She's after you," Peter said as he slid the wig off, revealing his mop of hair. "Why?"

"If I knew that, I'd have a better sense of how much danger we're in. I agree, though; she doesn't need the files she's asking for. I'm convinced now that there will be a side attack to get me here at the mansion."

"Too bad you won't be here," Peter smiled as he started to pull off the gloves.

"I'd love to see her face when she finds the mansion armed to the teeth but otherwise empty," I laughed. "Do you mind helping me with a little breaking and entering this evening?"

"Normally I stop people from that," he laughed as he made for the bathroom. "Give me just a moment to change into something more appropriate for a grand theft."