Adrien arrived slightly early at the old man's place after eating dinner. Fu ushered them in, and guided them behind a set of screens. Ladybug would sit on the other side, and Fu would sit at the end so he could see both of them at once.

"Do you have cheese?" Plagg wanted to know at once. Adrien groaned.

"Plagg, you just had cheesy potatoes and a quarter of a round of Camembert! You can't possibly need more."

"The Camembert was to recharge after a fight," Plagg reminded Adrien tartly. "And I can always have more cheese. Besides, I've been working hard recently."

"I can't deny that," Fu said. He reached into a cupboard and pulled out a small plate of cheese. He smiled at the look of dismay on Plagg's face at such a small offering. "I did ask Ladybug to bring some treats with her when she comes."

Plagg perked up. Adrien froze.

"Wait, was I supposed to bring something? I could have brought something!"

Plagg zoned them out as he inspected the plate of cheese. It included all of his favorites, sliced thin as though that was going to slow him down at all. He was munching on some Gouda when there was a knock. Adrien quickly scuttled back to his spot behind the screen while Fu went to answer the door.

"Remember, Ladybug and Chat Noir, don't talk loud enough to hear each other," Fu reminded them as Ladybug settled down on the other side of the screen. She pushed a warm, amazing-smelling bag forward towards Fu and he accepted it with a smile. "Chat Noir, I brought Ladybug up to speed yesterday with who Hawkmoth is and the kinds of things he has on hand. Plagg, have you discovered anything new with the journals?"

"The folder has a bunch of pictures of Mr. Agreste and Mrs. Agreste in Tibet, near where the temple was," Plagg reported, inching towards the bag Ladybug had brought. Had she brought cheese bread? He had to know. "And then a drawing of the ruins, and then a map like it was drawn from above, and some legends about trapped souls or something. I couldn't make heads or tails out of that one. Bunch of jibberish."

Fu's eyes widened and he exchanged a look with Wayzz, but he didn't comment.

"And the journals are all research on the Miraculous and where the temple might be," Plagg reported. He inched a little closer. He was 97% sure that he could smell cheese bread in the bag. "And then a daily journal when they went on their trips to Tibet, where they went, any clues they had gotten, any leads that hadn't panned out. That sort of thing."

"I would be interested in seeing the last journal the most, I think," Fu said. "And all of them eventually, of course, but the last one should have the most accurate information about the temple location all condensed together. And I'd also like to see the things in the folder you mentioned. If we can get pictures of those things when we go in to recover the book and the scrolls permanently, that would be fantastic."

There was whispering from Ladybug, and then Tikki spoke up. "How are we planning on doing that? Isn't there always someone in Mr. Agreste's office during the day? And the entire place is locked down at night now. Heavy metal shutters over every window and door, even more secure than when he got attacked during Jackady. And we went past the other night, and there's all sorts of motion detectors around the windows."

Plagg didn't respond, too busy burrowing into the bag. Yes, there they were, some lovely cheese buns! He draped himself over one, inhaling deeply.

"We would have to get in during the day, then just stay hidden inside until everyone goes to bed," Tikki continued. "And then we would have to get into the office, and it would have even more security on it, do the switches all in the dark, somehow get onto the computer and delete those files, and then hide for the rest of the night until the windows open again. There's a lot that can go wrong there."

"We do still have a lot of planning to do on that front," Fu admitted as Plagg took a first tiny nibble. Ahh, yes, this was bliss. "Do you and Ladybug want to lead the brainstorming on that? That is, after all, traditional."

And suddenly Plagg was paying attention again.

"Uh, they will not," he objected, zipping out of the bag with cheese bun firmly in paw. "Why should they? I was the one doing all of the work and making all of the discoveries. Why should they get to boss me around now?"

There was a simultaneous exasperated sigh from Tikki and Wayzz, but Plagg ignored them. They just liked bossing him around and taking all of the credit. But he was the one who made the big discovery this time around, so why shouldn't he have more of a say in what they did?

"Very well, then," Fu said. "Plagg, do you have any ideas on how they could get into the office without being detected?"

...oh, right. Being in charge of making the plans meant work. A pity, really. Then Plagg brightened as he remembered that he had actually thought of something that could be used as a diversion, and it would actually be fun to boot.

"If Hawkmoth's fancy little elevator to his lair broke, he would get stuck under the house with no way out," Plagg reported, grinning. "And then he would call his assistant, and then she would probably have to leave the office for a little bit to find a repairman. We would have to be super-fast, and probably have a lookout, and destroy some of the security beforehand as well in case the assistant sets it up when she steps out, but it would be easier to get in and out of the house, and the lights would be on and the computer with the files probably on as well."

Fu looked impressed.

