A/N: Warning - From here on out, there will be a fuck ton of pop-culture references.

Chapter 4: The fire in Fireheart

Zoe woke up to the sound of her new brother knocking, it was odd she already considered him her brother, but he was a likable guy, and she was living with him, so why not? She drearily woke up and heard Adrien's voice,

"You dressed, or are you like me and tend to oversleep?"

Zoe looked at her clock and panicked to see it was 7:02a.m, she jumped out of bed and looked through her closet, through the designer clothes she wasn't a fan of. Eventually, she settled for a grey shirt, navy jeans, a jean jacket Blazze hide in and black combat boots. She put on her choker, opened the door and both teens ran to the limo where Gorilla was waiting, "Sorry, overslept."

Adrien laughed as they buckled their seatbelts "How was your sleep?"

Zoe thought about this and realized she didn't have her meds, and she slept through the night alone, not counting Blazze, no nightmares, "The best night sleep I've had in years."

OoOoO

They got to school—which they could have probably walked to in less time—and Adrien showed her to the locker room and where the class was, before running over to Nino, Alya and Marinette to explain her presence.

Zoe put her stuff in her locker before walking out and hearing an obnoxious-sounding laugh. She turned and saw a girl she remembered Eden mentioned being Chloe, bullying a red-haired boy she recognized as Nathanael from The Evillustrator. She walked over and saw Chloe throw a sketchbook on the ground at Zoe's feet and laughing her obnoxious laugh "You're so lame Nathanael. You don't even draw good."

Zoe felt her blood boil and a protective desire she knew well filled her, she felt this when someone made fun of Sam or Eden and it never ended well for the one who caused it. She picked up the journal and walked up to them, deciding it was time to pull some pop-culture scenes, "I think that's enough."

Chloe looked at her with her way-too-large eyes "And who are you?"

Zoe smirked "I'm Zoe, Gabriel Agreste's ward and a good friend of Adrien's."

Chloe rolled her eyes "No matter. You can't tell me what to do, my daddy is the mayor and he could take you apart with one blow."

Zoe scoffed, though she was genuinely impressed she was getting as far into this scene as she had gotten, "I could take you both apart in less than that. So, get away from the boy or I'll get angry, and you don't want me to get angry." Time to divert and be a badass.

Chloe seemed angry this strange girl wasn't bending to her will like everyone else, "And what will you do, I have all the power."

Zoe gave a dark chuckle which all onlookers, most of the school, feared meant she was getting akumatized, but Adrien and Marinette were smirking inwardly, knowing they were getting their treat.

She looked up, her eyes taking a wild look which had Chloe backing up slightly "I'll unleash the deadliest weapons of all: the truth. I'll let you know you won't have the power forever. Mayor is an elected position. Not to mention the simple fact you are not as amazing as you think you are and have single-handedly akumatized half the people in the city; you think Hawk Moth is the bad guy? You, Chloe, help him grow stronger. I could charge you with bribery, blackmailing, false evidence, abuse, emotional assault... do I need to keep going? I could for hours."

Chloe looked on the brink of either inhumane rage or running off to scream at her father, while everyone was wondering if she was done so they could applaud, Zoe wasn't done "Why do you look up to Ladybug?"

Chloe seemed taken aback "Because she's cool and—" Zoe put a finger to Chloe's lips "Did you know Ladybug in real life has been one of your victims for years. She hates you, yet she's willing to help you when someone targets you out of the goodness in her heart and GOD, I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I HATE BULLIES LIKE YOU WHO THINK THEY'RE A LITTLE PRINCESS WHO DON'T REALIZE THIS IS THE TWENTY FIRST CENTRY AND YOU ARE JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! DON'T THINK I NEED TO BE AKUMATIZED TO CALL OUT YOUR BULLSHIT, BITCH!" She took a deep breath before placing her lips so close to Chloe's ear they were nearly touching "Don't say I didn't warn you if I find you doing something like this again." She handed Nathanael his journal back and strutted off to class.

There was a pause before everyone, including the teachers and principal, applauded and cheered the girl in the classroom, breaking them out of Chloe's reign of terror—at least until the mayor came, but nobody wanted to think about that right now.

Chloe ran off, taking Sabrina by the hand.

OoOoO

Lunch came, and Zoe found herself the most popular girl in school, which was beyond weird, because she was used to being the social introvert and president of the Anti-Social Social Club at school—that she literally founded, and all they did was sit in silence.

