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

Hawkmoth gets desperate

Adrien tapped his pen nervously against his desk, glancing at the clock. He was lucky. So, so lucky that he'd been allowed to come to school. That he'd survived.

He hadn't meant to. He'd just been looking at the portrait of his mother, and then...

He couldn't believe that his father was Hawkmoth.

But Mr Agreste had caught him leaving the secret room, and sent Adrien immediately to his bedroom, warning him not to leave. Adrien had been reeling from the shock of it, hardly able to believe. Sure, he'd know that his father wasn't exactly touchy-feely, but evil... When his father had come to talk to him, Adrien had played dumb, only asking him where the platform in the ground in front of the painting led to. Mr Agreste hadn't seemed convinced, but had told him that it went to the unstable clocktower, and it was too dangerous to go in there.

Adrien was very lucky. If his father hadn't believed him... If he'd known Adrien was Chat Noir... He just wanted to ask why, but couldn't give away the fact that he knew more than he was letting on.

Mr Agreste had been reluctant to let Adrien go to school, but without any solid proof that his son really knew his dark secret, he had no choice. Adrien just had to hope he'd have enough time to get away during lunch so he could talk to Ladybug.

"Adrien?"

And was Nathalie caught up in it? Did she know? Did she help?

"Adrien! Mr Agreste!"

"Uh, Yes Madame?"

"Name an element that is liquid at room temperature."

"Water- Mercury. I mean mercury."

"Hmmm. Please pay attention from now on, Mr Agreste."

"Dude, what's up? You seem pretty out of it," Nino queried, concern in his eyes.

"Oh, I just didn't sleep well," Adrien half-lied, and resumed his clock-watching.

The only times that Adrien really paid attention were when Chloé spoke. Not in a weird way, but she was acting bizarre today. In science and literature, she aced every question, spouting definitions of words he was sure she'd never heard before in her life. But what was really weird was their English lesson. They were supposed to be doing speaking, but every time Chloé was chosen, she said the right thing... In French.

Every. Single. Time.

The teacher got so mad that she gave her an after-school detention.

"But Miss! I can't! I'm trying but I just can't!"

"Everyone else seems perfectly able to speak English in my lesson, so detention for you!"

Oh, and he had witnessed the spectacle that was Marinette inviting him to her birthday sleepover, with many whispered prompts and encouragement from her friend Alya. He thought Marinette was really sweet, and pretty too, but the awkward way she acted around him made him slightly uncomfortable. Besides, he only had eyes for Ladybug. Either way, he doubted his father would let him go.

When the bell finally rang for lunch, Adrien was halfway out the door before the teacher even dismissed the class. The only person ahead of him was Marinette.

"Girl, wait up!" Alya called. "Where you going?"

"Uh, I don't feel well!" Marinette cried, and bolted for the toilet. Adrien dashed into the men's, and whispered,

"Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg wailed as he was sucked into the ring, the piece of camembert he'd been holding squelching to the ground.

Chat Noir hopped onto the windowsill and crept out. He made it to the agreed meeting place almost at the same time as Ladybug.

"Chat! I was so worried last night, I thought something terrible had happened. Are you alright?"

"Aw, you were worried about me, bugaboo?" Chat Noir teased, but his heart wasn't in it.

"What happen, Chat? What's so important that you had to tell me face-to-face?"

Chat sighed. "It's Hawkmoth. I know who he is."

"What? Really?! Who? Maybe we can go talk to him!"

"He's Gabriel Agreste."

Ladybug's eye's widened. "Mr Agreste? But-but..."

"I know."

"What are we going to do?"

"What can we do?"

"Well, we can't just speak to him, as that would involve getting past his security, which I doubt he'd let us do. But he never leaves his manor. Nobody does. Except..."

"Except his son," Chat Noir said, a plan forming.

"Adrien Agreste," Ladybug nodded.

"You know him?" Chat asked, surprised. What if he had actually met Ladybug's alter ego without knowing?

"Well, everyone knows of him," she gestured at the massive billboards with his face on in front of the hotel.

Chat rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Oh yeah."

"But how does that help us?"

"Well, I think I might have a plan. I'll have to think a bit more about the logistics of it, but... Meet you back here after school?"

"You have a plan, Chat? That's a first," she teased him. "Can't you tell me another joke?"

"Hey!" Before Chat could say much else, Hawkmoth spoke to him in his mind.

Ladybug cried out, seeing the butterfly appear.

"Hurt, betrayed, insulted. I can give you powers to make everyone see that you're the best."

Chat might have been tempted, but he was distracted by the familiarity of the voice. How had he never noticed that it was his father before?

"Thanks, but no thanks. Tempting, but I think I'll have to pass. Get the message? nO."

The butterfly disappeared. Chat frowned.

"That was easy."

Ladybug winced. "I'm really sorry Chat, I didn't realise my teasing had that much of an effect-"

"That's the thing," he said, frowning. "It didn't. Sure, I was a bit annoyed, but not on an akuma level. It was like... like he was desperate."