WARNING: Chapter contains gun violence
Author's Note: I am not an expert on the rating system, but I figure T is the same as PG-13 so if it occurs in a PG-13 movie/ TV show then it is appropriate for my story. Nevertheless, I will add warnings at the beginning of any chapter I may question the appropriateness of.
Chapter 8: Are You Kidding Me?
As Ladybug approached the location of the bang, she began contemplating what kind of akuma was attacking. If it was able to cause explosions, then she and Chat Noir would have to be extra careful. Their suits were made of an extremely durable material however, that material was incapable of protecting them from a direct hit by an exploding device.
Deciding to take the stealth approach, Ladybug landed on a nearby roof. Crouching, she slowly peered over the ledge expecting to find some sort of masked villain. Instead she found a truck, a gaping hole in the side of a building, and four disguised people quickly loading boxes into the truck.
"Hurry up, we need to leave soon before the flics (cops) arrive." A fifth voice shouted from the driver's seat of the van.
"Well this certainly is a sur-purrr-ise." Chat purred as he crouched down next to Ladybug.
Ladybug rolled her eyes. "An old fashion warehouse robbery, this should be quick."
"After you my lady," Chat placed his hand out in the air and gave a slight bow.
"Always the gentleman," Ladybug replied as she swung down to the street.
"I don't think those belong to you."
The robbers gasped as they spied Ladybug and Chat Noir. "Ladybug and Chat Noir, what are you doing here?"
"We were just out for a midnight stroll when we heard the explosion and became curious." Chat Noir replied.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that curiosity killed the cat."
"But satisfaction brought it back."
"Let's see you come back from this!" The four criminals dropped their boxes, pulled out guns, and began shooting at our heroes. Each swinging their respective weapons, they managed to deflect all the bullets.
"We need to surround them." Ladybug said. "I'll head right towards the van, you circle around their left. We'll attack when they run out of bullets and reload."
"Understood." Chat Noir replied. As the two swiftly maneuvered into place, the crooks panicked causing their aim and ability to think to deteriorate. Just a few more moments and they'll be out of bullets. Thought Chat, continuing his approach.
"Aaah!" Chat's ears perked up at the sound of Ladybug's scream.
"Ladybug!" Chat Noir quickly turned and raced towards Ladybug, twirling his baton along the way. Using the momentary distraction, the criminals proceeded to the van. Ladybug flung her yo-yo at the van hitting it on the side as it drove off.
"Ladybug! What happened, you're hurt."
"I got hit from behind by a ricochet bullet." Ladybug replied while clasping her leg. "It's just a flesh wound, nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about, you're bleeding! Here let me see." Chat forcefully removed Ladybug's hand to inspect the wound. Ladybug winced, also taking the opportunity to gauge the severity of the wound. The bullet grazed her upper thigh leaving a long red gash in its wake. Ladybug, being accustomed to injuries in her civilian form, knew the wound was not life threatening, but would need stitches. I can't go after them like this, but I can't just let them get away...whoa!
"Chat, what you are doing!" Cried Ladybug. Chat abruptly picked Ladybug up in his arms princess style and was swiftly carrying her away to an unknown location.
"I'm taking you to a hospital before you bleed to death." Chat hastily replied, his voice filled with panic.
"There's no need Chaton it is not that serious, trust me." Ladybug flipped open her yo-yo and pointed to a spot on the map. "I need you to take me here."
"Why there?" Chat inquired as he headed in the direction on the screen.
"There I can get the supplies necessary to bandage my wound, plus the shop is currently open which means the clerk can help me get the supplies I need. While I'm patching myself up, you need to pursue the criminals."
"You expect me to just leave you there, severely injured!"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Like I said, the wound is not that serious and I'm used to treating injuries like this." Ladybug thought back to all the injuries she sustained due to her clumsiness or her parents sustained operating the bakery. Oh the painful life of a baker.
"Either way they're long gone and I have no method of tracking them." Chat jumped down from the rooftop and landed in front of the store as he spoke.
"Not true. I used my yo-yo to place a tracking device on the van when they drove away. I can share the coordinates with you."
"La-la-ladybug, Chat Noir!" The store clerk squealed in delight. Chat Noir gently sat Ladybug down as the store clerk rushed to her side.
