Adrien dreamt that he was back in Grimault's tent.

Aren't you feeling sleepy? he asked.

Adrien was feeling sleepy. He turned back around to face Grimault but, in the way of dreams, the hypnotist was no longer there. There was nothing, in fact. The whole world went dark, and for a moment all Adrien could hear was a faint whispering in his ear—

And then, abruptly, the dream was over.

Adrien opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his vision.

The first thing he noticed was that he was sitting down. He could have sworn that just a minute ago he had been kneeling outside on the terrace, but here he was, seated in an uncomfortable chair in a dimly lit room. He squinted into the darkness but could make out little detail. After another moment, he noticed a faint, musky scent.

"Where am I?" he asked aloud. His voice was scratchy and rough, though he couldn't understand why.

"Oh, thank heavens," Ladybug breathed out. Adrien felt a weight drop onto his shoulder, and after a moment he realized that Ladybug was resting her head against him.

He craned his head slightly and saw that Ladybug was seated behind him, with her back to his. He tried to lift one arm, but found that his limbs were uncooperative.

"What happened?" he asked. "How did we get here?"

"Well," Ladybug began cautiously, "I had a nice chat with Mme Tulle, who actually turned out to be young Mlle Bourgeois."

"That was Chloé?"

"So it would seem," Ladybug said. "It turns out she had no idea that the brooch was supposed to be cursed. It was a gift, apparently, but she didn't recall from whom. I suppose it was someone who was upset with her and wanted revenge."

"That does sound like Chloé," Adrien muttered.

"Yes," Ladybug agreed. "So, I was able to, ah, 'retrieve' the brooch without her noticing. Then I made my way outside to look for you, but that horrible Gorilla man caught up with me and hauled me down here. He brought you in a quarter of an hour later, and... now we're tied up. What happened to you?"

Adrien recounted to her everything that had happened. Ladybug inhaled sharply when he told her of his fight with the Gorilla, and she grew very concerned about his health.

"You've been unconscious for quite some time," she said. "Is your head all right? I do hope you don't have a concussion."

Adrien blinked a few times. "I think I'm well," he said slowly. Now that Ladybug mentioned it, he did feel a slight throbbing at the back of his head, but it was hardly painful at all—certainly not painful enough to be a concussion.

"So," he continued, "why are we down here?"

He felt Ladybug's shoulders move against him in a shrug. "Maybe they want to ask us some questions?"

"Well that sounds lovely," Adrien said dryly. "Just a pleasant chat with murderers and crimelords, while we're tied up in the cellar."

"Yes," Ladybug said. "But if you're getting impatient, perhaps we could make other plans?"

Adrien turned as best he could towards her. "What do you have in mind?"

Ladybug tilted her head slightly to the right and, if Adrien craned his head slightly, he could get a clear view of the many pins and clips holding her hair up.

"The big silver one on the left," Ladybug said. "Can you pull it out with your teeth?"

Adrien squinted skeptically at the hairpin. "I can try," he offered.

He leaned in as close as he could, straining his neck painfully, and just barely managed to get a grip on the head of the pin with his front teeth. Very gently, he teased it out from her hair. The lower half of the pin remained lodged in Ladybug's chignon, but the top half slipped out easily and revealed itself as a small hidden dagger, glinting silver in the dim light.

"Did you get it?" Ladybug breathed, not daring to move.

"Mmm," Adrien answered, keeping a careful grip of the knife with his teeth.

"Can you drop it into your hand?" Ladybug asked. Adrien glanced down at his hands, tied to the arms of the chair, and mulled the thought over.

"I don't think so," he mumbled, careful not to drop the knife while he spoke.

Ladybug exhaled deeply, then said, "Alright. Drop it onto my shoulder, then." Adrien moved to do so, but she interrupted, saying "No, the other shoulder—I'm right-handed."

Adrien obeyed, and the knife landed gently in the curve between her shoulder and her neck, drawing a small point of blood where the tip hit her skin. Ladybug hissed quietly, but quickly shrugged off the pain. In one surprisingly graceful motion, she rolled the knife off of her shoulder, sending it tumbling down along her arm and nearly onto the floor. At the very last moment, however, she caught the knife tightly by the blade with her right hand, despite it still being restrained to the chair.

"Got you!" she murmured triumphantly.

