#i mean *next teams* *as prizes* for the gameshow idea

[mochegato]

Pixie Spy

Chapter 6

Chapter 1     Chapter 5

“What the fuck is this bullshit!  Are you sure?” Chat Noir exclaimed loudly from his perch across the street from the hotel.

“Just telling you what I see, dude.  There’s no Nightwing in that room.” Carapace reported with very little sympathy from his position across the street from the hotel on the other side from Ladybug and Chat Noir.  “And I’m only seeing four heat signatures so I don’t think I’m just missing him.  It looks like the big Bat, the little bat, and the middle bats.  Basically, all the bats that were in town except Nightwing.”

“Wow!  That is totally like a fuck you directly to Chat.” Rena Rouge laughed, turning to face toward Chat despite not having a direct line of sight to him.  

“That matches with what the front desk staff said.” Bee confirmed as she examined her nails.  The roof she was on, a few blocks from the hotel in a different direction, had very little light to help with the examination, but she was determined not to let such little details prevent her from making sure she looked immaculate. She had standards damn it.  “They only saw four men checking in.”

“And you’re just telling us this now why?” Rena Rouge inquired exasperated.  Even with the distance between her position a few blocks away in a separate direction from everyone else, the roll of her eyes could be felt by everyone.

“Uh, because they just reported it?  Plus, there is no way to know if that was accurate. They could have been trying to sneak the other one in to surprise us.” Bee responded as though anyone who didn’t understand that without her saying it was an utter idiot.

“Sorry, Chaton.  Guess there’s no kissing tonight for you.” Ladybug smirked at him.

Chat looked at her with a pout trying to hide the amused glint in his eyes.  “And what about your man?  How are you planning on kissing him anyway?  Even once you get past that atrocity of a mask, he’s like two of you on top of each other.”

“I am not that much shorter than him!” Ladybug declared indignantly, pouting her lips at him.

“He’s not too far off.  That man is huge and you are… compact.” Rena tried to offer kindly but the sardonic grin on her face was evident in her voice.

“Sounds like that puts her at the perfect height to make him really happy.” Bee smirked wickedly.

“Bee!!  That is absolutely not something I want to discuss right now… or ever.  We are never having that conversation.”  Ladybug exclaimed trying to cool down her burning cheeks.  She had a hard enough time focusing when just thinking about caressing his face or running her fingers through his hair or… or kissing his perfect, luscious, inviting lips… Where were they again?  “Can we please focus on the issue at hand before they scatter and announce their presence to Hawkmoth?”  She wasn’t sure if she was talking more to the team or to herself.

“Just trying to help,” Bee shrugged as though everyone listening didn’t know that was a complete lie.

“Right… so the first order of business before we attack them is you reacting to that mask, right?” Chat asked with a wide childlike grin, already anticipating the carnage.

“We’re not going to attack them.  We are going to politely inform them that their services are not required and kindly return to their own territory.” Ladybug corrected him, trying to get the team to focus on the mission.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘fuck off’ in the politest terms possible.” Chat dismissed her comment.

“No need to be polite about it,” Bee cut in.

“But, first order of business, right?” Chat continued barely restraining himself from bouncing back and forth on his toes.

“Can we focus on the task at hand, please?” Ladybug muttered.  “I want to be ready to stop them before Hawkmoth sees the Batfamily are in Paris and sends akumas for all of them.”

“So how are you planning on handling this?  Good cop, bad cop?” Rena asked.

“How about strict but polite cops?” Ladybug offered instead.

“Boo,” Carapace said over the coms.

“No,” Chat responded quickly and a bit louder than necessary.  “I want to be bad cop.  They left Nightwing at home.  They deserve it.”

“You just want an excuse to be a vindictive dick to someone.” Ladybug rolled her eyes at him.

“And?” Chat asked flatly.

“And we are fucking professionals and we will act like it.” She said.  Chat gave her kitty eyes.  She grunted and rolled her eyes, “Damn it.  Fine.  Bad cop, disappointed in your life choices cop.  But they haven’t done anything to deserve us being assholes to them yet so reign it in unless things get hostile.”

“No, don’t reign it in.  They need to know they are not welcome here.” Bee advised sharply.

“We can make that clear without creating enemies.  If we push too hard, they won’t back off, they’ll push back and although we can take them, I really do not want to deal with the international fallout of permanently injuring the bats.”

“You know, you wouldn’t have to permanently injure them.” Carapace pointed out.

“No, no, I’m going to permanently injure them.” Ladybug said overdramatically.  She turned toward the hotel and let out a sigh. “I’m trying to be strategic with this. So far, what they know of us is we worked with Constantine and we didn’t call them in to help.  That and breaking into their Batcave are the only things they know about us.  That’s it. It is natural to want more information. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt.  They might be assholes but I try not to be.”

“Since when?” Rena snarked.

“Fuck you,” Ladybug quipped back.

“Ugh, fine, but they are going to disguise their intentions behind innocuous questions and innuendos.  Don’t hold back once they go there.  Call that shit out.  They are trying to get enough information so they can take over and we are well aware. They’re not that smart and we’re not that dumb.  Just because we’re pretty doesn’t mean we’re stupid.  They need to know it is in Paris’ best interests if they leave and quickly.” Bee stated flatly.

