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For such a smart kid, Adrien could be so stupid.
Twenty minutes ago. Barely twenty minutes ago he’d just been made entirely aware of what will happen if he steps even an inch out of line again. And yes, Gabriel Agreste’s definition of “out of line” was much more stringent than anyone else’s Nathalie knew of, but his father’s rules being unfair didn’t mean Adrien could just ignore them.
Not when the next punishment for doing so would be returning to homeschooling.
She knew how badly that would hurt him. She could see it on his face when he went back up to his room after being lectured, in his hand when he visibly restrained himself from slamming the door. She’d wanted to talk to him then, but held off, deciding he might need a moment to himself first. So she gave him twenty minutes.
She knocked on his door later to no response. Knocked again, worry rising. Then opened the door.
No Adrien in sight. Not at his desk or his bed, not on the upper level or in the bathroom. What she did see, however, was a window panel wide open.
She had no idea how he could even sneak out from the second story.
So now Nathalie found herself on some unsuspecting Parisian’s rooftop using the miraculous she’d promised to refrain from using, scanning the streets and alleys below for any particularly angry-looking blond teenage boys. She’d quickly weighed her options before leaving-- should she search for him as Mayura or as Nathalie? Running around the city as Mayura was sure to grab someone’s attention, and would probably result in some pictures of her posted to the Ladyblog and pinging on Gabriel’s notifications. But that was a much less worrisome risk than Gabriel coming up to Adrien’s room anytime soon and finding it empty. The fact was, Mayura could find Adrien much quicker than Nathalie could, and the sooner she found him, the sooner he could go back home.
Unless she got caught up in something unfavorable as a result of her villain identity. Which is exactly what happened when steel-toed boots thudded on the cement behind her, immediately filling her with dread.
“Mayura,” growled Cat Noir.
Perhaps she should’ve been more specific about the angry blond boy she was hoping to find.
“This is the last thing I need right now,” she muttered, turning around and readying herself for whatever fight he was about to bring.
He was already framed for combat. Feet steeled on the ground, baton held out like a shield. “Whatever you’re planning, don’t even think about going through with it,” he challenged, and Mayura rolled her eyes.
“I’m not planning anything. This doesn’t concern you.”
“Oh, I’m supposed to believe you’re romping around the city all powered up just for the fun of it?”
“Yes,” she deadpanned. “Now, you’ll be wise to leave me alone and go back to whatever dismal home you snuck out of.” She turned back around with the intent to leave for the next rooftop, but of course, nothing was ever that simple.
“I don’t think so.” In one swift move, Cat Noir leapt over her and flipped around, landing directly in front of her. Silver flashed in her eyes, and she leaned back as the end of his baton jutted just in front of her face. “You and Hawkface are never up to anything good. I’m gonna put a stop to it before it starts.”
“I’m here for reasons unrelated to your miraculous,” she said, enunciating each word in the hopes that he might actually grasp them. “Which, by the way, I would be fully capable of taking from you right now if I cared to.”
“I’d like to see you try.” His eyes narrowed. “Why are you here, then?”
She didn’t bother trying to hide her irritation. “I already said it doesn’t concern you.”
“Unless you want me to assume you’re lying and keep badgering you about it, I suggest you tell me.”
She didn’t want that. And she knew without a doubt he would. She sighed. “I’m looking for someone.”
“And you needed your miraculous to do that?”
“I can cover more ground much quicker this way.” A dull motion caught her eye from the alley below, and she leaned over to look, hoping it might be Adrien. When it turned out to be an older man walking his dog, she turned back to Cat Noir, ignoring how her heart sank a little further. “There. You have your answer. You can leave now.”
“Not so fast.” And then, to her surprise, he lowered his baton. “Is this, like, an actual missing person situation? Because I think that’s less of a job for a supervillain and more of one for the police.”
“What part of leave don’t you--”
“No, no, hear me out!” This time he shortened his baton and held up his hands in assurance. “Look. I’ll make you a deal I normally wouldn’t make with someone who’s tried to kill me on multiple occasions. Give me a description of your friend, and I can go tip off the police that they’re missing. They’ll take a tip from a superhero seriously.”
She stared. “You would help me.”
“As a hero of Paris, it’s my business if a civilian is in danger.”
He puffed out his chest as he said it and she had to hold in a scoff. Every so often she was reminded that the heroes were just children, treating her and Gabriel’s very poignant goals like a game of pretend. “Well, that’s very noble of you, but I’m going to have to decline.” Her mind returned to Adrien and the idea of his father finding out he had snuck out. “Getting the police involved would make matters much worse.”
