#cce crossover

Luca arrives at Lawrence's office at eight, but the man is nowhere to be found. She sees a large table set up with two chairs, though, so she gets to work in setting up the space. She centers a file labeled, appropriately, "THE COLLECTOR" and sits, her eyes intently roving over the various pieces of evidence.

Lawrence arrives a few minutes later, his arms laden with snacks from what was probably the nearest vending machine. He looks surprised. "Oh- you're right on time, kiddo! Great!" He dumps the pile of snacks on a nearby counter, looking over at her elaborate setup of clues and documents. "That's a lot of evidence."

Luca nods. "I like to be thorough."

Lawrence grins and sits opposite her. "Okay, kiddo, walk me through this."

Luca nods. "Okay, so. The Collector. Serial kidnapper, murderer-by-proxy, and criminal mastermind."

She points to the picture on the front of the file, which is less of an actual portrait as it was a man with a question mark for a face. "He's mostly active in cities, although I don't think he lives in one full-time. It's probably much eaiser to find targets- and kidnap them- in high-traffic places like New York than out in the middle of nowhere. He primarily targets teenagers and young adults, taking advantage of their difficult family situations or otherwise vulnerable positions to befriend and later kidnap them. Probably a background in acting or just a really good liar- he'd have to be to gain the trust of so many people. Working from missing child reports and unexplained disappearances, I've managed to pin down two potential victims- Sadie Mills and Nathan Lam. Haven't managed to get ahold of them yet, though."

"The people he kills- or has killed, I think- are all reporters or people looking into his despicable criminal activities. I've connected several seemingly unrelated deaths to the same thugs and hired killers- obviously staged to look like an accident. So he's obviously rich, or at least well-connected enough to know those sorts of people. However, as far as I can tell, he doesn't kill his victims, and combining that with the age of his targets, it suggests some sort of obsession with being seen as a paternal figure, or maybe a delusion brought on by severe trauma... I'm guessing the loss of a family member, probably a wife or a child..."

Luca trails off slowly, glancing up over the top of her documents to see Lawrence, smiling brightly at her as she reads off...

"What's wrong, kiddo?"

A list of attributes and behaviors that fit the man sitting in front of her... very well...

What did he say he was in the city for, again?

Lawrence leans forward. "Is something wrong?"

Dead wife... paternal obsession... rich. Really good liar. Good enough to gain the trust of the very person currently investigating him for murder...

"Luca-?"

"It's you."

Her voice is steady with certainty. Horrible, awful, stupid certainty. "You're the Collector. You were never here on business- I was the business!"

Lawrence smiles. It's just as sincere as it normally is- although this time she can see the smugness underneath. "Oh, stop acting like I’m the crazy one. If I recall correctly, you're the one obsessing over me." He laughs, as if expecting her to follow suit. "Aren’t you happy to know I feel the same way, kiddo?”

Luca shoves her chair away and stands, getting distance between the two of them. "No! You're-"

Lawrence cocks his head. "I'm what? Concerned? Worried? I've been watching you, Luca. You're barely affording rent every month, putting yourself in dangerous situations just to pay the bills. You nearly got stabbed in an alleyway before I showed up! You're killing yourself, Luca. I'm helping you."

Luca stares at him. "Helping me-?! You’ve kidnapped- you've murdered- you've ruined I don’t know how many people's lives! You've lied, you've-" She cuts herself off with an incredulous laugh. "You're gonna kill me? I know too much, is that it?! You going to have me killed like you did all those other reporters?!"

Lawrence seems genuinely hurt by her accusation. His voice gets quiet. "You think I would do that to you? I love you, kiddo."

He walks a few steps closer and she shakes her head, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Wait. So, even though you’ve been lying to me about everything, you’re saying that you- you actually think-"

"I don't think, I know. I love you, kiddo."

He looks at her gently and she takes a sharp breath, her eyes going wide. "This is some kind of sick joke. You've killed innocent people. You lied to me!"

Lawrence looks apologetic. "I know. I realize this will take time for you to get used to. But I'm gonna prove it to you- I have your best interests at heart." He turns- Luca just now notices the briefcase she had returned earlier. Lawrence pulls out a gun.

Luca swallows hard. Swap tactics, now.