Adrien came up and ruffled her hair, "Good going Zo! I have been given my treat." He turned to the three people behind him: Alya, Nino and Marinette. Zoe shook Marinette's hand "I met you when I was looking around and got lost, thanks for helping me find Ladybug."

Marinette gave her a grateful look before beaming "Oh, Zoe as in Mr. Agreste's new ward. Nice to officially meet you and thank you for ending Chloe's reign of terror."

Zoe shrugged "There was this asshole kid in my neighborhood back in Seattle who loved targeting my little sister, I got good at handling bullies; nobody bothered me after I socked the school bully in the eye at my old school." This was all true, she just needed to play on the idea they were all dead now.

Alya put an arm around her shoulder "I have respect for you! Were you being serious or in a blind rage?"

"Yes."

Nino frowned "Do you live in some dystopia?"

"Did." She replied, looking away and changing her expression to demonstrate her mood darkening.

Marinette gasped "Oh that's right, the bomb wiped out your city!"

Nino and Alya gasped as well "How did you survive?"

Zoe thought about this for a split second and used her mastered lying skills brought on by drama class and having an oppressive mother, "I was visiting my Grandma on her deathbed in Chicago. My sister was too young, Mother didn't want to hire a babysitter and Dad had an important meeting, so they sent me. I was packing up her possessions when I heard about the bomb... by family... my best friend... my kitten..." she had to fight real tears coming into her eyes at the idea it may become a reality one day.

Alya hugged her, followed by Marinette, then Adrien, then Nino, "We're here for you. You're in our friend group now."

Zoe smiled and pulled out her cellphone, which had been in her pocket when she traveled between worlds, so it came with her, "Here's my number," she showed them the number and they all entered it in their phones.

Nino looked up "What's your last name?"

"Carpenter."

Nathanael walked up to them "Uh—Zoe, right? I wanted to thank you for helping me earlier." He pulled out a piece of paper "I drew you this. If you want it."

Zoe looked at it and blushed, it was her, a gorgeous drawing of her. She looked back up at Nathanael "I love it." She hugged him "You know, I draw too, if you want to come over some time."

Nathanael beamed "Thank you, for everything."

OoOoO

The day ended, and nobody had been akumatized, Adrien watched as Alya was showing Zoe the Ladyblog. He had to admit, this girl was probably the best thing to happen to him other than getting his Miraculous.

He yelped as someone tugged his arm and pulled him into a storage closet.

"Adrikins! Why did you let your new friend talk to me that way?!" Chloe shrieked.

Adrien shrugged "Because she wasn't wrong. I've called you out on it and things didn't change. She is the first one willing to stand up to you with force and I won't stop her. I think you should heed her words... or face the consequences, because I have enough of a self-preservation instinct to not try changing her mind."

He walked out of the closet and saw Zoe about to open it, she sent a death glare at Chloe and turned back to him "Did she hurt you? If she tried to sexually assault you, we'll find ourselves with one less Chloe."

Chloe squeaked and sprinted away at that and Adrien laughed "She was just giving me a hard time for not stopping your verbal smackdown."

Zoe nodded in acceptance and amusement before feeling someone tap her shoulder. She whirled around and saw Sabrina, who handed her a large stack of paper, "Here! As a thank you for breaking us free from Chloe, I took and did your Geometry homework."

Zoe gaped, both out of shock, and wondering how the hell Sabrina had gotten her hands on her geometry homework, "Uh... thank you. You didn't need to do that though."

Sabrina shrugged "That's what friendship is."

"Um... did Chloe tell you that?" Zoe asked worriedly, "Because this is, while very nice and I thank you, not what friendship is. Friendship is being nice to people." She squeezed the red- head's shoulder "Thanks again though."

Sabrina beamed "No problem!" She skipped off.

Zoe and Adrien waved goodbye to Marinette, Alya and Nino, hopping in the limo.

Adrien looked at the homework pile and flipped through it, "Wow, I think she did more than just your geometry homework."

Zoe flipped through and found all her homework and Adrien's in the pile "I'll have to make her a thank-you note later."

Adrien nodded "At least I'll get some sleep tonight between homework, fencing, and piano." He mouthed 'and patrol'.

Zoe grimaced before looking to Gorilla, "Please Mr. Gorilla, do not repeat a word of what you're going to hear." Gorilla just breathed loudly as though saying yes and put on some comically small headphones. She just shrugged and turned back to Adrien, "I hate piano. I can play, but it gets on my nerves faster than I can play a song."

