Note: Hi all! Want to thank you all for the comments, messages, and reviews! It means so much to me to know people want to read what I am writing. I hope to have Chapter 4 out super soon. The Party will occur in the 4th so stay tuned to! Also I appreciate all messages, comments, or all are awesome. ~ Traditional Twist

Chapter 3

Coffee with Nino had created more informational for Alya than she anticipated. Not only did she learn the woes of her best friend and what she had missed since parting to the U.K.; she learned that she would not be attending Chat Noir's exclusive party alone. Did Nino know who was hosting this party? Would Nino be willing to keep watch? He had such an amazing vantage point as DJ. He would also have the perfect reason for everyone to talk to him.

"In 100 yards take a right," the GPS from Alya's phone blasted at Nino. "Then you have reached your destination."

"Should I wait here for you?" Nino asked as he pulled his car in front of the Noir de Suite.

Alya rolled her eyes. "Just park the car and follow me."

Upon opening the door to her home away from home, Alya's ears were filled with gasps of aesthetics pleasure from her friend. "This is what an apartment in this place looks like? I can't wait to see what the penthouse is like! No wonder the party will be there."

"Keep it down," Alya hushed. "I'm not exactly sure if he wants me bringing people back here."

"Your client?" Alya nodded. "He probably doesn't expect you to have a partner for this too."

"Partner? You think you've earned that title yet?

"We came here to talk didn't we? That means I'm about to become invested in this whole shenanigan as well. If I'm involved, then I am your partner."

The reporter smirked and sat on the black leather couch. "Let's start with side kick before we label you full on partner."

"We'll see," the DJ winked and joined the reporter on the couch. "Let's get business out of the way. It's nice to get an idea for the kind of venue I will being playing at."

Alya shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe that you will be at this party as well. Will you be able to talk to people and mingle while you are dropping beats?"

"I should be able to get away and talk for some small amount of time. Why? Should I save you a dance?"

Alya reached over to Nino and smacked his hat off of his head. "Get serious. This is work for me. Work that is for an extremely important client."

"And work that you would like me to get involved in?" Nino's eyebrow raised with his smirk.

Alya turned her head to look out the window towards the Eiffel tower, cheeks slightly tinting pink. "I could use another pair of eyes to search for someone."

Nino's body relaxed. He could hear a somber tone in her voice. "Yeah, I could do that. I'm the music man, I'm going to be the main focus for a lot of people."

"You have prime real estate. I need to use that vantage point. You Need to understand that what I am about to tell you cannot be repeated to anyone, alright?" He nodded.

Alya sighed. "Where do I begin? "I guess this all actually started back in high school. My client is not the average person. I met them several times as a teenager but never really knew who they were or even their real name. They are someone I came to know and become quite comfortable around, but I never imagined that I would be someone they would ever track down to contact. They have asked me to help them find someone. I don't know the identity of this person I am looking for, but my client believes that they were close to me. It's important to me to find this person because this client is important to me."

"So who is this important client? He's loaded, got great taste in venue, and extremely private. Is this someone from high school who fell in love with a stripper or something?"

"No." The reporter shook her head.

"Then who could be that important?"

"Chat Noir."

Nino blinked, dumbfounded. "Chat Noir? As in the super hero? As in the dude that owns this hotel?"

"The one and only."

"So that means," Nino's eyes were wide. "You're tracking Ladybug! Are you crazy dude? No one has seen her in years! How are you supposed to find her?"

"Hopefully she will come to this party."

"Why? Did she RSVP or something? Since Ladybug disappeared, Chat Noir has held a party like this once a month at least. It' like how he copes without her. This party is not going to be any different?"

"He thinks that if I am there, she may come? Who knows? Maybe I just have to keep showing up until she arrives. The point is I need you searching a taking note of everyone you see that we knew in school together. Look for someone who matches with Ladybug's description."

"And what do I do if I find her?"

"Get her name? Stall her and wave me over to meet her? Let her pick the next fifteen songs? Any of those should work to stall."

Nino crossed his legs on the couch, leaning forward to rest his head on his hands. Alya knew that was is think pose. He folded up like a turtle in a shell and would sit and think. He looked up out of the window. "I hate to be that guy, but are you not concerned about what Chat Noir could do to you if you don't find Ladybug?"

The reporter's eyes grew wide. "What are you suggesting?"

"That if you don't find her, is he going to…. attack you?"

"How could you even suggest that?"

He threw his hands up as a plea. "I'm just asking. I don't really know how to react, but I just want to make sure you are safe. The guy is a superhero who can destroy anything he touches! It's been two years since anyone has seen Ladybug. That cat has to be desperate if he hunting down people to find someone who vanished two years ago."

"He wouldn't hurt me. Unlike you, I've gotten to know the heroes from reporting. They gave me the experience no one else my age could ever have as a starting reporter. They did a great favor to me. I can at least try for him. He knew Ladybug better than anyone. If he thinks I can help, then I am committed." Alya stood up. "He is desperate. But I owe him the opportunity to try."

