Progenies

Chapter 12

Adrien/Cat Noir POV

I knock on Y/N's door, planning to give her the tiger miraculous. I wait a long time, then I come to the conclusion that she's not home. Dammit.

I go back into my apartment and sit on the couch.

"She wasn't home?" Plagg floats up to me.

I sigh. "No"

"Don't be so down, Adrien"

Just then, someone knocks on the door. "Hide, Plagg!" I say.

I go up to the door and open it. Lia stands there with puffy eyes and tears streaking her face. "Can I come in?" she chokes out.

"Yeah, yeah of course", and I stand aside to let her in.

She walks in, and immediately starts closing all the windows and putting the blinds down.

"Can you lock the door please? I promise I'll explain" her voice shakes, and although I'm nervous, I do it anyway. I need to help her in any way possible.

She sits down on an armchair, and I sit on the couch. "Adrien, I don't know what to do" she puts her face in her hands. I'm confused why she came to talk to me, of all people.

"I am so scared of telling you, because what if he can hear us?" the sentence is so familiar, too familiar. It's almost exactly what Martin Johnson said before dying the next day.

"The Master?" I ask. Her eyebrows pull together. "H-how did you know?" she asks.

"From someone else, I'll explain after. Can you continue?"

"He'll kill both of us if he finds out I told you"

"Lia, you can trust me, I can protect us"

"No, you can't. No one can, we're dead anyway, and that's why I'm telling you", her words sends shivers down my spine. She pauses, looks around, then says "He confronted me. He's after Y/N. And a few others. He knows where she lives, who she's close to and a lot more. He has her phone and ID and everything. He said I need to bring her to him, or else he will kill her. He told me he'd spare her if I brought her to him, but I don't believe him. I could never betray her, and I want her to be safe" - she pauses, and sobs for a few seconds, then continues - "but I don't know how she can be safe. I just don't know what to do", the moment the last words comes out she completely breaks down.

I quickly go over to her, and put my hand on her shoulder. "Lia, it's okay. We'll figure it out. I can help you and Y/N", I say, but she shakes her head.

"You don't understand. You don't understand. No one can protect us. I've seen what he's done, and what he is capable of" she keeps shaking her head.

"Cat Noir can protect us"

"Cat Noir was in a coma for two weeks. If there had been an attack, if he attacked, we would all be dead. I don't know about you, but I can't trust him", and when she says this, it feels like someone just stabbed me. But she's right, I know she is. I am a terrible hero. I don't even deserve to be called that. The least I can do is do my best to help Lia.

"It's okay, we can figure this out" I say, trying to sound calm, although I'm not sure if I believe it myself.

"Does he have like a base of some sort?" I ask her.

"Well... when I met him he was in the warehouse, with his weird allies"

"What do you mean by 'weird allies'?"

"They... they looked pretty dead inside. They just kind of stood there, in costumes, and obeyed him"

The attacks... they must have been the 'allies' she's talking about, however I think the word 'slave' is more accurate if he is really controlling them.

"Any idea when he'll attack?" and I hate to bring up the subject again, but we need to be prepared.

She shakes her head. "Probably soon though. What are we gonna do?" she is sobbing into her hands now, and I'm not sure how to comfort her. I decide that I just need to be there for her.

"Okay, let's-"

A loud sound travels across the room, and I just about see the door swing open. "Hurry!" I whisper shout. I grab her hand and lead her to a spare room. We go under the bed, not the best place to hide, but it's better than no place.

I hear them trashing the kitchen; there must be a few of them. I hear one walking down the hall towards us. They open the door.

The covers of the bed almost reach the floor, but not quite. I can see their feet as they walk in, every step coming closer to us. They open the closet and I hear it fall down.

Suddenly, they get on their hands and knees, and put their hand under the bed covers, and lift them up, revealing Lia and I.