I realize I'm pretty bad at clarifying how much time has passed but just to clarify, all of this chapter takes place on the same day as the previous chapter and the one Akira was introduced. Sorry for the confusion, and sorry so many chapters only span one day. Also, don't worry, the story will focus back in on Hugo and Lyric soon. Soon the baby will be at home with them and then on they will be the story's main focus again.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Wake Up Call

The silhouette drowned in moonlight silently and swiftly crossed the street to the phone booth. Scanning the area surrounding her, she only looked back at the phone once she'd determined no one was around. All window lights were either dimmed or shut off entirely. Her main source of light was the lamp posts that ran through the jagged street and the overbearing moon.

She listened with a sharp ear to the sound of ringing, breath silently hitching when she heard a breath from the other end." Mr. Agreste,"

"Ms. Rossi," Gabriel said quietly from the other end. His voice as cold as ever but it managed to make a devilish grin appear on the woman's face.

"I'm glad you've finally reached out. I missed having the opportunities to work with you." For nearly 17 years she'd kept quiet. Pretended sanity and for nearly a decade had been living with her aunt in Italy. !7 years of pretended to have gone insane due to neglect from her mother who she barely spoke to. After 17 years, she could let that mask fall and resume her own plan, alongside Gabriel's.

"Well with our current situation I'm going to be needing more of your help." Gabriel said, frowning as he reviewed their plan."Earlier today I spoke with Marinette. She was as unhappy with me as could be expected, but my little hint seemed to confuse her."

Lila gritted her teeth at the mention of her old nemesis. Years earlier Marinette had visited her when she was still in rehabilitation and the girl had been sweet to her, and keeping her mask up, Lila had been to. But through her smile, she'd wanted to slap that perky smile from her face."Whatever you need sir, I'll do it."

Gabriel nodded, clearing his throat before continuing on."I hinted at the baby and how we'll use her. She'll most likely jump to the conclusion I plan on killing her and using her life for my own benefit."

"And we're not doing that?" Lila asked, leaning against the glass of the phone booth. A cold fall breeze pushed through the shut doors and a shiver ran up her spine. She shrugged back into her coral pink sweatshirt and stuck her free hand into the pocket

"No, she's going to suspect we'll try and kill her when in reality we're merely using her. I suspect Marinette is also going to assume we'll wait a month or two before executing our plan when in reality we're doing it this week. Ms. Rossi, I need you to leave for Paris tomorrow morning. Your ticket is waiting at the airport with an accomplice of mine and I'll give you your directions in our next email."

"Don't worry sir, I'll be able to do it all," she said assuringly with a smile."Only if you promise to keep up your end of our deal. You'll get what you want and I'll get what I want,"

Gabriel frowned, partially sick of the annoying girl."Yes, you'll get what you requested."

Lila grinned. If all went to plan, Marinette would suffer and she would only have to look on with a smirk. Countless years she'd waited for the moment Gabriel would give her the go-ahead to begin the final stages of their plan. If all went accordingly, they'd both have what they wanted by the end of the year.

Ending her call with Gabriel, Lila wore a wide grin as she walked across the alleyway. Climbing two flights of stairs she finally fiddled the door to her aunt's apartment open. Since the day they met back in high school she'd despised Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Everything about her irritated her and discovering she was Ladybug only angered her more. After years of keeping her anger down, she'd finally be able to watch Marinette suffer more than anyone else.

Since the day she and Gabriel had made their promise, she had been waiting. Her time for waiting was up.

"Woah!" Louis practically shrieked out as he watched the girl ice the cookies. Flour and sugar covered his shirt and face but it wasn't sweeter than his smile."Those look like Grammy's cookies!"

"I'm glad you like them," Akira grinned, turning her gaze back down so she could continue to frost the cookies. By the time she'd got them from school the bakery had been closed so she decided they'd make her own. It was enjoyable to see her aunt and uncle so little. She was surprised to see not much had changed in 14 years. Louis was as charming as ever and Emma seemed sweet but as witty as ever. She was happy to see they hadn't changed much at all.

At the quiet commotion, Emma set her comic book down and traveled towards the two. She stared down at the cookie sheet through narrowed green eyes."Those do look a lot like Grammy's." There was a suspicion in her voice that had Akira worrying slightly but she managed to keep her smile in place.

"I bet hers are fantastic," Akira smiled, dobbing icing on Louis's nose as he ate an odd-shaped cookie whole.

Emma shook her suspicions away and smiled at the sight and smell of fresh baked sugar cookies. The light blue frosting stuck to her long fingers as she grabbed a cookie, intended to be shaped like a star.

