Felinette save Chat Blanc

[camembert_anynoir]

Adrien had gotten in trouble with his father countless times before. This time, this time was worse. He'd gone missing for hours while fighting a particularly nasty akuma with Marinette. They won, but he'd gotten hit by a car trying to rush home. The car hadn't been going fast when he ran out into it's way, and he'd only broken his arm. Gabriel said that he wouldn't be going to school again, but stayed silent when Adrien asked if he meant until his arm healed.

He started getting homeschooled again, and kept from leaving the house without Gorilla glued to his side. At first he made sure to video chat with his friends, have Nino over, do what he can to kill the isolation. For some reason there seemed even more akuma than normal, but the newly installed security systems kept him from even opening his window. He managed to sneak out a message to her in the showers at fencing to tell her that he was... tied up. He tried getting out to help her a few times, but every time someone came in.

He slowly stopped getting as many calls from his friends, but then he stops answering them as often. It hurt to see them, to know that they were so close but that he couldn't see them. When his grades start to slip and he's banned from seeing even Nino in person it hit him hard. He put on a brave face for his friends, but after that he just barely answers, feeling exhausted watching them have fun when he's locked away in his tower, even if they were going out of their way to try to include them. He had kept emailing and texting with Felix, depending on where he was and what his service was like there, but one night he just stops.

It wasn't like most akuma. There wasn't a sudden trigger to cause a strong emotion. It had just built up over time. The resentment towards his father, the isolation, the creeping feeling of abandonment that he tries to reason away with the devotion of his friends. He'd lost count of how many weekends had passed alone in his gilded cage. He didn't see the Akuma coming.

And then there were reports of a white-suited Chat Noir, helping other akuma start with an edge against Ladybug. For every bit flashy Chat Noir normally was, Chat Blanc was going out of his way to be subtle.

It had been a nightmare for Marinette. She was already working basically a double shift to make up for Chat's absence. He wouldn't answer any of her calls, and hadn't since Adrien got hit. Did he blame her for that for some reason? That seemed totally unlike him, but he'd been gone since Adrien was grounded. She's sitting in her room, sighing up at a picture of Adrien.

"Don't worry, Marinette," Tikki says consolingly as she pats Marinette's hand, "I'm sure that everything will be okay. We just need to have faith in your friends!"

Mari can't help but smile to her kwami, always somehow knowing what is gnawing at her, "I hope you're right, Tikki."

Comments

[monsieurnoir]

Soon Sabine is heard heading up the stairs to Marinette's room chatting with someone. "I didn't know that Adrien had a brother. That's something new and unexpected."

There's a voice that answers her male obviously young but older than Adrien, a bit deeper too. "I'm not exactly my father's favorite so he tends to forget I exist and he's likely told Adrien to behave in a like fashion." He's blunt and honest. If Marinette listens closely she can hear Sabine inhale softly and rest patting his shoulder.

"That's a pity. Just go on up there and knock. Just leave the trap door open. That's all we ask."

Felix nods. "Of course. Thank you Madame Cheng." Then he's taking the steps swiftly and knocking on the trap door. Rapping on it with his knuckles rather insistently. He knew exactly who Chat Blanc was. And he knew who was under that mask all the more reason for his hurry.

When the trap door was open and Marinette in sight, pale blue eyes focused on her. "We need to talk." Once she invites him up he's climbing into her room and straightening to his full height. He's a couple of years older than her at the very least - Adrien's older brother clearly.

"I need you to give me a Miraculous." His voice is quiet and low; because he knows this is a secret and he'd like to keep it that way - but there's a firm edge to it and a determined set to his jaw and stance that show he's serious. Absolutely serious.

"I know who you are. I know who he is. I know you can get me a Miraculous. If you want Chat Noir back you'll give me one so I can help you.."

[camembert_anynoir]

Marinette could hear the voices below, so Tikki hides under her pillows in a flash of red. Mari opens the trap door to let him in. Her jaw initally drops because Felix is just an older equally handsome Adrien. It stays open when he asks her for a Miraculous. "How do y- I mean," She laughs nervously, rubbing the back of her neck, "What's a Miraculous? Cat Noir's just on vacation- I mean, that's what ladybug says...." She knows she isn't selling the lie, but she can't help at least trying. Not even Chat knew her civilian identity.

When it becomes apparent that he's serious, she takes a deep breath, "How do you know?" She can't just hand a miraculous over, even if it's Adrien's incredibly handsome brother without knowing she can trust him.