"And the security cameras," Adrien hissed. "What about-"

"And we would have to figure out how to put the security cams on loop," Plagg finished, proud of himself for such a lovely plan. He took a large mouthful of cheese bread to celebrate. Planning stuff wasn't so bad after all.

"That sounds like it could work," Fu agreed. "Though why not get him stuck up in his lair instead? I'm just concerned that he might be able to find a way out faster if he is simply stuck partway."

"He could make an akuma if he was stuck in the lair," Tikki pointed out.

"An' there'th no doorth in th' thunnel," Plagg managed around his mouthful. Tikki looked grossed out and he made a face at her.

"That will be our first attempt, then," Fu decided. "And we will have time yet before that happens. Plagg- ah, after you swallow, please- did you explore the security in the lair at all yet?"

Plagg swallowed loudly. "Nope. No time. I spent all of my time reading, and we weren't in the- er, we weren't nearby often enough for me to explore the lair, too," he corrected himself after seeing Tikki's frantic shushing motions. He wasn't lying, either- Adrien had had his normal activities keeping him out of the house, of course, but then he had also been spending an unprecedented amount of time in the school library or hanging out with his friends. It was obvious that he didn't want to be home with his father there. He wasn't going to be able to avoid it tomorrow, though, since he and his three friends were all going to be working on a group project at the Agreste mansion. They had been planning it for a while and had even gotten Mr. Agreste's permission to meet there, so there was really no way to change it now without raising suspicion. Plagg could do his lair investigation then.

Granted, he would probably be joined by Tikki since her holder would be over as well, but that was fine. She could do some of the work, too, as long as she didn't try to take all of the credit.

"So that still needs to be done," Fu said. "Okay. So, does anyone have any further ideas about what else we need to find out?"

"I can't wait until the old man decides that it's safe for you and Ladybug to know who each other are," Plagg grumbled once he and Adrien got back to the mansion. Adrien had had to transform and go in through the bathroom window, since the house was already locked down. "The cheese bread got cold because you and Ladybug had to talk through Tikki and I, and cold cheese bread is no good."

"I can warm it up for you, Plagg," Adrien said with a sigh. He set the goodie bag that Fu had packed for him on his desk. "And you know that now it's more important than ever that I don't know who she is. I'm too close to Hawkmoth on a regular basis. Like, maybe it would be fine if she knows who I am, but until my father is in jail..."

Adrien trailed off and his face took on the same expression of misery that had been so common these past few days. Plagg didn't understand immediately- putting Hawkmoth in jail would be a good thing! no more akuma attacks interrupting his day!- and then it clicked.

Right. Adrien would be putting his own father in jail. Since his mother was missing, he wouldn't have any parents left and his future would kind of be up in the air. He probably wanted to avoid that but at the same time, he wanted the Hawkmoth threat eliminated.

That would probably be not a whole lot of fun.

"Fu could probably come up with a plan," Plagg pointed out. "For what would happen with you afterwards, I mean. He's probably been thinking about it ever since Ladybug brought the book in."

Adrien still didn't look particularly comforted.

"We can ask the old man next time we visit," Plagg suggested. He wasn't very good at the comfort stuff. "Like I said, he's probably been thinking about it. And the Guardian is pretty much always the one to deal with it when holders become orphans before they're old enough to be on their own. Even if Fu hasn't had to deal with it before much, Wayzz probably has some ideas."

"The legal system has probably changed a bit since Wayzz last had to deal with anything like this," Adrien said with a sigh. He picked the bag up again and peered inside. "I'm gonna go down to the kitchen to warm this up, Plagg. I'll be right back."

Plagg perked up. "Okay!"

Adrien trotted off, and Plagg settled on the desk. As much as he wanted to dream of visions of cheese bread, his thoughts kept returning to Adrien's problem. His Chosen was right- the legal system had changed now, and Fu couldn't just come out of nowhere and adopt Adrien once Mr. Agreste was in jail where he belonged, and neither could Ladybug's family. Either Mr. Agreste or Nathalie might already have plans in place in case something happened to Mr. Agreste and if they did, there would be almost nothing Fu could do about it.

Hopefully Adrien wouldn't have to move out of Paris. He wouldn't be happy about that.

It wasn't long before Adrien returned. He had all of the bread on a tray that he was carrying with hot mitts. One of the kitchen staff must have stopped him from just shoving things in the microwave to warm up and destroying them, like Adrien had the last time he bought cheese bread for Plagg.

"I got some Camembert for you, too," Adrien added as Plagg sighed and draped himself happily over the warm cheese rolls. "But maybe we should save that for the morning. I don't know if I'll have time to sneak out and get more before my friends arrive tomorrow." He looked suddenly worried. "Do you think I should have tried to move our group project meeting somewhere else? I don't really want my friends so close to Father. It's not safe for them-"

"Eh, it's just as safe as it was before you found out about Hawkmoth," Plagg commented. "And he might have seen it as suspicious if you suddenly changed the location after begging and pleading and bargaining with Nathalie to have them come over in the first place."