“Aww.  You think we’re pretty?” Rena responded batting her eyes unseen.  

“No, but I’m pretty enough to bring up the average,” Bee responded with a smirk.

Before a snark war could start, Ladybug interceded.  “I’m aware Bee.  I won’t say anything more than is available on the Ladyblog.”

“Oh damn!” Carapace swore over the coms.  They could hear the wince in his voice.  “That had to hurt.”

“What happened?” Ladybug demanded settling into a defensive posture.

“Your man just proved Edna Mode right using Robin as an example.” Carapace chuckled.

“Trust issues.” Bee said like a gameshow host introducing a prize.

Ladybug grimaced thinking about Robin’s costume. “Speaking of flashy and attention seeking, Rena, have you figured out what your distraction is going to be?”

“I have a few ideas.  Any requests?  You want big and flashy or subtle?  Maybe mess with their heads and make them paranoid?”

“I want flashy.  You wouldn’t do it with that last akuma.  Give me this. Plus Batman is known for his dramatic entrances, but he’s on our turf now and I want to show them what dramatic really means.” Chat pouted at Ladybug’s unimpressed look.

“You were saying something about professionalism, Bug?” Bee’s voice came back.

“Are you suggesting petty grudges aren’t professional?” Carapace responded.  “Because, I’m pretty sure that is the business model for most major companies.”

Ladybug lowered her head and shook it letting out a long, strained breath before she reacted, “You heard the man, Rena.”

“Flashy with a hint of fuck you, it is.” Rena confirmed with a nod.

“Movement in the room.  It looks like they’re making their move.”  Carapace reported.

Ladybug straightened immediately.  The news rippled through the team like a flipped switch.  Their relaxed postures and jovial comments were left behind in favor of vigilance.  “Okay team, it’s starting.  Carapace get into position.  Rena, you got the distraction ready?”

“Know exactly what to do, Ladybug.” Rena confirmed.

“Perfect.  Everybody in position?” Ladybug asked.

Affirmatives rang out from the three.  “And remember LB, this isn’t about them, it’s about Paris.  They don’t need to be happy with the results, they just need to leave.” Chat reminded her.

“Right.  Understood.” She looked down and took a deep breath bracing herself for what was about to come.  She rolled her shoulders back and stretched her head from side to side. She knew she could make them leave easily but she needed to do more than that.  She needed to make them understand why they needed to stay away and agree to do so.  Barring understanding, she needed to make them fear coming back, which was not a direction she wanted to go, which meant she really needed to make them listen.  All while Jason was there, looking at her.  

She was not looking forward to seeing him again.  No, that was a lie.  She was very much looking forward to seeing him again, just not today, not like this.  She didn’t want to have to manipulate him.  She didn’t want to lie to him.  That’s how they got in this situation in the first place, because she had the stupid, overwhelming urge to be honest with him, to let him in.  But she wasn’t in a place where she got to do that. Letting people in meant making them a part of the fight.  It made them vulnerable and wrecked their lives.  She tried to contain the damage to mainly her and a bit to Adrien, but everyone who joined suffered.  And the thought of causing him that much pain or having to fight an akumatized Jason…

Ladybug looked back up toward the roof across the street with a renewed determination, her gaze steely and her lips set.  She waited until the last of the Bats had arrived on the roof before whispering into the coms, “Rena, you’re on.”  

<><><><><> 

Red Hood landed on the roof last, bringing up the rear for the group.  He looked out over the city willing himself to feel which direction he should go to find his Pixie Pop.  He was focused intently on nothing in particular when he felt someone slap his arm. He whipped his head around to see Red Robin staring across the roof dumbfounded.  He followed his line of sight and saw an odd looking fox sitting next to some pots on the other side of the roof.  After a few moments Red Robin finally got his voice back and decided to use it to make a brilliantly insightful observation.  “There’s a fox… on the roof.”

“How did a fox get up here?  What kind of irresponsible hotel is this?” Robin demanded.

The fox hissed at him like she was personally insulted and ran toward them, rounding the edge of the pool so closely, she just barely missed falling in. Robin’s breath caught and he automatically reached in the direction of the fox, ready to rescue her should she fall into the pool.  The fox continued on as though she hadn’t almost fallen in the water, increasing her speed as she ran between Robin and Red Robin toward the edge of the roof. Robin whirled around and jutted forward to grab the fox before she got hurt or fell off the roof.  But the fox seemed to have other ideas, speeding up even faster and racing toward the edge of the roof before jumping off.  

Robin ran to the edge to see if the fox might have landed on a balcony, but fell back, landing hard on the ground when a cloud of bats flew up into the sky at a breakneck speed from the same spot the fox had jumped.  Red Robin flinched back from the bats’ sudden appearance but Batman just narrowed his eyes at them.  Red Hood cocked his head to the side watching the bat-like things flying around above them before taking off away from the hotel.  “What the actual fucking fuck was that!” Red Hood exclaimed.