"Lawrence- look. I know you think this is right, that you're helping me, to do this-" She gestures at the weapon, "but it's- it's wrong! There's something- wrong. With you. You- you need to turn yourself in. We can work it out- if you go in voluntarily, they'll go easier on you. Just- put the gun down. I don't want to hurt you."

Lawrence chuckles. "You won't hurt me, kiddo."

A single gunshot reverberates throughout the room. Luca clutches her abdomen in shock, expecting to see a bullet hole, but instead, she sees a strange feathered needle sticking out of her skin. A dart...?

How did he know-?

Luca's thoughts abruptly slow to a crawl. Drugged. Have to run. Have to get out...

Lawrence walks in closer to her and wraps his arms around her as her legs finally give out. He gently cradles her head and lowers her to her back on the ground. "Shh, shh. It's okay."

Luca's eyes flutter. She opens her mouth to protest, to scream, but all that she manages is a low moan. Lawrence shushes her. "It's okay now, Lulu. You're safe."

Luca groans as her vision starts flooding with spots. Aura is all well and good, but it doesn't do much when your body is being pumped with enough sedatives to kill a horse. And of course Lawrence had known that... she had told him, after all.

For the next few weeks after her sit-down with Lawrence, Luca waits on pins and needles for the other shoe to drop. For the media to show up at her doorstep, bombarding her with questions and eager to run tests and poke and prod- but as the days go by, nothing happens. She sees Lawrence pass by on the street a few times on his way to and from the university- he doesn't bring it up again, and in fact seems to have forgotten it completely, merely greeting her and asking how her day is going.

Today in particular, she happens to be walking down near the sandwich shop she'd recommended to him all those days ago when she catches sight of him sitting in a chair, eating a Reuben sandwich and reading the newspaper. She waves to get his attention and he lowers the newspaper, looking absolutely delighted to see her. "Luca! How are you doing?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Luca says, pulling out a chair and sitting at the other end of the table. "You expecting someone?"

"No," Lawrence shakes his head. "Just on my lunch break."

"How's the job going? Anything exciting?"

Lawrence shrugs lightheartedly. "Unless you count teaching biology to a bunch of bored freshman, not really."

Luca giggles. Lawrence leans forward. "What about you- any interesting cases lately?"

Luca looks like she's trying to decide whether or not to tell him something before she pulls a file out of her purse and places it between them on the table. "Well, maybe one..."

Lawrence crosses his heart, giving her a serious look. Luca nods. "Well, I don't really have much yet, but I'm actually tracking this guy who I've called," She pauses for dramatic effect, "the Collector." She grins sheepishly at Lawrence's blank expression. "It's a codename."

Lawrence mock shivers. "The Collector, huh? Sounds like a scary guy."

Luca nodss earnestly. "Oh, yeah. He's a serial kidnapper- at least two victims so far that I'm pretty sure are connected to him. But can you imagine this guy, just out on the street, free to snatch whoever he wants? He needs to be brought to justice."

Lawrence frowns. "What if he's dangerous? I don't want you getting hurt."

Luca waves a hand dismissively. "You've seen me, I can take care of myself- you know I can. Besides, as far as I can tell, the guy hasn't actually hurt anyone."

Lawrence look deep in thought. "Seems to me like this guy just might be lonely."

Luca rolls her eyes. "Plenty of people are lonely and they don't resort to kidnapping."

Lawrence nods, about to respond, when he suddenly looks at his phone and sits up straight. "Oh, shoot, my lunch break's almost over! Sorry I have to cut this conversation short, kiddo." He wraps up his sandwich and grabs his newspaper before waving goodbye and nearly sprinting down the sidewalk.

Luca laughs. She stands, ready to leave herself, when she notices a briefcase on the floor beside Lawrence's chair- he must have been in such a hurry he forgot it! She quickly picks it up. "Wait! You forgot your-"

He's already halfway down the street, and moving fast. Luca stops and slows, inwardly groaning. She takes a closer look at the briefcase- fancy, and locked with a numerical code. Probably some important school papers or something- and wasn't he heading back to the university? He'd probably need it for classes... she should probably get it back to him. Now which way did he go...?

She catches a glimpse of his bright blond hair and chases after him. This isn't the right way to the university... where is he going?

Lawrence suddenly stops in his tracks and looks around. Luca instinctively flattens herself against the nearest corner, waiting ten seconds before she glances out from her hiding spot. Lawrence is walking again, this time more decisively, towards the hardware store. Luca raises an eyebrow.

