Rnij: Thanks! I've taken your advice and gone back and added some more of what's going on in Danielle's head, and I hope that makes the story better!

That afternoon, Danielle returned to the Agreste mansion, again ignoring Adrien before sneaking off to her uncle's office. Her heart raced and her stomach jumped up into her throat- this was so much harder than stealing the first half of the brooch.

She couldn't tell Adrien the truth. Danielle knew she wasn't exactly kind or polite (in fact, she worked to ensure she wasn't), but she wasn't downright horrible. With any luck, she'd be able to sneak the other half of Nooroo's miraculous out from under Gabriel's nose and then pretend nothing had ever happened. Hawk Moth wouldn't be able to transform or hurt any more people, Nooroo would be safe, and Danielle would be on her way to Antalya.

Danielle opened the desk drawer, and her face fell. "Shit," she cursed under her breath. She reached in, feeling around to make sure it really was empty and no secret compartments held the brooch. A sigh escaped her, and she pulled her hand back out and shut the drawer. "Looks like I'm not going anywhere for a while."

"Were you planning to?"

Nooroo flew out of Danielle's jacket and hovered in front of her. "You can do some real good here, Danielle. I know you can."

"It's not... I'm just..." Danielle huffed and crossed her arms. "Paris isn't for me."

"How long have you been here?" Nooroo asked.

Danielle shrugged. "Like, a day," she said dismissively.

Nooroo snickered. "You've been here a day and already decided this isn't for you?" they asked. "I hate to break it to you, but no one can decide that easily."

"Well I can," Danielle insisted shortly. "Uncle Gabriel hardly talks to me, and my cousin Adrien and I don't really get along anymore." She headed towards the door, and Nooroo followed after, sliding into her jacket pocket. "And then there's my new classmates- they sure don't like me..."

"Are you sure that isn't just because you're pushing them all out?" Nooroo asked. "The only person I've seen you even attempt to talk to is that blonde girl you made a champion out of."

Danielle looked down and to the side, averting Nooroo's pressing gaze. She looked back up just in time to avoid walking into a table in the hall. She skited the the left, but the corner still caught her hip. She kept moving like it was nothing. "Why should I have to be the one to initiate anything?" she grumbled.

"Most people aren't initiators, Danielle," Nooroo explained. "They won't try to be friends unless you try first. Now what about your cousin? You said you don't get along anymore. How were things before you got here?"

"They were... okay." Danielle finally made it to her bedroom door and grabbed the handle, pushing it open. She shut the door behind her, and Nooroo flew out of her jacket again. "We talked, hung out, at least when we got to spend time together, mostly over holidays. It was nice."

Nooroo tilted their head, watching Danielle carefully. "What changed?" they asked.

Danielle let out a short breath through her nose and turned away from her kwami. "I don't like talking about it."

Nooroo didn't miss the way her eyes watered and her breath hitched. "You can tell me when you're ready. Just rest up and get ready for patrol tonight."

Danielle nodded mutely and laid down on the bed, keeping her face away from Nooroo. After a few moments, she added on, "You, too."

"So this is where the heroes meet before going out to save the world," Leda mused as she walked across one of the Eiffel Tower's support beam. It was such a strange thing, being there. She'd been up on each of the observation decks at one point or another as a child, but standing on a beam, the wind in her hair and not an inch of railing to protect her if she fell, gave her a spurt of energy and excitement, even if she kept it hidden. Chat Noir and Ladybug both turned to her, eyes wide with shock. Leda waved them off. "Calm down, my kwami told me you met here. Something about photos of you two on the Ladyblog?"

Ladybug and Chat shared a dubious look before turning back to Leda. It was Chat who spoke first. "Look, we've been burned by someone claiming to be a miraculous holder pretty recently, so you'll have to excuse us for being wary," he said.

Leda shrugged nonchalantly. "It's cool, I get it," she replied. "Wary's good. I'm not exactly a team player myself; I'm just doing this cause Nooroo asked me to. Not to mention, they're being stupid and refusing to tell me where the kwami doc is until I meet with you two."

Another look between Ladybug and Chat. "Why would you need to see the Guardian?" Ladybug asked, turning her gaze to Leda.

"Because Nooroo's been split in half or something," Leda explained. "It happened when-" She froze, mouth open up no sound coming out. "I can't say it. I can't say who Hawk Moth is." She let out a huff. "Wings fall."

