Chapter 2

Chat looked at the map displayed on his baton after traveling a while to the outskirts of the city. "Ok. Looks like it's that building there…" he said looking at a seven story grey building. It had a large canopy over the entrance, above it read: Clinique de Recherche Humanitaire.

"I wonder why this Fu would come here for a check-up…it's so far..." Chat wondered as he jumped over to the clinique's roof without being noticed by the people below.

'He should know better by now… like the saying goes: camembert a day keeps the doc at bay.' Plagg replied.

Chat frowned "more like keeps you with the doc…" he mumbled as he analyzed the security on the roof door and vents.

'What was that?' Plagg snapped.

"Uhh… just wondering if Ladybug is feeling better."

'Hmm…' Sounding unconvinced but choosing to ignore it 'Wayzz will watch her, he's a healer.'

"I'm still surprised it didn't take more convincing to have her stay instead of following me out here…"

'Tikki probably won that one. She is always pretty convincing.'

"Tikki seems to be the more caring one."

'She lives off sweets, what else do you expect? Camembert is sooo much better and not as emotional.' he said in disgust

"Think i rather emotional and sweet over smelly and lazy…" Chat mumbled as he checks the windows… they didn't seem to be able to open at all...

'Watch it kid or I might start eating on your head at night again…' Plagg threatened.

Chat audibly gulped as he recalled the last time the cat kwami slept with Camembert on his head… he reeked of the stuff all day and no matter how many showers he took or cologne he applied the smell was stuck in his hair all day. That became the most embarrassing day to date, smelling like the moldy gym socks at school and his photoshoot. Not to mention it got worse during his fencing practice, the class even ended early because his instructor couldn't take the smell anymore, even telling him to have his gear properly washed before returning.

"Uhh...M'lady was pretty worried about me going on my own…" Chat said changing the subject.

'You are pretty unlucky … but that's the perk of being Chat Noir.' Plagg proudly commented.

"Great… that makes sneaking in seem riskier…" he grumbled as he reviewed the schematics of the building and the plan his lady wrote down for him.

'Just get to it already, I wanna take a nap.' Plagg whined.

"Lazy cat…" Chat quietly remarked as he slowly scaled down the building to the fourth floor. Before Plagg could remark he distracted him with the mission. "Wayzz said Fu is on the sixth floor... but, as usual, things are never easy for me, the security is too tight on the top floors. But M'lady's always prepared with the best plans…" Chat said as he looked into a window on the fourth floor.

Smiling he saw one office was empty and windows unlocked, no sensors or security to be seen.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the lucky charm Marinette had given him a while ago. He was glad he stopped by his house and picked it up, without his lady he was going to need all the luck he could get. Taking a deep breath he stored the charm away before silently pushing the window open and slinking into the office.

Keeping low to the ground he crawled to the desk.

Poking his head up from the behind the desk he made sure no one was coming in before he fully stood up.

He kept an eye on the door as he woke the computer, he was glad the previous user was still logged in.

'Shouldn't you be sneaking to the upper floors instead of playing on the computer?' Plagg asked.

"I have a feeling that I am going to need a passcode or a keycard in order to get up there unnoticed. I just need to find someone with enough clearance to get in. If I go through this guy's emails i can tell which position he has here…" Chat said as he opened up the emails and opened one already seen.

'Stop being so tense… it's annoying…' Plagg remarked

"I wouldn't be so tense if it was dark out… it's harder to hid in the shadows when it's so bright out…" Chat replied

'It's only late afternoon, and lights are off … so it's not that bright.' Plagg commented.

"There we go…" Chat smirked, "he seems to be new here and has enough clearance to at least get to the upper floors, but we still need the actual keycard…" Chat said looking into the desk's drawers.

'We could always wait for him until he gets back then threaten him.' Plagg chuckled.

"Plagg no. I may be breaking and entering right now but I'm still a good guy. I can't go around threatening people."

'You're no fun…'

"I wonder what Tikki would think if I told her what you suggested..." Chat remarked

'Don't you dare!' Plagg growled

"Are you that scared of her? I thought she was the sweet one." Chat chuckled as he tried the small bookcase beside the table.

'You don't get it Kid. Tikki is sweet but when she gets mad or disappointed it's no laughing matter…'

"Can't be as bad as Ladybug." Chat scoffed

'Your bug will only give you the silent treatment and the stare for a week, max! Tikki had been mad at me for a century until I caved and apologized!' Plagg exclaimed.