She takes a position opposite the store, pretending to study the dresses in a window as she watches the reflection to see when he comes out. About ten minutes later he emerges, carrying a small bag, and starts off again. Luca waits until he's a fair distance away before she follows.

Lawrence stops to look at some pastries in a bakery window, then keeps going until he reaches an office supply store. Maybe he's getting some things for his class? She sits on a bench pretending to read a newspaper until he comes out, thinking. Had he been lying about needing to get back to his class? But why would he do that? He was obviously in a hurry if he forgot his briefcase...

She's so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly misses Lawrence exiting the store with another bag. She peeks over the top of the newspaper and watches as he keeps on walking. She folds the paper and narrows her eyes suspiciously as he heads into a clothing store next. What's he getting there? It certainly didn't seem like his style- that place sold casual clothing, not suits or fancy men's shirts. And he stays in there for at least a half hour- Luca nearly falls asleep waiting for him to emerge, but when he does, he has what looks like multiple bags of clothing. Luca furrows her brow. Should she confront him? He could just be running errands, but then why would he lie about something like that?

She tracks him for a few more blocks, but he doesn't make any more stops until Luca nearly runs into the front gate of the university building. She quickly runs to catch up before Lawrence can head inside. "Lawrence! Hey, wait up!"

Lawrence turns at the sound of her voice, looking surprised to see her. "Luca? What are you doing here?"

Luca holds out the briefcase. "You forgot this at the café."

Lawrence takes it, his face splitting into a wide grin. "And you ran all the way here? Thanks so much, kiddo! Wouldn't do to lose any of this stuff!" He tucks the case under his arm. "Say- I feel bad we weren't able to finish our conversation earlier. How about you come back here tonight after office hours and you can show me everything you have on this, uh... "collective" fellow, okay?"

Luca looks around. "Collector. And, uh, here?"

Lawrence nods. "My hotel room is a huge mess, and there's way more space in my office anyway. I'll even bring snacks!"

Luca thinks. A school after hours was definitely safer than a hotel room... and she hadn't really had the chance to really look at all the evidence she'd gathered with everything going on during the past few weeks. Maybe she could use the break. "Sure, sounds good. I'll come at around, uh, eight?"

Lawrence nods. "That sounds great! See you then, kiddo!" He waves at her as he heads through the gate.

Luca shakes her head. Why had she ever thought this guy was suspicious? Shaking her head, she heads back to her apartment to collect her files.

Marshall (Ladybug):

Nathan (Black Cat):

Sadie (Pigella):

Lawrence (Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth):

Charlotte (Mayura):

Luca (Scarlet Tigress):

Luca (Violet Moth)

"Duusu, spread my feathers."

The transformation is nearly instantaneous, his Lawrence Agreste veneer melting away to be replaced by the sleek purple suit of Shadow Moth, the peacock Miraculous now sitting neatly at the nape of his neck. An extravagant feathered fan materializes into one hand, the jeweled staff of Nooroo in the other. He throws it aside; it's not what he needs.

He instead plucks a single snow-white feather from the fan, cradling it gently in his palm as if it might blow away at the slightest sudden movement. He folds his fingers over it, murmuring not just to his kwami, but to the very universe itself. "Rise, my beautiful amok..."

A flicker of blue light, beautiful and fragile like a candle flame, shivers into existence in his clenched fist. His guilt and rage and pain pours forth, pooling in the feather and turning it that particular shade of dark indigo. His voice turns hard, authoritative, ringing across the cavernous room with the desperation of a man who has nothing left to lose. The voice of a future monarch. "Take shape and bring my creation to life!"

The shapeless cloud of butterflies takes human form without a second thought. He's imagined, dreamt, planned this for so long, pored over Nadia's portrait and saw each and every detail in his mind's eye. His nose. Nadia's eyes, her smile. His wit, her kindness. Old enough to not need constant supervision, but far from an independent adult. Intelligent, loyal, perfect.

The energy of emotion, all of his will and grief and pain, placed into the symbols of their everlasting union. Unending even in death. He puts his wedding ring back on his finger.

"I am your father, Lawrence Agreste."

Threading Nadia's ring onto a thin silver chain, he fastens it around the being- child's- neck. It stares at him, blinking slowly, uncomprehending expression slowly gaining sapience. Lawrence steps back.

