snapshot

Since finding common ground with his grandfather Jake's mood improved by leaps and bounds, almost being back to his usually fast to quip and joke self.

"Jake, where are you off to?" Fu asks his grandson when he runs down the stairs of their home with a backpack, helmet on and skateboard already in his hand.

"Alix is gonna show me a good spot to skate." Jake informs him, opening the door and stepping onto his board with one foot.

"Who is Alix? One of those two girls who came by a few weeks ago?" Fu asks curious.

"No, just a classmate. And here she is. Cya Gramps." Jake tells him and leaves when Alix skates by the shop, waving at them from the curb.

"Hey thanks again for showing me around." Jake thanks Alix, skating next to her.

"Don't worry I was headed there anyways." Alix tells him.

"So, how're things with Juleka?" Alix asks grinning mischievously.

"How's what going?" He asks taken aback.

"You know. That crush of yours." Alix says slapping his arm while laughing.

"Am I that obvious?" He asks surprised.

"Eh, yeah! Only Rose needed some explanation." Alix informs him.

"Wonderful." He sighs unsettled.

"Anyways, back to the question, it's not going anywhere yet." He replies.

"Someone's confident that's gonna change I see." Alix says grinning when she hears the yet.

"Hey, if you don't dream you're not living." Jake comes back, repeating a saying Fu dog used to tell him often.

"Well all of us girls, or at least those with a soul are rooting for you two." Alix tells him with a thumbs up.

"The soul comment refers to Chloe I assume?" He laughs.

"Yep." Alix replies.

"You might have your work cut out for you though. When Juleka got rescued by dragon a few days ago she really seemed into him. Like as much into him as you are into her." Alix informs Jake.

"I see." He says thoughtfully.

"But I mean who knows, maybe dragon is like in his thirties? Hard to tell with his totally changed appearance." Alix says trying to cheer him up.

"Maybe it'll blow over, could just be heroes worship you know." Jake comments, stopping with her at some stairs leading up to the skate park.

"I hate stairs." Alix says, taking a step carefully and almost falls over, barely holding onto Jake.

"Alright. I got you, just don't get the wrong impression OK?" He tells her jokingly and carries her up the stairs, the short pink haired girl hanging over his shoulder and punches his back hard.

"Hey, don't just manhandle me out of nowhere jerk." She complains when he sets her down once he climbed the 20 or so stairs.

"I see a problem, I fix it." He tells her with a smirk.

"I'm gonna give you a problem." She challenges, snatching his skateboard off his hand and skates away, looking back at him tauntingly every now and then while he chases after her until she skates by a bench and sets down his board before rolling right past him while sticking out her tongue.

"You're pretty fast with those." Jake says, quickly catching up to her on his skateboard.

"I know." Alix replies confidentially.

"But I bet I'm faster." Jake tells her.

"What's the wager?" Alix asks intrigued.

"How about the looser pays for a treat at Marinette's fathers store tomorrow?" He suggests, holding out his hand.

"How about we go there now and the first one in the shop wins." She says.

"Alright. You got yourself a deal." He agrees, shaking her hand.

"Hey Maurice, give us a countdown." Alix tells one of her friends at the skaterpark.

"Alright. 5,4,3,2,1." The teen counts down and the two classmates take off, Alix racing right towards the stairs they came up and slides down the smooth side of it while Jake hops onto the middle railing, griding it down to the end and hops off, landing right next to Alix.

"Nice, looks like you got skills." Alix comments, before speeding up, Jake letting her believe she beat him by him taking a turn into a side street and skating past the unsuspecting girl already grinning victoriously while glancing behind her every now and then.

When Alix can see the shop at the end of the street a few minutes later she's sure of her victory and starts planning how to gloat when Jake hops over a small fence, landing 20 meters in front of her, shooting a cocky smirk at the redhead.

"You gotta be kidding me." Alix shouts angrily and speeds up, trying to catch up but Jake stays in the lead, placing his hand on the shops doorframe once he arrives, only to fall forwards, into Marinette who was opening the door at the same time, getting knocked over by the green haired teen and Tiki tumbles out of her handbag, looking at Jake with panic and plays dead as though she's a doll.

