Chapter Text
Adrien’s room was devoid of other people now. Nikolai found him in the bed, the head raised so that he was sitting almost normally. Adrien was picking at a tray of food while staring out the window; his left hand was worrying the blanket between his fingers.
“Hey,” said Nikolai, knocking on the doorjamb. Adrien’s head snapped toward the sound, his shoulders relaxing as he saw who it was.
“Hi, Nikolai,” the boy responded. “Have you seen m-Ladybug? Is she okay? Are you okay after what happened?” He would have asked more questions, Nikolai was sure, but he stopped as Nikolai waved his hands to ward off the barrage.
“One at a time!” Nikolai laughed. “Yes, I have; yes, she’s fine; yes, I’m fine, thanks for asking.”
Adrien’s cheeks reddened. “Sorry. It’s just- no one’s been telling me anything.”
Nikolai shrugged as he walked into the room. “Not a surprise. News is a jealously guarded thing in a hospital- no telling what might set off a delicate patient.”
The young man scowled for a second (probably at being thought ‘delicate’) before smoothing his features. “I mean- I saw Ladybug’s mom a second ago; she said everything was okay, but I could tell she was worried and didn’t want to upset me.”
“Nor should she.” Nikolai got serious. “I heard your ass of a father; he was doing enough upsetting for anyone. You don’t need any more of that.”
Adrien’s color deepened. “My father’s always been… overprotective.”
“Meaning, he’s always tried to control you. Can’t get in trouble if you don’t go anywhere,” Nikolai flopped down in the visitor’s chair. “From what I heard in here and outside talking to that woman, I wish I could call a police investigation on him instead of you.”
“Wouldn’t help.” Adrien glanced off to the side. “So you heard the officer too.”
“Yeah, but I have a contact at the department. We might be able to divert the investigation away from you and the supernatural elements. Or- maybe not. This is a city with magical threats and heroes; all we can do is our best.”
Adrien grew thoughtful. “Maybe m-Ladybug can think of something. I’ll ask her,” he sobered, “if I ever get to see her.”
Nikolai hid his grin. These two were so cute. “Do that. I’m sure she can.” He sat back and crossed his legs. “I’m going to see our police contact, then head home. My wife’s worried about one of the kids.”
Adrien’s face scrunched in puzzlement. “You have kids?”
“What, did you think vampires reproduce by reanimating our victims?” Nikolai laughed at the sheepish look Adrien gave him. “No, we have families and children, just like humans do. We just live a century or so longer than you.”
“Really? How-“ Adrien stopped himself, but Nikolai could guess.
“-old am I? I’ll be eighty next year; my son Sami looks about your age, but he just turned twenty-nine. He goes to regular school now; I falsified his records to make him half his age. Naturally, we have to homeschool until the kids are able to blend in better, but we develop as slowly as we age. So Sami may be older than you, but he acts pretty much like a human teen.”
“I’d like to meet him sometime,” Adrien grinned. “And see your farm- I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Maybe someday we can arrange that,” Nikolai smiled back, and stood. “Don’t let your father get you down. And take care of your Ladybug.”
Adrien’s grin softened into a glowing smile. “I will.” He shook hands with the vampire.
Nikolai headed for the door. “Oh,” he added, just before leaving. “Don’t be surprised if your dad tells you he’ll ‘let’ you keep going to school. I heard him say so after his assistant left; that he wants you to be grateful to him.”
Adrien frowned at that. “Why?”
Nikolai considered. The young man was still recovering; he had enough to deal with. He’d tell the police, and Fu if he could, his suspicions. “Not sure. But that’s what he said.” He paused. “You might want to take what he does with a grain of salt. He doesn’t seem the type to do anything unless it benefits him somehow.” And with Adrien thinking about that, Nikolai left the room.
Nikolai’s contact at the police department was – coincidentally?- the very officer in charge of the Agreste/ Dupain-Cheng ‘kidnapping’ case. Detective Guerin had had his suspicions that it would be something like this when he saw the photos of the girl’s injury, and had volunteered to take the case. The other members of the force were apparently more than happy to let him take on the potential PR nightmare that was the Agreste family.
He’d not been best pleased to find out Nikolai had overheard his conversation with Mr. Agreste, but Nikolai had liked the man when he’d heard him in the hospital, and his first impression was swiftly confirmed.
“Don’t think I don’t know how vampires are,” said the detective as he sat at his desk. Nikolai was grateful for the tiny private office; this wasn’t a discussion that should happen in the open. “At least the bad ones. No teeth marks like the rabble would believe, just a straight rip in the jugular. Add in that weird bruise on her elbow, and there’s no way that little girl wasn’t the target of a rogue.”
“Well, she was,” Nikolai confirmed. He had the feeling that the detective was the type to be a touch insensitive, just to see how people responded, but he appeared to be a good person underneath the persona.