[monsieurnoir]

Felix sighs and he's moving carefully further into her room. His hands are slipping into the pockets of his slacks. Nothing he wears is Gabriel brand. The blond is dressed nicely but it's obvious he avoids his father's line favoring off the rack, cheaper, sensible options. "Marinette, please. Can we not do this dance? We're running out of time. I'm not as dumb as the people in Paris besides once you've had a Miraculous... you learn things. Like how to really see people."

He's turning to look at her focusing on her. "Your hair gets bluer, your freckles are covered by the mask but there's no hiding those pigtails. Then it's a simple matter of me knowing what to look for - your earrings and your kwami where ever she is hiding has a fondness for cookies - a baker's daughter is the ideal holder for the Ladybug earrings.."

His hands left his pockets and he took a step toward her. "I'm not here for your earrings. I'm not here for Tikki. I'm not here to take back the ring of the black cat. I want to help you. I need to help you. I can't tell you why or more than that. I'm sorry but it's not my secrets to keep."

[camembert_anynoir]

Marinette was about to argue more when a tiny sigh comes out from under her pillows and Tikki emerges, "It's true, Marinette. He lost his miraculous, but I think you can trust him."

Marinette is even more shocked by this, holding her hands to her heart, "Tikki?" She takes a breath in and nods, grabbing her purse from her desk and opening it for Tikki to hide in. "I don't have any of the Miraculous with me here. I have to go get one, but what can you tell me?"

[monsieurnoir]

"Lost isn't the word I would use, Tikki. It's nice to see you again." He's watching the kwami for a moment before clearing his throat. "You know I wouldn't come here unless it was important. I remember the rules and I wouldn't break them recklessly."

Felix shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Then we'll need to go get one and I'll need to learn how to use a new one. You'll need to ask the Guardian for one that's a bit like Chat's for simplicity's sake or with a weapon like a sword or rapier... I'm used to using the ring but I will make do with whatever."

Something flashed in his eyes for a moment. "I know Chat Noir. And I know that he wouldn't want to be controlled like this. This goes against everything that he stands for and I won't abandon him to that. We have to save him."

[camembert_anynoir]

Marinette nods, "Meet me at the Pont des Arts in thirty minutes." He's right, being akumatized like this must be torture. She didn't want to believe it, having never seen Chat Blanc herself. It made too much sense.

Once Fèlix leaves Marinette transforms and rushes to Master Fu's, and explains what happened. It doesn't take much longer before she shows up at the bridge as Marinette. "We should find somewhere private to talk, I think. I still have questions."

[monsieurnoir]

"Absolutely. Thank you, Marinette." She has no way of knowing just yet how much this means to him. Being able to save his little brother and Plagg is very important. Someday she'll understand once she learns who was behind Chat's mask but for now... This is enough. "I'll meet you there."

Turning on his heel Fèlix is leaving her room and heading downstairs. After bidding a polite yet brief farewell to Sabine and Tom - who insist on giving him a pastry to go - Fèlix is outside walking towards the bridge they'd agreed to meet at. By the time she arrives there he's finished his pastry and he's fidgetting a little with nervous energy.

Seeing her he comes to his feet, moving towards her. "We can either go someplace else as we are or you can give me the Miraculous you've brought; we could split up to transform and meet up somewhere higher - away from the press, tourists and all the other people.. I'll try to answer what I can but I can't make any promises. I won't compromise Chat's identity."

[camembert_anynoir]

She can't help but glance around, and the bridge is thankfully rather empty at the moment. She had slipped the small jewelry box into a larger watch box to conceal it. When she's confident that they would be alone she takes out the box and passes it to him. "Just be careful and meet me on top of Colonnade de Perrault," she says, meaning the building just past the park on the north side of the bridge.

A minute later she's waiting for him instead, scanning for someone dressed to resemble a dragon. She's not sure just why, she had so little to go off of and Master Fu had his reservations, but trusted her intuition on this. She had to learn to do that was well, since she'd been ignoring it for so long.

When he gets up there, Mari moves to greet him, "How do you even know what Chat Noir has been up to? It's like he's been avoiding any attention on him with equal measures for how much he usually showboats. Not many others have noticed a photo negative of my partner around at all, let alone there being any real evidence left behind. I don't know how to track him, let alone find him. I've not even seen him myself- I've only heard from some people around the incidents they thought they saw him. I would think that he was just a mistake if it didn't make so much sense."

Adrien wasn't a dumb boy. Just because he is reckless doesn't mean he isn't capable of being careful either. Together it left Marinette in a very tight situation. She didn't have the skills she needed to find them, and didn't know anyone who did. She didn't know anything about Felix, or really this miraculous, so she was uncomfortably left relying on Felix.