"Oh my god! What happened to you?"
"I was injured in a fight, but the wound looks worse than it is. I'll need your help though to clean and dress the wound. Will you assist me?"
"Of course, I'd be willing to do anything for Paris' mighty heroes."
A warm smiled spread across her face. "Thank you." Turning to Chat she said, "I'm in good hands here Chat, now go get them." Chat Noir gave Ladybug's hand one last squeeze before turning to leave.
"And Chat," he looked back, "please be safe."
"I purr-omise."
Those bastards! How dare they hurt my lady. Chat Noir checked his baton to ensure he was headed in the right direction. The van was moving at a constant, but reasonable pace, clearly the thieves were trying not to draw any attention to themselves. If they think they can get away with this then they are sorely mistaken. Chat Noir's anger slowly shifted to sorrow when he thought about Ladybug and the state he left her in. This never should've happened. How did I allow this to happen? I'm supposed to keep her safe, not allow harm to befall her. And you call yourself her knight. When the van stopped at a red light, Chat saw his opportunity.
"Cataclysm," he cried while leaping onto the van. Within seconds the van disintegrated leaving the crooks and they're stolen loot sprawled out on the street. Chat Noir stared at their shocked and confused faces.
"What's a matter, chat got your tongue?"
Immediately Chat grabbed the closest man and flung her across the street into the side of a building. A punch in the face and a swift kick to the gut took out the second man with ease, but the last three were not so easily defeated. By the time Chat addressed the remaining three, two were already armed with their guns, and the third located halfway down an adjacent street. Chat Noir leaped backwards, proceeding to twirl his baton in defense. He was glad to see the street empty as the bullets rained down around him, he'd hate it if a civilian sustained an injury during the shoot-out.
Having no choice but to stand there and defend, Chat Noir watched in frustration as the third assailant disappeared. Then, adding insult to injury, the remaining two split up firing in turns as they headed in separate directions. Are you kidding me? Damn it! Chat Noir jumped onto a nearby rooftop, chasing one of the suspects from a safe distance.
Chat Noir heard his baton ringing and took out to answer. "Ladybug, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just called to tell you I finished stitching up my wound and check to see if you're okay."
"But of course my lady, not a scratch on this cat."
"How's the fight going?"
"I managed to take out the van and two suspects on Rue de Pouy and Rue Bobillot. The last three split up and I'm in pursuit of one."
"Hang tight, I'm sending back up your way."
"Back up? What are you talk..." Chat Noir was interrupted by his target stopping in an alley way to catch his breath.
"Hang on, I'll call you in a second." Chat Noir ended the call and extended his baton towards the man. With one swing of his weapon, he knocked the man out cold.
Weeru, Weeru, Weeru
Police sirens, perfect! Chat Noir dragged the unconscious man to the edge of the street when a police car appeared.
"Chat Noir, officer Sûreté at your service. Is that one of the five thieves who robbed the warehouse earlier tonight?" Inquired Sûreté.
"Well yes, but how did you know about the robbery?"
"Heard the explosion same as you, but arrived too late to help capture the criminals." The officer cuffed the suspect and placed him in the back of his police car. "Then we received a call from Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix informing us of the situation. He received this information from Ladybug, who called him after you dropped her off. It was thanks to her that we were able to find you and arrest the criminals."
Chat Noir smiled in appreciation. My Lady thinks of everything.
"She's currently back at the police station talking to the capitaine."
"How many of the criminals do you have so far?"
"Four, it looks like the driver got away."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know for sure, but they might be part of a gang that's been active around Paris lately. Smuggling drugs, possession of illegal firearms, and theft seem to be their forte." Chat Noir remembered vaguely hearing something about the gang on the news. "We've never managed to catch any of the criminals, so we have little information to go on. That's about all I can tell you, the rest is classified information."
"Classified information? How are Ladybug and I supposed to catch them if we don't have all the facts?"
"You're not." The office proceeded to his car. "Thank you for your assistance tonight, but this is a job for the police." And with that, the officer drove away.
"Are you kidding me? He just said they never managed to capture any members of the gang until tonight. If it wasn't for Ladybug and I they'd still have no arrests, that's gratitude for you." Chat Noir turned and headed in the direction of the police station, eager to see Ladybug again.