Ladybug and Chat landed on the roof behind the bats and watched them for a few moments.  They turned to each other with smug smiles.  No matter what else happened that night, they were always going to remember the chaos they had caused the bats.  They were counting that as their first win.  They turned back toward the bats and schooled their expressions.  Ladybug gave them a few moments to notice them before she stage whispered to Chat, “How long do you think it will take them to notice us?”

“Super unimpressed right now.” Chat shook his head in disappointment, leaning casually on his baton.

The bats whipped around in unison.  Batman and Robin refused to show the shock they felt.  Instead, Batman stared intently at them while Robin glared at them.  Red Robin looked back and forth between the Parisian heroes and the space where the bats had been flying, his face scrunching in confusion as if trying to figure something out.  Red Hood however focused entirely on Ladybug, squinting at her as if trying to piece something together that refused to fit, not that anyone could see it under the mask.

Ladybug and Chat jumped down off the ledge but stayed on their side of the roof, allowing the pool to mark the division between the two groups, acting as a buffer between them, easy enough to get around should they need to, but demarcating the sides.  Ladybug looked between the vigilantes, her gaze lingering a bit longer than it should on Red Hood.  That hurt more than she expected, to see him but not talk to him, not really, not be able to acknowledge him or see what he was thinking.  Because he couldn’t know it was her and even if he did, he couldn’t stay.  She moved her gaze back to Batman with a strained smile, trying to calm her erratic heart. “Hello.  Welcome to Paris.  My name is Ladybug.  This is Chat Noir.”  Ladybug introduced them politely but with an edge to her voice.

“Is there anything we can help you with before you leave?” Chat asked innocently.  Ladybug pressed her lips together in annoyance but kept her eyes on the bats. Not as bad as it could be.

“Good evening Ladybug, Chat Noir.  I’m Batman.  This is Robin, Red Robin, and Red Hood.  We would like to discuss the situation here in Paris with you.”

“You’re missing your whole team.  Where’s the other one?” Chat asked nonchalantly.  Ladybug fought rolling her eyes.  To be fair, Chat had warned her he was going to be a petty dick, she just was expecting a bit more of a focused dickishness.  They were going up against Batman.  They needed to focus, to project confidence and control.  

“Really, dude?” Carapace asked through the coms.

“Where’s your other one?  Where is the one that makes portals?” Red Hood asked not even attempting to mask the interest in his voice, and that hurt even more.

“And breaks into secret bases?” Red Robin grumbled loudly.

“She has been exposed thanks to you, Redwood.  And the rule of the miraculous is once your identity is exposed you can no longer wield a miraculous.” Ladybug responded.  It wasn’t a lie, not exactly.  It was longstanding rule.  It was heavily ignored, but it was still the rule.  It was the jaywalking of the miraculous rules; there but nobody ever acknowledged it unless the situation was really dangerous. She lowered her eyes in guilt.  He hadn’t made her tell him.  She had done that.  It wasn’t his fault she had divulged their secret.  She weighed letting him believe it was his fault so he would back off versus the guilt he would carry with him.  She couldn’t let him carry that with him because of her.  “She made her choice.”

“So you just, what? Kicked her to the curb?” Red Hood demanded indignant on behalf of the woman whose name he didn’t even know.  How dare they use her and throw her away like that! She had risked going into a potential enemy’s base for them and they just throw her out like she was nothing. She lifted her eyes to him and studied him closer.  His face was obscured tragically but his body was tense, angry.  Not a good condition for Paris.

“Forget about the scapegrace.” Robin growled breaking their link. “Let’s get this over with.”

Red Hood glared at him but Ladybug cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes in concentration, studying Robin, looking for something in his face.  When she didn’t see what she was looking for, she spoke up, “Chat, you speak English better than I do, was that an insult?  That sounded like an insult, but I can’t tell.”  Chat shrugged and gave her a non-committal grunt.  She hummed in response and flashed an overly wide model smile Adrien used on the red carpet with overly pushy reporters, “I’m going to take that a compliment.  Thank you for your kind words.  I will let her know you send your well wishes and admiration.”

Robin growled at her.  Red Robin looked down to hide the smirk that tried to push through and break his serious expression.  Looking back up at the heroes, he started firing off his questions to hide his smile, “So she was using a miraculous. Which one was she using?  Are you using a miraculous?  Is that what your villain is using as well?  How many miraculous are in play right now?  How many do you have?  How did you know we were here?”

“That’s a lot of questions for people who aren’t welcome here and won’t be here much longer.” Chat answered sharply.

“Chat…” Ladybug said warningly.  “Polite, remember?”

“That was polite.” Chat objected.  She gave him a warning look. “This is our territory they invaded and our villain they were just about to offer their services to.”

“Now you guys are concerned about boundaries?” Red Robin deadpanned.

“We came here to find out more about the situation here.” Batman stated loudly bringing the attention back to him.  “We were only recently made aware there was a situation and we would like to learn more about what is going on.”

“I’m sure you would, gothboy,” Bee growled over the coms.