"Mia," Louis chimed as the teen bit into her own cookie."Where are you from again?"

Akira mentally hesitated but managed to not show it on her face. It was not only uncomfortable for her to have to lie constantly to her aunt and uncle, but also hear them call her by a different name. She was more used to her uncle calling her Squirt thanks to her lack of height."China, around Shanghai,"

Emma frowned at her, suspicious expression in place again."Your french is really good, especially since you grew up there,"

"Well my parents used to live here and at home, we mainly speak that," she lied through a smile. Ask her to speak french, she could. Ask her to speak Italian, she could. Ask her to speak English, she could. Ask her to speak mandarin, she couldn't mutter a single word. The one good thing about having mainly Italian and American doctors was that she'd easily grown fluent in both languages. Italian more so than English since she spoke it on a daily basis, but knowing the basics of English made her occasional doctor appointments in Boston easier to deal with.

"Still impressive," Emma mumbled, seemingly more out of pure surprise than suspicion."How long are you staying again?"

Akira hesitated, not entirely sure how long she would be staying. Marinette surely didn't know how to use her, so it could be a day or a month for all she knew."Um, a few weeks," she answered, shutting off the timer that had begun blaring loudly. Setting it on the counter beside Louis, she pulled out the second sheet of cookies while leaning on one of her crutches. She despised using them indoors but concluded it would make her faster than she'd be without them.

The door slowly swung open and Hugo stepped in with a looked of exhaustion in place."I'm home how-" Hugo paused, having expected to see his mom." Who's this?" he asked, waving his keys in the direction of Akira.

"Mia! She's staying with us!" Louis announced, a puff of flour filling the air around him as he swung his arms out.

Akira laughed, hiding the fact she was extremely uncomfortable. She'd been prepared to have to face her mother or father, but she hadn't expected it to come so quickly." I'm a second cousin of your mom's," she added on, relieved when the boy simply nodded, not seeming to care.

"Did you and Lyric go see the baby?" Emma asked as she nibbled on another misshapen cookie. Akira turned away, taking her time to ice each cookie as Hugo answered.

"No, I'm pretty sure she went in but I had work," he answered, frowning down at his shirt that was more brown than white." Where's mom?" he asked while wiping his shirt clean with a paper towel.

"She went to the grocery store, I'm pretty sure she's picking up pizza for dinner," Emma said, tucking her blonde hair back behind her ear.

"Sounds good to me. Though I'm pretty sure I'll never look at chowder the same way again," he sighed, still disturbed by the scene of a five-year-old puking up all their chowder onto the floor. Sadly for him, that wasn't even the beginning of the spills he'd endure throughout the day, let alone his first week working as a waiter. Certainly, a job he'd viewed as simple and hadn't anticipated his occasional clumsiness causing him to spill a few dozen drinks on himself.

Akira let out a sigh when he'd walked away to change. Dealing with her dad only two years older than her would be tougher than she'd thought. Nevertheless, she kept her smile on and wiped the frosting from Louis's button-like nose."Now, how about we package these up then get set for dinner," she suggested, eyeing a large jar with the word Cookie written in cursive. Using all the little strength she had, the jar finally popped open. They'd just finished placing the last cookie in when the apartment door opened again.

"I'm back," Marinette sighed. Too much had happened for one day. Seeing Gabriel had already been tough enough, let alone dealing with her granddaughter from the future and seeing her husband whose state was still yet to change. All she wanted was to collapse into her mattress and sleep for a thousand hours. Sadly, she knew her alarm would go off at 6 A.M. the next morning and the day would most likely be as hectic as today.

Louis beamed at the sight of their mother and gleefully rush over to her. Wrapping his arms around her legs he nearly caused her to drop the bags of groceries." Mommy, Mia baked cookies like Grammy and she let me have some before dinner!" he squealed.

Marinette's chuckle wavered as she patted the boy's back with her free hand."Pizza's on its way so no more cookies,"

Akira closed the lid, setting the jar back in its original place."How'd everything go?" Marinette whispered into her ear as she began to put the groceries away.

"Great," Akira chimed, leaning against the counter."They didn't suspect a thing."

Marinette let out a sigh, some relief passing over her." Well, that's great-" her sentence was cut short by the house phone blaring loudly. Marinette frowned, holding the phone to her ear."Hello, this is Marinette Agreste," The carton of milk fell to the floor and broke open.

"Momma, what's wrong?" Emma asked, avoiding the spill." Momma," she said again, staring up at her mother's dazed expression.

"Adrien," she breathed out, her bluebell eyes paralyzed."He's awake."