Cat's Eye (Lukadrien)

Volume 2, Chapter 5

~

Nathalie's disappointment with him had been tangible throughout the day. Going to Luka's had been an extension of trust, which Adrien had perhaps somewhat abused. What made matters worse was the deterioration in her condition. In the time he'd spent away, she'd had a fit of exertion, resulting in her needing her wheelchair again. She'd tried to make it very clear this had nothing to do with his absence, but Adrien suspects that wasn't the whole truth. A fit of exertion implied she'd been doing more work than usual - i.e., panicking trying to find Adrien for a day after an Akuma attack. Keeping track of him was one of her major duties, after all. Especially since Adrien's father probably wouldn't notice if he died for at least a few months. He makes a mental note to check Nathalie's medical files as Chat. The symptoms are eerily similar to ones that Adrien vaguely remembered his mother presenting, and each cough triggers a wave of unpleasant memories.

By the time Adrien's timetable is finished, he is knackered. Which is actually a little bit surprising considering he probably got more sleep on Luka's sofa than he had done most nights prior, what with his investigations into his mother ongoing, as well as his other Chat duties. Speaking of, he has more to do tonight. As much as he would much prefer to be sneaking into Luka's room again to hang out (and find an excuse to use Luka as a human pillow again), he has work to do as a hero. He still needs to find Nathlie's medical records, as well as start investigating the effects of Shadow Moth's new akumatisations.

Earlier in the day, Adrien had done a photoshoot, followed by being ferried briefly back to school, where he managed to get through a period and a half before it all went to pot. Miss Mendeleev had been akumatised, and for a while it was the usual drill. Fight the villain, locate the akuma, deevilise. Except, just like with Kagami, Miss Mendeleev was in a state afterwards. This time though, rather than sobbing, she'd been screaming in agony. The Miraculous Repair had stopped whatever torture she was in, but her psyche had remained remarkably damaged. As was typical, Ladybug delegated the task of taking the victim to the hospital to him, so he'd dropped her off with Dr Le Chien again, who promised to gather data and compare. The psychiatrist assisted Le Chien had also asked if Chat could arrange to bring Marinette to visit Kagami. Since apparently, she was the cause of the negative emotion that resulted in Kagami's akumatisation, and subsequent state, they wanted to evaluate how the girl's trauma would impact her ability to relate to Marinette, and whether she would be stable enough to be discharged as an outpatient.

Chat had barely left the hospital when he saw yet another villain for the day. With a sigh, he extends his staff, and graceful flings himself into the fray.

~

Standing almost immobile, the man stares up into the faint light that trickles through the stained-glass window. He could almost be mistaken for a statue. His long, moth-like cloak billows around him, making him seem almost like a phantom. Unblinking, he adjusts the rim of his hat, eyes alit with a cunning that no normal man could rival. The purpled outlines of a butterfly shimmer over his face, and if you were to look closely, you would see his eyes were almost unseeing, as though they were looking through the perspective of another.

If you were to see as he sees, you might think that he's losing. The villain he created is in combat with Chat Noir and Ladybug, and it's only a matter of time before they manage to steal the akumatised locket from the woman.

Her name? Unimportant.

The man gave her a new name when they first spoke, when he empowered her to do as she truly, deeply wished.

The heroes finally make a play, baiting out the villainess. Through her eyes, Shadow Moth's vision falls sideways, as Ladybug immobilises her arms and Chat cataclysms the locket. The akuma becomes a simple butterfly again, and Paris is saved.

The man smiles.

Now, you might think it odd he smiles at this point. Before he'd held that Hat upon his head, the man would also have been frustrated. But now, the man is different. His lips curl upwards in satisfaction. This most recent experiment is a success.

Sometimes, you choose to lose battles, to win the war.

~

When Chat and Ladybug deakumatise the villain, they immediately rush to Connect. Having seen the effect on the last two victims, they'd hoped that the sooner they could enact a Miraculous Repair, the lesser the damage would be.

Except, this time, even before the Miraculous Repair, the victim wasn't screaming. Shaken, yes. More so than people had been after akumatisation before Shadowmoth. As Chat approaches softly, she panics and backs away.

"Why did you take it away from me?" she whimpers.

"Take what away?" Chat kneels, trying to appear as small and non-threatening as possible. His heart sinks as he recognises her face. Mrs Lahiffe. Nino's mother.

"His power." She looks up at him, and he realises her fear isn't of what happened in the akuma, but of him. "I was making things better. He was helping me."

"We were trying to help you." Chat tries to move in comfort, but she flinches.

"You were hurting me." Staring him in the eyes, she almost spits at him. "You were attacking me, and every time you did it was agony. I was terrified. Every time I messed up, I was hurting so badly."

"We need to get you to the hospital."

"Don't touch me."

Chat pauses, evaluating her weary look, "I can ring you an ambulance, if you'd rather I didn't take you."

She seems to hesitate, "I don't think I need to go," before she tries to stand and nearly topples. Reluctantly, she nods and Chat whips out the phone function of his reduced staff, to contact the local ambulance.

Now that the fight is over, Chat notices how low the sun is sitting in the sky. As he waits distantly with Mrs Lahiffe for the ambulance, he begins to plan the rest of his evening. He'll have to make a quick stop off at his house for an appearance at dinner. It's highly unlike that his father will actually show up to dinner, and even if he does it will be late. Still, Nathalie will worry if he doesn't show, and after last night's stunt Adrien refuses to cause her any more inconvenience than is necessary.

As the ambulance takes away Mrs Lahiffe, Chat rushes off to feed Plagg. As the kwami munches down on the last of his camembert, Adrien checks his watch. Not long after the fight had finished, Ladybug had begrudgingly handed over the Bee miraculous to Chat, asking him to get Queen Bee to scour the city at an earlier hour today. Apparently, she'd scoured with Swarm yesterday near midnight, so Ladybug was hoping by changing the hours of the day, something might come up. As a gesture, Chat could tell it was an attempt at an apology. Not exactly a good one. She still thought she was absolutely in the right, of course. Just, her way of acknowledging his frustrations, Adrien guesses. Still, would've been nice if she'd asked if he was free rather than just giving him the task, rather than just saying "You wanted more responsibility" and plopping more work in his hands. It's moments like this that Chat feels like an unpaid intern. Hopefully he'll still have enough time to swing past Luka on his way to Dinner at the Agreste Mansion.

And... that's fine. Ladybug never apologises with words. It takes a literal catastrophe for her to admit any wrongdoing anyways. Chat is used to it. He can put his ego aside. He's had enough practise with his father as is.

Inside Chat, something seethes at that thought. He's not sure if it's his gut, or Plagg.

He takes a running start, heading off towards Le Grand Paris Hotel. He's almost arrived, as an idea strikes him. He pulls out his (Adrien's, not Chat's) phone to keep Chloe's snapchat story. He needn't have gone to the effort.

Chloe's at the mall.

He sighs.

This is going to add on an extra 30 minutes to his travel time.