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A good spy was to be a master of disguise, an actor who could change personality at the drop of his hat, sometimes quite literally.
Adrien thought as much of himself, he was, after all, the greatest spy Paris had to offer.
Yet why did he find himself standing in front of an orphanage, silently contemplating if he really should have taken on this mission?
Bourgeois had given him his briefing and he knew the risks of being out in the field for that long but needing to pose as a family to get into France's top school for children somehow didn't sit right with him.
He never liked working with others, he was fine with going solo. If not for him being an one man army he wouldn't have been given the name Chat Noir, Black Cat.
Adrien shook his head, no time to pull out now.
As the blonde entered the facility, he went over his alias again.
Name: Adrien Agreste
Age: 26
Occupation: Microbiologist
Brithday: 26/06
Nationality: French
Brithplace: Lille, France
Relations
Father: Gabriel Agreste - DECEASED
Mother: Emilie Vanaly de Graham - Agreste - DECEASED
Cousin: Felix Vanaly de Graham
Spouse:????????
Child(ern):????????
Adrien drew up a blank at a spouse and children, this only meant that he needed to find one of both quick to ensure his fabricated identity would be safe.
A man in a white doctor's coat greeted him at the front desk and asked him if he was monsieur Agreste who had made an appointment to pick up a child.
It was a shady business, Adrien had to admit, as he inspected the interior of the hallways they walked through and the room they eventually arrived at.
It was cheap and didn't ask too many questions, it was the best he could hope for. But the familiar setting of the orphanage made Adrien think back to his own youth, to him scavenging for food and dealing with the aftermath of the war, those weren't good memories but only served to make his resolve grow, he would succeed, he would make sure peace was attained.
Inside the room sat two small children, one with black hair and the other with red hair. They looked up as the two men walked in before turning back to their activities.
Adrien turned to the man in the doctor's coat and asked why there were two when he only asked for one.
The man seemed a bit nervous as he tugged at the collar of his shirt and explained that the two children had been inseparable from the moment they had arrived and that the specifics about the child's age, length and such, applied to them both.
Adrien looked back at the two kids.
The black haired one was a boy, his hair was unruly and half hanging in front of his eyes, he had tan skin and green eyes that resembled Adrien's in some way.
The other kid was the boy's opposite, the red haired girl had skin like porcelain. She sat quietly, her blue eyes unwavering, at a small table drawing with crayons while the boy was stacking blocks on top of each other and knocking them over again and again.
Two kids was going to make this harder but he'd have more of a chance to get into the school and make dubbel the connections. The girl seemed quiet enough, he would have no problem training her for the mission. The boy would be more of a problem but Adrien was sure he'd be able to tame the cat-like boy. Adrien talked to the man some more, haggling over the price and finally settling on the original price for one child.
"Their all yours monsieur Agreste."
The man said to him as Adrien signed all the paperwork and had payed him in cash. Thet went back to the room with the kids, the man called out to them.
"Tikki, Plagg meet monsieur Agreste, he'll take care of you from now on."
~~~~~~~
Marinette wiped the blood from her hilt-less daggers in the bathroom of one of Paris' most famous hotels.
It was late at night so nobody had seen her enter the penthouse, those that maybe did were now laying dead on the carpeted floor.
Marinette looked in the mirror above the sink, her black attire was covered in red. She now understood why her last client had jokingly called her Ladybug instead of her code name Lady Luck.
Looking at her black dress she noticed a tear at the hem of the dress, it would need to be mended before she got another job. Marinette sighed, it seemed no matter how hard she tried she her clumsiness would always follow her.
The chiming of the grandfather clock in the bedroom adjoining the bathroom made her aware that she had only four hours before she had to clock into her day job again.
One of these days she really was going to get caught.
Marinette knew the risks of this job, she could be dead at any moment. So it would be best to secure her day time life and hide her night time activities as best as possible.
Maybe she should find a husband soon, that way her coworkers, friends, family and neighbors would be less suspicious of her as they were now that she was living alone as a single woman.
The tension in all of Europe was high, the war was a few years behind them now, yet relations were bad between every country.