"Alright, I'm in. I will keep an eye open at the party. What else can I do?"

"I need to quickly change, and then I'm going to ask you for a ride."

"No problem. Where too?"

"Evillustrator Ink. I have a dress to get tailored, and a best friend to spend some time with."

_oOo_

Alya did not expect to feel as relieved as she did to have Nino working with her. The hunt for Ladybug was going to be difficult, but Nino made her feel more at ease. She smiled as she waved goodbye to the DJ win her left hand; clutching a folded dress in her right. He tipped his hat and sped off down the road. Wind from the car shook the shirt tails of the lovely blouse Marinette had made for the reporter.

Turning around, Alya looked up to see a white, one story building. Its small structure sat in the shadows of the surrounding buildings in the area. On top of the front face of the studio were red block letters spelling Evillustrator Ink. Three colored circles (blue, red, yellow) in the formation of an upside down triangle. A black beret rested on the blue and red circles. Nathaniel had certainly put in a lot of detail into his studio.

A bell by the door chimed. Alya walked into the center of a large open room. Dresses with frames of different works of art we stationed throughout out the space. Straight ahead of her was a doorway covered by a purple curtain.

The curtain was slightly brushed back as a red head emerged from behind. "Welcome to Evillustrator Ink!" He spoke before looking up. "Hey Alya! You should have called if you were stopping by?"

Alya could see he was surprised. She watched as his eyes flickered from her face, to the material in her hands, to her shirt, and back to her face. She watched him fight back a frown, but instead disguise it as a light smile.

"Hey Nathaniel! I hope I'm not intruding."

"No, you are always welcomed. Did you… um come to take a look around?" The reporter could hear the slight tint of uncomfortable

"I actually came here for some help from my one and only seamstress friend, but I would love a tour."

"Sure, follow me. Marinette is actually helping someone right now. I'm sure she would be happy to see you, especially since you are um... wearing her present."

"Look Nathaniel, before this becomes too weird, Nino told me about what happened with the trial. I respect your opinion and completely understand why you are upset,

"Really? I appreciate that you are not going to interrogate me on why I am upset."

"I am not going to interrogate you, but I am going to remind you that I was not involved in this trial. Therefor I am not taking sides or making any opinions. This is a shirt my best friend made me. I am going to wear it. Even if she had painted dog poop on the front of this I would wear it. "

The redhead smiled. "Mari does make some wonderful clothes."

"Exactly! So please don't make what I wear into any part of the situation that has occurred while I was not present."

Nathaniel nodded his head. "I appreciate you talking to me like this. It's really quite refreshing to have someone with an open mind."

"Investigative reporting one-o-one; always keep an open mind."

Nathaniel laughed. "I can see why your client would call you back out here to Paris. You are quite impressive."

The sound of the curtain moving back caused the two to turn their heads. Outside popped a blonde ponytail followed by a pair of pigtails.

"You are sure that it won't fall?" The blonde asked a very tired and irritated looking Marinette.

"I'm positive, Chloe. The strap will stay on the dress."

"I have to make sure that this dinner goes well for Daddy."

The seamstress rolled her eyes. "I know Chloe, but honestly I don't think a dress will help get your dad re-elected."

"If the people want to see me as fabulous as I am, they will re-elect him." Chloe' head turned away from Marinette to see Alya and Nathaniel staring at her. "What are you doing here?" she directed at Alya. "And what are you wearing?"

"It was a gift." Alya smiled at Marinette. The pigtailed girl's eyes widened with delight to see her best friend wearing her shirt. "I only learned it was controversial this morning. Sorry to hear about that chaos."

Chloe blinked, not knowing what to do with the empathy before shaking her head. "It's, whatever. We won. Those losers lost. They can't blame me for my problems. Besides, I now know who I can really count on." Alya didn't miss the eye contact between Chloe and Nathaniel.

"Come on Nathaniel. We can't leave your girlfriend waiting. She thinks I was just picking you. She doesn't know I had business to attend to as well."

Nathaniel jumped at the realization. "Yeah, Lila will get quite upset if we arrive late." The artist turned to the seamstress. "Alya needs your help Marinette. Do you want me to close the studio for you two?"

"That would be awesome! Thank you Nate. Then i don't have to worry about anyone coming in while I'm helping Alya."

Nathaniel smiled. "Yeah, it would be sucked if we were robbed. I will lock the door then as we leave. See you later."

Alya and Marinette waved Nathaniel and Chloe off. Alya couldn't help but grin. Finally she would be alone with Marinette. Time to do some digging, and also to clue her into the reason why she was back in Paris. Marinette had helped her with many a Ladyblog post, and if this reporter was going to find their missing hero, she was going to need some more help from people she could trust.