"Wait nonono-" Ladybug and Chat stopped when Nooroo appeared and the cane vanished, but Leda stayed in costume. "How..."

Nooroo looked from Leda to Ladybug and Chat, then back again. "Leda, what's wrong?" they asked. "Do they not believe you?"

"I physically can't tell them where I got the brooch," she said, disbelief in her voice. "How is that possible?"

Nooroo sighed and looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Leda. The Miraculous magic forbids you from outing anyone but yourself."

Leda let out a nervous whine. "You can do that?" she asked incredulously. "And now he probably knows who I am, too."

"I'm sorry," Nooroo sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, he can't tell anyone who you are either."

"Can you tell us who he is?" Chat Noir asked, eying Nooroo with an inquisitive eye.

Nooroo shook their head. "I'm sworn to protect the identity of whoever has the butterfly miraculous, even from other holders."

Ladybug looked Leda over again, then to Nooroo. "You look like a kwami, but why are you transparent? And why don't you transform Leda into a different appearance?"

"I think it's because the brooch was broken in two," Nooroo explained. "It's never happened before, so the effects are... undetermined. Hawk Moth can't transform anymore either."

A smirk broke out over Leda's face. "Oh, this is good though," she laughed. "So I just have to get the brooch, and he won't be able to do anything about it."

"But you still have to get it," Ladybug declared. "And if he were smart, he would have put it somewhere else by now, right?" Leda nodded. "Not to mention, I don't think Nooroo's gonna help you track it down."

Nooroo shrugged but shook their head anyway. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Leda assured them. "You're doing everything you can, and you need to focus your free time on resting."

"Thanks, Leda," Nooroo replied with a smile. "Now, you've got to transform back for your first patrol!"

Leda nodded. "Alright, Nooroo, wings rise."

Nooroo zipped back into the brooch, and a cane appeared in Leda's hand.

Ladybug and Chat Noir shared a look, silently conversing about their new partner. After a moment, they looked back to Leda. "Alright, you'll be with Chat tonight to learn the ropes," Ladybug declared. "You obviously have a kwami, so I don't think it's possible for you to be an akuma, but you're still new at this."

Chat nodded in agreement. "You take the north, we'll take the south?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ladybug gave them a two-fingered salute before swinging off to patrol her part of the city.

Chat turned to Leda. "Ready, Leeds?"

Leda scoffed and shook her head. "As I'll ever be." She pursed her lips as she looked out at the city. Her heart raced in her chest, adrenaline keeping her upright.

Chat hesitated, then he sighed. He walked up to Leda and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I get it if you're nervous, but you'll get used to it in no time. I'll tell you a secret: the first time Ladybug and I met, we wound up wrapped in her yoyo string on the way to fight Stoneheart."

No reaction came from Leda, so Chat sighed and tried again. "Nooroo wouldn't have told you how to use their miraculous if they didn't have faith in you."

"And what does that say about Hawk Moth?" Leda asked. For once, Chat was at a loss for words. "Look, I don't want to be a hero. I didn't go searching for a miraculous. I just want to get out of Paris, but I can't because Nooroo doesn't deserve the shit they're going through. I can help them, and I'm not going to let them down."

"Sounds a lot like a hero to me," Chat countered coolly. "Most people would just try to get rid of that brooch as fast as possible or use it for their own desires. But you? You're focused on helping Nooroo."

Leda rolled her eyes. "Just don't tell anyone or it'll ruin my reputation of being a stone-cold bitch."

Chat winced, but he bit his lips together like he tried not to laugh. "Maybe lay off the cursing," he said, despite the snort that snuck out his nose. "We're supposed to be good influences."

"You are, maybe, but I'm just a thief who chose the weirdest target ever." A smile cracked on Leda's face, and both she and Chat Noir burst out laughing.

"That's... that's not funny," Chat said between snickers.

It was nearly midnight when patrol was done, and Leda and Chat bid their farewells. But instead of going back to the Agreste Mansion, Leda found herself drawn to Le Grand Paris. She remembered which room was Chloé's from their sleepovers when they were younger, and she just hoped it was the same one.

She tapped on the glass door of the balcony, and a minute later, a confused Chloé came to the door.

"What..." Chloé slid the door open and looked Leda over. "What are you doing here?"