"Wow… that's... intense i -" before he could finish Chat heard the door knob jiggle. "O shoot!" he whispered before closing the computer windows and jumping into the small closet by the door.

'Isn't this a bit clique? Hiding in the closet?' Plagg snickered.

'Hey, it was either that or hiding under the desk…' Chat remarked as he held his breath as someone walked into the office and turned on the lights.

Chat silently listened as the person rummaged around. "Sigh… these doctors pride themselves in being sooo smart but they always leave a mess behind. Is he so stuck up he didn't care he knocked over the damn trash can?"

'Oops, I think that was me… my bad.' Chat silently apologized to the janitor.

He decided to peek out and saw the janitor had his back turned to him and on his knees as he picked up the trash that spilled out of the can still grumbling.

Looking towards the door he saw the janitor's cart and almost jumped for joy at what was left on it for all to see… His keycard!

This was exactly what he needed! Janitors have to clean the whole building top to bottom, of course, he would have access to each floor!

'Looks like my lucky charm is working!' He proudly claimed as he perked his ears for any sounds coming from the hallway and took a quick glance back to make sure the janitor was still preoccupied with the trash.

Without making a sound Chat grabbed the keycard, the extra pair of janitor overalls, and a broom from the cart before jumping back into the closet.

He waited patiently until the janitor finished cleaning the room and loudly closed the door on his way out.

'So what are you going to do with that stuff?' Plagg asked

"Well i can't just go around in a black skin tight suit, the cameras will spot me easily. So i gotta blend in…" Chat said with a mischievous smile as he slipped into the slightly smelly jumpsuit and found a doctor's cap to cover his ears in the closet.

Making sure the keycard was securely in his breast pocket he casually walked out the room and down the hall, the broom resting on his shoulder.

Chat slightly looked back and saw the janitor walking back up the hall, seeming to be looking for something.

"Rats… I was hoping he wouldn't notice so soon. Gotta pick up the pace…" Chat murmured to himself before he pushed open a door that lead him to a staircase.

Taking two steps at a time, he made it to the fifth floor in a matter of seconds but froze when he heard someone entering the staircase above him. Not wanting to be noticed he used the "borrowed" keycard and entered the fifth floor.

Keeping his head low he walked down the hall hoping to get to the other staircase on the other side of the building. As he walked he noticed that this floor was more labs than offices. Thankfully everyone still working were too preoccupied with their work to notice a random "Janitor" walking around.

Then a door opened before Chat, indicating someone was leaving. So he quickly ducked into the bathroom a door back.

"I was so close…" Chat groaned as he leaned his head back in frustration. Looking up he saw a pretty large vent right above him. Pulling out his baton he looked at the schematics and noticed this vent connected to the sixth floor.

"Sweet. My luck hasn't run out just yet…" Chat said as he extended his baton and pushed open the vent as he squeezed in. Being careful to close it silently.

Tucking away his baton and securing the broom behind his back he began crawling. Thankful he had night vision.

'Why couldn't you stick to the stairs?' Plagg whined

"Because I can't risk anyone seeing me… besides what do you care? I'm the one doing all the work…" he whispered back.

'But my suit is gonna get dirty…'

"Plagg I'm wearing overalls over the suit… you'll be fine… besides your magic, just magically wash yourself afterwards…" Chat mumbled as he tried to keep his movements as quiet as possible.

Plagg was about to whine some more, but Chat made it to the part of the vent where it opened up straight above him.

Looking up he saw it was clear so he maneuvered himself so his feet pushed against one end of the shaft, while his back pushed off the other end. Like that he made his way up.

He was half way up when he heard a rusty door open some feet above him, allowing some light to filter through.

Tilting his head to try to get a better view. It didn't take long to discover what this shaft actually was when a large trash bag started being pushed through the small opening above him.

'Oh no nonono…' Chat groaned as he tried to climb faster.

He was mere inches away when the bag was finally pushed all the way through.

SPLAT. Chat had to stifle a moan when the heavy bag landed hard on his stomach, slightly winding him.

"Ow… well that could've been worse…" Chat's eyes widen in shock when a small tear in the bag started getting bigger and bigger with some nasty looking liquid slowly squeezing out. "No please, don't…"

Chat shut his eyes tight and prayed it would stop. After a short moment of silence and breath holding, Chat slowly opened his eyes to see the tear stopped growing.

