Masks off
“Gotta say, you didn’t have to order take out.” Viperion put a forkful of noodles into his mouth. He was currently sitting next to Adrien on one of the couches of the latter’s hotel room.
“Eh. It’s the least I can do.” Adrien replied, taking a swig of a drink in a plastic cup.
“For what? I haven’t done anything for you. Actually I’ve just made your life harder.”
“That much is true. Especially lately.” Adrien set his cup down.
“What do you mean ‘especially lately?’”Viperion inquired. He set his plate to the side. “I haven’t struck in a few weeks. You’d think that would make things easier on you.”
“Ah. I forgot to tell you. About a week ago, the director-general of all police forces in France, Lila Rossi came to our unit. Yelled a bunch at us about not being any closer to catching you and demanding in two weeks time we have a lead on how to catch you or our asses are grass.”
“So your job is on the line if you don’t tell her something about me?”
“Yep.” Adrien took a bite of an egg roll.
“Tell her something then.”
This response prompted Adrien to begin to cough so hard he started to slightly choke on his food.
Viperion slightly pushed Adrien forward, heavily patting his back.
Adrien managed to get the food down. He took another sip of his drink. He slammed the cup down on the side table, then turned to look at Viperion.
“Have you lost your damn mind?! I can’t do that! If I tell her anything I’ve learned about you, it’ll mean the rest of the team including Ladybug will actually have something they can use to track you!”
“My sister has asked me that question more than once. But to answer you. I never said it had to be true.”
A gasp of shock came from Adrien. “WHAT?! You want me to /lie/ to the director-general of all cops in France?!” He sputtered.
“Yes. I thought that was clear.”
“Do you know what she’ll do to me if she finds out I intentionally gave false information about a criminal investigation?! She’ll have my head! She’ll throw me in prison! I would not do well in prison!”
“Well, do you want to tell her something true and risk your team being smart enough to actually be able to track me?”
“No! Plus what am I supposed to tell my team that seems I could’ve naturally learned and doesn’t directly reveal that I’ve been having daily hangouts with you?”
“Well, then it’s simple. You tell her something fake, but make it something that it seems like you learned it naturally. And if it’s discovered to not be true, maybe I was intentionally tricking you because I knew you were onto me. You don’t want me to go to jail and I don’t want you to lose your job. Problem solved. I don’t want you to lose your job because A I’m fond of you and I don’t want you to face misfortune and B, if you’re fired then cops that don’t have sympathy for me will be put on the job and then I’m really done for. Damn, I’m smart. Maybe I should be the cop.”
“He who solves his problems with murder? Absolutely not.” Adrien retorted. “What am I supposed to tell her that fits your criteria? I can’t think of anything.”
“You’re the brilliant detective, dumbass.”
“Hm.” Adrien put his hands together. “It would have to be something that I naturally saw, heard, or observed.”
“Tell them I’m deaf in one ear.”
Adrien looked at Viperion. “What?”
“Tell them you’ve observed that I’m hearing impaired based on the way I carry myself and interact with the world.”
“But you’re not hearing impaired.”
“No I am not. But there you go there’s your answer. For being a brilliant cop, you really should’ve been smart enough to think of this.”
Adrien rolled his eyes. “Stop insulting me or I’m turning your ass in.”
“Mhmmmm no you’re not. Anyways, just say you caught me on the street and tried to call back up, but I was gone by the time they arrived.”
“I could let Chloe, Kim, or Alix in on it and tell them to play along. Say I called them.”
“See? There you go I knew kitty had some brain cells.”
Adrien lightly punched Viperion’s shoulder. “Well, thanks, I guess.”
“I should be thanking you. You’re the one risking everything for a man you don’t even know the name of.”
Adrien shrugged. “I’m risking everything to save someone from a fate they don’t deserve.”
Viperion leaned back against the couch. “You catch on quick.”
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“You want us to do what?!” Chloe exclaimed. She along with Kim, Alix, and Adrien were once again in Chloe’s living room.
“Did you not hear him? He said he wants us to lie to the rest of the team and in turn lie to Lila.” Alix responded.
“Look, Adrien. Not telling LB and the rest of the team that you’ve become best friends with Viperion is one thing. But intentionally giving misleading information to our superior?” Chloe crossed her arms.
“I’m not super happy with the idea either.” Adrien tilted his head to the side. “I told him he’s crazy. But he’s right. This is the only way for me to not turn him in, and for Lila to not grill us. You’re either with me or against me, Chlo. Not too late to betray my trust and tell Ladybug that you’ve been in the know about me covering for a highly wanted criminal for a whole month.”
