AN: The idea for this one came from Kiki. If you have ideas for "Patrol Logs," let me know!
To Butterfly: I enjoy them a lot, too! I feel like I'm saying this about everyone but they will get a full story to themselves in "The Colossus Saga," plus "cameos" in other stories.
To yellow 14: I really haven't done that much before now with just Felix and Anne, but that's something that really needed to happen.
To armadas: Anne is pretty awesome – exactly the kind of super-supportive best friend that everyone needs!
Rena Rouge slipped quietly out of her bedroom window, braced her fingers in the seams between the brickwork, and clambered up onto the roof. After nearly two years as a fulltime hero, she had followed this exact pathway more times than she could count – and not always because she had to leave on hero business. But she would only have to do this for a little while longer: she and Nino had already discussed their future a few times. And while she wasn't sure when or how, they had both agreed it was only a matter of time.
She sprinted across the roof, her hair blowing out behind her in the breeze, and threw herself off into space, angling toward the 15th Arrondissement to begin her patrol. A couple weeks ago, Sk8r Girl and Hato Gozen had discovered a burglary, though they had been too late to find the perpetrator. A few days after that, Geber and Cat Noir had stumbled onto another one. All told, Pegasus had found no less than a dozen reports of burglaries over the last three months, all in the same arrondissement, all involving petty thefts of less than €25 in goods. She pursed her lips as a lime-green figure intersected her path, coming from the direction of the Agreste Mansion.
"What's the word?" called Ayilon cheerily, falling into step beside her.
"So far? Nothing." Rena Rouge shrugged. "At least not on our mysterious burglaries," she amended. "Now if you're asking about the twins, on the other hand… if I could find a way to bottle their energy and sell it, I would be a millionaire by the end of the week!"
Ayilon giggled. "If you ever figure that out, let me know; Marco could put them to shame!"
"Do you remember that time we tried taking all three of them plus Manon to the Louvre together over Christmas break?" asked Rena Rouge, laughing.
"Worst. Mistake. Ever," Ayilon groaned. "I thought M. Kubdel was going to have an aneurism!"
Rena Rouge chuckled as they arrived in the neighborhood where most of the burglaries had taken place. Something about this "crime spree" felt… off… to her. Maybe it was the location – none of these burglaries were happening in the more affluent parts of the arrondissement. Maybe it was the amount or items being taken. Maybe it was the regularity of it. But at least it was a pattern. And patterns could be exploited.
"What's that?" Ayilon called, pointing toward a corner store.
The light from the streetlamp in front of the store reflected oddly off of the front door. Looking closer, Rena Rouge could see a few shards of glass lying in front of the door, glinting in the light. With a nod to Ayilon, she angled in that direction and dropped to the ground right in front of the store. A hole in the glass door caught her immediate attention, along with a small spot of blood. "Whoever it was, they cut themselves on the glass," she murmured quietly. Ayilon nodded, her eyes narrowing. Carefully Rena Rouge reached through the hole and pushed the handle to open the door. Silently, the two heroes entered the darkened store.
The first thing Rena Rouge noticed was the sound of sniffling coming from a spot near the back of the store. A trail of blood drops led in the same direction. Cautiously, Rena Rouge followed the metallic scent, Ayilon close behind her. Her miraculous-enhanced ears caught the sound of something rustling, the clink of metal hitting metal. Gesturing with her flute, Rena Rouge sent Ayilon down the nearest aisle, trapping the burglar between them. She froze, waiting out of sight, until Ayilon was in position. At a click in her communicator, Rena Rouge stepped out into the aisle, dropped into a ready stance, her flute held in front of herself, and froze in shock.
The burglar knelt in the middle of the aisle, shoving cans of fruits and vegetables into a ratty old cardboard box. A bloody fingerprint on the side of the box showed where she had cut herself. But that was not what caused Rena Rouge to pause. The burglar was a girl no older than the twins, wearing torn and dirt-encrusted clothing, smudges of dirt on her face. At the far end of the aisle, Ayilon gasped in surprise. The girl looked up, saw Ayilon, and stumbled to her feet, only to find Rena Rouge standing in front of her. She dove to the ground and rolled under the shelving unit, abandoning her box and trying to escape. Rena Rouge moved to the next aisle as Ayilon planted herself where the girl had disappeared. When the girl emerged, Rena Rouge stared down at her, a stern look on her face.