"Looks like I'm pretty lucky today…" Chat heavily sighed in relief.

The bag took that as a sign to burst open splaying a good amount of nasty on the overalls. Actually looking at the contents were a mix of past expired fruits, vegetables, and fish. All covered in maggots and smelling absolutely repulsive.

"I take it back! Living embodiment of the bad luck Cat here! Luck is never on my side!" It took everything Chat had not to release his grip on the wall and hold his nose.

The only thing that kept him firmly secured to the wall was the thought of what else might have been dropped down this garbage shoot… something worse could be waiting for him at the bottom.

Instead, he held his breath and climbed the remaining way. As soon as his hands gripped the ledge of the sixth floor he allowed his legs to drop and the bag to fall into the abyss.

Taking a moment to breathe in some fresh air and brush off what he could off the jumpsuit, he was surprised to notice Plagg hadn't teased him yet.

"Plagg?" When Chat heard nothing he asked again. "Plagg you alright?"

'It burns!'

"Huh?"

'The smell kid! I can't take it! I wanna go home!' Plagg cried out

"Sigh. Sorry buddy, I didn't expect that...but we're almost there… now all we have to do is find Fu."

'I'm gonna kill him when we find him! This is all his fault!' Plagg promised

"Finally you're on my side." Chat smirked as he made his way down the vents following the map on his baton.

'You know what! we should leave him! He got himself into this mess he can get himself out! Let's just go back to Wayzz and say we couldn't find him!'

"As much as i wouldn't mind that… M'lady is expecting me to return with him…" Chat frowned

'Come on just forget about it. Fu will just take the bug's attention away from you when he's back...' Plagg whined

"The way i see it… if i rescue him, M'lady will praise me, maybe even give me a kiss as a reward or even a date! Maybe she will even tell me who she is under the mask! And Fu will owe me one, a big one, I can just tell him to back off Ladybug… win-win." Chat smirked as he looked down a small opening in the vent, and seeing another lab with a few technicians working about.

'Argghhhh! You are so dense!' Plagg exclaimed in annoyance. As Chat passed an opening leading to a bathroom.

"What do you mean?" Chat quietly asked when he reached another tiny opening. Plagg only screamed internally as Chat was completely focused on the room below him.

Looked like the vent was directly across the entrance of the room. Chat saw two men in lab coats walk in and stop at the foot of the bed. It looked like there was someone on the bed but Chat couldn't see much besides the front half of the room.

Taking off the white cap off his head Chat strained his ears to hear the two men talking, over the annoying beeping coming from the machines he could only assume were against the wall at the head of the bed.

"I am still impressed that you managed to get him here, Dan." The first man said to the man apparently named Dan.

"It wasn't that hard if you know the right people to bribe. Oo and I can't forget about that pretty little nurse I flirted with to get a copy of his complete medical history." Dan said smugly as he waved the large packet in his hand.

"But do you really think he is the key? He might just be telling the truth…" the first man said

"Trust me Mark. I ran the tests before i got him here… these papers only tell half the truth." Dan said slapping the packet with his hand. "You may be able to lie to people and even on paper but you can't lie to science…" he finished with a smirk as he pulled out a paper for Mark to read.

After a few seconds of skimming through the page, Mark smirked. "I never should've doubted you. But what are we going to tell his family? Won't someone start looking for him?"

"I got that covered. According to his records, he has no living family members - not surprising- no one will come looking for him and if they do i have a death certificate waiting for him. He died peacefully in his sleep. He won't be going anywhere!" Dan laughed as Mark joined in.

They turned to leave, laughing as they went. "So many doors are going to open up for us, all of them loaded with cash! And we owe it all to you, Fu!" Dan said looking towards the bed before closing the door behind him.

'We found Fu?! So he really was kidnapped… but what could he possibly have that these people would want so bad?' Chat wondered.

'Well, no use sitting around, gotta get him out of here and fast… but looks like I can't squeeze through here. Gonna have to do this the hard way…' Chat made his way back to the opening for the bathroom. Straining his ears he made sure the coast was clear before he slipped out of the vents.

Taking the opportunity, he quickly took some paper towels and tried his best to wash off the awful smell still stuck on his clothes. Once he had figured that was the best it was going to get he pulled out his baton and searched for Fu's room he saved before confidently stepping out the door and walked directly to the room.

Taking out his keycard Chat swiped it through the lock… only to deny him access. He tried again… denied.