"Right, he might wonder what I learned to not want to do it anymore," Adrien said. He snagged one of the cookies on the tray and bit into it moodily. It only took a second for his expression to brighten, though. "Hey! I recognize these cookies! Ladybug must have bought everything from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. I should probably buy next time, then. She brought a lot, and it couldn't have been cheap."

Plagg just rolled his eyes and bit into his delicious, cheesy bread. What Ladybug had brought was doubtless just the day's leftovers and it hadn't cost her a cent, but he could hardly say that to Adrien without giving away who Ladybug was.

"Or maybe I should just volunteer to do that next time," Adrien continued. He took another bite of cookie. "Because if Ladybug's just been bringing treats on a regular basis, then she might just be planning to always bring stuff. Or I could ask during the next akuma fight, maybe. What do you think?"

Plagg made a show of thinking about it so he could keep enjoying his lovely cheese bread. "Weeeeeell, I think maybe you could offer to bring, but if she objects at all then don't argue. Maybe she has some sort of frequent-buyer deal there."

"I get a 'friend of the family' discount," Adrien argued. Plagg sighed.

"Fine. Fine. Ask, then, but if she says no, then just bring some chocolate or something instead. Now can I eat my cheese in peace?"

Plagg was busy messing with the security system in the office when Adrien's friends arrived. Nathalie buzzed them in without question, though she did let Mr. Agreste know that the teens had arrived.

"I don't know why I agreed to it," Mr. Agreste muttered from his spot at his computer. He scowled down at the sketch he had been working on. "More people, more eyes, and considering that one of Adrien's friends is that nosy reporter girl..."

Plagg tried not to smirk. It sounded like Mr. Agreste had wanted to go to his lair and make an akuma but didn't dare with three additional people in the house. All the better for him, then- Plagg could explore his lair without fear of being interrupted.

Five minutes later, Adrien's friends were in and settled. Not long afterwards, Tikki joined Plagg in the ceiling above Mr. Agreste's office.

"I can't believe he was so close and it took so long to notice," Tikki commented. "So where is the lair, then? Just on top of the house? How does he even get there?"

"There's some switch in the painting," Plagg told her. "Some combination of buttons hidden within the picture that he pushes. If we need a break from akuma attack sometime, I figured it would probably be easy enough to break a spring or something in one of the buttons so he can't make it work."

"Adrien and Marinette have three tests next Thursday," Tikki informed Plagg, as though Adrien hadn't already told him that several times. "Break it then. Marinette hates feeling like she has to rush through tests just because there's an akuma raging around, and I'm sure Adrien feels the same way. If you can break something that would ensure that they have the entire day off..."

"I've already figured out which part would be the most annoying and time-consuming fiddly thing to replace," Plagg cut across her with a wide grin. "Guaranteed to bring the most chaos. What, do you think I can't do my job properly?"

"More like I thought you would need prompting to help this much," Tikki corrected, following Plagg as he headed upwards through the walls. "Normally you drag your feet and stomp and complain about having to help out."

Plagg scowled. He did not. It was just that people never gave him enough cheese as compensation to make helping particularly worth his while. Adrien supplied him with plenty of cheese- he had raided the kitchen for leftover mac 'n cheese to heat up for Plagg several times, and bought a larger-then-normal cheese allowance for Plagg because he understood that so much more effort would take more energy.

"This is ridiculous," Tikki breathed as they burst out of the wall and into Mr. Agreste's lair. "It's- what on earth was this even originally built for? Most of Nooroo's holders just operate out of a normal room!"

"Most of Nooroo's holders aren't power-hungry maniacs terrorizing the city," Plagg pointed out dryly. "They can usually stand a person or two figuring out who they are. With Mr. Agreste, Nathalie knows, but-"

Tikki gasped. "Nathalie knows? And she hasn't said anything to anyone?"

"I think it might have been an accident, her finding out, and there seems to be some sort of threatening involved to keep it quiet." It was hard to tell, really. Nathalie had perfected the ability to keep an emotionless face and Plagg hadn't seen Nooroo again, so he hadn't been able to ask about Nathalie. "I don't know. Nooroo would, but Mr. Agreste is keeping him close pretty much all the time."

"I suppose that can wait, then." Tikki flew a lap around the lair, staring at it. "This place is giving me the creeps."

"All of the butterflies, probably," Plagg suggested, but he could feel it too. If he focused, he could sense that there was a lot that could be destroyed in the lair, far more than the minimalistic decor would suggest.

Then Plagg phased through the wall and came face-to-face with a whole cluster of missiles.

Oh.

