How did she get here?

Honeycomb stood in the middle of a dark room. No, more than dark, it was pitch-black. She couldn't see anything, not even- Experimentally, she brought her hand up to her face, moving it closer until her palm touched her nose. No, she couldn't even see her hand.

Where was she?

And...what was the faint rustling sound?

Honeycomb moved her hand to her little hexagon, effortlessly pulling it off and opening her communicator. It gave off a tiny light, not enough to properly see, but if she tilted it towards the floor, maybe she could-

Her heart stopped as she saw it.

All over the floor.

Butterflies. White butterflies.

The ones nearest her flew away, disturbed by the faint light of her communicator. Honeycomb almost screamed, catching herself just time, her arms coming up to shield her head. The butterflies here were white, not black, but they were no less threatening! A white butterfly could become a black one. She could become Vanisher again. Or worse.

….worse…

If...if she was here... that must have meant-

Honeycomb's breath caught.

If the butterflies were all here...then this must have been where he stayed. Where he had been when he'd sent one after her. And after her classmates. After everyone. If this was his lair…

She had to leave. She didn't know how she got here, but she had to get out. Now.

Holding her breath, Honeycomb gingerly picked her feet through the butterflies. They seemed to sense her coming, parting slightly to let her through - or avoid being crushed underfoot. A few of their wings brushed against her foot; she couldn't help recoiling, couldn't help the shudder that ran up her spine.

They didn't seem to affect her, though. They didn't want to hurt her. Maybe they didn't even notice she was there. Or they thought she was their master - it was dark, they didn't have eyes, right?

Her heart hammered in her chest, her throat was dry. She had to just keep quiet. She had to pick her way through the dark, find the exit. Find the exit, get out, find where exactly this place was… She had to get back to Ladybug and Chat Noir with this. She had to tell them - she had to tell her friends-

"Oh, Vanisher…"

Her heart stopped.

An overwhelming presence was suddenly right behind her.

"Did you really think you could just leave?"

"Benevolence!" Honeycomb screamed, whirling around and pointing her wand at the darkness. A half-second later she berated herself - Benevolence was a healing move, not an offensive move, she wasn't-

The butterflies sensed a threat. In a massive wave, they rose up, surged past her. Honeycomb's scream was lost in a roar of rustling, flapping wings, her wand falling from her hands to the ground.

No, no, it didn't even reach the ground.

Her comb was pulled from her hair, and she felt her transformation fall away. The wand dissolved into specs of gold light; she heard Hanii's voice shouting something to her but it was too muffled - and abruptly cut off.

"Hanii!" Sabrina screamed over the noise of the wings - the butterflies weren't moving past her, they were around her, trapping her in one place, holding her-

She felt one touch her shoulder.

And then she felt something familiar; a heavy fog creeping into her skull.

"No," she begged, hands coming up to grab her head. "No no no I can't be- The Miraculous protects me, I can't-"

"But you don't have a Miraculous anymore."

Another butterfly landed on her arm. Another on her leg. Another touched the top of her head.

With every new butterfly, the fog grew stronger, she felt a searing pain begin to flow through her veins.

"Don't worry, you can't be Vanisher again. How can you, when you demanded to be seen?"

"Please-" Sabrina cried out. She felt herself being warped, felt her mind twisting. Purple light crept in from the edges of her vision.

"You won't get away with it!" she managed to scream. Even with all the fear, anger pushed through. "My friends will-"

"Silly girl…You don't have any friends."

The butterflies enveloped her.

"Sabrina!"

"Sabrina!"

Sabrina screamed, jolting upright. The butterflies fell away, but something was still around her shoulders. With another scream that hurt her already-dry, sore throat, she flailed her arms out to smack her captor away. She wasn't going there. She wasn't going in there!

"Sabrina!"

He couldn't transform her!

"Sabrina, it's me!" The light clicked on then, and Sabrina found herself staring into the wide, shocked eyes of her classmate, Marinette.

Marinette.

Marinette?

Sabrina blinked, hard, and then her ears caught the sound of heavy, rapid footfalls.

The trapdoor a few feet away suddenly lifted, and a big man began to climb through, wielding a metal baseball bat in one hand. "What happened?!" he cried, halting his climb once he saw the girls were alone in the room.

"We heard a scream!" Marinette's mother peered through, her husband making room for her. "Are you girls alright?"

"Yeah," Marinette said. "Yeah, uh-"

"Nightmare…" Sabrina mumbled, slowly waking up the rest of the way. "It was only a nightmare…" She was speaking more to herself than anyone else. It was only a nightmare. She wasn't hurt. She wasn't a prisoner. She wasn't...she was safe…

The floorboards creaked slightly, and Sabrina jumped a little as Sabine crouched in front of her, brow furrowed as she pushed back a lock of Sabrina's hair. "Oh my goodness, you're soaked, " she murmured.