From there, she made quick work of the bindings holding down her right hand, sawing through the ropes adeptly though she had a very limited range of motion. Once her right hand was free, she reached into under her dress and removed a much larger knife that had been strapped to her thigh. She then hurried to slice away the rest of her bindings.

She rushed over to Adrien next, kneeling by his side. "Have you always had that?" Adrien asked mildly, gesturing with his head towards her knife.

"I always keep at least three knives on my person," Ladybug said. "It's only civilized."

Adrien found himself wondering where the third knife was, but within a minute, he was free as well. He attempted to stand, but hissed when a sudden pain shot up his leg. He had forgotten about the injury to his ankle earlier, and Ladybug winced when she saw the swelling.

"Can you walk?" she asked briskly.

Adrien rose unsteadily to his feet, and careful not to put too much weight on his injured leg. "I think I can manage," he said gamely, but he was still heavily supporting his weight against the chair.

Ladybug glanced over her shoulder at the stairway out of the cellar. "No time for that," she said. Without hesitation, she seized Adrien around the waist and hoisted him over one shoulder. Adrien lurched at the sudden grab, but Ladybug's grip on him was firm. "Let's get out of here."

She carried him easily up the stairs, dashing up them two at a time. The jostling was rather uncomfortable, but Adrien could not help but be impressed by Ladybug's athleticism.

"You are very strong," he said admiringly.

Ladybug hesitated at the cellar door, listening for anyone outside of it. "I'm really not," she said softly to Adrien. "You're just too skinny."

Adrien laughed at that. Once Ladybug had determined that it was safe outside, she carefully shouldered the door open and they stepped out into a dimly lit hallway. "I'm a head taller than you are," he pointed out, "and probably twice as heavy."

Ladybug scanned the hall carefully, looking for the most likely exit, and eventually set off towards the right. "Well, all that climbing about on rooftops does wonders for your arm strength," she said.

"Ah, your secret is revealed."

Ladybug's steps slowed, and she suddenly came to stop. "Shh," she whispered.

Adrien strained his ears and heard, very faintly, the sound of footsteps approaching. After a moment of hesitation, Ladybug moved quickly to a nearby door and threw it open. She slipped in, still carrying Adrien over her shoulder, and managed to close the door behind them before the footsteps reached the hallway.

They both listened in tense silence as the footsteps grew closer and closer, until they were just on the other side of the door. Ladybug and Adrien both held their breath, but the footsteps continued on without hesitation.

Eventually, the footsteps grew distant again, and Ladybug breathed out a sigh of relief. She reached out with one hand to open the door again, but froze when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Don't celebrate yet, my dear," its said. "You haven't escaped yet."

Ladybug stiffened, and a chill ran down Adrien's spine. Very slowly and carefully, she lowered Adrien to his feet, and he leaned heavily against her as they turned to face the speaker.

The room was some kind of study or office, full of books and maps and a desk along the far wall. Sitting in a chair before the fireplace was Grimault, still wearing his suit and mask. He was shuffling his deck of tarot cards on one of his thighs, and though he must have been speaking to Adrien and Ladybug, he did not look at them.

Adrien spoke first. "M. Grimault," he said, "what are you doing here?"

Grimault flipped the deck of cards over in his hand and began thumbing through them. "A better question, M. Agreste," he said, "would be what are you doing here? I thought that you and your ladylove were stowed safely in the cellar. However did you get out?"

Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated before answering. Ladybug, sensing that something was amiss, tightened her grip on him and stayed silent.

"Ah, here it is," Grimault said. He removed one card from the deck, and held it up for Adrien to see. "The thirteenth trump card, Death."

Adrien and Ladybug exchanged a nervous look.

"M. Grimault," Adrien began, taking half a step forward, "I honestly don't know what's going on right now, but there's a very dangerous man out there—"

"Oh yes, I am aware of the situation," Grimault interrupted sharply. "Who do you think orchestrated it, boy? Who planted the thought in your head, of going out alone with your father? Who suborned his henchman?"

The door behind them opened abruptly. Adrien and Ladybug both whirled around in a panic, but Grimault calmly held up one hand.

He snapped his fingers, just once. "Stop," he commanded, and the Gorilla stood perfectly still in the doorway.

"I don't understand," Adrien said, his eyes moving nervously between Grimault and the Gorilla.

"You stop too," Grimault ordered him, and Adrien suddenly found himself frozen in place, as though he had been suddenly paralyzed. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but he couldn't even do that.