The girl burst into tears. "Please don't tell my mom!"
Rena Rouge arched an eyebrow. "Were you the one stealing from all these stores over the last few months?" The girl froze, her breathing hitched. "You know stealing is wrong."
"But–but–" The girl hiccupped. "We're just so hungry."
"Why don't you tell us what's going on, cheri," Ayilon suggested, appearing at the far end of the aisle. "Maybe a couple Heroes of Paris can help you!"
"O–okay." The girl sniffed, wiping her eyes.
"What's your name, first?" Rena Rouge asked, kneeling in front of her.
"Cosette."
"That's a pretty name," Ayilon told her, smiling gently. "So what's going on, Cosette?"
She sighed heavily. "It's my mom," she admitted. "She got hurt in an accident a couple years ago. She was hurting really badly, but the doctor gave her something to help. But then it stopped helping. The doctor wouldn't give her anything else. She lost her job and we had to leave. Now we live under the overpass – mom, my little brother, and me. Mom found work on the streets, but she only gets enough to buy her pain stuff. If we're gonna eat, I have to do it."
Rena Rouge pursed her lips, a look of distaste on her face. The evidence at hand painted a very specific picture…
"You poor girl," Ayilon cooed, sweeping Cosette into a hug.
"Are–are you going to help us?" she asked, eyes wide and brimming with tears.
"Absolutely!" Ayilon pulled a candy bar out of her pocket and handed it to the girl, who unwrapped it and shoved half in her mouth in a single bite.
Rena Rouge frowned and pulled Ayilon aside, out of Cosette's earshot. "You heard her story, right? The part where her mom's a druggie – probably turning tricks for drug money?"
"Yeah…" Ayilon raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't change the fact that this is a poor little girl who's living on the streets and hungry. I knew enough kids like that before I went to the temple – I was lucky my parents could work and provide for us."
Rena Rouge let out a breath. "I do want to help her. It's just, what can we really do?" She paused, thinking. "Wait…" She facepalmed. "I'm an idiot," she groaned, finding a contact on her flute's communicator.
"Alya?" Marinette yawned sleepily. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
She smirked. "Did I catch you and Sunshine in the middle of anything important?"
She almost heard Marinette's eyes roll. "Ha ha," she drawled. "What's up?"
"Actually, if Sunshine is there, this is for both of you: do any of the rehab clinics have housing?"
"What?" Adrien asked, bewildered. "Um… the one in Bercy has a room that's not in use…"
"Perfect." Rena Rouge gave Ayilon a thumb's up. Quickly she explained what she needed.
"If you can get her to agree, then I think it could work," Adrien replied. "I will message the manager to meet you there."
"I'll be over in a few minutes," added Marinette.
Rena Rouge nodded and disconnected the call. "I think we have a plan," she announced to Ayilon, who had her hand on Cosette's shoulder. "If your mom is willing, we can get you somewhere to live and help your mom with her 'pain.' But you can't just go around stealing, okay? And if I help you do it, you need to pay back what you stole."
Cosette nodded, her lower lip trembling. Rena Rouge held out a hand, and the girl flung herself at her waist, wrapping her in a tight hug. "Th–thank you."
"Where are your mom and brother?"
Cosette quickly led them to an overpass on Qaui de Stalingrad, just before the Pont d'Issy les Moulineaux. The girl pushed aside a couple plywood boards to reveal a small cubby, inside which they could see a small bundle of blankets and trash bags. Cautiously, Rena Rouge poked the blankets with her flute. The blankets shifted slightly, mumbling something. "Hey!" Rena Rouge called. The blankets mumbled again. "I need to talk to you!"