"Capitaine, I think you should really reconsider your decision. Ladybug and Chat Noir are the heroes of Paris, their help is invaluable to us." Lieutenant Raincomprix reasoned.
"Heroes or not they are still civilians and not cleared to handle these types of jobs. Their job is to stop akuma and rescue cats out of trees, leave the pursuit and arrest of normal criminals up to the police." Capitaine Têtu commanded.
"But sir…"
"No buts, my decision is final."
"Capitaine Têtu, please excuse my forwardness, but you need us." Ladybug, who had been sitting there quietly listening to the conversation, spoke up.
"Excuse me?"
"You said so yourself earlier that if it wasn't for Chat Noir and I you wouldn't have any leads on the gang. Please believe me when I say that I am not trying to overstep our authority or undermine your own, but when I stood up on the Eiffel Tower 9 months ago I promised the citizens of Paris that Chat Noir and I would do everything in our power to keep them safe. Be it an akuma attack, robbery, helicopter crash, or yes a cat stuck in a tree it is our duty to help out."
"Oh really and how exactly do you plan on doing that? You and Chat Noir only appear when you observe danger and unlike an akuma or accident, criminals don't really announce their presence. In and out in the dead of night as quietly and inconspicuous as they can be. You got lucky with this current group, they screwed up setting the charge and caused more noise than intended. You won't be this lucky next time."
Ladybug stood up ready to protest, but winced as pain traveled up her leg. After stitching up the wound, she de-transformed and retransformed to repair her suit and start the healing process. Nevertheless, it would be awhile before the wound completely healed. She scowled and clenched her fists in anger as she sat back down. This stubborn, egotistical fool…no, calm down Ladybug, getting angry isn't going to get you anyway. Besides, he does have a point about how Chat Noir and I discover situations requiring our help. Ladybug rested her elbow on her left hand, bringing her right hand to her chin in contemplation. Maybe if we patrolled the city like the cops do, then we would be able to provide assistance in stopping criminals. Another bonus, we'd gain the ability to receive calls from them requesting our aid.
Smiling, Ladybug replied, "I wouldn't doubt my ability to be lucky, I am Ladybug the hero of luck after all, but you do have a point. What if Chat Noir and I began patrolling the city at night? We would be able to stop any crimes that we come across. Plus if we keep to a set schedule, we'd be available if you need to call us. What do you say?"
"It's a great idea capitaine and I think it would work." Lieutenant Raincomprix suggested. "Besides, we can't exactly stop them from patrolling on their own at night. Better to work together than apart."
Scowling, the capitaine turned around in his chair. After a few moments, he turned back around. "Fine, I will allow Ladybug and Chat Noir to patrol during the night and in honor of this new found partnership I will allow them to assist one time only on this case. Lieutenant Raincomprix, you are in charge of ironing out the details. You are both dismissed."
Both Ladybug and Lieutenant Raincomprix exited the office. Allow my ass, he just doesn't want to admit that he needs us for this case and can't stop us from patrolling. His attempts as saving face are so transparent. A smile slowly spread across Ladybug's face. Still, at least we got the outcome we wanted. I just hope Chat Noir isn't upset that I signed him up for extra hero work without his permission. Well even if he is against it I can just perform the duties myself, I don't want to force him into something that he doesn't want to do after all.
"Thank you for advocating so hard for us Lieutenant."
"Oh it's my pleasure Ladybug, and it's the least I can do after you saved me when I was Rogercop, twice." Ladybug winced a bit. While she had nothing to do with his akumatization the first time around, she couldn't help but fill a little guilty about the second time with Puppeteer. Come on Marinette, you can't beat yourself up over that. How were you supposed to know the dolls you innocently made would be used to harm your friends and their families.
"Now let's start ironing out the details of the deal…"
"LADYBUG!" Ladybug turned just in time to see Chat embrace her in a bear hug.
"Chat Noir!" Ladybug cried with her feet dangling inches above the ground. "We're in the middle of the police station!"
Chat Noir immediately let go and placed his hand behind his neck. "Heh, my bad I was just so glad to see you I got carried away."
Ladybug groaned as she heard the various chuckles of the police officers around the station. Chat Noir turned slightly red and looked down in shame.
"How about we continue talking in my office." Lieutenant Raincomprix offered.