Business is booming for Marinette as there are alot of people willing to pay handsomely to make a few 'accidents' happen. The work she had to do to survive was though but being in it as long as she had made distancing herself easier.
It only took her minutes to get out of the hotel unseen, leaving behind no trace of her ever being there. She had taken one of her victims fingers, his ring still on it, and had given it to her contact who would make sure he'd deliver it to her employer as proof that the hit was completed. Her money would hopefully be sent to her in a day or two or the employer would be nice enough to deposit it directly on her bank account, though maybe it would not be that good of an idea as it could draw unwanted attention from bank personnel.
Taking a shower and getting dressed for work was all part of her routine and just in time she had made it to the office and sat down before her boss was breathing down her neck.
In her breaktime she received a call from her cousin Brigitte who had been living with her since they had moved to Paris. They were more like sisters with how close they were and it wasn't a surprise to get calls from her almost every day.
Brigitte had recently moved out and was worried for her younger cousin and constantly contacted her with questions about her safety and how she was doing and if she'd found a guy yet.
It drove Marinette crazy sometimes, she didn't want to worry her and it made the search for a husband all the more important with Brigitte pushing for her to do it.
It was only when she clocked out that afternoon and was walking towards the clothing shop she regularly visited, a small bag, her black dress in hand, that she felt like she could freely breath.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tikki and Plagg looked at their new guardian, who told them to call him 'father', as he explained to them where they were going to live, how they were to act and that they were supposed to be model students and needed to get into this very important school.
Plagg only half listend as Tikki would relay the information once again when they were alone.
Because they knew they'd be alone once this man, their father, got what he needed from them.
It's how it had been in the laboratory and that's how it had been at the orphanage and that's how it'll be now.
That night the two of them were sent to their bed after their father had given them a meal and had reprimanded Plagg for eating with his hands.
'Tikki?'
'You awake?'
The familiar tone of Plagg's voice sounded in her head. Using their telepathic abilities had become like a second nature to them.
The experiments they had undergone at the lab had somehow linked their minds, it had made communication between them much easier as they didn't need to use words, they only needed to reach out with their minds.
'I am.'
Tikki responded, it was quite after that and for a moment Tikki thought that Plagg might have fallen asleep.
'What do you think of him?'
Tikki smiled, Plagg was one to show his emotions without a seconds thought.
If Tikki were being honest she didn't completely trust Adrien Agreste. They both knew he wasn't who he pretended to be, they read his mind or rather his thought after all.
Adrien Agreste was a spy, like one they would see in on TV in the orphanage, Bondman was one of those shows, he was like that.
Tikki didn't know if his name was his real one or if he was called something else, for now she gave him the nickname Minous. She read the name in a book about a lady who could communicate with cats and somehow her new father had been able to clearly communicate to Plagg that he shouldn't climb on all the furniture and Plagg was like a cat to Tikki. Thinking about how much their new father resembled the spies in TV shows she saw and books she read Tikki was sure to be entertained by him for a while and she knew Plagg thought the same.
'I think he's okay for now.'
She replied to Plagg as she could hear him stir in his bed.
'He'll have to do for now.'
Plagg thought before he once again stirred and went to sleep.
Tikki smiled once again, Plagg wasn't a person of many words and she knew him to become attached fast. But she would protect him once Agreste would discard them, she would be strong for both of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plagg barely kept himself from scratching out the tailors eyes as he measured his small body.
He would go mad if he needed to stay still for one more moment. Not that he could move much on the way here, he had been forced to hold his father's hand as their new guardian had thought about buying a leash for both of them so he wouldn't lose them.
Plagg hated that thought so much that he diligently took his father's hand as they went on their merry way to get a school uniform for Tikki and him.
And while Plagg stayed silent and looked around at the outside world they so rarely got to see, Tikki asked about anything and everything.
When she asked for a silent pistol she had seen on an episode of Bondman the night before, their father had stopped at an old looking shop with wooden puppets wearing pretty clothes.
They had walked in and Plagg looked at every pretty little thing in the store with wonder, it seemed like more wealth than he could ever possess.
