Somehow, Jeanne hadn't actually gotten a concussion. She assumed this was due to Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug fix-it tool. She was on her feet in days, although she did have a nasty bruise on the side of her head. She was fully recovered, just in time for Gabriel's annual charity gala. Both Agreste siblings had forgotten it was coming up, due to obvious superhero reasons. Normally the charity gala wasn't a problem for either of them. It was just a party with lots of cameras where they had to smile and talk with people for an entire night. But now that Adrien was a superhero...Things were a little more complicated. Chat Noir was supposed to go on patrol that night. Ladybug would think something was wrong if he didn't show up. Adrien was scared. He was petrified to be honest. How was he supposed to slip away with all the attention? As usual, big sister was there.
"Don't worry." Jeanne said as she watched her brother pace the length of her room. "I've got a plan." Adrien stopped and stared at her. Things had been rather strained between the two of them since the Copycat incident.
"A...plan?" He echoed uncertainly.
"Yes, a plan." His sister stood, the dress their father had picked for her trailing beautifully on the floor. "Leave it all to me." She grinned, but he could see that she was afraid as well.
"Thanks." He mumbled. "You're a lifesaver."
"What are siblings for?" She fixed his bowtie and smoothed down a cowlick. Adrien nodded, avoiding her eyes.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll take your place." She said. "Father's treating me extra carefully since I'm recovering from an injury. He won't be surprised if I say I need to lay down for a little. I can go on patrol then come back and make another appearance. No one will know I'm gone."
"Plagg?" Adrien roused the little kwami from his sleep in his sock drawer. "Would that work?"
"I wasn't paying attention." Plagg said. "Run it by me again." Jeanne couldn't help but laugh and repeated her plan. Plagg listened from the sock drawer.
"Yeah...I guess it would." He said. "But, listen, you might get some residual bad luck from using the Miraculous."
"Our luck is terrible anyway." Jeanne said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Well, if you think you can handle it." Plagg darted back to his sock drawer.
"We can." Jeanne assured him. Plagg just shrugged and sunk back into the socks.
Jeanne and Adrien entered the ballroom together. Their father was waiting. He was doing his best impression of someone with extreme diarrhoea while talking to the reporters.
"Ah, speaking of your children," the reporter grinned, looking past Gabriel. "So good to see you both."
"Good evening." Jeanne curtsied. "It's good to see you as well." Adrien mimicked the gesture, not really saying anything. The siblings answered questions alongside their father for a few minutes before Gabriel finally got tired of talking to the man and sent him away.
"You should go rest, Jeanne." Gabriel said, abruptly turning to his daughter.
"Are you sure? You don't need me to be here?" Jeanne asked, looking innocently up at him.
"You're still recovering. Go."
Jeanne gave her brother a comforting look and went back upstairs to Adrien's room. He'd left the ring on his bedside table. She took it, and Plagg, into Adrien's bathroom and locked the door.
"Plagg, I need you to behave." She whispered. She put on the ring. Plagg didn't say anything as he dove into the ring. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. The world was tinted green, and she felt something curling around her ankles. She looked in the mirror. An athletic young man looked back at her. He resembled an older Adrien, with real ears and a tail.
"Incredible." She whispered, leaning in close to see her reflection more clearly. This would definitely work. Hopefully Ladybug wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two Chats, or she'd be in big trouble. She opened the window and crept out. Ladybug was waiting exactly where Adrien said she always waited.
"You're late, Kitty." Ladybug said, turning as Chat landed. "I almost thought you weren't going to show up."
"And miss spending time with you, my lady?" Chat said, making a horrified expression. "I'd rather give up all my nine lives. You're purrfect company." Ladybug rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Kitty. We have work to do."
Chat crept back into the bathroom. Everything was as it had been when Jeanne had left. The ring came off and Jeanne was there in her dress. She left the bathroom and put the ring back on Adrien's bedside table. Everything had gone perfectly.
"Now be careful, kid." Plagg said as he returned to the sock drawer.
"I'll be fine." Jeanne leaned down to kiss his head. Plagg didn't say anything else, burrowing further into the socks. Jeanne sighed and closed the drawer. Okay, so that conversation was over. She headed back towards the ballroom, trying to shake off the worry. The bad luck with Adrien hadn't been too terribly bad. Surely she'd be alright. Then she reached the top of the stairs and tripped on the hem of her dress. The stairs didn't even go that far down, but she felt like she was falling forever.
"Oooww." She muttered, getting to her feet. Oh, she was definitely going to have a concussion after this. She got up and headed into the ballroom. The party was still going on, and it looked as though she hadn't been missed. Multiple people gave her strange looks as she passed. Did she look that bad? Her father and Adrien were talking with a few reporters. She began to stagger a bit as she reached them. Why was she feeling so lightheaded all of a sudden? Adrien turned at her footsteps and paled.
"Jeannette, are you okay?" He whispered. "You're bleeding." She reached up to wipe her nose and her hand came away wet with blood. Her nose did hurt. Gabriel turned to see his eldest child fold and hit the ground, blood trickling from her nose.
"Someone call an ambulance!" He barked.
"Father, I'm fine." She said, trying to get to her feet. "Just feeling a bit lightheaded."
"We should take you to the hospital." Adrien knelt beside her. "Check you out, make sure you're alright."
"Okay, fine, alright." Jeanne let her brother help her to her feet. Gabriel stormed out in front of them, yelling at everyone who got in his way. Nathalie fell into step beside them.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"I fell down the stairs, maybe broke my nose." Jeanne said, waving her free hand. "It's not a big deal."
"You might have got a concussion." Adrien said.
"I'm probably fine." Jeanne said as Adrien helped her into the car. And so they headed off to the hospital.
.
Jeanne stayed at the hospital for a few days. As it turned out, she did indeed have a concussion, and although her nose wasn't broken, it was severely bruised. She kept insisting she was fine, kept saying she wanted to go home. But Gabriel, ever one to overreact, insisted she stay for a week. And since no one knew why Jeanne had simply vanished, people began to overreact as well.
"What happened to her?" Chloé called Adrien in tears. "Is she alright?"
"She's okay, don't worry." Adrien had stepped out of Jeanne's hospital room to answer the call.
"Is that Chloé?" Jeanne yelled. "Tell her I'm fine!"
"She says she's fine." Adrien said.
"Then...They why did she vanish from the gala?" Chloé asked, sniffling.
"She tripped on her dress and fell down the stairs." Adrien explained. "Everything is fine. Just a little bit of bad luck."
"When will she be coming back?"
"As soon as Father stops overreacting and lets us leave." Adrien said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Gabriel wasn't listening. "It'll be alright. I promise."
"I want to see her when she gets back." Chloé said. "I'm giving her a big welcome-home party."
"I'll tell her, I promise."
The rest of Jeanne's time at the hospital was uneventful. Marinette showed up once or twice with cookies, which were heartily accepted. Jeanne slept a lot, so Adrien mostly did homework when he was at the hospital. Plagg did feel rather bad since he'd caused this. But both Jeanne and Adrien assured him that it was alright. He couldn't have anticipated this.