"Gladly." The two replied in unison.
"So we'll begin patrol each night at 9:00 p.m. at the Eiffel Tower." Chat Noir confirmed. "If we spot any criminals activity we are to call the flics (cops) first and then engage. Patrol officers will continue their usually duties unless they find themselves in a situation where they need our help. In which case they'll call us on our communicators. Furthermore, we will be working together with the police force on this one case only. Did I miss anything?"
"No, that pretty much summarizes everything."
Chat Noir and Ladybug stood on the rooftop reviewing everything they discussed during their meeting with Lieutenant Raincomprix. During the meeting they received all the information the cops had on the gang and determined the plan for patrol. Chat Noir was surprised, but eager to participant when he heard about the patrol schedule. "I'm purr-fectly happy with going on patrol regularly. Any plan that ensures I get to see you on a regular basis is paw-sitively purr-recious." Furthermore, they provided the Lieutenant with the numbers to their communicators and he in turn provided them with the walkie-talkie frequency of the police force. Upon leaving the station, the two decided to spend some time discussing everything that happened in private.
Chat Noir looked out onto the street.
"What's wrong Chat?"
"Why whatever do you meow-ing?"
Ladybug cringed, that was a horrible pun. "Come on Chat, I've known you long enough to tell when something is bothering you."
Sigh. "It's just that, three to four hours of patrol each and every night. It seems like a lot of work, especially now."
Ladybug considered his input. "You're right, perhaps it would be better if we alternated days. I could take Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while you take Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. On Saturday we can both patrol together. This way we can protect Paris, but not overwork ourselves in the process."
"I think I can get down with that. But I'll be taking the next three days." Ladybug opened her mouth to complain, but Chat Noir stopped her. "You're injured and in no condition to be patrolling the streets of Paris or taking on criminals."
"I'll be fine Chat, our suits have magical healing abilities."
"That doesn't mean that wounds just disappear overnight. It will take a few days before you're back at 100%, I'd just feel more comfortable if you waited until you were completely healed."
Ladybug wanted to protest, to say that she didn't need the extra time to heal, but she knew she'd be lying. Even now she could feel her leg throbbing, causing her to favor her right leg. It was killing her knowing Chat Noir signed himself up for extra work just to cover for her; they were a team after all, the work should be split evenly between them. Reason told her to listen to him though.
"Fine." Ladybug replied reluctantly. Chat smiled triumphantly.
"Now I just have to work this into my study schedule." He said nonchalantly.
Ladybug froze. Study…
"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot! I need to be spending the next two weeks studying for my finals!"
Chat Noir giggled. "Yeah, college finals must be purr-etty difficult."
"College finals? I'm still in the tenth grade."
Chat Noir stared at Ladybug dumbstruck. "B-b-but I thought you told Alya, the Ladybug blogger, that you were older than a high schooler?"
"Silly kitty, I only said that to throw her off track, plus I didn't want Paris to know that they were being protected by a high schooler. On that note, how old are you?"
"I'm 16 and in the tenth grade same as you."
"I figured you were my age." Ladybug contemplated for a moment. "Exactly how old did you think I was?"
"Well I was hoping you were only 18 or 19, you just seemed so much older. N-n-not that you look older or anything, I'm just saying that you seem really mature and you said those things to Alya…"
Ladybug let out a small laugh. "Only 18 or 19? What were you planning on doing if I turned out to be 25 or something?"
Chat Noir shrugged. "Wait two years until I was 18, then make you mine. Luckily though, we don't have to wait." Chat Noir approached Ladybug, placing his hand on her waist.
"That reminds me, I believe we were in the middle of something before this all began. What do you say we get back to that?"
Ladybug turned a deep scarlet red. "R-r-right, I-I-I guess we could…"
Ladybug paused as she heard an alarm going off on her yo-yo. She pulled out her yo-yo and flipped it open. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe how late it is?" The clock showed 3:50 a.m. Chat Noir winced when he took at his baton and saw the time as well.
"I need to go, my parents will be up soon and I don't want them to discover I'm gone." Ladybug closed her yo-yo. "Don't worry Chaton, there'll be plenty of time to continue this later." Ladybug planted a kiss on Chat Noir's cheek before swinging off into the night.
"Are you kidding me?" Chat asked for the 4th time that night.