It was than that Adrien turned to his children and told them to follow a lady with a kind smile to the dressing room to get their measurements.
The kids went with minimum persuasion and Adrien was left with a second to catch his breath and collect his thoughts.
These kids were more work than he thought. Plagg was a hyperactive child running and climbing anywhere and everywhere but could be easily subdued with things that interested him or caught his attention, such as shiny things as he had noticed the boy staring at a small display of shimmering silk.
Tikki was different, she was curious about everything and anything, she had asked him about how their car works or what the sugar in her tea was made out of, when she asked him if she could get a silenced pistol Adrien had made a mental note to not let her watch so many detective series anymore.
It would be tough to mold them into the perfect students but Adrien would do it, national peace was at stake here and Adrien wouldn't fail this mission.
But there was only one thing he need to succeed on this mission, one thing more that he was lacking right now.
A wife.
Adrien had contacted his colleague Nino Lahiffe who was a master of disguise and could forge any document Adrien would ever need. But disguising himself as a woman was not Nino's forte as Tikki and Plagg had laughed at him square in his face when he had tried to pass as their mother.
So Adrien went through a ton of documents describing every single women in an 15 km radius of his apartment. He hadn't become any wiser about who he should approach.
"Hello, I would like to have this dress mended as soon as possible, please."
A chill went down Adrien's at the sound of a polite voice behind him. He turned to see a small woman, no older than him, stood behind him talking to a salesperson at the counter Adrien was also leaned against. She had short, black hair and deep blue eyes that were slightly tilted.
How had she been able to move behind him without noticing? Adrien looked closer and recognized her from one of the documents he'd read the night before.
Name: Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Age: 26
Occupation: Civil servant/office worker
Brithday: 14/09
Nationality: French-Chinese
Brithplace: Paris, France
Relations
Father: Tom Duapin - DECEASED
Mother: Sabine Cheng - DECEASED
Cousin: Brigitte Cheng
Spouse: none
Child(ern): none
And so the list went on.
She was a good candidate in his eyes and maybe the only one who would comply to marrying him. But before Adrien could think of even asking for her hand, he'd first need to become close to her.
"Sir, why are you staring at me if I may ask?"
Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng asked without even looking at him. Again that chill ran down his spine.
How did she notice his stare?
Adrien was quick to recover from his surprise as he replied.
"Ah, I'm sorry miss, I was just admiring how pretty you were."
She blushed immediately at his words.
"Well thank you, monsieur...?"
"Agreste, Adrien Agreste."
He held out his hand which she shook and introduced herself.
Before either could speak again, Plagg and Tikki came running up to their new father yelling that they got their measurements done.
Adrien was quick to calm down his children as he looked back at Marinette, who was soflty smiling at him and his kids but their was something disappointed in her smile.
"What lively kids you have monsieur Agreste."
She said as Plagg and Tikki noticed the pretty lady standing by their father.
"Pa who is that?"
Tikki asked him as she gripped the bottom of his coat and stared up at the black haired lady.
Adrien stared back at his daughter and back at Marinette.
"Ah, this is madame Dupain-Cheng, I had the chance of meeting her for the first time right now."
Marinette lowered herself as to get on the same eye level as the two small children.
"You two must be very lucky to have your parents take such good care of you to get you two tailored clothes."
She said with a smile as she thought about how much of a shame it was that Agreste wasn't single or she would have married him to protect her identity as an assassin.
It only took Tikki and Plagg a few seconds and a look to their father, the pretty lady and each other to conclude that entertaining themselves was such a necessity that they were prepared to have an assassin for a mother and a spy for a father.
And so they started wailing dramatically about how they missed a mother in their lives and how lonely their father had been since mother passed away.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
Marinette said as she got up and gave Adrien her condolences as he rubbed his neck and kept himself from dragging the kids out of the shop and going straight home.
"It's quite alright, it has been a few years but we manage."
"Uhhmm.....monsieur Agreste, if I may ask...."
Marinete was fiddling with her hands as she mustered up the courage to ask the impossible of a random person she had just met.
"Would you want to marry me!?"