Casually, Grimault redirected his attention towards Ladybug. "You," he said, gesturing with one hand at her. "You're the lady thief, the one they call Ladybug."

Ladybug frowned, but did not deny it. "Your dress gives it away," Grimault said. He flipped through the deck again, and produced another card. "Queen of Wands," he muttered under his breath. "I should have known."

"You... want to play a game of tarot?" Ladybug asked slowly. Her eyes narrowed in confusion.

Grimault declined to answer her question. Instead he shuffled the card back into the deck and said to her, "You're like me. I can tell."

"I don't understand," Ladybug said.

"They came for you," Grimault said. His voice was distant, and he spoke in a resigned sort of way. "They killed people you love. They tried to kill you. Human life is meaningless to them."

Ladybug nodded once. "Yes," she said slowly.

Grimault shook his head. "They're monsters," he spat. "Nothing can sate their appetites for material things."

"Yes," Ladybug said again. "They stole something very precious from me."

"And yet, you've allied yourself with this filth!" Grimault spat. He gestured with one hand at Adrien, who was still frozen in place, unresponsive.

Ladybug glanced nervously up at Adrien's face. "What have you done to him?" she asked quietly.

"Why do you care?" Grimault asked. "He's one of them."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ladybug asked.

But Grimault turned towards Adrien instead. "Come," he said, beckoning, and as though he were being pulled by puppet strings, Adrien stepped forward.

"Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness," he continued, "in which the subject becomes very suggestible. Observe."

Grimault turned to the nearby desk, and picked up a small handgun. He pressed it into Adrien's hand and said, quite calmly, "Aim this at her."

Adrien tried to resist the command. But he no longer seemed to be in control of his arm. Very slowly, he raised it up, until the gun was pointed directly at Ladybug. His finger rested on the trigger.

"Adrien?" she asked. For the first time, her voice had a note of panic to it.

"I—I can't," he managed to stutter out.

"Why are you doing this?" Ladybug asked, turning back to Grimault. "What is it that you want?"

"Revenge against those who wronged me." Grimault had resumed shuffling his tarot cards on his knee. "Starting with him. I'm going to—"

But Grimault did not get the opportunity to finish his sentence. Adrien was still standing frozen in place, gun pointed directly at Ladybug, when she finally sprung into action. She rushed forward and kicked his legs out from under him—a task made all the easier by Adrien's injured ankle—then rushed at Grimault himself.

Grimault rose hastily, stumbling backwards to avoid her, and barked at the Gorilla, "Do something!"

The Gorilla, who had been standing perfectly still as if in a trance, was suddenly roused. He blinked several times, and then his eyes focused in on Ladybug.

Adrien by now was back on his feet, even though his left ankle was throbbing painfully, and still clutching the gun that Grimault had given him. "Ladybug," he said nervously.

Ladybug glanced back over her shoulder at the tumult behind her, then grabbed a lamp off the desk and swung it hard into the Gorilla's face. He fell backwards, knocked temporarily unconscious, and Ladybug turned to seize Grimault by the shoulders. "How are you controlling them?" she demanded.

Grimault's eyes went from Ladybug, to the pile of tarot cards that had fallen in a heap near on the floor. It wasn't an answer, but Ladybug released him anyway, and dove for the cards.

Grimault dove for them as as well, and scrambled to pick up as many as he could.

"Two of Cups!" Grimault cried out. "Five of Pentacles! The Moon!"

With each cry, he flung the cards at Ladybug as if they were curses. Each one hit her in the chest, but if they had any effect other than frightening her, Adrien certainly didn't notice.

But Ladybug was indeed frightened. Grimault's behavior had been unsettling, and she had tasted just enough strangeness that evening that her more superstitious instincts got the better of her. In a jerky, panicked motion, she gathered up as many of the cards as she could, and hurled them into the fireplace.

"NO!" Grimault howled. Though the cards were already blackened and curling, burnt into a crisp, he reached after them. He plunged his hands into the fire, screaming in agony as he did so, palming desperately at the ashy remnants of his tarot deck.

As the cards burned, Adrien felt as though a haze had been lifted from him. His grip loosened, and the gun tumbled down to the floor. Behind him, the Gorilla looked equally confused as he was slowly roused back to consciousness.

"Come on!" Ladybug called out. She seized Adrien by the arm and began dragging him away. Though his leg still hurt, he found that in the heat of the moment he was able to walk well enough.

