Demigods: In Paris (a Miraculous Ladybug and Percy Jackson crossover)

So basically now he's just copying.

Percy held his breath as he snuck around the side of Gabriel Agreste's offensively large house. 

He winced as he spotted the gorilla-like guard they'd seen inside earlier and ducked hastily behind some bins. Unfortunately, the gorilla must have seen the sudden movement through the window, because he shot to his feet, knocking over his chair with a loud clatter. Percy stayed as still as he could, hoping that he was hidden as the bodyguard peered suspiciously out of the window. Finally he went back and righted his chair, and Percy took the opportunity to slink past the window and continue to the next dark window. He eased it open, and climbed quietly through. There was rustling in the undergrowth deeper in the garden, only slightly louder than the faint rumble of his empty stomach. 

Percy pulled the window closed behind him, and tiptoed down the dark corridor. Pausing to listen at the bottom of a stairwell, he guessed that there was nobody upstairs. He'd already seen the guard posted in the entrance, and guessed that the assistant would be in the same place. Gabriel was likely in the study they'd been into earlier, on the other side of the house, where Annabeth had gone. Of course she'd taken the interesting side of the house. 

Trying not to breathe too deeply, Percy crept towards the lighter front of the mansion, ignoring the smell of food coming from behind him. If he could find a way to distract the guard and assistant, he could slip into the study and hide somewhere he could keep an eye on Gabriel.

A scream split the silence of the house, and instantly Percy span on his heel and sprinted back along the corridor, and up the stairs. He knew that scream. Would recognise it anywhere. He burst into a huge room with a long wooden table and fireplace. Suspended from the ceiling was a large cage, and in it, Annabeth was writhing around, screaming in apparent agony. 

Percy's vision tunnelled. Up until now, he'd been treating Hawkmoth as a silly mortal with a magic jewel and big ideas, nothing more than a side project to pass the time whilst he was in Paris. But now...

"Annabeth!" He yelled. "Annabeth, can you hear me?"

It was like Tartarus all over again. She kept screaming and flailing at the air, she couldn't seem to see or hear him. He couldn't see any visible injury, or what was causing her the pain. Oh, Hawkmoth was going to pay for this. 

"It's okay Annabeth!" His breaths were coming fast. He needed to stay calm, focused, but he couldn't keep the edge of hysteria from his tone. He wished she would stop screaming. "It'll be okay, I'll get you out!" He hauled one of the expensive-looking chairs onto the table, and stacked another on top of it, until he could climb up and grab the underside of the cage. He swung himself up until he was clinging to the side, Annabeth just out of reach behind the bars. "It's okay. It's okay," he kept muttering.

He found the door and yanked it open - it didn't even seem to be locked. He crawled across the floor of the swaying prison and reached for Annabeth. She shied away from his touch, whimpering and flailing.

"Shh, shh! Stop, please stop, you're going to hurt yourself!" Percy didn't know when he'd started crying. He didn't care. Annabeth ignored him, so he leapt at her, ready to pin her arms and haul her out to safety. Instead, his hands passed right through her and she blew away like nothing more than colourful smoke. He whirled just in time to see Hawkmoth slam the cage door, locking him inside. His mask was orange this time, like Rena Rouge's suit. Percy prayed that meant it had been an illusion, not some grotesque power that had actually been used on the real Annabeth. He had to choke back a strangled cry at the thought. He wouldn't kill her. He wouldn't. Gabriel only wanted the miraculous, didn't he? But a man prepared to kill his own son, prepared to kill a child, was insane and unpredictable. 

Focus, he remembered Annabeth telling him. Worry about yourself for once, I can look after myself.

Percy shook his head, trying to clear it. "Where's Annabeth?" he demanded. Hawkmoth gave a low chuckle.

"She ran away when she heard me summoning my new power," he grinned evilly. "I transformed just in time to see her jump over the fence and leave you here at my mercy."

Percy took a deep breath. Hawkmoth was obviously trying to provoke him, but he didn't mind. He knew that Annabeth had gotten away, that she was safe and not tortured smoke on the breeze. Besides, if Annabeth had left, it was for a reason. He trusted her. 

"Nothing to say to that?" The villain smirked, and Percy returned the expression.

"Nice cage. Not fond of heights, though."

Hawkmoth snarled. "You give away your weaknesses too easily! I captured you with ease thanks to your big mouth. When I spoke to you the other day, you told me that your biggest flaw was loyalty to your friends. I wouldn't even have known that was you, until you taunted me with the name I gave you! You are nothing more than a foolish child, and you will tell me where to find Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Heaven if I know where those two are," Percy shrugged, and settled back against the bars of his rocking cage. "Children these days, you know? Why do you want them, anyway? Surely you can't really be planning on killing your own son to get your wife back? That just sounds counter productive to me." Hawkmoth snarled, and Percy smiled.

 This was going to be fun.