She was, too. Her face was cold and damp with sweat, making her hair stick to her it uncomfortably. Some locks of hair closer to her face were drenched, and her pajamas clung to her almost like another skin.

"That must have been some dream," came Marinette's dad's voice. "Do you need us to call your father?"

"No!" Sabrina cried, instantly regretting it. Not only did it make her look suspicious, but it irritated her dry throat. She swallowed a few times, willing her hands to stop shaking so much, and forced a smile. "No, no, I'm fine, I've been worrying about a test coming up and I have test anxiety, you see!"

Well, they didn't, because they hardly knew her but…

But that worked to her advantage, didn't it?

It took about five minutes for them to leave. During those five minutes, Sabrina was given a damp towel to clean her face, was offered a change of pajamas (which she declined), and had a drink of water. Marinette's mom had wanted to bring her tea, or hot milk, but Sabrina managed to convince her that all she needed was to wet her throat again.

The whole time, Marinette kept giving her looks behind her parents' backs.

Finally, after one more assurance that nobody needed to call her father, that she always got like this before a big test, the trapdoor closed, and the sound of footsteps slowly faded away.

Once they couldn't hear anything, the light clicked back on. Marinette sat herself right in front of Sabrina. "Okay, what were you really dreaming about?"

Sabrina said nothing.

"Sabrina."

Oh, now Marinette sounded more like Ladybug that time.

Which...which she was, of course…

In any case, Sabrina sighed and looked away from the lamp (where their kwami were sitting, gazing at them in concern) and back at her teammate. Marinette was looking at her with a mixture of concern and sternness on her face, a look Sabrina recognized from some of the candid shots on the Ladyblog. She couldn't help flinching a little - the look was a little unnerving when she was on the receiving end of it.

"It wasn't anything," she said.

"Sabrina." Marinette's frown deepened. "You were sweating. You screamed and pushed me away. You almost hit Hanii," she added, gesturing to the lamp.

"I what?!" Sabrina cried, whipping her head around to look at her kwami again, eyes wide in horror.

"It's okay, Sabrina!" Hanii was quick to say, zipping over to her. She placed her tiny hands on Sabrina's nose, smiling in a comforting way. "It's okay, you didn't hit me. You didn't even mean to, it was a nightmare."

"A bad one from the sounds of it," Tikki offered.

"So. Tell me what happened," Marinette said, voice softening.

Well, with three against one, she didn't have much of a choice, did she? Sabrina sighed shakily, holding her cupped hands out for Hanii to float into. She gazed down at Hanii instead of looking at the girl and kwami opposite her, taking a moment to gather her courage before speaking:

"I had a dream about Hawk Moth," she confessed.

There were no gasps of horror, no little utterances of "no" … Just Hanii reaching out to lightly squeeze Sabrina's finger.

"He knows," Sabrina murmured to her hands, drawing her knees closer to herself. "And I keep thinking that he'll…"

Warm hands touched her shoulders. Sabrina lifted her head tiredly, looking into Marinette's eyes again.

The stern look was gone. Now there was just concern and reassurance, with something else below the surface. "He isn't going to hurt you," she said quietly.

"I know, it's not my Miraculous he wants, so he shouldn't-"

"No, not because of that." Marinette's hands lightly squeezed Sabrina's shoulders. "Because we won't let him. Nothing is going to happen to you, Sabrina. You've got me!"

And Chat, Sabrina thought to herself. But then again, the other two didn't know each other's identities, and Marinette was clearly meaning both civilian and hero self…

That was why she was sleeping over again, she recalled. To have some kind of bodyguard.

And because you're friends, aren't you? a voice seemed to whisper. You're friends, remember that.

Yeah.

Sabrina smiled a little.

Yeah, and they were friends.

Weird as it was to admit, given how the two of them were months ago.

"Thanks, Marinette."

Tikki smiled and hovered between them. "All right, girls," she said. "It's five in the morning, and we all know you have school tomorrow. If Sabrina feels safe again, I think we should go back to sleep."

Both girls laughed a little, keeping quiet so the adults downstairs couldn't hear.

"And after school, you're coming with me and Alya for smoothies," Marinette reminded her, scooting back into her sleeping bag.

"I know, I know," Sabrina chuckled weakly as she slid into her own bag. She paused briefly, then asked "Do you think it'll be okay?" After all, Alya was Marinette's best friend and one of the people Chloé had been giving a hard time… And Sabrina was the one who'd alerted Chloé to the other girl photographing her locker-

"It'll be fine. Trust me." Marinette sounded so confident, so reassuring - so much like Ladybug - that Sabrina had to believe her.