"Sorry Marinette. I didn't see you there." Jake apologizes, getting back to his feet and helps her up, during which Marinette slips on her handbag and falls into his arms.

"My, my wait till Juleka sees this." Alix says grinning mischievously, snapping a picture.

"Come on, don't be a sore looser Alix. I beat you fair and square." Jake tells her, handing Marinette her handbag and Tiki, who is confused as to why she feels at ease at Jake's touch and feels something familiar about him.

"Thanks, uhh sorry I'm such a clutz. Gotta go." Marinette says embarrassed and dashes past the two teens.

"Fine I won't... oops." Alix says miss-clicking and sending the photo to their classes chat.

"Sorry. That's totally my bad." Alix says guiltily.

"I'm starting to think you're the clutz here." He says, shaking his head.

"So what do you want?" Alix asks Jake.

'Chocolate croissant.' Longg says in Jake's head.

"A chocolate croissant is fine." Jake replies and waits outside the store, Alix coming out with two bags 2 minutes later.

"Here. Your prize." Alix tells him, handing him one bag.

"Thanks." He replies, accepting the bag and sits down on a nearby bench.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to send the picture. It was just supposed to be a joke." Alix tells Jake.

"It's fine. Don't apologize to me. I think Marinette is the real victim here." Jake says.

"Right. Adrian will see it too." Alix realizes sheepishly.

"Jup and I think Marinette has an harder time than me at talking to her crush." Jake tells her.

Their phone then beeps and a picture of the two of them looking like they're holding hands is posted in their group.

"What? Who took this?" Alix asks confused and weirded out.

"Hahaha, another romantic affair exposed." A shrill voice says cheerfully and they see an all grey man with camera lenses for eyes and a selfie stick in his hand like a cane dash out of a bush behind them and run across the street.

"I think that's gotta be an akumatized person?" Jake says, looking at Alix who nods.

"Alright. You better stay at the shop while he's out there." Jake tells her, taking her hand and leading her to the bakery.

"What about you?" She asks confused.

"I need to check up on my grandpa." Jake says, waving a quick goodbye before skating away, their class getting another photo where Jake is holding her hand and leads her into the bakery.

"Damn, I didn't even notice him." Jake curses, stopping and looks around himself.

'I can't transform like this.' Jake thinks, looking around for the akumatized person.

'I got to go where there are no cameras.' Jake realizes and continues to skate away from the bakery until he spots a sewer access and groans unhappily, but hops right in after prying it open.

"Dragon up!" Jake shouts energetically, since the akuma already harassed him as Jake.

"How do I find this weirdo?" Jake murmurs to himself, coming out of the sewer and flies over Paris aimlessly at a relaxed pace.

"Fancy seeing you here? Did you happen to see my bugaboo yet?" Cat Noir asks, using his stick to jump over the rooftops next to Jake.

"Can't say I have." Jake replies shaking his head.

"There you guys are." Ladybug says arriving moments later, slinging herself from roof to roof with her jojo.

"What's the plan?" Cat Noir asks the red and black costumed girl.

"We need some way to find the akuma." Ladybug says thoughtfully.

"Couldn't we see of who he posts pictures next?" Jake asks.

"He's using all cameras around the city without even the need to be there, so sadly no." Ladybug says.

"What do you suppose will happen if we give him a good picture to snap? Can we draw him out like that?" Jake asks, landing on the roof his two fellow heroes stop on.

"Maybe but what is he after? What does he want to take a picture of?" Ladybug asks.

"Let's see what kind of picture he has been taking." Cat noir suggests and the two heroes open their communicators within their weapons.

"Kinda wish I had one of those right now." Jake sighs, making Cat noir chuckle tauntingly.

"How come you don't? What's your miraculous anyways?" Ladybug asks while she and Cat noir are searching through news on Paris's akuma notification website.