Chloe let out a loud groan. “Ugh! I’m not going to betray you. I’m passed petty acts like that. Fine. I’ll agree to say you called me for backup.”
“I’ll agree too. You likely don’t need more than two of us to say you called.” Kim added.
“I agree.” Alix chimed in. “I’ll be here to help you out next time if you need it.”
Adrien turned to look at the three with a smile. “Thanks, guys. I know I’m in over my head. This will come and bite us all eventually. Let’s just hope it isn’t any time soon.”
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“Chat, Chloe, Kim. You’ve got a lead on Viperion?” Ladybug asked with interest, holding up a notepad.
Chat nodded. “We encountered him last night. Or uh- I did. It was late, I was walking back to my hotel. On Harpner street. He seemed to be getting ready to rob a bookstore. I shouted out at him, but he didn’t appear to be able to quite locate where the sound was coming from. It wasn’t until I called again and he turned to his other side that he appeared to hear me. When he threw whitty comments at me, he seemed to hold himself on one side. I think he’s been trying to hide it before, but from my observation, he’s hard of hearing in at least his left ear. I tried to call for back up, but he was gone by the time Chloe and Kim arrived.”
Chloe and Kim both nodded.
“Appears snake boy was only interested in our kitty cat here.” Kim added with a laugh.
“Mhm.” Ladybug replied. “If he was trying to hide it before, it’s possible it’s a condition that is actively worsening.”
“Just a caution M’Lady, he could be faking it to throw us off.” Chat warned.
“Faking it or not, it’s something to tell Mrs Bitch Rossi. Let’s contact her.”
•••••••
Lila’s face could be seen on the other side of a video call screen. Ladybug, Chat, Chloe, and Kagami were all gathered in front of the computer screen.
“So all I had to do was threaten you and suddenly you all grew some brain cells. Good to know.” Lila snarked.
“It just took us the right experience.” Chat replied. “Now like I told Ladybug and everyone else, he could be faking it to throw us off.”
“I don’t give a shit if it’s true or not.” Lila snapped. “You’re going to run this lead into the ground just to make sure it isn’t true. I want Sabrina on the computer going through every single doctor’s office in France checking every single instance of a male in the age range of early 20s to early 30s being seen for hearing loss.”
“What if he hasn’t been diagnosed or isn’t seeing a doctor?” Kagami asked.
“Well then you will at least have checked, haven’t you? Exaust this lead and in the mean time get me another one. Now stop wasting my and your time and get to work!”
The call ended.
“We better tell Sabrina to get on that.” Chloe said, taking a step away from the computer.
“After Sabrina gets us those records, we’ve got to investigate any promising leads.” Ladybug said firmly.
Chat nodded. “Likely there won’t be many suspects, as that’s sort of a specific problem for the age group we’re looking for.”
Chat sent a glance at Chloe, which she caught. They had successfully tricked everyone. Hopefully that would stick.
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It was 9:34 at night. Viperion didn’t come to his hotel room every night, but Adrien was hoping tonight would be one of the nights he did.
At about 9:42, Adrien would find out he was in luck upon hearing the knock on the glass doors.
Adrien had quickly allowed Viperion in as per usual. Viperion walked over to the couch, sitting down.
“So, did they fall for it?”
Adrien sat down next to Viperion, nodding. “Hook line and sinker. Lila said she didn’t even care if it was true. She’s just happy we have a lead on who you are. But she wants us to find another lead. This won’t work forever, you know. I can’t just keep feeding my team false information, they’re going to catch on eventually.”
“Why not? I could be the one feeding you the false information. For all they know, I’m aware you’re onto to me so I keep giving you fake leads. I mean, it’s actually public information that you’re onto me. It’s all over the news. It shouldn’t be a shock that Miracle’s criminal mastermind will throw the cops off so he isn’t caught. I mean come on, Adrien. This isn’t hard.”
“Stop insulting me, Viper. I’m the reason you haven’t been caught.”
“Well, I mean I went three years not being caught without your help. So I think I’d be able to continue not being caught for at least a little bit longer. But you are right that you having a softspot for me is helpful. Of course if I hadn’t taken an interest in you, you wouldn’t know anything about me. The only reason you do know anything about me is because of our unlikely friendship.”
Adrien snapped his fingers. “That’s true. A lot is riding on our trust in each other.”
“I’m going to continue to trust you if it kills me. Somone with an inner melody as beautiful as yours can’t possibly be betraying me.” Viperion stated firmly.
“Inner melody?” Adrien asked.
“Mhm. Inner melody. Everyone has one. I’ve never been good with words. I make more sense with music. To try and understand people. I translate their feelings into musical melodies. It helps me read people very well.”