Hanii snuggled under Sabrina's chin, and before long, they were all asleep again.

It was almost as if the weather itself were determined to back up Marinette's "It will be fine" claim. The morning was cloudless and beautiful, a little warmer than normal without being overbearing.

And there were no traffic issues, no morning Akuma, no bad news as the girls moved across the street to the school. Chloé was waiting out front, but she didn't even look Sabrina's way. Unlike the last time she'd done that, Sabrina just felt a happy thrill. Nobody would give her a bad time today. Nobody was going to hurt her.

And with Hanii in her bag and her comb in her hair, if an Akuma or even Hawk Moth himself tried to do something, she'd be able to stop it in no time!

All in all? The day was starting out perfect.

She took a few steps back as Alya approached Marinette with a cheerful greeting. As the girls talked a bit, Sabrina hung slightly in the background, hands on her bag strap, smiling nervously. She didn't try to get into the conversation - it wasn't about her, it was none of her business, and Alya was Marinette's best friend so she had "first dibs" - but that was fine too. She waved slightly as Alya glanced at her...

...with a slight frown.

Sabrina's heart gave a quick jolt, but the expression on Alya's face faded slightly, and she lifted a hand to wave back. As she went back to her talk with Marinette, Sabrina sighed internally, and mentally kicked herself for being so jumpy.

"Hey, Marinette?" she piped up. "I'm going to go inside now, okay?"

"Oh! Sure, see you later - and remember, we're meeting in the library after school!" Marinette called as Sabrina headed inside.

"I will!"

Sabrina grinned to herself. If someone had told her last month that there would be a day when she would not only be one of Paris's heroes, but also know the identities of the other two, and would no longer interact with Chloé of her own free will, and would be sleeping over at Marinette's place on two different occasions and would be walking with her to school and would be invited out with her and Alya…

...well, she honestly wouldn't have known what to think. Because it could have been a high fever, a delusion, a lying Akuma, or possibly the result of some illegal substances. And she would be personally checking their bags to make sure it wasn't the last one on the list.

But sure enough...here this all was.

The rest of the class began to filter in. From her new place, Sabrina propped her chin in her hands and observed, letting the reality of the situation settle in again.

It sometimes felt like she'd fallen into another universe entirely. A new seat, a new seatmate, different friends, a magic comb in her hair…

She knew the identities of Paris's heroes, something that a lot of people would kill to know.

She knew something about Adrien that not even Chloé knew, something that Chloé would have killed her for.

Chloé…

She tried not to look at Chloé as the blonde walked in, but curiosity got the better of her and she looked up just as she was sitting down. Chloé didn't appear to care that her seatmate wasn't with her anymore, but there was only so much Sabrina could tell from the back.

Not that she minded that much, of course! As unsure as things felt sometimes, this was certain: there was no way she was going back to Chloé. A shaky smile appeared on Sabrina's face, and she had to quickly hold back a laugh. After all Chloé had done to her, how she'd been treated, after all the effort and tears and especially after what'd happened on the school roof?

It would be a cold day in Hell before Sabrina willingly went back to that. Especially after she'd made new friends!

Like…

...like…

Okay, so maybe she wouldn't have called the rest of the class friends per se, they didn't know each other that well, but they talked to her. They'd been concerned for her. Ivan willingly allowed her to sit next to him. And sure, Alya didn't really talk to her when they'd arrived at school, but in time she'd…

A tiny bit of self-doubt started to tug at her, but Sabrina squashed it down.

Everything was fine. Everything was going great again. Her nightmares only came at night, in the few days since The Revealing, Hawk Moth hadn't done anything - not to her or to Paris - and in the day, everything was fine.

She had nothing to worry about.

A calmer, relieved smile appeared on her face.

Things could only go up from here.

So she told herself.

So she believed.

Sabrina hurried down the hall towards the library, breathing hard. She'd meant to be there a few minutes ago, but her bag had fallen and spilled some of her books out, and she'd lost precious time in collecting them again. Well, okay, not entirely because of the books, but she also had to make sure she hadn't lost any of her homework, she had to make sure Hanii wasn't hurt… Being in the back of the room meant she had to wait a little before she could leave because everyone nearer the door was getting there first…

But it was fine, she thought! She was only going to be two, maybe three minutes late. Marinette wouldn't leave if she was a few minutes late, would she? She wasn't Chloé, after all!

She slowed her pace as she reached the closed library door, reaching out to grab the handle-

"What's going on with Sabrina lately?"

-and halted, breath hitching in her throat.

