Co-Pilot

Chapter 7

                Adrien drummed his fingers on top of the white tablecloth. The clinking of glasses and silverware ringing in his ears. Marinette sat across from him quietly, her knees delicately crossed over in her lap. To think that mere hours ago they had been gripping at straws for clues and know they had a whole arsenal at their disposal. Right now, they just needed to find the next one, which would be here at the evening gala. It was after some time in the pool, that the couple had gone back to their room to get ready for the banquet party. So, while Mari was in the shower, Adrien had taken his opportunity to examine the knife and the phone they had nabbed off of the guy from the car chase. With the more relaxed atmosphere, it was a lot easier to examine the engraving on the blade. Happy Birthday Dylan! 04/28. So that guy's name was Dylan. It was easy to assume that the birth date was April 28th. The hard part was finding out if that helped him in any way. Adrien powered up the phone, a four-digit code blank appearing. Perhaps, the birthday. It was pretty common that people used their birthday as their phone lock. One after the other, Adrien typed out as many possible combos using the numbers 0, 4, 2, and 8. Every time being met with the disappointment of failure. Giving up, Adrien retrieved his Prestigious Little Animal Gathering Gossip, i.e., P. L. A. G. G.. P. L. A. G. G. was his spy drone, obviously in the form of a black cat to match his persona as Chat Noir. Using the drone, he managed to hack the phone code. Which ended up being as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4. Of course the agent had made it way harder than it had to be. That's what he should have tried first. There was a satisfying click as the phone unlocked. The home screen was pretty empty, the vague background a preloaded one on the phone. Based on the lack of visual use, Adrien guessed that the phone was being used like a burner phone. Though, why this guy, excuse him, Dylan, would use a smart phone in place of a burner still remained a mystery. His questions were answered when he accidently opened the gallery feature. Inside, he found a jackpot of leads. Of course, he'd have to unscramble and make sense of them later, but nevertheless, this was a major find. The blonde scrolled through the files, each one looking slightly different from the rest. At first glance, a person wouldn't think anything of them, as they appeared to just be random photos that Dylan took with his friends for mementos. However, there were several with one particular girl. One that for some reason, Adrien recognized, but couldn't put a name to the face. What stood out was the background of the photos though. It seemed dark and ominous, almost like an underground base of some sort if you wanted to think dramatically.

"Why does he have pictures of Lila?" Marinette's voice cut in from behind. Adrien flinched from the surprise, before turning his gaze over his shoulder where his wife now stood. A white towel wrapped around her torso, strands of her raven hair clumped together by the water hanging loosely around her neck.

"That's why she looked familiar!"

"You forgot about Lila!?" Mari shrieked puzzled. "I mean I guess I don't blame you, but how!? It's not like she didn't try to get me expelled from the academy or lie straight to your face repeatedly!"

"I don't know how honestly. I guess she just looks a bit different than the last time I saw her." Adrien defended himself. Lila Rossi had been one of their classmates in high school. A school in which, unbeknownst to the students until they attended the first day, was actually an academy for future Miraculous agents. Of course, students were told this individually and were sworn to not tell a soul outside of the administration. None of the students knew who was or who was not an agent, but the code names for the agents were widely known in the building. Ladybug and Chat Noir were vastly acknowledged in the school as being the best agents within the school grounds, but their identities remained secret, only to be known by the head honchos of the organization. If they passed their exams their senior years, the agents would be upgraded to agents within Miraculous. It wasn't until they were fully hired, that an identity reveal was granted to them. However, after graduating, the Agrestes hadn't seen Lila again. The girl had just vanished. Her skills in lying and manipulation were extraordinary, but it was no surprise that she lacked in other areas. Specifically, in the area of working for the benefit of stopping Hawkmoth. In their schooldays there had been rumor that Lila was undercover for the international terrorist, but there was no proof of it. Reflecting on it now, it made complete sense why she didn't get promoted to the agency and then up to a full agent.