Ladybug looked down to hide her smile.  Getting her focus back, she asked, “And you needed almost your entire team to ask a few questions?”

“We weren’t sure of your receptiveness to visitors.  We wanted to be able to protect ourselves in case you attacked.” Batman stated logically.

“Reasonable.” She nodded absentmindedly.  “Better to be prepared than caught unaware.  Although, it’s cute that you think you would stand a chance even with your whole team.” Ladybug said confidently.  She wasn’t inviting a discussion on this and she wasn’t threatening them.  She was stating a fact, one they should be aware of.  Okay, maybe she was a bit more condescending than she had to be.  But the bats had to know, they were not the power players in this group.  The miraculous team were.

“You presumptuous, little feist.  You have no idea what we are capable of, what we’ve done.” Robin growled. Batman’s hand on his shoulder cut his lecture short.

“Oh Sweetie, we are well aware of what you are capable, of what you have done.” She responded lowly, fixing him with a dark glare that had Robin faltering and Red Robin gulping.  “It’s why we’ve made a point of keeping you away from this situation.  You are the ones who don’t know of what we are capable.”  A thunderclap sounded in the sky as though to accentuate her point.

Chat pursed his lips so hard to keep himself from laughing that the pink could no longer be seen.  He was going to buy a drink for Alya after that.

A tense silence fell over the rooftop until Batman finally broke the tension.  “You are correct, we do not know what you are capable of or what the nature of the situation here is.  Could you give us a bit more information?  We just want to see if there is anything we could do to help.”

“And not to take over because you think you can do better?” Ladybug asked with a raised brow.

“Clearly we could do better.  You’ve been fighting the same villain for 5 years.” Robin scoffed at them.

“Robin!” Batman admonished him.

“Ignore him.  He’s being a jealous little prick.  He is physically incapable of being anything else.” Red Hood implored.

“When’s the last time you fought half a million enemies at the same time, little one?  And defeated all of them?”  Ladybug asked throwing out the comment on his age and size knowing he would take it as a slight.  “Because that was last week for us.  One million was the week before.  Not particularly impressive, I know, but it’s been a slow month.”

“Also, how’s the Penguin doing?  You’ve been fighting him for over a decade now, right?  You can’t even stop a fucking flightless, cold water bird.” Chat scoffed.

“You realize he isn’t an actual bird, right?” Red Robin asked wryly.

“Wait, What!?  I have been sorely misinformed.” Chat gasped dramatically and brought his hand to his chest. “I completely take it back.  It’s much less unimpressive that you’ve been fighting with billions of dollars of support and technology against a single person with no super powers for a decade.”  He said dryly.

“Honestly would have been more impressive if it had been an actual bird.  Significantly cooler too.” Carapace over the coms.

“We’re not here to fight.” Batman said calmly.

“Could have fooled me,” Chat grumbled.

“Probably, doesn’t seem like it’s too hard to do.” Robin scoffed.

“Oh, that little… next time I’m coming too.  Give me just 5 minutes with that little gremlin.” Bee growled through the coms.

Ladybug crooked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, “Yeah, non-hostile is definitely the vibe we’re getting from you.”

Red Hood held out his hands trying to placate them, “We found out about the situation from the other woman and we want to help.  She said things were bad.  She said you needed help.”

“That seems highly unlikely,” Carapace scoffed.

“What the hell did you say back there?” Rena asked skeptically.

“She told you we needed help?  She said she wanted you to intervene, Redwood?” Ladybug questioned him incredulity in her voice.  

Red Hood furrowed his brows and huffed, “Red Hood.”

“What?”

“It’s Red Hood, not Red Wood.”

She furrowed her brows in confusion, “I meant Redwood like the tree?  You know, the… the tree…” she motioned indicating something tall.  “Is that not the word for those really big trees in America? Redwoods?” She asked Chat uncertain.

Chat looked at her wide-eyed, “Did you… did you make his name into a pun?”

She looked back at him horrified, “No!  Why would you… oh, yeah, I see it now.  Shit.”  She looked over to Chat with desperation in her eyes.  “That nickname never happened.  We all forget that happened and we never mention it again.”

“No, no.  That’s the only way we are referring to him from now on.  I’m spreading the word.” Chat grinned at her.

“Word is spread, dude.” Carapace responded back.  “He is now dubbed Red Wood the Dancer.”

“How’s that professionalism looking right about now, Bug?” Bee asked with amusement clear in her voice.

“I hate you,” the ‘all’ went unspoken but everyone on her team heard it.

“You know I’m still here, right?” Red Hood spoke up.

“Yeah, but your opinion of what we call you doesn’t matter.” Chat shrugged.

Ladybug let out a long suffering sigh, looking back to Red Hood to continue the conversation.  She immediately squeezed her eyes shut, “And could you not wear that thing while you are talking.  It’s extremely distracting.  Who designed that for you and what dishonor did you inflict upon them and their ancestors to cause them to punish you with it, and thereby the rest of us?”

“I… this helmet serves a purpose.” Red Hood defended himself.

“To terrorize your opponents?” She asked skeptically.

