Chapter Text
Chase Devineaux inhaled happily as he entered Paris with his windows rolled down. Interpol had offered him train fare, but the drive back from Germany was a chance to relax and wind down after such a long and difficult case. It wasn’t surprising that taking down an international ring of highly trained thieves and fences had taken a couple years instead of the couple months he’d initially estimated, but it had been surprising that he’d had to stay away from Paris for so long.
Apparently, he’d missed the introduction of some new superheroes and villains, although Chase didn’t know much more than that. The mayor was keeping an extremely tight grip on any information leaving the city, so as to help prevent any negative effects on tourism.
That said, now that he wasn’t wrapped up in such a big case, the detective fully expected to be tapped for anything Paris needed with respect to the supervillain. Superheroes were fine, but rarely did they have the best investigative skills. That’s what people like Chase were for.
“Only a matter of time, Devineaux,” he told himself, smiling. “Just a matter of time.”
---
Oddly enough, weeks passed and Chase still hadn’t been given the case. This left him very miffed, until a little digging uncovered that Interpol didn’t have an active case, not really. The first couple of months after the supers had appeared in Paris, there had been a concerted effort to uncover the identities of all three, but as it became clear that some sort of identity-concealing magic concealed them, the efforts had petered out. The Paris police had given up even quicker, electing to leave a magic villain to magic heroes and wash their hands of the whole matter altogether.
Inspector Chase Devineaux got himself thrown out of a few offices for expressing his outrage, but it was just as well, if it meant giving him the case just to be done with his pestering. Chase tried to be eloquent, but he knew sometimes it came down to annoying people into doing what you wanted. It was a tactic he’d had to use a lot more often before he’d proven himself as an investigator.
The next step was to see what the heroes knew about their opponent. Perhaps they were immune to some of the magic obfuscating effects. Of course, he couldn’t just call them up for anything, of course not! He’d have to run after them during an akuma attack, risk getting turned into glitter or something, and hope they would talk to him. It shouldn’t take too long though, right?
---
“Ladybug! Chat Noir! Wait!”
About to leap away, the two paused, exchanging a look as Chase caught up to them, heaving so heavily from his run that he couldn’t quite speak.
“Uh... can we help you?” Chat Noir asked. Still struggling to catch his breath, Chase pulled out his detective’s badge and held it out for them to see. It had been two weeks of trying to catch up to them during eight akuma attacks, and only just now had he managed to catch them.
“Inspector Chase Devineaux, Interpol,” Ladybug read, brows furrowed slightly as her earrings beeped another warning. “What does Interpol want with us?”
“I wish to discuss Interpol’s file on Hawkmoth with you,” the inspector managed. “Is there a time and place we can talk?”
Once again, Chat Noir and Ladybug exchanged glances. Chase supposed that as often as they were in fights together, their ability to communicate nonverbally must be pretty good. Policemen and the like often seemed to have that connection when they worked with the same partner for years, not that Chase would know personally.
There was another beep, and the two seemed to come to a consensus. “Do you have a pen and paper?” Ladybug asked, holding out a slim gloved hand.
Chase dug in his coat pockets, finally noticing now as he stood to his full height (no longer hunched over wheezing, rather) that the two superheroes were... quite small, actually? It was surprising, considering the life-sized personalities they exhibited in the videos he’d watched. Something to think about later, of course. Finally he located his notebook and pen, and handed them over.
Ladybug scribbled down an address quickly and handed them back, looking slightly apologetic. “Here, sorry, gotta go!” she said, and the two leaped away quicker than the inspector’s farewell could leave his mouth.
Chase looked down at the address. It was for a small park, tucked away between residential buildings not far away. The note also indicated that he should meet them there in twenty minutes, so Chase stuffed the notebook in his pocket and began walking, looking around surreptitiously to make sure no one had made any special note of him speaking to Paris’ beloved superheroes. With Hawkmoth’s identity unknown, they couldn’t be too careful.
Apparently Ladybug agreed— the park was surrounded by tall trees and an ivy-covered fence, with rows of hedges lining the pathways. It was quite secluded for being so small, perfect for a clandestine meeting. Chase strolled casually until he reached a bench that was nearly hidden from view. No one was in sight, so he sat down and pretended he was there for the birds in the trees or some silly, civilian reason like that.
“So, Inspectpurr, what does Interpol know about Hawkmoth?”
Chase jumped to his feet, spinning around to see Chat Noir grinning at him. Ladybug was just dropping to the ground, but he hadn’t heard either of them arrive. Damn magic. “Ah! Yes, er, thank you for coming,” Chase said, trying to make it seem like he hadn’t just been scared out of his wits. “The thing is, Interpol’s file on Hawkmoth is a photo and a bunch of question marks.” His tone left no doubt as to what he thought about the lack of information.
“So I thought to myself, perhaps it is being handled by the police of Paris for some reason! I reached out to a contact in the force and again, nothing! It is absolutely outrageous! I can’t believe no one has been trying to help you while I was absent from Paris!”
Ladybug’s mouth twitched, perhaps at the way that the Inspector had been whisper-shouting, conscious of the prudence of secrecy. Her gaze was serious however as she looked him in the eye. “Inspector Devineaux, the nature of the Miraculous is that they hide the identity of the holders. If I went and talked to my family or best friend as Ladybug, they wouldn’t recognize me. Furthermore, with the way Hawkmoth’s physical abilities are enhanced, to say nothing of his other powers, I’m afraid that no law enforcement officers stand a chance in apprehending him.”
Chase’s face reddened in outrage, and he tried to speak several times before he managed words instead of incredulous squawks. “Obviously I know it is not simple! But as you probably have other things in your life keeping you busy besides superheroing, the least the law could be doing is helping you narrow down suspects! If we can’t find Hawkmoth, we could at least look for his lair, or other accomplices!”
Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Ladybug was watching the Inspector throughout his tirade. When he paused to take a breath, she held up a hand. “I see you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
Chat Noir looked guilty, and he glanced at Ladybug. “It’s true, it’s hard for me to get away even for akuma attacks sometimes, much less other investigating.”
“And while the magic protects Hawkmoth’s identity, you might be onto something with his hideout,” Ladybug said slowly, thinking it through. “We rarely have time to take a good look around before or after an akuma, or try and follow any butterflies. It’s probably worth a try, at least.”
Chase barely contained his urge to throw a fist up and exclaim victoriously. He wanted the tiny heroes to take him seriously, after all, but based on how hard he’d had to work to get the case, he’d expected to spend a lot more time convincing Paris’ heroes that they could use his help. “Excellent, I’ll-”
Ladybug cut him off, holding up a hand again. “Inspector. You have to promise not to interfere with akuma attacks, and to not get too close to Hawkmoth. It’s far too dangerous, even with the Miracle Cure.”
“It’s already hard enough to try and keep civilians and reporters out of the way, and we don’t want to have to worry about you, too,” Chat Noir added, equally serious.
Chase straightened his jacket, matching them for solemnity. “I will probably do most of my work behind the scenes, although if I get close and have to act the fool to throw Hawkmoth off, I will. If you are willing to meet me here this time next week, I will come up with a more discreet way of exchanging information.”
One more exchanged glance between the two, and Ladybug nodded and stuck out a slim hand for the Inspector to shake. “One or both of us will be here. Thank you, Inspector.”