"What do you-"

"I mean…" A small noise, like a cough, or clearing one's throat. "I mean, look, it's a little weird, right? Sabrina's been Chloé's best friend for years. And sure, Chloé hasn't been treating her the best, but she's never left her side. And now, not only is she ditching Chloé, but she's coming to school with you, and she's joining us in town today. It's just...unusual, is all."

"Alya, listen, it's really not...It's not bad. Sabrina isn't bad-"

"Remember what happened when you were assigned together for that project? You told me she wouldn't stop texting you, how she just latched onto you for a bit, how fast she went back to Chloé… I just don't want to see that happen to you again, Mari."

"It's not - it's different this time!"

"How do you know that?"

"...I can't explain it, I just-"

"Girl, I know you feel sorry for her-"

A hot knife went through Sabrina's chest.

"-but this isn't the way to do it. What if Chloé gets mad at you for this? What if she does something to you? What if this is some trick-"

"It's not a trick! I promise-"

"But Chloé could still do something! This isn't - I mentioned the project, but this isn't just working together. She's sleeping at your house and you're coming into school together. You want her to join us for smoothies. This goes beyond just 'homework partners,' and Chloé would be furious if you stole her friend-" Alya's voice abruptly stopped, and she sighed loudly. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to - I - Alya, this isn't-"

"After everything Chloé and Sabrina have done to you, you want to forgive her? You just want to pretend none of it happened?"

"Alya-"

"Oh, hey, Sabrina, you want the door?"

A voice at her side made her jump. The voices inside abruptly ceased.

Kim pushed the door open, standing off to side. A bit further in the room, Alya and Marinette stared at the doorway, eyes wide.

Sabrina blinked. "Hey, ah-" she began, but her throat felt impossibly-tight. "Hey, I just reme-remembered! D-Dad needed me for-f-for something at home! I'll have to- I c-can't…" She began taking shaky steps backwards, the forced smile on her face twitching painfully. "I'll have to-" Her vision blurred, and she quickly ducked her head. "I'llseeyouaround!" she shouted, turning and running the opposite direction.

"Sabrina, wait!" she heard behind her, but she wasn't going to stop. Her legs burned and her feet were sore where they heavily hit the floor, but she didn't care. She had to leave.

She had to get out of here.

She-

She smacked into someone, crying out more in surprise than pain.

" Sabrina?!"

"Sorry!" she cried, keeping her head down. Once more, she ran. Down the stairs. Around a corner. Outside…

"Sabrina, wait!" a tiny voice came from her bag. "Slow down, you need to-"

She didn't want to listen. Instead, she ducked into the nearest alley. "Transform Me!"

A flash of gold, and Honeycomb raced out into the streets. She didn't know where she was going, she didn't care, she just needed…

She needed altitude. To be alone, to get away.

So, with her new abilities and heightened everything, she quickly made her way from the ground to the rooftops. She could hear some people exclaiming, hear some clicks as people took pictures, but she didn't pay them any mind. She just ran and leaped.

And she didn't stop until she found herself on the roof of the Louvre, without even knowing if she'd intended to go there.

On the safety of the roof, she let her transformation drop, and collapsed, lungs and legs burning.

Hanii somersaulted in midair for a moment, still reeling a bit from the sudden transforming/de-transforming. Then she zipped over to Sabrina, frowning a bit. "Sabrina, what happened?" she demanded. "You know better than to use the Miraculous for...Sabrina?" Her voice softened in worry as she noticed her charge wasn't moving or acknowledging her. The redhead was just. Lying there. Sprawled out and face-down with her comb threatening to fall out, her hair loose and fanned around her head. "Sabrina?" she tried again, moving closer.

There was a faint sound coming from her. Hanii went quiet and listened...and then her eyes went wide.

Crying.

Sabrina was crying, moving her arms to hide her face.

"Sabrina? I thought you were going...Sabrina, honey, what's wrong?" Hanii cried, moving close, touching Sabrina's hair.

Sabrina didn't answer. She just cried, her sobs steadily increasing in volume as she berated herself.

She had a new seatmate, but he didn't talk to her, did he?

Her classmates had been concerned for her, but they weren't personal friends, were they?

She was friends with Ladybug and Chat Noir, but she barely associated with their civilian selves; her friendship with Marinette was new and tentative at best. And Marinette...Marinette only let her sleep at her house because she felt sorry for her, to guard her, not because they were good friends or anything!

Alya didn't even seem to trust her.

She had…

Sabrina's grip on her arms tightened as she wept, heedless of the shadow falling over her.

She had...

"Sabrina!"

With another sob, she let the thought finish. She had no friends.

Something touched the crown of her head, right near Hanii.

"Sabrina…?"