She turned to walk away again, and-- and maybe Mayura was the naive one here for thinking she could get away from this conversation so easily. Cat Noir piped up again. “Let me help you look, then.”
She turned and looked him dead in the eye. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. Look, every fiber of my being is telling me to snatch your miraculous and give it to Ladybug for her to put it where it actually belongs, but I could do that any other day. If someone is in danger right now, I’m not going to sit back and let it be.”
That gave her pause. Truthfully, she’d been so concerned with Gabriel finding Adrien missing from his room that she hadn’t stopped to think about Adrien possibly being in danger out here. And now that the idea was in her head, she couldn’t get it out.
She suddenly didn’t care about her pride or her history with the heroes. She just needed Adrien home now.
“Fine,” she relented, and Cat Noir had the audacity to smile. But Mayura was going to be smart about this. “I’m not going to give you a description of him. I'm not foolish enough to give you anything that you could trace back to my identity."
"He's male. Got it."
Goodness, this cat was insufferable. "Just look for anyone who looks like they’re not supposed to be out at night and tell them to go home before they get in trouble.”
“On it, boss,” Cat Noir saluted, and leapt away to another section of rooftops.
Mayura couldn’t help but stare after him for a few seconds. A quick review of her memory told her this was the first interaction she’d had with either of the heroes that didn’t involve a brawl. And that… well, that just felt weird. A small part of her suspected he was only helping her to get information about her in some way, but she couldn’t think of any information he could possibly glean from this situation. She’d been as careful as she could to avoid specifics.
He also seemed too earnest to have any ulterior motive. Nathalie normally wasn’t one to believe sincerity at face value, but it seemed he really did take his role as the city’s hero serious enough to call a truce to help her. Maybe it was naive of him, but it was naivete she couldn’t help but appreciate.
Whatever the case, Cat Noir was looking for Adrien while Mayura was wasting time wondering why. She shook her head and continued her search.
оОо
Twenty minutes. Thirty. Now almost forty-five. Maybe that wasn’t such a long time, but it was long enough for panic to begin to rise in Nathalie’s gut. There was no sign of Adrien anywhere she’d looked.
She wondered if-- prayed that-- Cat Noir had any luck. After all, he could go down and search at street-level. Paris’ Number Two Most Wanted Superterrorist couldn’t.
The sound of boots landing behind her startled her again, but this time brought a spark of hope instead of dread. Until he spoke.
“Turns out searches aren’t very effective if you don’t know who you’re searching for.”
So he hadn’t found him. Amid more panic, Mayura felt a stab of anger. “I don’t know why you’re back here talking to me if you haven’t found him yet.”
“Because I don’t even know who he is? I did exactly what you asked, by the way.” Cat Noir crossed his arms as he relayed his past forty-five minutes. “I went up to pretty much everyone I could find and advised them to go home if they didn't want any trouble. And you know what happened?”
She didn’t ask what. Just glared. But apparently he took that as curiosity.
“Most of them thought I was warning them of an akuma attack and got super nervous, and were very relieved when I explained that wasn’t the case. You should’ve seen it. It might have really put things into perspective for you for how you and Hawkie have damaged the public’s psyche.”
She wasn’t in the mood for a lecture. “Did anyone go back home after you talked to them?”
“It’s not like I followed them to find out, but no, nobody outright said they were going home.”
Mayura turned around. “Then keep looking.”
“See, I would,” said Cat Noir, running to step in front of her, “but I have the problem of having no idea who I’m looking for.”
She glared at him, and he continued. “Look, as much as I wish they weren’t, the chances of me pinning your identity from a single person you know are very small if I don’t know their name. Just give me a general idea of what the guy looks like. Age, build, hair color, whatever. There’s no way they’re unique-looking enough that I could figure you out from their appearance alone.”
Maybe blond hair and a medium build weren’t particularly unique-- after all, she was looking at that very same combination in front of her right now-- but that didn’t mean she could be careless. She tried not to eye an Agreste Fashion billboard behind Cat Noir. If she told him to search for a boy who looked like Adrien Agreste, and he actually found Adrien Agreste, he could easily pinpoint her identity. Even if that meant bringing home Adrien safe and soon, she had to think of the long-term possibilities. Her and Gabriel’s identities being exposed could mean Adrien’s life being ruined.