“That’s… charming. Honestly, that’s adorable.”
A slight blush formed on Viperion’s face below his mask. “A-Adorable?”
Adrien blinked, bursting into laughter. He put a hand on Viperion’s shoulder. “What happened to you being the flirty and confident one, hm? Takes one comment and you melt.”
Viperion rolled his eyes. “Jesus, don’t pat yourself on the back too much.” He then blinked a few times, hissing. “God I hate these stupid contacts. It’s hard to wear them for prolonged periods of time, and I’ve been wearing them a lot more than I usually do.”
“I mean, take them out. I don’t think your eye color is going to give you away. I’m sure there are hundreds of people in Miracle with your eye color.”
Viperion turned his head away.
Adrien raised an eyebrow. “What, is there something special about your eyes?”
“You already know too much.” Viperion hugged himself.
Adrien pulled his hand back to himself. He looked the man next to him with intense interest. “Viper… I don’t know what could possibly be special about your eyes. I mean, they’re eyes. They only come in so many colors. I don’t know what seeing your eyes could possibly tell me.”
“What about more than one color?” Viperion replied in a whisper.
Confusion was spread across Adrien’s face. “I’m… not sure what you mean.”
A moment passed, but Viperon retrieved a small case from his pocket, gently propping it open. He removed one of his gloves, then reached a finger up to his eyes. Adrien could see as the man placed both contacts into the case, but still couldn’t see his face as Viperion had turned away from him.
Slowly, Viperion turned to look at Adrien, locking eyes with him.
Adrien studied the eyes of the man sitting before him. “Heterochromia?” He asked. “I don’t see how-“ He cut himself off, snippets of a memory quickly replaying in his head.
“I didn’t exactly see it coming, I’m blind in my blue eye.”
“I’m so sorry um…”
“Luka.”
“I was actually just grabbing a smoothie for my sister, she’s in the corner. Girl in the wheelchair.”
Adrien gasped, a hand involuntarily moving itself to rest over his mouth.
Viperion turned his head to the side, now avoiding Adrien’s gaze. “Jules told me I was out of my mind for going over to you that day. Imagine what she’d say now.”
Adrien was still silent, unable to look away from the man next to him. “I… that was my first time ever meeting you. I had never even heard of you before. You… purposefully went over to me?”
“What can I say? I live dangerously. That’s how you make life fun.”
Slowly, Adrien reached a hand towards Viperion. He stopped for a moment, beginning to retract his hand. Adrien bit his lip. He then shook his head, a determined expression coming to his face. He brought his hand to cup one side of Viperion’s face, turning it to face him.
This action caused Viperion to look at him in confusion, his mouth open, accompained by another red blush.
“You don’t have to fear me, Luka. Please. I want to know about you. The real you. The you that’s been hurt. That’s been lied to. The broken soul you clearly are. The you that is apparently very talented at the guitar. I know it’s too risky for you to ever come to me out of costume. But that doesn’t mean you have to continue disgusing who you are. You’re right. I am a broken soul. But I think we could heal together.”
Viperion continued to stare at Adrien, clearly at a loss for words. “I…”
“You’re not good at words, I know. But to me, you’re plenty good at them. You act like this flirty, cocky criminal is who you are. And maybe that is part of who you are. But it’s not the whole you.”
“I’m… a nobody. Really. I work at a music shop selling instruments and such to people. That’s not even really my dream. But I’ll never have my dream.”
“Says who? I thought I would be stuck modeling for my father forever. But Once I was 18, I got away from him. I didn’t let him control me anymore. I followed my dream of being a hero and helping people. And now I’m one of the best there is at it. What is your dream?”
“I…” Viperion was still locking eyes with Adrien. “I want to be a stringed instrument maker. So other people can express their emotions with music the way I love to do.” He answered.
Adrien finally removed his hand from Viperion’s face, moving it down to his lap. “What’s stopping you?”
“I don’t have the time. I have to provide for my sister. And I have to deal justice to those who deserve it.”
“Who said that was your job?”
“I did!” Viperion exclaimed. “I’ve already gotten rid of most of the people who have hurt me and Juleka. And anyone that was a threat to us from the past is gone. I did the last one recently.”
“Recently? Who?”
“Hayden Allard.” Viperion answered, looking down at his lap.
Adrien gasped again. “That- was you?”
Viperion nodded. “He committed a major sin against me and my sister. I’m just glad he never tried to involve me in his favorite activites. I’ll admit, it took me so long to go after him because I was still scared of him. But a few weeks ago, he sent a letter to my home address. Asked how we were doing. Said he knew I was Viperion. Taunted me for not coming after him. Said he had so much fun murdering my mother that he didn’t know much longer he could wait before taking out my sister as well. That wasn’t going to stand. I decided I wasn’t scared of him anymore. I went and killed him that night.”
