Author's Note: Okay, so I may have been silly and watched ahead in the show. I couldn't wait to see the origin episodes so I watched them in French. As a result, they've been incorporated into the story from now on. So if, like me, you're still waiting for "The Mime" to come out in English, this will contain spoilers. Very sorry if you're affected by this! But, if you've already seen those episodes, then I hope you enjoy this chapter. :I

Chapter Three: False Victory.

Lea Keller, sitting backstage and resisting the urge to vomit, gave Marinette a queasy smile as she joined them backstage. They could hear Mr Damocles chattering to the audience. Chloe kept glancing at her phone, and peeking at Marinette angrily.

"...Lea Keller!"

It took a Lea a moment to realise her name had been called. Marinette and Rose were patting her on the back and congratulating her, while Chloe glared at her.

"What...?" Lea said groggily.

"Lea, you won!" Rose cried happily, clapping her hands together enthusiastically.

"What...?" Lea repeated, she was having difficult focusing on Rose's voice.

"They're waiting for you, Lea," Marinette told her, helping her to her feet. "You won."

"Wow..." Lea breathed, suddenly becoming aware that she was sweating copiously.

She all but fell onto the stage and tried her best to walk upright to stand beside Mr Damocles. Gabriel Agreste was sitting in front of the audience, holding a sign with her name on it, and keeping his eyes settled on her. She inhaled deeply, and tried to avoid the urge to throw up. Her mother was looking at her a worried look, but her father was cheering louder than ever, as Gabriel Agreste stood up to approach her. People were clapping and they seemed louder than ever. She was acutely aware that he was stood beside her now, saying something her Mr Damocles, but she could focus on what it was. She tried to breathe evenly and looked around worriedly, before abruptly collapsing on the stage.

An hour later she was sitting in the school infirmary sipping a plastic cup of water. Her parents and Oliver were there, her parents were arguing. Mr Damocles and Gabriel Agreste were talking in hushed tones and Adrien was standing awkwardly beside his father. Lea hadn't said anything in over half an hour, and was eager to leave.

"Mr and Mrs Keller, could you please calm down?" Mr Damocles pleaded, turning his attention to her parents.

"It's too much strain on her, clearly," Axel Keller cried.

"One panic attack doesn't mean she has to throw away this opportunity," Kerstin Keller growled. "She won fair and square, she should be allowed to see it through to the end."

"I'd like to speak to Miss Keller alone, if you'll all leave," Gabriel Agreste said calmly.

Everyone stopped for a moment, and then began to leave in unison. Lea was almost impressed by the way people listened to him.

"I'm sorry, but that design was absolutely awful," he said simply. "But, then I saw your necklace."

Lea raised her hand to touch the Miraculous, and he snorted.

"No need to be worried, I have one too," he told her.

"It's not mine," she admitted. "I found it in the street."

"Lea, these things have a way of finding who needs them most," he replied, unbuttoning his blazer and removing it.

A small purple creature with butterfly wings flew out of his blazer, and Lea guessed that he'd been hiding there for the entire show. She looked down at herself and Ellin flew out from underneath her skirt, she'd hidden there while Lea was being taken to the infirmary.

"This is Nooroo, the Butterfly Kwami," he told her, while Nooroo looked up at her hesitantly.

"I'm Ellin, the Fox Kwami," Ellin said brightly. "I haven't really had much chance to fill Lea in."

"Have you heard about Hawk Moth, you think he's bad, yes?" He was putting his blazer back on as he spoke.

"Well, yeah," Lea said. "That's what everyone says."

"And Cat Noir and Ladybug are good?" He pressed, and she nodded. "What if I told you it's the other way around?"

"That's impossible, only good people can possess the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous'," Ellin objected.

"Normally, yes," he agreed. "And I've been trying to retrieve them for the good of France, but my Heroes aren't strong enough."

"You're Heroes?" Lea asked.

"Yes, people who are sad or angry, I can use my powers to change them into Heroes," he explained. "But they can never defeat them."

"I thought they were destroying the city," Lea glanced over at Nooroo's worried face.

"No, quite the contrary, they're trying to stop Cat Noir and Ladybug," he replied. "But they've got everyone so wrapped under their thumbs, they think they're saving everyone. It's quite frustrating, really. But think about it, have you ever seen Ladybug or Cat Noir help someone when my Heroes aren't around?"

"I was attacked the night I found this necklace, and they were nowhere to be seen," Lea told him.

"Exactly," he finished.

She could barely sleep that night. Gabriel had promised to teach her how to use her powers, under the guise of being his intern. She had to plug her headphones in to drown out the sound of her parents shouting match downstairs, but she was still happy. She was a little dismayed that she'd only been picked as the winner because of Ellin, but that thought quickly moved to the back of her mind. Ellin was curled up in the blanket with her head resting on Lea's arm. Eventually, Lea removed her headphones and switched her music off.

Her parents had gone to bed, and the house was silent. Outside she could hear a dog barking, but she tuned it out.

"Lea?" Ellin breathed.

"Ja?" Lea whispered.

"Do you think we can trust Hawk Moth?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "But Nooroo is a Kwami, right? So he's trustworthy."

"But what about Cat Noir and Ladybug?" She persisted. "I'm worried about their Kwami."

"I think, for now, we'll take everything with a grain of salt," Lea decided sleepily. "Us versus the world."

"Is that safe?" Ellin asked, but Lea was already asleep.