He moved up, and in the next hidden cavity there was another set of missiles, ready to go and mounted on a rotating arm. Both had been pointed inwards, but they could clearly be turned around and shot in the opposite direction if needed. A quick burst of speed and Plagg spotted fifteen more of the missiles in three more cavities. The place was absolutely filled with the things. If anyone came in who wasn't wanted, Mr. Agreste could blast them to bits.

Well, unless they were a superhero. Then they would probably be surprised and taken off guard as they tried to avoid getting hit too much, but getting knocked off balance and having to focus on the missiles instead of Hawkmoth would leave them open to a surprise attack from the supervillain. On the other hand, if Hawkmoth tried to set the missiles off and they all clattered to the ground, useless, then Hawkmoth would be the one taken off guard.

Maybe they hadn't figured out how they were going to attack Hawkmoth yet, but it wouldn't hurt to disarm all of the missiles up here anyway. It would take a lot of effort and energy on Plagg's part, which meant that it would take a lot of recharging to get everything done. And if he recharged too many times during one day, then Plagg would get worn out and Adrien's transformation into Chat Noir wouldn't last as long. If an akuma attacked, they would be in trouble.

"Plagg? Plagg, where did you go?"

"Look in the walls, Tikki," Plagg called back. Seconds later, there was an alarmed little gasp.

"Oh no! That's awful!"

"The suits would protect Ladybug and Chat Noir, but having the floor blown up under them could throw them off long enough for Hawkmoth to get the upper hand," Plagg commented.

Tikki popped into Plagg's compartment. "That isn't the only thing he could do! Hawkmoth could threaten to blow up the entire city with this arsenal! And since it isn't akuma damage, then the Miraculous Cure wouldn't do anything, and Adrien and Marinette know that. If he threatens to blow up the city unless they turn their Miraculous over, then what could they do? Can you break these, Plagg?"

"I gotta be careful not to break anything that would send an error signal back," Plagg said. He peered at the missiles next to him. Tikki had a point- Hawkmoth could blow up the city, and then tons and tons of lovely cheese would get destroyed in the process!

There would probably be a lot of lives lost, too. That would also be bad. Worse, he meant. Definitely worse.

"So what can you break, then?"

"I could make the gunpowder expire," Plagg said, peering at the missiles. "But that would take more energy than just going through and making stuff rust."

"I will personally fly a bag of cheese up here if it means that you can get this done faster!" Tikki begged. "Camembert and Gouda and Brie and Mozzarella, everything you like. If you just do a couple a night until next Thursday-"

"Next Thursday?"

"The day when Adrien and Marinette have all of their tests and you were going to break one of the elevator buttons so Mr. Agreste can't get up here?" Tikki reminded him. "If he can't get up anyway, then Adrien won't need to transform, and you can recharge as many times as we need without having to worry about how that will affect Adrien's transformation later on!"

"I would be concerned about him getting things fixed by the end of the day," Plagg warned. "So there could easily be an attack at the end of the day if he discovers the problem early on. And I would require a lot of cheese for this much destruction, and not just that cheap stuff, either. Good cheese."

Tikki made a face. "You know as well as I do that the cheap stuff would do in a pinch. You'll make your boy go broke with the amount you eat."

Plagg couldn't help but snort. "Adrien, broke? Never. His family is loaded with money."

"His father is loaded with money," Tikki corrected. "And soon he won't have a father anymore. And maybe he'll inherit most of Mr. Agreste's money, but not until he's older. I don't know how the inheritance stuff is supposed to work if Mr. Agreste is in jail but still alive and Mrs. Agreste is..."

"Missing," Plagg supplied. He shrugged at Tikki's look. "The kid hasn't told me anything else. I don't know if he knows anything else. Actually, I think I probably suspect more."

"You think something happened when she and Mr. Agreste were in the valley looking for the Miraculous," Tikki filled in. Her eyes widened. "Oh! But then how is she supposed to be rescued? The magic there- it would have trapped her if she stumbled on one of the old protections."

"Ask Fu, not me," Plagg grumbled. He really didn't know why people kept asking him questions. Since when was he supposed to be the source of all knowledge?

"I suppose that would be something to bring up while Adrien isn't there," Tikki added, pulling Plagg after her as she started flying through the walls. "We don't know for sure- well, okay, I suppose those papers in the folder you told us about were a pretty good sign that she did actually get trapped by the magic in the temple, but we don't know for sure if there's a way to free those who have been caught, and we don't want to get Adrien's hopes up."

"Right, right, of course." Plagg let Tikki drag him through a couple more cells in the walls before he spoke up again. "Uh, so what are we doing, exactly?"

"Plagg! We're counting the number of missiles Mr. Agreste has in here! How else are we supposed to figure out how long it's going to take to disarm them all?"

A/N: And now Ladybug is properly involved! Next time: there are some, ah, creative solutions to certain problems, and Plagg gets to destroy some of Mr. Agreste's toys.

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