Adrien was still eyeing Viperion, noticing that the man was slightly shaking. “He killed your mother? Did you know? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because he said he’d kill Juleka if I tried! I couldn’t take the risk!” Viperion suddenly broke out into tears. he pulled his hood down, removing his mask. “I thought after not hearing from him for nearly a decade that he had decided to leave us alone! But apparently he wanted to have more fun. I’m now an expeirenced killer. I’m not an amature anymore. I know what I’m doing. I’m not scared of him anymore. Killing him was quite easy, actually.” Luka let out a small laugh through his tears. “I’m shocked I never gathered the courage to do it sooner.”
Adrien hesitated for a moment, but quickly decided to pull Luka into a hug.
Luka gasped, but hugged Adrien back. He rested his head on Adrien’s shoulder, continuing to let out many sobs.
“Hey… it’s alright.” Adrien attempted to sooth. “I can’t believe there are people this awful that just… get away with their evil deeds.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling you, kitty cat. There are evil people that the law can’t catch. There’s also just generally scummy people that never face the consequences of their actions. I’ve never targeted my father because he isn’t evil. He’s just a deadbeat.”
Adrien began to rub Luka’s back. “What… what did your father do?”
Luka gave a dry laugh. “Abandoned me, my sister, and my mother right when me and my sister were born. Went and lived a glorious life as the popular rockstar Jagged Stone. Popped back into our lives when we were 17, promising to be there for us. But apparently he had let it slip to his buddy Bob Roth that he had two kids, his son in particular being very talented at the guitar. Bob Roth was an asshole who only cared about money. He wanted to sign me and Jules, but mostly me onto his label and force us to work for him, using me as Jagged Jr to make money. I was very frusrated that my father had been so careless as he knew niether of us wanted the spotlight like that. I took Jules and got into my car, leaving Roth there. But it was a mistake leaving while giving him the opportunity to follow us.” Luka took a deep breath. “He followed us in his car, running us off the road. Juleka wanted to protect me like I had always done for her. She took the brunt of the damage. She’s now paralyzed from the waist down. She’ll never walk again. I confronted my father about this. He insisted Bob was a good guy and that he wouldn’t try to hurt us. I cut off contact with him and told him to never contact us again. Luckily, he’s never tried after that.”
Adrien was silent for a moment, only tightening his hold on Luka. “Bob Roth wasn’t you just having fun. It was a personal attack for you. I’m shocked you didn’t go after him sooner. And your father is the famous popstar Jagged Stone… I’m so sorry. Seems things only got worse for you once he entered your life. I think my life would have been better if my dad stayed out of my life.” The blonde released a short laugh. “But he’s gone now. Can’t bother me ever again. You asked where your thank you was. So I guess here it is. Thank you.”
Luka chuckled through his tears. “I thought you said I wasn’t going to get one.”
“Eh, I changed my mind.” Adrien teased. “You probably shouldn’t stay here too long. Doesn’t your sister need you?”
“She’s fine for a bit. She knows I’m out, obviously. I gotta get these tears out of my eyes so I can put my contacts back in.”
“Has it ever affected you? Being blind in one eye?”
Luka shook his head against Adrien’s shoulder. “Nope. Not really. I was born like this. So I’ve had 28 years to get use to it. I’m great at acting like it doesn’t affect me as Viperion. Why do you think I suggested lying about me being hard of hearing? I really am disabled. So technically there was a sliver of truth in what you said. You just didn’t tell them the truth about my disability.”
“28. I’m 27. I’ve got an age for you now. Damn. I really do have everything I need to turn you in. Good thing I’d rather die than do that.”
Luka chuckled. “We’ve really got that strong of a bond, hm? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were starting to fall for me.”
“Pfft.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “What, like you weren’t blushing earlier when I called you adorable?”
“Shut up, man. Should big hotshot cop be falling for a wanted criminal?”
Adrien pulled away from Luka, looking him directly in the eyes. “Probably not.”
In a sudden movement, Adrien grabbed the sides of Luka’s face, pulling him into a kiss.
Luka gave a gasp through the kiss, but quickly leaned into it. He closed his eyes, allowing the kiss to continue.
It went on for awhile, niether were sure how long. Eventually, both pulled away, breathing heavily with red faces. They looked at each other, then both laughed.
“If your coworkers don’t get my ass, Juleka certainly will.”
“LB would hand mine to me. Good thing she’s not gonna know.”
