Jeanne was ecstatic. It was the day of Théo's big exhibition and she was going to the big unveiling as Théo's special guest. Gabriel had agreed to let her go and she was so excited she could barely contain herself. She wore a flowery purple summer dress and white flats, curling her hair in a way that was reminiscent of her mother. No one in the household was quite sure how to address her sudden burst of happiness. Even Gabriel was left without a response. It had been a long time since he'd seen his daughter this happy about anything. He dealt with these feelings the same way he dealt with all his feelings. Working. Jeanne didn't even care. She skipped out to the car, Nathalie following behind her.
"Call me when it's over. We'll come pick you up." Nathalie said as they rode.
"Of course." Jeanne pulled her phone out of her purse, waving it slightly to prove she had it. "I'm responsible, aren't I?"
"It's not you I'm worried about." The corners of Nathalie's mouth threatened to twitch up. "It's your father's overreaction."
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
In retrospect, that was not something she should have said. But when she showed up at the unveiling, everything was fine. Théo and Mayor Bourgeois stood next to the statue, reporters forming a large crowd around them.
"Théo!" Jeanne ran over and hugged him. "It's been so long!"
"I'm so glad you could make it." Théo said, grinning and pulling back so he could look at her. "I think this is my best work yet."
"I don't doubt it, judging from those bags under your eyes. What are they, Gucci?"
"Are they that bad?" Théo's face fell.
"No no. They're fine." Jeanne said quickly. "You look great."
"Miss Agreste!" Mayor Bourgeois peered past Théo. "I didn't know you knew Mr Barbot!"
"We're friends." She said. "We met at one of my art shows and bonded over both being art geeks." She laughed and gave Théo a hug. "He's the best sculptor I know. He has an incredible grasp of human anatomy."
"Well, it's nice to hear such a glowing endorsement." Mayor Bourgeois nodded and went back to looking at the crowd.
"You didn't need to say that in front of the mayor." Théo said, face already turning bright red.
"What? It's true." Jeanne punched his arm playfully. Praising those she loved came naturally. They were such wonderful people, how could she not?
"Miss Agreste, we meet again." She looked up to see Chat crouched on the base of the statue.
"Chat Noir." She feigned a surprised reaction. "You remember my name. I'm impressed."
"How could I forget the name of the girl I keep having to save?"
"You know him?" Théo whispered.
"Well, not exactly." Jeanne forced herself to smile. "I'm just a damsel in distress during a lot of attacks. I'm sure he's long since gotten tired of me."
"Nonsense." Chat grinned. "Ladybug and I are always happy to help those in need."
"Um, speaking of Ladybug," Théo pulled a photo from his pocket. "Where is she?"
"Don't worry about Ladybug. I'm sure she'll be here any minute. I can handle this situation alone for now. I'm the one in charge anyway, you know."
"Really? I thought you two were a team." Her brother was beginning to get a swelled head.
"It's just that, I wanted to ask her to autograph this photo." Théo said, smiling softly at the photo. It was a cutout from a newspaper. "She's amazing. She's so brave and smart, the way she always saves everyone..." Chat glared at the picture. Jeanne had half a mind to grab him by the ear and give him a good scolding.
"Perhaps the ceremony should commence." Mayor Bourgeois suggested. "It might bring her here faster."
"Please, just one minute more, Mayor Bourgeois." Théo begged. "She's going to come. I can feel it."
But she didn't. Jeanne gnawed at her lip as the time passed and the crowd grew increasingly restless. Chat was not helping, constantly trying to talk himself up and convince everyone he and Ladybug were an item. She was definitely going to chew him out for this later. She had told him to be on his best behaviour for this! He had to know how much this meant to her friend. Eventually, Mayor Bourgeois got fed up and just started the ceremony.