"You will be the perfect child Nadia and I have always wanted."

Cold, blank eyes turn warm and familiar. The child- his child- looks up at him, and smiles.

Being accosted in the street by a man with a knife isn't as uncommon for Luca Montoya as it probably should be.

She senses his intent before she sees him- a niggling feeling of wrongness mixed with a general vibe of "I want to kill someone". The next sign comes fast- in the form of a guy coming up from behind her and literally trying to stab her in the back.

She feints to the side and throws a punch. The man sidesteps, draws a switchblade from his sleeve, and slashes. Luca grabs his wrist just before the blade can sink into her shoulder. He drops it, only to grab it out of the air with his free hand and slash at her again. She leaps backwards, out of range- and two other men box her in from the sides.

She grins sheepishly. "Okay, look, fellas... you don't wanna do this. Right? I'm sure you're all upstanding citizens of-" She ducks as a crowbar narrowly swooshes over her head courtesy of one of the two new guys. "Or not. Okay-"

She crouches, focusing, and stretches her fingers, cupping her hands like she's trying to hold water. Any passing onlookers would see nothing unusual- the men in front of her, however, can clearly see her irisis changing from brown to a bright blue. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

She raises her arms, curls them into tight fists, and then slams them into the closest goon's stomach. The man buckles, almost folded in half, before flying back nearly twenty feet and landing in a nearby dumpster. The other goons turn to look and then back again to stare at her.

Luca raises her fists again- and someone else's fist slams into the next goon's face.

"Lawrence?!" Luca gasps, equally surprised by the sudden appearance of the well-dressed man as the hard right hook he had just delivered. Luca quickly follows up, kicking the man in the gut and knocking him flat. "What are you doing here? I thought you were only in the city on business!"

"My trip was unexpectedly extended," Lawrence says, looking slightly chagrined. "I'm actually applying for a teaching job at the university a couple blocks from here. I'm staying in a hotel..." He looks around, seemingly once again confused by the city's streets and various alleyways. "Well, I thought it was around here somewhere."

Luca swiftly knees the other goon in the crotch and shoves him face-first into the wall. "Oh- I know that place! It's right near my agency actually."

"Really? What a coincidence!" Lawrence smiles.

Luca glances down at the two now unconscious men. "I'd give you directions, but I'm kinda in the middle of something right now."

"Why were those men attacking you?" Lawrence looks concerned.

Luca crouches and checks the man's pulse, then pockets his knife. "I dunno. I've made a lot of enemies over the years. Probably some gang or something." She straightens back up and starts typing on her phone. "The cops should be around to pick them up eventually."

Lawrence's expression is carefully balancing between horror and concern. "Does this happen- often?"

Luca looks up at him, noticing his expression. "Uh- I mean, not that often. Besides-" She jerks her chin towards the two, still slumped on the ground in dreamland. "I can handle myself."

Lawrence nods slowly. "I'm sure you can... but what was that fancy trick you had? With the- uh-" He moves his hands in an approximate copy of what Luca had done to send the first goon flying... inhumanly far. Luca visibly pales. "Uh-"

Her facial expression has rapidly shifted from confident to nervous, and Lawrence lowers his voice. "Anything you tell me is safe with me, kiddo." He crosses his heart. "Trust me."

Luca gazes up at him, her eyes wide, and she's shocked to find that... she does. She does trust this guy she's only met twice for a total of about an hour, and who had just seen her beat the shit out of three grown men. She blinks, surprised with herself. His aura is just as clear as always, devoid of anything except for concern, worry- and compassion.

She looks around. "We... shouldn't talk here." She pulls out a piece of paper and scribbles down an address. She hands it to him. "Meet me here in two hours, okay?"

Lawrence takes it from her, nodding. "Are you-"

Luca's already running off, leaving Lawrence standing there bemused. She calls out behind her. "Don't be late!"

Lawrence stares after her until she's out of sight before he takes another look at the paper. It's the address for a bar- near where they had first met. He chuckles to himself before folding and pocketing it. "I won't."

---

Exactly two hours later, Lawrence steps into the bar Luca had indicated. The bartender- a slight blond man- indicates towards the back, where Luca sits in a booth, twiddling her thumbs. She looks up as she hears the door open and waves him over. "Over here!"