Adrien sighed in relief "Same. I don't know why my father needs me to know these things. I'll never be good enough,"

Zoe put a hand on his shoulder and handed him a bar of chocolate—a thank-you from a teacher, there were at least three others, "Eat, and I will have you know that your father sees you as perfect. He even said it to Ladybug."

Adrien's eyes widened, "Really?!"

"Yup. During the Simon Says incident he mentioned it and how much you remind him of your mother."

Adrien took out his phone and looked at the photo of Emilie Agreste, "Do you know what happened to her?"

Zoe closed the window between the driver and the passengers "No, but there's a Peacock Miraculous of some sort in your father's safe, the kwami's name is Duusu. I think that would be step one in finding out. But it will be stolen sometime in the future and create the super-villain, Mayura, who will either make Hawk Moth look like a baby…or be his partner; the fandom wiki was unclear."

Adrien beamed "So we get it and ask Duusu—" he gasped, and his eyes got watery "My father has a Miraculous as well…doesn't he?"

Zoe didn't respond, watching the traffic like it was the most interesting thing in the world, trying to find the best way to answer the question without spilling the beans or lying; but Adrien got his answer. He put his face in his hands "My father is Hawk Moth, isn't he? That's why you didn't tell Ladybug and I when we were at Master Fu's."

Zoe grimaced and slowly nodded "I didn't know how to tell you. I'm generally a blunt person, but I'm not cruel. I wasn't going to hide it for long, especially when Mayura comes into the picture at the end of Season 2; so that would be in roughly eleven akumas, then Natalie is going to get akumatized and somehow bring back twelve previous akumas, including but not limited to, Glaciator, Stormy Weather, Volpina and Befana. There are a couple that haven't happened yet."

"Can we... not tell Ladybug for a bit? Please." Adrien asked, "I want to try solving the solve the problem myself."

Zoe nodded "Don't let this eat you. If it makes you feel better, getting your ring and Ladybug's earrings create one wish, and the whole fandom on my world thinks your father is using the wish to get your mother back, though that same fandom also thinks it's your mother or Natalie who is Mayura in the first place. There are three types of fans on the topic of your mother: either she's dead, she packed up and left, or she's living inside of a coffin in a coma in the basement of the mansion and lives as a half-peacock mutant monster bent on destruction due to a mishap with a Miraculous and now it's Gabriel's job to take care of her and feed her birdseed all while keeping her existence a secret from you."

Adrien smiled sadly "That does and doesn't make me feel better, and that last one is a bit ridiculous, but so is my father spitting out demon butterflies to possess people. Because I honestly removed him from the list of suspects after seeing the Bubbler's costume, which was objectively and metaphorically the worst; and my father is a fashion designer." He chucked, then became serious again, "Though I'm sensing a 'but.'"

Zoe bit her lip, "How do I put this...? Have you seen BBC Merlin?"

Adrien thought about this "No. Maybe. I don't know."

Zoe pulled out her phone and showed the cover for Season 1. Adrien shrugged "Heard of it. Haven't watched it. Maybe we can together?"

"Good plan." Zoe agreed, "But what I wanted to show you was how the balance of life and death works in this universe. While you can create life—make a barren woman fertile or bring someone back from the dead—the balance needs to be restored, a life will be taken in place of the life you create. The same thing applies to this wish: the balance must be equal. The same thing would have happened in Pinocchio—you've seen Pinocchio, right—if the Blue Fairy really did turn him into a real boy, someone else would have become a puppet."

Adrien nodded as he wrapped his head around it "Robustus..."

"Precisely. Had he used the wish to become a real boy, someone else would have lost their humanity, probably Max, because it needs to be an equal sacrifice. Master Fu already explained this to Ladybug. Though most fans theorize you would be the sacrifice if your father did do it; and most of us think and pray he doesn't know."

"Tt doesn't matter if I want my mother back as much as father does... I would never take someone else's life to get what I want. And I value my life." Adrien said with the wisdom of someone who had spent years contemplating that question.

Zoe nodded "And I will remind you, there is only a 99.999999% chance this is the case. He may still be a psycho super-villain in every way and be fully ready to sacrifice you."

Adrien sighed "Let's see how things go for a bit, if things get out of hand, we tell Ladybug, but not before. Deal?"

Zoe shook his hand "Not counting if I accidentally spill the beans like I did with you."

A/N: Now we will start seeing some akumas. And yes, Adrien knows. This is kind of like a side plot, trying to figure out what to do. And they will eventually be going down to the creepy coffin room.