"It's only proper for Paris to pay homage to those who protect us from evil." He announced, unveiling the statue. "Ladybug and Chat Noir!" The crowd of reporters and fans clapped, everyone clamouring to get closer, whether to get a good picture or just to get closer to the local celebrities. Théo withdrew, staring longingly at his picture of Ladybug.
"I'm sure she wanted to be here." Jeanne said, pulling him close. "Something must have kept her." Théo just nodded half-heartedly.
"These statues are amazing." Chat whistled, looking up at them with his hands on his hips. "One thing's slightly off though. I'm actually taller than Ladybug."
"This is not the time, Adrien." Jeanne hissed.
"Ladybug didn't show up. I just wanted to express my adoration for her. Let her know that everything I had went into her statue." Théo wasn't even listening to Chat. "I'm sure if she took a little time to get to know me, she would see how much we have in common. Our devotion to the things we love."
"She'll love it, I just know it." Jeanne patted his back. "It's an amazing statue like Chat Noir said." She then closed her eyes and prayed to whatever gods there were that Chat did not make this situation even worse because of his petty jealousy. Théo was feeling bad enough, he did not need salt poured into the wound.
"Hey, don't mean to burst your bubble," For fuck's sake. "But you know, Ladybug and me, we're a thing, you know?"
"Really?" Théo looked up at him, on the verge of being completely and utterly crushed.
"Yeah, we're like this." Chat smirked and crossed his fingers. And that was it. Théo's dejection turned to anger. He turned and stormed away, Ladybug's photo clenched in his fist. Jeanne started to run after him, then stopped. There was nothing she could do to make this better. She walked back to the statue where Chat was smiling to himself and whistling.
"Home. Now." She growled. "I need to have a talk with you." She was shaking from head to toe, teeth clenched.
.
Nathalie was afraid to ask what had happened when the limousine arrived to pick up the Agreste siblings. Jeanne looked positively livid, while Adrien seemed somewhere between angry and scared. As with many things in her job, Nathalie decided it was better to simply say nothing. This was something that the Agreste children needed to work out between one another. She'd sincerely regretted the last time she'd tried to intervene in a fight when Jeanne was this upset. Just in case though, she made sure to remove any and all objects Jeanne could use to hurt herself before the eldest Agreste got to her room. Once Jeanne and Adrien were alone she turned on her brother, positively demonic.
"Half of Paris has a crush on Ladybug! Even Chloé fucking Bourgeois has a crush on her! Why couldn't you just let it go this one time?!" She screamed. "I told you how much this meant to Théo! Why did you have to ruin it because of your stupid crush?!"
"It's not stupid!" Adrien yelled back. "And look, I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry. You know how I get when I'm like that."
"That's not an excuse! You're not some hormonal idiot who can't control himself! I know you're perfectly capable showing restraint! You've shown restraint every time you've ever been with Ladybug! You can keep your mouth shut! WHY DIDN'T YOU DO IT THIS TIME?!"
"You wouldn't be yelling at me if I'd said it to Chloé!"
"This isn't Chloé we're talking about!" Jeanne slammed her hand down on her vanity, starting to cry. "Théo is the only friend I have! I can't lose him because of you!"
"You're not going to lose him!" Adrien said. "You're overreacting, Jeanne. You seriously think he's going to blame you for this?"
"I don't know! I just know you ruined something he worked on for months! There were days he didn't sleep and I had to call him to remind him to take a break, just like you do when I'm working on a project!" Jeanne gestured to the paintings that lined her room. Adrien felt guilt beginning to tug at his heart but quickly pushed it away.
"He'll get over it! This isn't a big deal!" He said, turning away and slamming the door behind him.
"You need to take responsibility for your actions, Adrien!" Jeanne yelled.
"I can't hear you!" Adrien yelled back, the lock clicking. Jeanne stood before the door, her mouth gaping open. Had he just locked the door on her?
