Lost and Found

Off To Paris

Dick felt very unprepared for this trip. He would be sent off, alone, to find and capture the Joker, in a city he didn't know. And worse, the young superheroes might not want him around, that would definitely make everything harder.

But he would go anyway. So he packed his bag, he said goodbye to his brothers and dad, and he left for Paris. There wasn't a Zeta set up in Paris, so he had to Zeta to the closest place and take a train there. Already a longer trip than he had been looking forward to, but it would be fine.

He would have a good trip, even if his main objective was to catch the Joker, he could have a good trip. He could eat some good food, he could explore the city day and night, and he could meet new superheroes. He hoped they were nicer than the average Gothamite. He'd also have to remember to speak French the whole time. That might be the hardest part, making puns might be a bit harder in French. He didn't know the language quite as well as he did English.

It would be fine. He could figure it out.

—--

He arrived in Paris right at sunset, so he quickly rushed to the apartment that B had in Paris and dropped off his stuff. He decided it would be best to start exploring the city early, hopefully before the Joker showed up and started screwing stuff up. Maybe he would be able to meet the Parisian heroes if he figured out their patrol routes.

Did they even patrol? If they didn't it would definitely make it harder to find them, but he would. He was a bat, one of the World's Greatest Detectives. Yeah. He could find them.

So he quickly got dressed in his Nightwing suit and began traversing the rooftops. He passed several restaurants he made a note to come back to at some point to eat at, and one bakery that looked absolutely fantastic. He had half a mind to go in as Nightwing and just pay in cash or something, but he chose not to risk it. If he got hurt or caught because he decided he couldn't wait one day to try some pastries he would never hear the end of it from his family.

He resolved to return tomorrow, but at that moment he continued his exploration of the city's rooftops. He eventually made his way into a very fancy neighborhood, but it was there that he realized that he had a tail.

The person couldn't have been tailing him for long, and they seemed sloppy. Nightwing managed to get a glimpse of his tail and saw a young teen, probably 14, maybe 15 (it was hard to tell with the masks), and he was in an all black, cat themed superhero outfit.

One of the local crimefighters. Nightwing decided to confront his young tail.

He made a sharp turn behind a building and booked it around to the other side before the boy could catch up, and he slid into the shadows behind the boy. He was waiting for the right moment to jump out (to be as dramatic as possible), when the ladybug themed girl showed up and stood next to the cat.

He could hear their conversation from his vantage point.

"Chat, did you lose him already?" the girl asked.

"He ran right out of my view, and by the time I had caught up he was gone," the boy, Chat, replied. The girl's eyes widened.

"He noticed you, you idiot," she scolded, then she started scanning the area. Clearly searching for him.

He stepped out of his shadowy hiding place and jumped down onto the rooftop beside them. "Is that any way to treat your partner?" he asked the ladybug girl. She whirled around to face him, with a glare that could stand right up there with Damians on an anger factor, but it definitely matched his adorableness too. She was too small to be scary, just like him, even if he did threaten to stab Nightwing on a near weekly basis (it was daily for a while, but he and Dami had gotten pretty close).

"What are you doing in Paris?" the ladybug girl asked fiercely. Nightwing couldn't help his smile. She really reminded him of a more independant Robin. Like a Damian when B was on a business trip or when he was off dealing with Justice League stuff.

"I'm just here to help," he offered, holding up his hand in a casual 'I surrender' gesture, "a criminal from my city just decided he wanted to expand his reach, and he just so happened to pick Paris." The girl continued to glare, while 'Chat' looked kinda curious now.

"Who are you, what city are you from, and who is the criminal?" the girl asked, crossing her arms.

"Nightwing, Gotham, Joker," he replied nonchalantly. The girl stiffened at the mention of Gotham. He decided to elaborate a bit more, hoping to gain their trust. If the Joker was going after them they'd need all the help they could get. "Batman sent me down here when we learned about the Joker's plan to come here. He wanted to piss off the Bat, and he thought that terrorizing two teenage superheroes would accomplish that."

"So, you're here because your boss thinks where incompetent?" the girl asked. It dripped condescension, and again, it reminded Nightwing of Damian. So he laughed it off.

"No, he sent me down here because regardless of who it was, we would always send backup to deal with the Joker," he replied genuinely, "even if it was the entire Justice league or something." The girl seemed to take in what he said. She nodded to herself, then she held out her hand to Nightwing.

"I'm Ladybug, and this is my partner Chat Noir," Ladybug introduced, still with a pretty serious look on her face. He smiled back and grasped her hand.

"Nightwing, I'm glad to make your acquaintance," he replied. Her grip was strong and confident. He had to wonder if these two were trained, he decided there was no harm in asking, so he went ahead and did. "By the way, have either of you received any formal training, or are you self taught?"

"I have formal training," Ladybug responded. Chat Noir, though, looked a bit nervous.

"I don't really, the closest I've got is fencing, but that isn't very helpful all the time." This could absolutely not slide.

"There is no way I'm letting that happen, meet me here at midnight tomorrow, I'll start teaching you some basic stuff while I'm here in Paris," he said, more serious than he had been this entire meeting, he turned to Ladybug, his smile returning, "you're free to join if you want a little extra practice time." Ladybug nodded.

"Wait, I haven't even agreed yet," Chat complained. Ladybug laughed.

"Well you'd better, or I'm going to the Guardian and making him tell me your identity so I can drag you out by force," she joked. Nightwing wondered if she'd forgotten he was there. He laughed at the thought, but then he took in the information at hand.

"Wait, you don't even know each other's identities?" he asked. They both shook their heads, although neither of them seemed very happy about it.

"It's for safety. If we knew, and then got akumatized, then Hawkmoth would know both of our identities too," Chat explained. That would make things a bit harder, but regardless, he gave them both burner phones to contact him with in case they needed him. They all agreed to meet up there at midnight. In the meantime, he told them he would be coming to help with any magical supervillain attack that might occur.

Then he went back to the apartment to do some more digging.

—--

The next morning Dick woke up bright and early. Despite his nighttime activities with his family, he always managed to be a morning person. He decided that he should go out and get breakfast before continuing his search for any sign of the Joker. That bakery he saw would be a good idea.

So he set off in that direction, on his way though, a young girl, probably Damians age, ran straight into him. The girl dropped all her stuff and managed to knock him down completely. He was abou to ask if she was okay when he noticed something. She bore a striking resemblance to B, and also by extension to Damian. She had softer features, and her eyes were blue unlike Dami's, but it was so similar. Then he remembered some of the drawings Damian would do of his twin.

Wait, holy crap!

He was about to say something, but she was already gone in the crowd. She had said a quick apology to him before running off again.

Now that he thought about it again, she also looked incredibly similar to Ladybug, who had said she had formal combat training. Dick skipped the bakery and ran right back to his apartment. He was now searching for two people, the Joker, and possibly his little sister. He wasn't a hundred percent sure yet.