“That’s part of it.” Red Hood confirmed.

“Mission accomplished, but not the way you intended, I think.” She said narrowing her eyes at him.  “Seriously, it’s like looking at an elementary school play about Hellboy.”

Red Hood was left gaping, grasping for words. “Disappointed. You could have done better, Dudette.” Carapace said through the coms.

“I expect a follow up to that next time you see him,” Rena added.

“I changed my mind.  I think I’m warming up to them.” Red Robin grinned.

Red Hood glared at Red Robin, “Back to the original question, no.  She said Constantine was helping.  She said people were suffering, children were suffering.  I want to help end that.  We just want to help.”

Robin shot a condescending grin at them, “Of course if you want to keep allowing the people of Paris to suffer because you’re too proud to accept help you so desperately need, yet too incompetent to end it on your own…”

“Excuse me?  What!  Oh no, I was totally wrong about him.  Go for it.  Take him down, Dudette.” Carapace growled.

“So to be clear, she said she was already getting help and you heard her tell Constantine you weren’t supposed to know about the situation let alone welcome in Paris and you came anyway.” She stared them down, letting her words sink in.  “You need to leave now.  You can’t be here.  Leave in the morning or we will force you.”  Ladybug says grimly.  

Robin glowering at her.  “As if someone like you could”

“Without breaking a sweat, Sweetie.  The warning is purely an attempt to keep things friendly.  And with all due respect…”

“Which isn’t much,” rang out from all four members of team at the same time.

“…I assure you, if we have to remove you, things will be considerably less friendly and you won’t even know what hit you.”  Ladybug stated coldly.

“You contemptible, duplicitous, mendacious, cretinous, Jezebel!” Robin raged.

“Robin, if you do not shut your fucking mouth right now,” Red Hood growled as he stalked toward him only held back by Red Robin, “I will personally toss you right the fuck after that fucking fox without your grappling hook.”

“You might want to apologize, Robin, or my arm might give out and not be able to hold him back anymore.” Red Robin hissed.

“Boys!” Batman thundered.  “We are on a mission.”

Ladybug crooked her head to the side again, “I know you haven’t been doing this very long so a piece of advice for you; I understood very little of what you said.  As a result, I am not nearly as offended as you wanted me to be.  Look, I understand that Pompous Asshole is the only language you speak, but it may enhance your effectiveness if you were to work on bettering yourself in the communications area.  It’s hard to intimidate someone if they have no idea what you are saying.”

Robin turned red at the suggestion he was inferior in any area, especially intimidation.  He was to be feared not belittled.  He had been trained as such since he was born.  “See, I turned you redder than my suit solely using words you understood.”

Red Robin turned slightly toward Red hood with a huge grin and said quietly, “I’m definitely warming up to them.”

“Not to mention you are letting your anger undermine your stated purpose for being here.  To make it clearer to you, you are messing it up for your team because you are incapable of controlling your emotions, so interested in making us feel like failures that you are causing your entire team to become one.” Ladybug broke it down sternly but softly, like she was speaking to a child, which she was. Despite what he thought of himself, he was a child.

Robin tensed to jump at them, reaching for his sword but stopped when Batman placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard giving him a hard stare.  “We are not suggesting you haven’t been doing a good job.” Batman stated.  Robin scoffed.  “We did not come to fight, I promise.”

“Wise move, but I think not everyone on your team got the memo.” Ladybug said coolly.

“It’s a shame he doesn’t have parents to teach him manners.” Chat stated casually as though he was thinking out loud.  “Or maybe they’re more like mine, too invested in their own interests to actually invest in parenting their kids.”  He turned a sharp gaze back to Batman, “Anyway, I digress, you were saying something?”

Red Robin grinned at the ground again as Red Hood interceded, attempting to change the topic.  “We are all here to get more information and if you aren’t willing to give that then… then that’s fine.  Can I just speak with the other woman, please?”

“Hood…” Batman warned.

“Ooo, LB.  He’s got it bad.”  Rena smiled.

“I assure you, you won’t get a different answer from her.” Ladybug responded plainly, forcing her eyes to stay sharp instead of softening like they wanted to do.  He was not playing fair and he didn’t even know it.  He was messing with her heart making it speed up and stop and skip beats all at the same time.  It wasn’t fair.

“That’s fine.  I just want to talk with her.”  Red Hood asked, a touch of desperation leaking through his words.

“I think she has said quite enough talking already.  She won’t be doing any more, not with you, not anytime soon.” Ladybug responded harshly.  She still felt guilty for letting herself expose them to him like she had and needed to remind herself.

“What did you do to her?” Red Hood asked warily.

“She’s fine.  We don’t harm our allies.” Ladybug said pointedly throwing a glare over toward Batman.  “She does not want you here right now either.”

“You don’t speak for her,” Red Hood growled at her.

“Right now I do.  She agrees the situation is too dangerous to have the Justice League here.  It’s too dangerous for her and for you to be here until we have ended the threat.”

Red Hood desperately looking for some way to recover this.  He couldn’t go back without getting some clue about her, without getting closer.  He needed a chance, just one chance to get closer.  “Cat guy, you going to let her speak for you?” Red Hood tried instead.