As tempting as it was, she couldn’t use Adrien’s fame to her advantage right now. She had to just look for him herself.
“I can’t do that,” she sighed. She looked him briefly in the eye. “Thank you for your help, Cat Noir, but I can take it from here.”
She turned and walked up to the edge of the roof, trying and failing to clear her mind and think of a better way to go about this. Closed her eyes. Took a deep breath in and out. Then turned back around, beginning an almost autopiloted pace around the rooftop to help her think. But when she turned she was startled to find Cat Noir still there, staring at her with an expression she couldn’t discern.
She blinked. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said, seeming to realize what he was doing and shaking his head. “It’s just… weird.”
At that, she just raised a brow, and he elaborated. “Thinking about how you and Hawk Moth are actual people, with actual lives and people you care about.”
And then she scowled. “And not the mindless villains the media makes us out to be?”
“You mean the villains you make yourselves out to be?” he retorted, the edge back in his voice.
“I wish I was still young enough to think the world is so black and white.” Mayura turned fully, facing him like she would in a real confrontation. “Sometimes in life you’ll be faced with situations where doing the right thing will turn everyone against you. It’s on you to decide whether to keep going or succumb to everyone else’s ideas of right and wrong.”
“I don’t doubt that, but can you really call what you’re doing the right thing?” He gestured to the city around them. “Taking advantage of people in their most vulnerable moments? Using them as pawns? Letting the whole city live in fear every day of the next attack?"
"Surely you must have figured out by now that we're doing this for a reason."
"My point is I can't think of any reason that would justify all this."
They both stood there for a long moment, squared up, staring each other down. Cat Noir spoke again. “Does he know?”
Mayura raised a brow. “What?”
“The person you’re looking for. Does he know you’re Mayura?”
Her gaze steeled. “No.”
“What would he think? What would he say if he found out?”
“If you’re trying to guilt trip me, it won’t work. Anyway, I still haven’t found him, and I’m wasting time standing here talking to you.” She faltered then-- she shouldn't be talking like this to the person who'd just spent forty-five minutes helping her look for someone he knew nothing about. “Thank you again for your help, Cat Noir," she said, hoping he could see her sincerity. "I do appreciate it.”
He shrugged. “I can still help.”
“There’s no point. I’m not going to tell you anything about him.” To her relief, he finally nodded in understanding. “Besides, while we’re on the subject of each other’s lives, you have your own people to get back to. I find myself forgetting that sometimes as well. You should go home for the night-- your family is probably worried.”
She didn’t expect him to purse his lips so wryly at that. “That’s a nice sentiment,” he said. He unfastened his baton and walked to the edge. “You’re right, though-- I should go. Thanks for letting me help you. I hope you find your guy.”
He gave her no time to respond before jumping off, vaulting to the next rooftop and the next until she couldn’t make him out among the rest of the skyline anymore.
For the second time that night, she found herself staring after him, wondering distantly what was going on in his head. That was a strange reaction to the idea of one's family being worried, right? At this point, having worked for the Agrestes-- not exactly the pinnacle of normalcy-- for so long, she couldn't tell. All rationale that she shouldn't care about the heroes, that she should even actively hate them, dissipated for a moment as she hoped, vaguely, that he was alright at home.
And then she nearly had to smack that thought out of her brain to make room for the more important one. What was wrong with her? She still needed to find Adrien.
oOo
Twenty minutes. She looked for twenty more minutes. And then she decided to check the house again. Who knew? Maybe he’d already returned home somewhere in the time she’d been searching. Though she didn’t know how he’d be able to get back inside without his father noticing. Yes, Gabriel was often so absorbed in his work in the office that he might not notice any activity in the foyer, but if Nathalie were in Adrien’s shoes, that wasn’t a risk she’d be willing to take.
Then again, neither was sneaking out in the first place. Adrien had always been a braver person than she.
Mayura made her way closer to the Agreste mansion via more rooftops. And then she screeched to a halt. Sure enough, the light was on in Adrien’s room-- illuminating the whole street through those enormous windows-- and even from the distance she was at, she could see him. Sitting at his desk chair. Leaning his head on one hand as he presumably did homework.
She wondered how long he’d been there. If she-- and, by extension, Cat Noir-- had wasted time looking for him for so long.
But why should she care about whether she wasted one of the superheroes’ time? None of that mattered now. Her problem was solved. Adrien was home. Adrien was safe.
She entered the mansion through the other side. And this time didn’t wait to knock on Adrien’s door.