Finally a woman's head popped out and stared at Rena Rouge, her eyes unfocused. "Wha–?"
Rena Rouge indicated Cosette. "Is this your daughter?"
"Why? You want her?"
Rena Rouge rubbed her forehead. "No… I want to help you."
"Madame," Ayilon piped up, "we heard about your situation, and we want to do what we can for you and your children."
"Why?"
Rena Rouge arched an eyebrow. "I'm wondering the same thing at the moment… You're not exactly making it easy on us."
"Yeah, well, tell that to the bastard that sideswiped me."
"Oh, so it's all someone else's fault that you turned into a druggie hooker?" Rena Rouge demanded, folding her arms.
The woman sat up, a sudden fire in her eyes. "What did you call me!?"
"You heard me."
"Enough!" Ayilon interjected. Kneeling next to the woman, she placed a hand on her arm. "Whatever happened before is water under the bridge. You can't change any of it. But you can make a difference for Cosette and her brother. Do you want that?"
The woman broke down in tears. "So much…" she whispered. "I–I don't want my babies living like this – but I also don't want to lose them."
"The way I see it, you have two choices here," Rena Rouge informed her. "Option one is that we bring your kids somewhere that they don't have to live under a bridge, and you stay here and keep going like this."
"And option two?"
"Option two is that you commit to change – go into rehab, get clean, find a job – and you can come with the kids."
"You'll do that for me?" the woman wondered, mouth open in surprise.
"We're the Heroes of Paris," Ayilon declared. "Of course we'll do that for you!"
The woman looked at them suspiciously. "What are you going to do?"
"To start," Rena Rouge began, "you aren't living here anymore. There's an Agreste Charity Rehab Clinic on the other side of the city that has a spare room. We're going to bring you there tonight, and you are going to stay. The kids will go to school; you'll go through rehab."
"I–I don't have any money…"
Rena Rouge smirked. "That's why it's a charity," she replied. "When you're ready to get on your feet again, you can start off working for the clinic while you look for another job."
"It's a chance at a better life," Ayilon told her, squeezing her arm gently. "You've had a really bad few years, but you can bounce back from it."
"I–okay." She nodded. "For my kids."
"But… what about me?" Cosette piped up, a worried look in her eyes.
Rena Rouge smiled as a swirl of red magic swept over the girl and the blood drops on her shirt disappeared. Cosette looked down at her finger in surprise as it healed. "There's the first part of your answer," Rena Rouge answered. "And the second part of your answer is…" Footsteps outside the cubby. "Right there."
Ladybug appeared in the doorway, her arms loaded down with an enormous box. "This is a little more than just the day-olds," she announced, "but here we are." She passed Cosette a long baguette. "Have some bread!"
The girl's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Is this all for me?" She broke it apart and took a tentative bite. "It's so good!"
"How would you like to learn how to make these?" Ladybug asked her, passing another baguette to Cosette's mother and pressing a whole bag of madeleines into Cosette's hands.
"I can?" asked Cosette eagerly.
Ladybug nodded. "Rena Rouge said you need to find a job, and the bakery that gave me these is willing to let you work – just a couple hours on weekends." She giggled. "You'll get all the pastries you want while you're there!"
"I–yes! Of course!" Cosette clapped her hands excitedly.
Headlights appeared outside the cubby, and a car stopped under the overpass, its hazard lights blinking. Rena Rouge looked down at Cosette's mother. "Pack up whatever you want to bring with you. If you're ready, we have a driver who will bring you to the rehab clinic."
As the Gorilla drove away with Cosette and her family, Rena Rouge turned to Ladybug. "Thanks."
She giggled. "Don't thank me; thank Papa for agreeing to take on an 8-year-old 'pâtissière'! You've seen Manon and the twins in the kitchen…"
AN: Just to clarify, no, they aren't forcing an 8-year-old to earn the €500 or so to pay back the stolen goods and damage. They're paying the balance themselves and letting her "repay them" by learning to bake while eating her fill of pastries and listening to dad jokes for an hour or two on weekends for a few months!