“Oooh, that was the wrong move.” Rena winced.

“Dude’s desperate give him a break.  He’s looking for anyone who’ll give him a different answer.” Carapace offered weakly.  He was rooting for him and willing to give him a break on one desperate, stupid attempt.

“Me? Yeah, that’s the way it works.  She does the talking, I do the destroying.” Chat glared back at him then whispered “Black Storm” causing a black ball of condensed misfortune to appear between his hands.  “Unless you’d really like me to take over…” he said rolling the ball between his hands like a magician’s floating ball.

“We are trying to help you dolt.  We have experience and training, which you are sorely in need of.” Robin shouted at them.

“And excellent control over your emotions clearly.  Tell me class why is that combination, NOT a benefit in this instance?  Anyone? Anyone at all?  Bueller? Bueller?” Chat taunted him.

“Listen here, you and your entire team, including that cat thieving hussy…” before Robin could finish the sentence Red Hood yelled, “Can you shut your trap for 3 seconds so we can have a conversation.  We have a mission here and you are blowing it.”

A realization suddenly hit Chat, he pointed at Robin and looked at Ladybug wide eyed, “Oh it was his cat.” He turned back to Robin, “it was your cat.  That explains the…” motions towards him and the hostility rolling off him in waves.

“You stole a cat?” Rena asked.  

“Can’t wait to hear that story.” Carapace grinned.

“Interesting,” Bee said thoughtfully.

“That’s it.  Taking the com out now.  If there is anything important, announce it.” Ladybug said quietly pulling out her com.

“Sorry about that.  Cats just really, really like her.” Chat motioned toward Ladybug, “I can attest.  But we returned him to you little man, so… all good, right?”  Robin glared at him and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

“Why don’t you tell us why it is a bad idea?” Batman interceded, attempting to bring the conversation back to the topic at hand.  It had not escaped his notice that they had been speaking for a while now and had yet to get any information on the situation in Paris.  “We would appreciate more information on the situation.”

Chat was done with this conversation, with the false promises, the hostilities, and the disrespect.  “Huh, where did all that confidence and bravado go?  Just a second ago I swear I heard something about knowing how to handle the situation better than us because we were so utterly, helplessly incompetent and yet here you are asking us what the situation is and for advice on how to handle it.  Well here’s the advice; Get Out.  Your interference will make Bialya look like a success.” Chat growled.  Ladybug put a hand on his arm again warning him to back down on the hostility.

“Bialya was… an unfortunate event.” Batman conceded.

“That is putting it mildly.  But the Justice League always knows better, right?” Chat hissed.

“Chat! Robin insinuated the incompetence not Batman.  Batman is asking why we think it is a bad idea for them to stay and we want them to understand that, remember?” Ladybug offered attempting to bring down the hostility and suspicion on both sides. She was still well aware of Batman’s true intentions and he needed to be called on it, but they were edging to pushing too hard.”

“We just came to find out what is going on.  Offer assistance if you needed it.  NOT take over.” Red Robin repeated, looking directly at Ladybug. Chat was looking for a fight, but Ladybug appeared willing to talk.  She was willing to work with them, at least a little.  She was the one they needed to focus on.

Chat scoffed but Ladybug tightened her grip on his arm stopping him from continuing, “We appreciate the offer but we will kindly have to decline it.  We have considered the options, researched the players, and we have decided at this point in time having members of the Justice League, or affiliated organizations, in Paris is too dangerous for us and for Paris.” Ladybug stated diplomatically, ignoring what she was sure were angry cries coming over the com in Chat’s ear about her being too nice.

“We would like to see if there is room for us to offer assistance.  We would be negligent if we just took your word for it.” Batman said sternly not giving an inch.

“Already doubting our word and trying to force your way into the situation I see.” Ladybug quirked a brow but kept her voice light.  “You can get the information you seek from any of the many online resources available.”

“Those aren’t available outside of Paris.” Red Robin pointed out.

“Well then I suggest you download the contents of the sites before you leave in the morning.  You could also call up business people here to discuss the situation under the guise of investigating whether adding a Paris branch to… a company,” she just stopped herself from exposing their identities.  Even if she was confident there were no cameras up here, it was still good practice. “…would be dangerous.  Not to mention the files in your possession that we copied.  They contain more than enough information to give you the insight you desire.” She suggested well aware of the fact that even with decryption software working full force, they would not be able to decipher the Grimoire texts.  “There are options other than being here and exposing yourself to our villain.

“The abridged version is we have a villain that takes advantage of people’s negative emotions to possess them.  It allows him to use that person’s knowledge, combined with his own against us.  As a result, having people in Paris who are experts in combat or people who would go to any length to find out our identities is extremely dangerous to us and could tip the balance in Hawkmoth’s favor. That’s a double strike for you.”

“We don’t need to know your identities.  We can help you without knowing them.” Red Robin assured them.

