He's young. About her age, with golden hair and hesitant but intelligent green eyes, but he seems so much younger. His skin is pale and his body frail and slim. He was harmless, like a tiny kitten. Except for his eyes. His eyes, smudged with dark circles, have seen too much for someone with such a soft life. He kept playing with the charm bracelet around his fragile wrist. She can see the blue veins running through his translucent skin. And the scars.

"It was hers," he said quietly, of the bracelet, noticing her watching him. "My mother's. I was hoping that somehow you could use it…to track her or something."

She snorted and shifted in her seat, lifting one knee up and resting her elbow on it. He'd had her meet in a veritable fortress of a mansion. Everything around her was leather and marble. These were the best clients she got.

"I'm not a bloodhound. I'm an assassin. The only reason you're not dead is because you hired me."

"Of course," he murmured, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Look, I know this is a long shot. It's been so long, that she's probably-" He winced and looked away out the window, not finishing the thought.

"Dead." she supplied unhelpfully. "Probably."

His lips pursed. Her words had stung him. "I just need closure. You understand?"

Those eyes again. They looked up at her with a searching, pleading glint that was all too genuine and openly vulnerable for her tastes. They read her even as she was reading them. She looked away in discomfort.

"I can understand 100,000 euros just fine. Although, I've got to ask. With all of Daddy's pretty money, why not hire someone else whose job doesn't usually end with the people found ending up in the morgue?"

The boy didn't hesitate. "Because you can keep a secret. And you can hide. You have to know every inch of this city. You have connections and can find anyone you want. You're also the only one I could think of who isn't under my father's thumb. Besides. It's not his money. It's all mine." He unhooked the charm bracelet and held it out to her.

"And, if someone is keeping her from me, I want someone who wouldn't hesitate to do whatever it takes to free her."

When she didn't immediately take it, he grabbed her hand and she flinched at the touch, shocked that he was bold enough to try and do so. No one ever touched her.

"Do you have a death wish?" she said, but her stern voice sounded oddly strangled.

He was gentle as he pried her fingers open from their tight fist and placed the bracelet in her palm. His fingers were solid and warm. Funny. She'd assumed they'd be cold.

"Take this. Maybe it's worthless, but it would make me feel better if you at least tried to use it. Plus, it's a good luck charm.

Ladybug's blue eyes went wide. She coughed and jerked her hand away as if she'd been burnt. Her face felt uncharacteristically hot. Who was he to throw her off her game like that? Irritation rose in her voice.

"Now. Ahem. You said you last saw her three years ago?"

"Yes. Mother would never leave unless something bad happened to her. My father has funded private investigations but refused to let the police get involved for fear that it would 'taint the brand'." He spat out the last words in vehement disgust. Ladybug raised an eyebrow. The little kitten had claws.

"Anyway, she put me to bed and we were supposed to work in the garden together the next day. And then she was just…gone. She left a note saying she needed a break and that she'd be back soon and that she was fine. I don't have the note though," he said hastily, anticipating her question. "My Father was the only one to read it. He turned it over to investigators and we never saw it again."

"That's all you've got?" She folded her arms and surveyed him. "Do you know where she supposedly went? Who was she with when you last saw her? Any plans or extra offshore bank accounts? A pilot's license? A death wish? Did she piss off the mafia?"

His shoulders slumped. He looked lost. "I…I'm sure something will turn up. Once we start investigating. I've done a bit of amateur work myself. It'll just take some time, of course."

Ladybug hummed and turned away toward the window, pressing one boot to the sill as she prepared to jump out into the night.

"Well. It's a sad story, to be sure, but I'm not a charitable person. You're not giving me many leads here. So unfortunately, I'm going to have to decline this job. Thanks for the souvenir though." She bowed low and turned to leave, smirking under her mask.

Now came the fun part. Bargaining. Why settle for 100,000 euros? She could see for herself that this sum was nothing to him and it would be everything to her. He could offer much more than that, especially if it was going to be a hard job. All she was doing was providing a little…motivation.

"No. Please!" Adrien lunged to stop her and grabbed her wrist. Again? That snapped something in her. He needed to learn his place on the food chain. Who did he think he was, touching an assassin?

Ladybug twisted lithely and swiftly pinned his arm behind his back and slammed him into his bedroom wall. He winced and gasped, staring at her in shock.

Ladybug leaned an arm lazily on the wall above his head and stared right back. Her blue eyes were cold as ice. She studied him for a moment like a predator surveying her prey. He swallowed hard but didn't move or flinch, even when she leaned closer until her breath tickled his ear.

"Don't ever touch me again." she murmured, shoving his hand further up the back of his shoulder blade. He was so thin that she could feel every vertebrae in his spine.

He leaned forward against the pain, coming nose to nose with her. Where was his self-preservation instinct? She could kill him in a dozen different ways. Their breaths mingled in the air. She could smell the faint sting of mint. He was a few inches taller than her and she noticed it now as he somehow, once more, managed to catch her off guard and make her feel small.

"But you're touching me." he whispered back. "My Lady."