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“Maybe I wasn’t clear the first time. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND?!” Juleka screamed, raising her arms up in frustration.
Luka tilted his head to the side with an eye roll, using his hand to mimic his sister. “Blah blah blah, sis. I can assure you I am 93 percent sane.”
“Yeah, you’re having a hard time convincing me of that considering not only did you reveal your identity to Chat Noir, but you KISSED HIM?!”
“Correction, he kissed me. I allowed it to continue and kissed him back. There’s a difference.”
“Ah yes my bad that totally changes everything ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! Luka, he knows who you are! You’re at his mercy! Any second now we could have the cops at our doorstep ready to arrest you!”
“Juleka, please. You have a girlfriend. Rose works with the team Chat and Ladybug were hired to work with. Rose cares a lot about you. Don’t tell me that if she found out, she wouldn’t keep quiet about my identity because she would know how important I am to you.”
Juleka closed her eyes, sighing. “But I’ve known Rose since we were 20. You met Chat a month ago.” She opened her eyes, looking back at Luka.
“I can feel it, Jules. His inner melody. It’s honest and true. He’s not going to betray me.”
“Maybe not. But he’s in connection with people who don’t care about you or your past. He could let something slip on accident or they could figure something out that leaves you vulnerable.”
Luka, who was still standing, went to sit at a chair propped at the end of Juleka’s bed. “He won’t let that happen. He cares about me. I can feel it. I know he won’t let me down.”
“You’ve been wrong about someone you were in love with before. Marinette hurt you when you didn’t think she would.”
Luka looked away from his sister, a hurt and angry look flashing in his eyes. “I learned from that experience. I’m not going to get hurt again.” His response was soft and firm.
Juleka looked at her brother, sighing. “You sure did get yourself into a difficult situation. You chose to be a criminal. And then you went and had to fall in love with a cop.”
Luka’s gaze remained distant. “I didn’t choose to be a criminal. I chose to be a hero.”
“You should… probably get some sleep.”
Luka stood up, immediately walking over to the door, his back turned to Juleka. “You too. Let me know if you need me.” He opened the door, exited the room, then closed the door behind him.
Juleka stared at the door. “I worry about him.”
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An extremely unamused look rested on Adrien’s face as he watched both Kim and Alix laugh as if they were losing their minds. He sent a glance to Chloe, who shrugged.
“You-“ Alix let out a deep breath, attempting to speak through her cackles. “You KISSED him?”
“Did you miss the part where Adrien said he learned Viperion’s identity?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah, yeah sure. HE KISSED A WANTED CRIMINAL!” Kim exclaimed before continuing his maniacal laughter.
Adrien rolled his eyes. “Are you two finished yet?”
Kim and Alix continued to laugh for a few more minutes before finally managing to calm themselves down.
“Okay, okay. So kitty cat, you are officially way too deep to ever find your way out now.” Kim commented.
“Yeah, I know.” Adrien responded with a flat tone. “I’m aware how far deep in I am. I know who he is and basically started a romantic relationship with the most wanted criminal in all of France.”
“Ladybug is going to crucify you dude.” Alix snickered.
“Lila is going to throw you in prison.” Kim piped in.
“You don’t have to tell me twice I already know.” Clear annoyance was in Adrien’s voice.
“What are you going to do?” Chloe asked.
“I’m going to continue to pretend that I’m interested in catching him and act like I don’t know anything about him with the only information revealed being complete lies revealed by either me or one of you three.” Adrien answered.
“How long are we going to keep up this lie, Adrien?” Chloe asked.
“As long as we possibly can.” Alix chimed in. “Once we’re caught, we’re all done for. We’re dead cops walking. For now we just live our lives normally for as long as we can until life inevitably goes down hill for all of us.”
“What Alix said.” Adrien stood up. “If you’re having doubts, Chloe, then feel free to turn us in.”
An angry growl could be heard from Chloe. “I told you before, I’m not going to do that.”
“Then why do you keep acting like you’re against this?” Adrien asked, turning to look at Chloe.
“I’m not! Not at all! Trust me, you know I’ve never exactly been one to play by the rules. I just know this won’t last forever.”
“I do too. But ignorance is bliss.”
“No, ignorance is what gets you get caught prematurely. For this to last as long as possible, we’ve all got to stay on our toes.” Chloe said firmly.
“She’s not wrong.” Kim said with a shrug. “We’re here for you, dude. Just make sure you’re thinking about this carefully.”
Adrien turned away, taking a step toward the front door of Chloe’s house. “I will. I promised Viperion nothing would happen to him. I intend to keep that promise.”
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