Ladybug cocked her head to the side, her voice dripping in skepticism.  “Can you honestly say none of you would try to figure out our identities and how to defeat us?  That you don’t have files on everyone you work with, on how to take them down, their weaknesses, where to hit to have the strongest impact, including discovering their identities with or without their permission?”  Thank you to Constantine for that little tidbit. “Our identities are secret by necessity. We don’t even know each other’s identities,” a small lie, but a necessary one.  It still made her uncomfortable to say it, she curled her fingers and straightened them back out in response to the uncomfortable feeling. “Imagine that information in the hands of Hawkmoth.”

“Like we would let someone take it.” Robin sneered at them.

“Like you could control it.” Chat sneered right back at him.

“Regardless of intent or actual physical possession of the files, as I mentioned before, our villain takes advantage of people’s emotions to turn them into supervillains with their own superpowers.  He takes over their minds.  Any negative emotion makes you susceptible.  Have you ever felt sad?  Mad? Frustrated?  Guilty? Desperate?  Then you’re susceptible.  Tell me who in the Justice League would be immune to that?”  Ladybug looked them in the eyes, refusing to back down or soften this blow.

“I’ve seen the moon destroyed and the world annihilated.  We’ve seen the city flooded and a super volcano half the size of the city bubbling away instead of our suburbs.  We’ve seen the very air turned into sulfer dioxide.  Have you ever heard children screeching in more pain than any human should ever have to experience? Have you heard hundreds at the same time?  Have you had to listen to the inhuman sounds they make?  We have and we relive it every single night.  Have you had to dig through your partners’ blood to find their miraculous after watching them die in front of you, get beheaded next to you, in order to finish the fight?  He has.” She said gesturing toward Chat.  “Those were people with newly acquired powers but no training.  Imagine what would happen if one of the Justice League became akumatized, familiarity with how to wield powers and strategic training with new and unlimited power…  It was not a risk we were willing to take.”

Red Hood stared in horror.  That was why his Pixie Pop was so angry at the gala when she thought Constantine was messing around and wasting time, because that is what she had to deal with and any delay meant the people of Paris had to deal with more of it.  That was what she was so desperate to stop, Hell on Earth, constant agony.  And every additional second they had to bear it was torture.

Red Robin stared dazed at her for a few moments but then narrowed his eyes realizing an inconsistency in her story, “The city looks amazingly unharmed, considering all you claim to have seen.”

“That’s my power.  I fix miraculous related damage.” Ladybug responded tiredly.

“Convenient” Robin quipped.

“Not nearly as convenient as preventing it from happening in the first place, I assure you.  The cure fixes the physical damage but it doesn’t fix the psychological damage done. It doesn’t take away the memories. Everyone remembers what happened to them and to the ones they love.”  She turned to Batman with soft eyes, “I understand that you want to get as much information as humanly possible so you can feel like you have some control over this situation but you don’t.  You won’t. You can’t.  The help that would be most valuable to the city of Paris is if you could convince Bruce Wayne to send fleets of therapists.  I understand you have a unique relationship with him.”

Batman stared silently, letting the description settle in.  If what they were saying was true, then the situation was worse than he had anticipated.  They were handling it but heroes had died.  She was right that therapists would also be advantageous, not only for the citizens of Paris but for the heroes as well.  It was a miracle they hadn’t had anyone break from the stress yet.  If anything, it solidified his resolve to get to know everything he could about the situation so they could step in when one of the heroes inevitably did succumb to the pressure.

“We could help in other ways.  We could offer support from a distance.  We could help, we just need to know more about the miraculous and how they work, what their strengths and weaknesses are.  We can work together.” Red Robin offered.

“Is that what you would do?  Made a deal with a group that has a history of betrayal and violence towards allies? We know Batman would and has. Would you?  And trust them to keep their word?  Give them all the secrets and insights on how to undermine us or neutralize us?  Trust them to stay out of Paris and not ‘know better than us how to handle it’?  Not get us to trust you so you could find out more about the miraculous and take it so you could keep it better protected?” Ladybug asked in a dubious tone.

Batman stayed silent in response to the obvious suggestion.  Not denying it.  Red Hood and Red Robin shot Batman glares from the corner of their eyes, not wanting to make it completely obvious that she had deduced the plan they had been arguing over earlier.

Ladybug took note of their silence and hummed in response.  “I thought so.  It sounds like we made the correct choice after all.”

“No, please.  It sounds like you have a lot of issues with B here.  That’s fine, I understand.  I do too. Let me stay and help.” Red Hood took off his mask revealing his face, no domino mask to preserve any semblance of secrecy.  He wanted to lay everything out in the open.  He moved closer to Ladybug and Chat until he was halfway between them and his family. He needed them to see how earnestly he meant his words.  Ladybug’s breath hitched looking into his eyes shining with sincerity as he plead with them.  She wanted to look over to his family to see how they were reacting but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Red Hood’s.  

“I can act as intermediary, support, nothing more.  B and his team stay out of the city. Justice League stays out of the city. And I help train you and help you track down your villain.  I’m a damn good detective.  I can help.” Red Robin stared at him incredulously and Robin glared at him. Batman’s look was indecipherable.

