luka, i don't know what to do!

Luka Couffaine hesitates, before closing his eyes in temporary defeat. It's been over twenty-four hours since he got the tip-off from Adrien, and he hasn't slept since.

It's not, technically, his problem to solve, but he'll be damned if he leaves Marinette to deal with this on her own.

He runs through the facts again.

The LadyBug account has been hacked, and as of yesterday morning, the hacker had sent awful messages to all LadyBug's followers and fans. ChatNoir was blocked and removed him from their comic, and a message was posted saying the comic was discontinued.

Upon being alerted to odd behaviour, Adrien discovered the hacking and posted a comment on his own account to tell fans that there was an incident occurring that was currently being dealt with. After school, Marinette added ChatNoir to the comic and removed herself, deleting the conversations between herself and ChatNoir and Viperion respectively to remove any information that could cause significant damage.

As yet, it seems to be a stalemate. ChatNoir, currently the only person with access to the comic, is aware of the situation. Marinette has changed the password to the account, but with the hacker logged into the account, there's no clear end in sight.

[Today, 10:02]

ChatNoir: i don't understand how this happened?? what sort of hacker hacks a creator of a webcomic

ChatNoir: i guess i just didn't see this happening. we're both so careful, it's not like she's logging in in a public place yknow

So, sort of contacting Miraculous to deal with the situation, the only solution Luka can find is to find the hacker and log them out of the LadyBug account.

[Today, 10:53]

Viperion: apparently not careful enough

ChatNoir: apparently. look, if there's anything i can do, just let me know, ok?

Finding a needle in a haystack, one might suppose. Luka was fond of these little sayings, little idioms that seemed, like music, to convey his meaning better than sentences of his own creation.

How does one find a needle in a haystack? Well, he supposes, one might burn the hay, but it seems easier to simply use a magnet. For if you have the ability to find the needle quickly, without worrying about what might or might not be a needle, you should use it.

[Today, 16:36]

ChatNoir: viperion?

Viperion: yeah sorry im back. thanks for the offer, but i don't think there's anything YOU can do

ChatNoir: me specifically?

Viperion: sorry, autocorrect

Viperion: gtg

ChatNoir: all g. i just hope this sorts itself out quickly. i keep wanting to message her but i can't, bc, yknow

ChatNoir: that's not our ladybug

With that thought, he stands up and begins to walk down the street. He'd been sitting on the bench since school finished half an hour ago, messaging ChatNoir as he waits patiently.

His phone pings with a text message.

yea, why?

Luka grins. He's been working out a solution since he'd gotten the tip-off yesterday, and now he thinks - he hopes - he has one.

His guitar swings a little on his back as he walks along the street, and when he enters the library, he spots the people he's looking for immediately.

"Luka! I didn't think you were coming!"

It's a jibe, considering the boy teasing him is the very same one who just gave him his confirmation, but Luka lets it slide. Everyone else at the table looks up to watch him with interest, which is probably because they're here to study and if they actually had any intent of studying they probably wouldn't need the support group.

"Hey, guys," Luka smiles. "Thought I'd see how you're going."

He pulls a chair from another table and puts it between his two friends, both of whom seem to be aware of the text because they both nudge him in the teasing way friends are wont to do.

"So, what are we studying?"

Both groan, but acknowledge the distraction and launch into a description of their work. Something about analysing advertisements. Luka tunes most of it out, and pulls out his phone.

Viperion: hey, ladybug. heard some dramas going on. blocking chatnoir, insulting all the fans... you've upset a lot of people, yknow

He presses Send, before switching into Contacts and pressing Call.

When he hears the Ping! of an arriving message, his phone is against his ear, ringing. There's no way Luka could have sent it. Of course not.

He glances up as the call rings out - of course it does, he was calling himself - and watches the girl opposite him scowl as she types.

"My mum," she says, when the girl next to her asks, but Luka's phone pings with a reply barely a moment later and he grins.

LadyBug: i'm pretty sure that's none of your business

Luka grins again, because he's pretty sure it is, but he doesn't reply back. Instead, he stays in the library, occasionally giving opinions on drafts and sometimes going to look at books, but always keeping the table in view. Keeping the fox in view.

He's a snake. She thinks she's so sly, so tricksy, but he'll catch her and she won't even know until it's too late.

"I have to go," she says, finally. "I need to be home before my mum."

There's a chorus of goodbyes, and Luka stands up.

"I'll walk you home," he says. He watches her hesitate, and adds, "I know we're not really friends, but I'd want someone to walk my sister home in the dark."

There's a chorus of mocking awws from the other students, particularly his friends, but he seems to have convinced her. His bag wasn't unpacked, so he helps her pack her things, and they go out into the dark streets together.

The walk home is awkward at first, full of forced conversation, but Luka isn't dissuaded by a little awkwardness and eventually the girl warms up to him. Enough for her to chat with him. Enough for Luka to offer to carry her bag for her, and for her to accept.

He feels a little like a dirty thief as he takes the girl's phone from her bag, but mostly just thinks about how no one deserved this, not Marinette, not Adrien, not Alya, not any of their fans, and how if he has the chance to stop it, he's got to take it. If he has the chance to stop this, and he doesn't, it happens because of him.

Anyway, he'll return it. Take it anonymously to Lost and Found at school. He found her once and he'll find her again.

He snaps out of his thoughts as she unlocks her front door. She looks at him expectantly, and it takes Luka a moment to remember to give her back her bag, just a little lighter than it was when she gave it to him.

"Thank you," she smiles, and Luka plasters on one of his own.

"My pleasure," he says. "We all do our part to keep people safe."

She smiles at him, not noticing the quip, and closes the door. Luka begins to walk back down the street, unlocking her phone. After all, she isn't the only one who can spy on people and watch them put in their passwords.

She has Miraculous on her phone, logged into two accounts. One of them is her own, but the other is most certainly not.

The last test to find the needle is to burn the hay, because when the fire burns out, the needle is unmarked.

He opens the LadyBug account, and clicks Log Out with a smile.

Later, Marinette will doubt him, and he'll explain how it happened. How she opened Miraculous at the wax statue unveiling, how this girl knocked her phone out of her hands and 'accidentally' hit Log Out, how she'd been caught on camera from the event looking over Marinette's shoulder as she typed the password back in.

But for now, he turns the girl's phone off and puts it in his bag to return tomorrow, and messages three people.

Adrien's phone buzzes from under the dining table, and he pulls it out and quickly checks the message before Gabriel notices.

ChatNoir: that's not our ladybug

Viperion: it is now. problem solved.

luka, i don't know what to do!

After getting no reply, Marinette went down to help her father in the bakery. To get her mind off everything. When she comes back, she's received an answer that, perhaps, isn't an answer at all.

you don't need to do anything. problem solved.

"I've lost my phone. I didn't lose it at school, but I was hoping-"

"It was handed in ten minutes ago," the receptionist smiles, and hands it to her. She smiles back and exits the office, opening the phone even though she already knows what she's going to see.

Viperion: i'm afraid it's entirely my business

When she looks up, she immediately makes eye contact with Luka Couffaine, who grins at her, and though she is furious that she has played her game and lost, Lila Rossi smiles back.

[A/N: I've put it into the description and I'm about to go put it on the first chapter, but I've recently been told that this story is being mirrored on another website. If you're reading this on a website that isn't Wattpad, you're at risk of malware attack. I apologise for how long this update took - it was in my drafts for a month but it's been just a fast month 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ next updates should come faster but I promise no promises.
Lighter note - what are y'alls thoughts on the NY special?]