Behind them, Grimault howled in pain, his hands still thrust into the fire.

Ladybug spared a brief glance over her shoulder, then steeled herself and began searching for an exit to the residence. She found it quickly enough, and suddenly she and Adrien were found themselves back out onto the streets near the Place Vendôme, though they were now quite removed from the partying at the Hôtel Bourgeois.

Outside, it was quiet and normal—perhaps unnervingly so. Ladybug took a few quick, shallow breaths, and then began immediately walking back towards the hotel. Adrien limped along behind her.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" she asked him. Her voice was high and weak, and Adrien could easily detect the worry in her tone.

"I think," Adrien said slowly, "that M. Grimault may have had an enchanted deck of tarot cards."

"That is ridiculous," Ladybug said. She followed her statement up nervously with a question, "Isn't it?"

"Clearly there are more players than just the Collector and ourselves in this game," Adrien said. By now, they were nearly back at the hotel. Ladybug checked nervously over her shoulder to check that they hadn't been followed, but neither Grimault nor the Gorilla made an appearance. "M. Grimault appears to have been on a side entirely his own—though, after that encounter, hopefully he'll no longer be a threat."

Ladybug blanched visibly at that. "I don't understand what he thought he was doing," she said slowly. "Why would he target you in particular? You don't have anything to do with the Collector."

Adrien had no answer to that. Eventually, he said quietly, "I should find my father. He'll be worried about me."

Ladybug glanced at Adrien, her eyes sweeping him up and down. Then, very gently, she reached out to touch the lump on his head. It was still quite tender, though less so than Adrien had expected.

"You wait here," Ladybug said. She reached up her left sleeve, and removed a hidden knife from it, which she then handed to Adrien. "Keep this, in case those two show up again. I'll find your father and let him know that you're not dead."

Adrien looked down at the knife with mild surprise. "The third knife," he muttered. "Has this been up your sleeve the entire time?"

But Ladybug left without answering. There were no benches nearby and so he seated himself on the ground until Ladybug returned. He waited for only a quarter of an hour, and when she came back, she helped him up to his feet.

"He was relieved to know that you were well," Ladybug said, "and wishes you a speedy recovery."

"How much did you explain to him?" Adrien asked, furrowing his brow.

Ladybug tilted her head slightly to one side. "Nothing specific," she said. "I take it that your father does not know much our work?"

"No," Adrien said. He shook his head-the mere thought of telling his father the whole truth about his work made him anxious. "Did he recognize you?"

Ladybug smiled. "He recognized me as your partner from before, if that's what you mean," she said. "But I'm sure that he doesn't have the faintest idea who I am."

Adrien took a step forward, but winced when he set weight upon his injured leg.

"Here," said Ladybug gently. She stepped closer to him and ducked under his left arm. She wrapped one of her own arms securely around his waist and Adrien leaned against her, grateful for the support.

"I suppose we're leaving the ball early, Cinderella," she said lightly.

"What a shame," Adrien said. "I would've like to dance a polka with you."

"Next time, perhaps," Ladybug said gently. "For now, I'm taking you home."

She made arrangements for a carriage to take them back to his home in Les Halles, and then they were quickly back at Adrien's residence. Ladybug helped him up into his bedroom, and once she had him seated she bean began fussing over him like a mother hen. She went to work immediately, fetching a bag of ice for his head and setting to work wrapping a compress for his sprained ankle.

Adrien was still trying to process the events of the evening.

"That was clearly supernatural," he said in a daze. "Wasn't it?"

"It did seem that way," Ladybug admitted. Her voice was steady but her hands were shaking as she finished wrapping his leg.

"That was... magic," he continued. "There's no other possible explanation."

Ladybug was more hesitant. "Maybe it will make more sense in the morning," she suggested, though her tone held no conviction. "It was strange... but I'm sure that there's a better explanation."

She leaned back on her heels and looked up pensively at him. "How does your head feel?"

Adrien set the bag of ice aside. "It's fine, honestly," he said.

"You were unconscious for at least half an hour," Ladybug said. She rose up to her feet and then sat down beside him on the bed. She brought her fingers lightly up to his scalp, though she kept them well away from the spot where he had been struck. "That kind of blow usually leaves lasting damage."

"Well, maybe that was magic too," Adrien said.

He wriggled his fingers in a playful way, and Ladybug scowled. "Don't be silly," Ladybug said sternly. "This was very serious!"