Leda pursed her lips. "Sorry if I woke you," she said.

Chloé shook her head. "Look, I need my beauty sleep, but not that much," she joked. "Uh... do you want to come in?"

"That'd be great." Leda followed Chloé inside and looked around the room. Not much had changed since they were little, but there were fewer personal touches- you'd think it would be the other way around. "You have a nice place."

"Yeah," Chloé agreed with a smile. "It should be with how much money the hotel earns. You want some tea?"

Leda nodded. "Always," she said, a sigh escaping her as she did. "My favorite's peppermint, if you have it."

Chloé went about making the tea, occasionally sparing a glance back at Leda. "You never told me why you were here, you know."

"Right!" Leda jumped a little, straightening her back. "I just... I wanted to say thank you for helping today. You could've brushed me off or not believed that I was trying to help, but you trusted me instead. Someone you've totally never met before. Ever. At all."

"To be fair, it surprised me, too," Chloé confessed. "I'm not really the trusting type, but- I mean-" She sighed and shook her head. "Never mind."

Leda tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed together. "What is it?" she asked.

Chloé took in a sharp breath and looked around the room. "I've been attacked four times by akumas I caused in my own bedroom," she said. "And that's not even counting the others that have attacked me somewhere else in the hotel or around the city. I know people think I'm some heartless monster who doesn't care, but I'm not stupid. I know what I've done, and if I can do something to fix it, I will... Not saying I'd do anything, but I want to at least do something."

The kettle whistled, and Chloé poured a cup for Leda and passed it off to her. Leda took a sip, then sat down on the sofa. "Why are you like this?" she asked. Everything had been so much different when they were children.

"It's easier," Chloé explained. "It's easier to let people hate me than it is to become friends with them and find out they only liked me because of my money or start dating them only to find out they wanted to use my father's position to get publicity for something or other. It's just easier. It hurts less." She scoffed and shook her head, sitting down on the coffee table across from Leda. "Why am I even telling you this?"

"Because you need a friend?" Leda offered. "I'll tell you, I could use one, too."

Chloé raised an eyebrow. "Why would you need a friend?" she asked. "You've got Ladybug and Chat Noir, don't you? And I bet you have lots of friends as a civilian."

Leda sighed. "They don't really trust me yet," she said. "Not that I can blame them after... was it Volpina who had a fake miraculous?"

"Yeah, that's-" Chloé stopped, watching Leda carefully. Leda straightened up, a hint of panic in her eyes. "You're not from Paris, are you? I thought you had a bit of an accent! And that's why you aren't sure about the akuma's name!"

Quickly, Leda reached out and grabbed Chloé's hand. "Please don't tell anyone," she begged. "I need to put as much distance between me and my civilian identity as possible, and if we both arrived within the same month, it's not gonna be pretty."

Chloé shook her head. "Your secret's safe with me if mine's safe with you," she promised.

Leda hesitated, leaning back on the couch. "You don't want people to know you're not a horrible person?" she asked.

"Oh, no, I'm a horrible person," Chloé insisted. "I just don't want people to know why I'm a horrible person. And you didn't tell me about your friend situation as a civilian."

"I'm the new kid," Leda declared. "No one wants to be friends with the new kid."

Immediately, Chloé snorted. "You should meet the people in my class," she said. "First day of school, Alya Césaire got her best friend. Second day, Adrien Agreste got his, as much as I hate to admit that he doesn't really see me as a best friend anymore. Lila Rossi would have gotten one if she wasn't outed as a big, fat liar. Give it a few days. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I guess," Leda replied with a sigh.

She put her mug down next to Chloé on the table, then grasped Chloé's hands. "Are you okay after I akumatized you? I'm not entirely sure how it all works."

Chloé nodded. "I'm fine," she promised. "I mean, I felt kind of weird after, but it wasn't much different than it was after Hawk Moth got me. Once I got over the initial disorientation, I was good."

Leda let out a sigh of relief, her head dropping. "Good." She looked back up and realized her hands were still locked with Chloé's. She jerked them back and sat up. "I'm... I'm gonna let you get some sleep." She stood up and moved towards the balcony. Before she left, she cast Chloé a smile. "I'm glad you're okay."

"You, too."

And another one bites the dust! Also the gay is awakening in Chloé XD

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