He started to say something but is interrupted by sound of “Akumas incoming, multiple” coming from the areas of Chat’s baton and Ladybug’s cord around her waist.

“Dammit,” Ladybug yelled. “5 minutes! 5 fucking minutes! And honestly it could probably be any of them.” She pulled a familiar set of glasses out of her yoyo and threw them to Chat. “It's time for you to leave.  Longg, Tikki, Unify.” She commanded as the necklace she was wearing glowed and she was washed in a golden light causing her suit, mask, and hair to change transforming into Dragon Bug.  

Chat grabbed the glasses out of the air without looking, keeping his glare settled on the Batfamily.  “Looks like you managed to endanger all of Paris in all of 5 minutes. Congratulations, you’ve surpassed our already low expectations for you.” Chat sneered at them putting the glasses on and yelling “Plaag, Kaalki, Unify!” allowing a teal light to wash over him and change his suit, mask, and hair as well transforming him into Cheval Noir.

“Wait, what is an akuma?” Red Robin asked in defensive stance ready to attack whatever it was coming at them.

“It’s what turns you into unstoppable monsters.  It’s why we didn’t want you here.” Ladybug snapped. “How long do we have?” Ladybug yelled searching the sky around them.  The sound of “Maybe two minutes, if you’re lucky.” came from her waist.  She nodded and focused on the pool.

There are many advantages to becoming an adult. Suddenly a person can participate in the government, vote, drink, buy a house, get married…  But for Marinette and Adrien, the most significant advantage was they could expand their existing powers and unlock new powers.  The moment they turned eighteen they were able to do new and exciting things with their miraculous.  Their time limit was now nonexistent, they could call on their powers multiple times without recharging, and they could access new powers, powers like Black Storm and Tidal Wave, assuming they had been trained on how to call on them, or had access to and knowledge on how to read the sacred texts that described them, which they now had thanks to the files they had pilfered from the bats.

“Tidal wave!” Dragon Bug yelled moving her arms slowly.  Everyone on the roof stared at Dragon Bug wondering what that command did.  Their eyes were drawn to the pool when they noticed the water begin to move, slowly at first, swirling like a lazy current under the surface.  The movement became faster as the water started to swirl around and rise above the edges of the pool.  The bat family and Chat watched in disbelieving awe as the water rose out of the pool in one solid mass, swirling and twirling around and back into itself, and heading straight toward the bat family.  

The bats on the other side of the pool moved back a few steps but didn’t move fast enough in their stupor to escape the water.  “What the hell?” Red Robin exclaimed quietly as he and Robin were swept up into the vortex that was now moving too fast for them to fight the current.  Batman had managed to fight against the water for a few moments, but Robin and Red Robin, whose bodies were much lither were swept up immediately.  The water carried them around again at a faster and faster velocity, on their second trip around the vortex, they collided with Batman, knocking him off his feet and forcing him to be at the mercy of the current.  

Chat was so mesmerized by the water show he forgot he was supposed to create a portal.  Staring instead in wonder at the new power Ladybug had somehow mastered in a few hours. He found out about Black Storm yesterday and still could only roll it around a bit.  He still had no idea what it would actually do if he used it.  “Chat!  Portal to the Batcave now” Dragon Bug screamed at him.

“Right!  On it!” Chat exclaimed waking up from his stupor.  “Voyage!” he called out motioning toward the water, creating a portal behind it.  Ladybug pushed the water through the portal.  She flicked her eyes over to Red Hood and hesitated.

“Got about 20 seconds at most, Bug.  If you’re going to do something, do it now!” Carapace yelled.

“Are you leaving on your own or do I need to make you?” She asked with pleading eyes.  She did not want to make him.  She needed him to understand and believe in her enough to do what she asked, even if he didn’t know it was her.

Red Hood looked between her and the portal.  He turned back to her, “Please just let me help.”

Dragon Bug looked at him with a conflicted look in her eyes. “It isn’t safe right now and we can’t deal with the akumas if I’m worrying about you too.  We just don’t have time to prepare.  I need you to go.”

Red Hood stared at her uncertain.  “Please, we don’t have time.” Dragon Bug begged him again.  He relented and walked backward toward the portal. She let out a grateful breath turned her attention toward the incoming akumas.

“There’s the first one,” Chat yelled.  Red Hood whipped his head to where Chat was looking just barely seeing a butterfly over his shoulder as he picked up his pace and started running toward the portal, jumping through just as it closed behind him.

 Chapter 7

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 Full Disclosure:  I came up with the Redwood nickname WEEKS before I realized it could be a pun.  I was just looking for names indicating very large things.  Chat has a much better ability to spot a pun than I do.

And it is my personal headcanon for this story is that Adrien is a bit like Dick. He likes to keep things light and jokey but if you want to go there, Bitch, he’ll go there with you.  His lightness is a self-defense mechanism. Without it, he will go to a dark and scary place and he will take you there with him.

And also, I’m pretty sure this is before Duke was brought into the Batfamily. I think Damian was older than he is in the story when Duke appeared.  Otherwise, clearly Duke would be the most rational person to send to Paris.