Luca glances around as Lawrence takes a seat across from her, checking to make sure the place is empty. "Oh- order whatever you want." She beckons to the bartender. "Sam- I'll have a rum and coke."

Lawrence gives her a strange look. She shrugs. "What?"

"Aren't you a little young for alcohol?"

"I'm 22- and it's soda." Luca sips the drink. "I just leave out the rum part."

Lawrence looks a bit confused, but just orders a water. He waits until she's finished half her soda before he folds his hands and brings up the elephant in the room. "So- what did you want to talk to me about, kiddo?"

Luca nods and looks him dead in the eye. "Why didn't you tell me about your record?"

Lawrence looks at her blankly. Luca pulls out her phone. "I mean, drug possession is pretty typical at that age, but assault and battery? And recent?" She whistles. "Does your new teaching job know about all this?"

Lawrence blinks slowly. "Are you... trying to blackmail me?"

Luca shrugs. "I mean... I'm just saying..."

Lawrence looks at her, his expression unreadable. "Look, kiddo, I won't try and make excuses for my actions. After Nadia passed, I... went through a hard time. But I'm past that now." He gives her a serious look. "You can tell the university, if you want to."

Luca looks down at her drink, tapping her fingers anxiously. "I mean- I don't... it's just..." She looks up at him, lowering her voice. "You have to swear not to tell anyone about what you saw. What I... did."

Lawrence nods, understanding, but Luca looks up at him, her eyebrows knit in worry and her eyes serious. "I mean it! Promise me you won't!"

Lawrence nods. "I promise, Luca." He mimes crossing his heart. "Cross my heart. No blackmail needed."

Luca raises an eyebrow. "Okay. It's a binding pact. So if you break it I'm definitely blackmailing you."

Lawrence looks confused, then concerned. Luca snickers. "Just joking. But you'd better not!" She sips her soda before setting the glass aside and looking at him seriously. "Uh... so, have you ever seen Spider-Man 2?"

Before Lawrence can answer, she shakes her head. "No, wait, uh- so, you know about the concept of auras, right?

Lawrence nods slowly. "You mean chakras, mystical energy... that kind of thing?"

Luca shakes her head a bit. "It's uh, etheric manipulation, uh, bioenergy, sort of. Like uh- metaphysical..." She gives a long sigh. "I get stronger when I'm angry or... have other strong feelings. It's how I was able to... punch that guy really far."

Lawrence says nothing for a moment- probably digesting this new information- before he takes a long sip of his water. He puts the glass down, folds his hands together, and looks back at her. "I don't mean to sound rude, kiddo, but..."

Luca gives him a flat look. "You don't believe me."

Lawrence puts his hands up defensively. "I didn't say that-"

Luca crosses her arms. "How else would I have done all that earlier, huh?"

"It's just a little... out there."

Wrong choice of words- Luca folds her arms and looks away, annoyed. "Well if you don't even believe me, then-"

Lawrence backpeadels, quickly shaking his head. "I didn't say that, Luca. I do believe you, of course I do. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me."

Luca sniffs, but seems placated enough. "I can tell how people are feeling, too. What's going on inside." She gestures towards her chest. "Like you... are wishing you would have ordered a drink, but you wanted to set a good example." She wrinkles her nose. "You could have, you know. I don't even like alcohol."

Lawrence stares at her in shock for a moment before he bursts out laughing. "That's- that's right, kiddo! That's incredible!"

Luca flushes. "I mean, it's not a big deal..."

"Of course it is! It's amazing! What else can you do?" Lawrence leans forward, forgetting his water in his excitement. "I'd love to hear more about it."

Luca laughs sheepishly. "Well- if you really wanna know-"

"Of course I do," Lawrence insists. "Tell me everything!"

He leans back against the booth as Luca animatedly starts discussing her abilities, even pulling out a pen to doodle a diagram on a napkin. "...but if I use it too much I get really tired, and it's sorta useless if I get knocked out, but other than that I'd say..."

Lawrence nods along as she talks, keeping mental notes on what she's saying, smiling all the while. Luca talks and talks until she exhausts herself, draining her soda in a few large gulps. She puts the glasses down and glares at him half-seriously. "And remember, you can't tell anyone. Okay?"

Lawrence nods, reaching across the table to shake her outstretched hand. "Of course, kiddo. I promise..."