Chapter Text
Winter break had just started last week, affording Adrien some well-deserved time off. His father was barely home, flying all around the world to make sure his winter line would be ready for its New Year debut—meaning there were no new photo shoots until he got back. Adrien would be thrilled, but Nino was visiting family all break and Alya had gotten a job in the library, so neither could hang out until school started up again. From their small group, that left…
Marinette.
Adrien liked her (“you like her a lot” Plagg teased, twirling low circles around the room. He had made the mistake of asking the little Kwami his opinion on his classmate.) but she seemed so scared every time they were together. The last thing he wanted was to make her upset in anyway, especially since she seemed to be warming up to him since the beginning of the school year. They had swapped numbers on the last day of school, mostly at the suggestion of Nino and Alya, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t text her. Just remembering that moment, her face red with embarrassment as she frantically attempted to unlock her phone for him, made him want to run and hide. Maybe he would swing by the bakery in a couple of days, give her some time to herself first.
'At least I have Ladybug' he thought, springing from roof to snowy roof. They had set up patrols a couple times a week in order to keep an eye on the city even when their wasn’t a direct threat. They had stopped a handful of muggings already, and one domestic disturbance. The whole thing filled him with pride. It had been his idea, after all. Ladybug had been skeptical at first, but every time they stopped a crime or apprehended a robber she shot him a smile warm enough to melt all the snow in Paris.
“God, if only” Chat Noir muttered under his breath. They had gotten at least a foot of snow so far and were due for another snow storm the following week. He stomped around on the roof of the old bookstore, waiting for Ladybug to show up. It would be the first time he had seen her since school got out. He was excited, mostly because Natalie had proven once again to be the worst company, ever. Adrien was man enough to admit he had been going stir crazy, thus driving Natalie crazy as well. She had even threatened to send him away to Maman’s until his father returned.
“You wouldn’t!”
“Want to try me?” She arced a perfect eyebrow and looked down her nose at him. When he didn’t respond she sighed and shooed him away, reminding him about the pile of homework he still had.
Chat wished his costume included a watch of some sort. Maybe it was just the cold messing with him, but he was pretty sure he had been waiting for almost an hour. Ladybug had never been late before. He wondered idly if something in her real life had prevented her from coming right away, it had certainly happened to him before.
“…Chat Noir.”
Said feline jumped in surprise, twirling away from the edge of the roof to look where the voice had come from. In the shadows, there was a small, tense figure watching him. Their eyes icy and piercing as they watched him.
“That’s me,” Chat called, forcing himself to laugh in an attempt to sound calmer than he was. “And who might you be?”
The figure didn’t respond, just continued to stare. Even with his night vision, he couldn’t identify their features entirely. His heart pounded in his chest, nerves on edge. It would be one thing if Ladybug was there, but Chat didn’t like being alone with someone who might be newly akumatized or just plain crazy.
The figure sighed heavily. The sound made him jump. Without thinking he grabbed his staff.
The person stepped out of the shadows with their hands up. The only part of them not fully covered was the top half of their face, the rest was covered in various amounts of black and white cloth. They had a dark cowl-hood-type thing over their head, hiding all but a strand of their hair. Over their shoulders was a heavy poncho and scarf, the later hanging straight down over the poncho in the front and the back. Heavy riding boots with thick socks poking out the top covered their legs and thick leather gloves covered their hands. A small bag hung from their waist and attached to their left leg with another strip of material. Chat couldn’t help but feel this person wasn’t an akuma, since there was something so…normal about their appearance.
“I am here to help,” They said carefully.
“What do you mean?” Chat hadn’t let go of his staff, even if he was sure this wasn’t one of Hawkmoth’s creations. Something about them seemed off, maybe the tension in their shoulders or the way their eyes seemed to look through him.
“Ladybug’s kwami has been stolen.”