"Adrien Agreste, don't you lock that door on me!" She began banging on the door. The commotion was so loud it drew the attention of Nathalie and the Gorilla. The Gorilla dragged the girl away from the door, kicking and screaming, while Nathalie tried to calm her down. The whole thing ended with Jeanne wrapped in a blanket burrito, crying quietly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Nathalie asked. Jeanne shook her head. So Nathalie left her. Jeanne stayed in her bed, turning on the radio to listen to some classical music. The station was doing a Beethoven hour, thankfully. She sighed and settled into her covers, letting the piano wash over her. Für Elise always calmed her down. She took deep breaths, focusing only on the sound of her breathing. As much as she hated to admit it, Adrien was right. She had overreacted. She'd just wanted this to go well for Théo. He'd been working so hard. Suddenly she felt her phone buzz. She dug it out, frowning. Who on Earth could be texting her? Strangely, the message was from the Gorilla.
There's a duplicate Chat and Adrien went off to confront him. You might want to go get him.
Jeanne sat up, her heart sinking. Her first instinct was that the duplicate was Théo, transformed by Hawkmoth into some kind of copycat. She decided to run with that instinct. After all, she couldn't think of anyone else Adrien had humiliated that day. So she'd overreacted, but she'd been right to be angry. She put on more sensible shoes and ran to Théo's studio. She could see Ladybug and Chat hopping the roofs in the distance, trailed by police cars. Never had she wanted to say "I told you so" more. She arrived before the police cars, somehow, but after the superheroes. Jeanne peered inside, her heart pounding. Chat was trapped in chains, while the lookalike stood before him. She assumed Théo, or the thing that used to be Théo, was taunting him. She knew just by body posture, the way each of them moved, which one was which. Even without his lollipop stick Théo had to chew on something, so he had resorted to his lip for now. She couldn't make out any of the words being said and part of her wanted to stay and watch, see her brother's lie unravel all over him. She'd told him to let it go, hadn't she?
"Snap out of it!" She hit the side of her head. "You're not a villain. You're here to stop this." She ducked away from the window and ran through the back door.
"Stop!" Before either of the superheroes knew what was happening Jeanne had put herself between them and Copycat. "He's my friend!" Both her brother and Copycat were looking a little beat up, so she was assuming she'd missed some kind of fight.
"Miss, please step aside." Ladybug said. "He's a criminal. We need to deal with him."
"He's my friend!" Jeanne repeated. "I can fix this!"
"Jeanne, this is no place for civilians." Chat said. There was anger in his eyes, perhaps leftover from his fight, but also fear. She was going to get hurt doing this and they both knew it.
"I can fix this." She had lost most of her conviction, struggling to combat the fresh wave of tears.
"I don't need your pity." Copycat growled, batting her aside. She went flying to the side, landing in a heap among Théo's sculpting equipment. Everything went black.
.
When she awoke, paramedics were shining a flashlight in her eyes and asking her how many fingers they were holding up. It took a few minutes for them to decide she wasn't in any immediate danger, but they still sent her home with an order that she needed bed rest in case she had a concussion. Nathalie tucked her in and her father even came to make sure she was alright.
"What on Earth were you thinking?" He demanded.
"I don't know." She answered honestly, looking down at her lap. "I didn't want Théo to get hurt." Gabriel sighed.
"Be more careful." He said. "Please. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Jeanne smiled weakly. So he did care.
"I'll be careful, I promise."
Gabriel nodded, doing a bit of fidgeting with his hands. "I should get back to work." And just like that, he was gone again. Jeanne laid back down in bed, staring at the ceiling. Of course he'd go right back to burying himself in his work. At least he'd come. She felt her phone buzz again. A text from Adrien this time.
I'm going to the movies with Nino. There's a documentary he wants to see. I'll be home later. I'm really sorry. You can yell at me all you want when I get home. You were right.
Somehow, this admission didn't make her feel better. She texted back that she accepted his apology and she hoped he enjoyed the movie. Then she turned her phone off and went to sleep.
