Chat Out of the Bag?

Chapter 3

The weekend came quickly and with it came work for Adrien. There had been a couple of close calls with Plagg and Lucia.

Natalie had told Adrien that Lucia was going to model with him for their father's newest line. He hated that his sister was being forced into modeling. She didn't seem to mind as long as they were together during the shoots. That night, their father joined them for dinner.

"Lucia, you will start school on Monday. I also enrolled you in gymnastics," said Gabriel.

"May I have martial arts lessons instead?"

"No, you will be in gymnastics and continue with your violin lessons," replied Gabriel.

With the bravery only a five-year-old could have, Lucia looked into her father's eyes and said, "No!"

Gabriel was taken aback by being argued with. Adrien never talked back to him so this was new to him.

"What did you say, young lady?"

Without missing a beat, Lucia said, "No, I want to take martial arts, not gymnastics."

"Lucia, you will take gymnastics and you will not raise your voice at me."

"No!"

They argued back and forth until Adrien intervened, "Father, maybe she could take martial arts on the weekends and her gymnastics during the week."

Natalie quickly pulled up the family schedule and showed it to Gabriel. He scrolled through it and nodded his head.

"Lucia, you will take gymnastics and if you behave we can arrange for martial arts lessons. That means no more temper tantrums, young lady."

"Yay, thank you papa!" she went over to him and kissed him.

"I promise to be a good girl."

With that, she went back to eating her dinner like nothing happened.

"Why do you want to take martial arts so badly?" asked Adrien. They were sitting on his sofa watching a movie.

Lucia mumbled something that Adrien couldn't hear. He asked her to repeat herself. "Akuma attacks. I know I can't beat them up like Ladybug and Chat Noir but if I can protect myself then that is one less person they need to worry about."

Adrien ruffled her hair and kissed her on the forehead. They both groaned when his phone reminder went off for piano practice. They stopped the movie and Lucia picked up her violin that she kept in Adrien's room. She liked practicing with him. He chose songs that they could do together so it was more fun.

Half an an hour into practice, Adrien's phone went off about an akuma attack. He had to think fast since he couldn't transform in front of his sister. He told her to hide under her bed until he came to get her. When she asked why he told her it was a new safety procedure that the police recommended. She did as she was told and went to her room. Adrien locked his door just in case.

"Coast is clear, Plagg."

"Geez, Hawkmoth had to interrupt just when the music was getting good. Good thinking with your sister by the way. We can't have people knowing your identity."

Adrien sighed. Keeping secrets took a toll on him but he had a job to do. "Plagg, claws out!"

In an instant, he transformed into Chat Noir and he leaped through his window to help his lady defeat the current akuma.

Meanwhile, Lucia was hiding under her bed. She was watching a live feed of the battle on her phone. She was only supposed to use her phone for emergencies but she considered a bad guy on the loose an emergency.

The akuma was setting everything on fire. She didn't think that hiding under her bed would protect her from the fire so she decided to find Natalie and her papa. They would know what to do in case of a fire.

She knocked on her father's office door and heard footsteps coming toward her. Natalie slightly opened the door. "There's an akuma setting everything on fire. What if it spreads here?"

Natalie took the little girl's hand and took her back to her room. "Everything is going to be okay. We are fully prepared for fires. Your father would never let anything harm you."

She grabbed one of the many stuffed animals in her room and handed it to Lucia. She then called Mr. Agreste on her phone.

"Sorry to interrupt sir but Lucia is scared of the akuma attack. Yes, sir thank you, sir."

Lucia hugged her toy and looked up at Natalie. "Your father will be here in a moment. "

Gabriel Agreste was secretly Hawkmoth. Natalie was the only person who knew his secret. He was a little annoyed that she had called him when he had Ladybug and Chat Noir on the ropes but she only called him for emergencies. He was doing this for his children and he couldn't have Lucia scared. She might try to find him during akuma attacks and he couldn't have that.

"Papa!" Lucia shouted as she ran to her father. He lifted her and she hugged him.

"I heard you were scared about the akuma and the fire coming here," The little girl nodded, "Lucia, I promise you that no akuma will ever harm you while I'm around."

"I love you, papa," she kissed him and he told her to get ready for bed.

Thank goodness for Ladybug's power. Without it Paris would look like a charred wasteland. He fist-bumped Ladybug and wasted no time getting back home. Lucia was probably scared and he needed to check on her.

"Sheesh, doesn't Hawkmoth know not to play with fire? I need extra cheese for all the trouble," complained Plagg. Adrien gave him a double helping and went to his sister's room.

"Adrien! Look Ladybug and Chat Noir beat up the bad guy," she said excitedly. She showed her brother the footage on her phone. "If I'm a good girl do you think they will give me their autographs?"

He laughed at his sister's enthusiasm and told her that anything was possible. Maybe he could convince Ladybug to patrol near Lucia's gymnastics class. He kissed her and told her that they were going to have fun tomorrow.