"I can't tell, sorry." Jake says, figuring that if he tells them of his birthmark, he's too easy to identify.

"meanie." Cat Noir pouts.

"Mine would be a dead giveaway. There is only one like it. while there are millions of rings and earrings everywhere." Jake explains.

"It's alright. We don't need to know then, right kitty?" Ladybug says understandingly.

"If my lady says so, then who am I to object?" Cat noir says with a big smile.

"So what have you found?" Jake asks, peeking over the heroes' shoulder and sees a bunch of romantic pictures.

"I see. Love and romance." Jake says thoughtfully.

"How are we gonna draw him out then?" Ladybug asks perplexed.

"We fake a superhero romance." Jake suggests, Cat noir grinning excitedly and wiggles his eyebrows at his red and black dressed partner.

"Don't even think about it." Ladybug berates Cat noir, pushing his head back with her palm and making him pout.

"What are we gonna do then?" Cat noir asks.

"Ladybug, just so you know. I like someone else, this is just to draw out the akuma." Jake says, going over to Ladybug decisively and before she can even react he pulls her close against himself.

The transformed Marinette looking up into his eyes due to his stature from Jakes transformation.

"I feel a front pager!" The three heroes hear a shout.

"Does anyone see him?" Jake asks quietly.

"Hey, dude not cool." Cat noir complains about Jake holding Ladybug close with her blushing embarrassed.

"Let's force him into a specific area." Jake says, looking down at Ladybug before going over to a chimney on the roof while carrying a frozen Ladybug in front of him and he pushes her up against the roof, raising his left wing next to them.

"Keep an eye out for the right side." Jake says, being the only one to look for the akuma however due to Ladybug staring at him with wonder and embarrassment while Cat noir is glaring at his back.

"He's here." Jake tells his comrades and quickly dashes to the edge of the roof, jumping off and sailing right towards the akumatized person.

He starts to fight with him, the akuma calling himself snapshot dodging Jakes attacks.

"Man why are they doing nothing?" Jake groans, keeping on pressuring snapshot to the edge of the roof they are on.

"Take this! Flash!" snapshot yells and a blinding light shoots out of his lenses for eyes, blinding Jake.

"Guys, I need help here." Jake shouts, having wrapped his tail around the akumatized person's foot but can't see the selfie stick which must contain the akuma.

"Sorry. We're here." He hears Ladybug say softly soon after.

"Destroy his selfie stick. The akuma must be in it."

Jake instructs, feeling snapshot struggle against his hold but Jake manages to grab onto one of their opponents arms, keeping him contained while Ladybug yanks away the selfie stick and tosses it to Cat noir who slashes right through the item, a black butterfly flying out of it.

Ladybug catches the butterfly and a pure white one escapes her jojo seconds later.

"Now, can you help a dragon out and undo everything? My eyes hurt like hell." Jake asks, releasing the photographer who turned back now.

"I can't. I didn't use my Charm." Ladybug says chuckling nervously.

"Aww man." Jake groans reaching around himself with closed eyes until Ladybug takes his hand and leads him to a wall on the roof.

"Serves you right. Putting the moves on my sweet bugaboo." Cat noir huffs, standing in front of Jake with Ladybug, Jake sitting on the roof with his back against the wall.

"I'm not your bugaboo. And at least his idea worked." Ladybug comments.

"It's fine you two can leave. I will need a while to regain my sight." Jake tells them.

"Isn't now the perfect time to talk in peace?" Ladybug suggests, sitting down across from Jake, patting the floor next to her and Cat noir joins them while pouting with crossed arms.

"I guess." Cat noir agrees.

The trio then spends the next hour getting to know each other with Jake only telling them vaguely of his experience, as to not reveal himself immediately since he's pretty sure he's the only american they know who now lives in Paris.

Once Jake's sight returns the heroes split up and Jake flies home, thinking he can relax and that the crisis is averted.

What he doesn't know however is that Juleka is in her room crying to herself, staring at the photos of Jake with Marinette and Dragon with Ladybug, thinking she missed her chance with him.