'Are you kidding me?! I can't get in from the outside...Now what?' Looking around he noticed a small storage room two doors down.

He entered the broom closet and closed the door before he willed his detransformation, the overalls now over his regular clothing. Plagg zipped out of the ring and flopped down on his chosen's cupped hands.

"Why did you do that? How are you going to get to Fu as Adrien?" Plagg asked.

"Well, I figured since I can't get in from the outside our best bet is to open it from the inside," Adrien smirked

"But that's the issue kid… you can't. Get. in…" Plagg replied without humor thinking his chosen has lost his mind.

"That's where you come in."

"Huh?"

"Just phase through the door and unlock it from the inside. And just in case someone comes down the hall: You can hide in my sleeve, I'll walk up to the door, you phase through, then I'll pretend to swipe the card as you open it. Easy!" Adrien said as he bent down to grab a trash bag to seem like a janitor collecting trash.

"But I'm too weak to do anything of that magnitude…" Plagg whined.

"Your unlocking a door… I'm the one doing all the work…" Adrien replied rolling his eyes. "And there is no way you are tired… I haven't call Cataclysm yet, you should still be able to transform again…"

"But I know you have camembert on you, can't I have it now?"

"No, Ladybug told me to use it as a last resort. I'm most likely gonna need Cataclysm to get out of here anyway and we won't be able to make back to her in less than five minutes. So hurry up, we need to get moving." Adrien said as he lowered the cap on his head to cover his forehead and buttoned the overalls all the way up before he opened his sleeve for the kwami to get inside.

Plagg knew he was right, and the faster this was over, the faster they could go home, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Grumbling he wiggled inside the offered sleeve.

Once settled Adrien opened the closet door, with his head lowered he made his way back to Fu's room. Thankful no one was in the hallway. Once in front of the door, he pushed his hand against as though he was using it as support to put his broom and bag down. Once he felt Plagg phase through the door he pulled out the keycard and pretended to swipe it. When the door opened he picked up the broom and bag and entered the room.

Making sure the door was closed securely behind him, Adrien took in the room.

It was small, only holding a single bed, not even a window to let light in the dim room. A bunch of machines surrounding the bed… what they did Adrien had no idea. But what surprised him the most was the man asleep on the bed.

He thought back to the quick description his lady gave him of Fu before he left.

"You can't miss him Chat. He's a older Chinese man with a goatee and mustache, a bit on the shorter side. If he's in his normal clothing he would most likely be wearing a Hawaiian shirt. But when you see him you'll know it's him." Ladybug had simply told him.

This whole time he was thinking of someone in their prime, at most 30. Sure he knew Fu was older than them, but it never crossed his mind that he was this old! Could his lady really be over a thousand years old, like that Egyptian writing says? Or is she really into super older men… if that was the case then he could never compete!

"Adrien! What's wrong with you? Stop gawking!" Plagg exclaimed to him

"Plagg, you sure this is Fu?" he asked quietly

"Huh? Of course, I am sure. Now hurry and wake him up!"

"But he's so much older… do you think Ladybug really loves him? Do I even have a chance?" Adrien asked as he walked to stand at the head of the bed, staring down at the sleeping man.

"Are you stupid? She doesn't… you know what, we don't have time for this. Just ask Ladybug to explain it later. Just finish your mission!" Plagg exclaimed in annoyance at his chosen's stupidity.

Shaking his head he nodded. "Yea, mission first. Answers later. Plagg transform me!"

Adrien felt the magical suit wrap around him making him feel freer and stronger like it always did. He noticed that Plagg was able to leave the overalls over the suit, and was thankful for it.

Looking at the machines he figured that once he unhooked Fu a whole bunch of people were going to swarm to this room. He had to grab Fu and get out of the building fast.

'Speed it up, hero of Paris. If someone catches you, they're gonna think Chat Noir is some creepy cat…' Plagg warned.

"That's right… We know Fu needs saving, but no one else would think such an old man needs saving from a Clinique especially if that Dan spreads lies… and if I was caught on camera and he uses that footage, it will just back his story up… it will be hard to explain without exposing Fu…" Chat worried.

Then an idea hit him.

Pulling out his baton he looked at the map of the building, nodding he took a deep breath and reached over the first machine attached to Fu.

"Ok, here we go…"

Hello,

I can't believe I finished chapter 2 so fast! I just got sooo excited I just had to write it out.

And Thank you for the reviews! They really got me motivated to write faster! XD

Love

~P. Yukiko