“What I don’t get is the Agreste kid’s involvement. His injuries look nothing like hers.” Detective Guerin gave Nikolai a sharp look; Nikolai kept his poker face on. “Plus, he only went AWOL for a day. According to the girl’s parents, she’d vanished briefly a few nights before- out of the middle of a bunch of her friends.”
Nikolai gave out what information he could. Fu had been quite clear- no one in Paris knew who the Black Cat and Ladybug were, and it wasn’t his business to tell. “As far as I can tell, he was going to be the next victim after her. But he’s partially immune to the mind control; some humans are. He got loose and fought back.”
“Brave kid,” the detective muttered. “And lucky as hell; the rogue didn’t kill him because he wanted the blood later. Otherwise, he’d be dead of a snapped neck and dumped in the river before he could blink.”
Nikolai grimaced. “True. I got there right before the boy passed out- but not before Ladybug and Cat Noir showed up. They were the ones to take out the rogue.”
Detective Guerin sat up straight at that. “The heroes of Paris? What do they have to do with this? A vampire’s not an akuma!”
Nikolai heard that odd word; it sounded like what he'd heard earlier, but he set it aside to ask about later.“But the Miraculous were originally intended to help defend humanity from all sorts of magical threats. Ladybugs and Black Cats in particular have been the historic enemies of vampire-kind, and it was Cat Noir that took out the rogue.” Nikolai leaned in towards the detective. “Don’t assume that they are only around to defeat a corrupted Miraculous user. Our legends are full of the tales of those who fought our kind for millennia. That they leave us alone now is a blessing- and we want to keep it that way.”
“Which is why you’re here to police your own; I get it, I get it.” Detective Guerin waved a hand in dismissal. “And you wiped the kids’ memories for their own protection, I assume.” Nikolai kept silent; let the man think that was what it was. “Well, I’ll still do my investigation, but I’ll lean the evidence away from the horror-novel aspects. Did you find the rogue’s hiding place?”
“A family mausoleum in the cemetery.”
“Cliché, much?”
“He seemed to prefer being that way. I cleaned it out.”
“Good. I shouldn’t have to bother the heroes officially about this, but I’d like to interview them unofficially about it. I’ll just have to wait until the next akuma attack to flag them down- they don’t have contact numbers, more’s the pity.”
There was that odd word again. “Akuma?” Nikolai asked.
The detective huffed. “That corrupt Miraculous user? He sends magical butterflies to take people over and turn them into monsters.”
“Knew that.”
“Well, ‘akuma’ is a term both for the butterfly and the monster. Don’t know where it came from, but that’s what they’re called.”
Nikolai went cold. And that woman with the tablet spoke of akumatizing Marinette- Ladybug…but he can’t know who she is…or his son, either… Nikolai thought. He tried to frantically consider all the possibilities.
“What’s wrong? You look pale, even for a vampire,” the detective noted.
“Just that I’ve heard that word once before today,” Nikolai said carefully. “And it was said between that woman with the tablet and Mr. Agreste, after they left the room. She- she spoke of akumatizing that girl- his son’s friend…”
“Oh, merde, ” the cop breathed, sitting back in his chair. “Agreste is involved with Hawkmoth?”
“Perhaps,” Nikolai temporized. Or he might be Hawkmoth… “It might be a good idea to keep a close eye on Mr. Agreste- and his assistant. For his son’s sake, if nothing else.”
“Sunshine Boy? Sure. Last thing that kid needs is a dad like that.”
Nikolai got up; he had to catch the train soon, and he didn’t have time to go back to Fu’s. Truth to tell, the Miraculous weren’t his problem; he didn’t have to tell Fu anything about his suspicions.But having the Ladybug and Black Cat around could be a problem in the future, and helping them was in his people’s best interest.
He’d have to contact Fu- even if his suspicions were unfounded. “Thank you, Detective. If you have any concerns or questions, please email me.” He handed over a card with his contact information. “I need to get back to the farm.”
“Tell your wife and kids ‘hello’- if they’re ever in Paris, look me up,” said Detective Guerin, as he passed back a card of his own. “I’d rather know they were there and dismiss them from an investigation than mistake them for another rogue.”
Of course; he was a cop, he would think of the practical aspects. “Honestly, I hope we never have to… but thanks.”
Nikolai attempted to call Fu as the train pulled out of the station, but the call went to voicemail. He left a message requesting a return call, then hung up. Already his thoughts were turning toward home- to his wife, his children (particularly Sami), his livestock- all the mundane things he had put off for the last few days.
He smiled. That was where he truly belonged; with his family. Nothing was more important than that. And if that ass of a father can’t see his own son as anything but a pawn… then he deserves whatever karma comes his way.