"I'm always silly," Adrien countered. "It's what you love about me."

Ladybug turned to him, still scowling. But after a moment, she admitted, "It's true."

There was a moment of stillness, as the scowl slowly dropped from Ladybug's face and was replaced with a different, softer expression. Adrien watched her closely as she slowly leaned towards him, until their faces were just centimeters apart.

But then she hesitated. "The ball was nice," she said, suddenly shy. "I'm sorry that it turned into this..." She gestured with one hand. "Whole grand adventure."

"That's hardly your fault," Adrien said softly.

"I—I know," Ladybug said. She drew back slightly and shook her head a little. "It's just—I didn't mean for you to get caught up in all of this. That's why I worked alone for so long—it was just safer, wasn't it?—and I thought I had things under control, but now I—I'm sorry, I'm babbling."

Ladybug closed her eyes and took a breath to calm herself. "I just... I never meant to turn my problems into your problems."

Adrien smiled fondly at her. "Don't be silly," he said. "I care about you, Ladybug. I want them to be my problems."

He lifted one hand up to the side of her face. Slowly, he traced his fingers along the edge of her mask, his fingers running along the spot where fabric met skin. It would have been easy for him to remove it, and yet Ladybug made to attempt to stop him.

Instead, he left the mask in place and brushed aside a stray strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Ladybug shivered slightly at the touch.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked softly.

Ladybug's eyes flickered down to his lips, then back up to his eyes. She nodded, then held her breath as Adrien leaned in slowly.

The kiss only lasted a moment, soft and chaste, before Adrien drew back.

Ladybug was blushing now, her cheeks faintly pink. After a moment of stillness, she said very quietly, "I suppose I should go home." But she made no motion to leave, nor did she draw away from him.

"If you want to," Adrien said.

Ladybug bit down on her lip, trying to conceal a smile. "And if I didn't want to?" she asked.

Adrien shrugged one shoulder, feigning nonchalance. "Maybe it would be safer if you stayed," he suggested. "Who knows what kind of thugs you might run into at this time of night?"

Ladybug's smile only grew. "Thugs!" she scoffed. "I think I can handle them."

"All right," Adrien granted. "Wolves, then."

At that, Ladybug burst into delighted laughter. "Wolves, in the streets of Paris?"

Adrien was smiling too. "Well, you never know," he said in a low voice. He dipped his head down for another brief kiss. Ladybug gladly reciprocated, and Adrien was pleasantly surprised at the fierce way she pulled him close this time. She wrapped her arms around him, digging her hands into the fabric of his suit, and pressed herself so close that Adrien was afraid that they'd both topple over. He steadied himself with one hand against the bedframe, and wrapped his other arm snugly around her waist.

When at last they were forced to part for breath, Ladybug was grinning. "Frankly," she said breathily, "I think I'm more likely to see the wolf in here than out there."

They were both quite red by now, their cheeks so bright that their matching blushes were clear even in the dim light.

"I've never done anything like this before," Adrien confessed.

Ladybug's flush darkened. "Neither have I," she said.

Adrien leaned in again and kissed her briefly on the mouth, then once more gently along her jawbone.

"Say the word and I'll stop," he murmured, his lips ghosting against her neck.

Ladybug's eyes fluttered shut. "Keep going," she breathed.

Ladybug was right. The next morning, by the light of day, the events of the previous night seemed much less mystical. What had been hopelessly inexplicable the night before now seemed like nothing more than sleight of hand and carnival trickery.

Now convinced that Grimault was nothing more than a talented stage magician, the matter of the tarot cards seemed much less frightening.

Ladybug left early, without even eating breakfast, explaining vaguely that she had other business she was obliged to see to. She kissed Adrien gently on the forehead before she left, and then made her way outside. She had swapped out her gown from the evening before with some of Adrien's clothes, leaving the dress folded up on one of Adrien's chairs, and every time Adrien caught a glimpse of the red satin fabric, he found himself smiling foolishly.

Adrien spent the rest of the morning lounging around. He was careful with his injured leg, but it was recovering quickly, and was already very nearly back to normal. He still decided against attending Mass that morning—not so much because of his injury, but because he wasn't sure he would be able to look at his father with a straight face after the previous night.

Just after noon, he was quite surprised when a client came to call upon him. He very rarely got business on Sundays, but he was not a particularly devout man, and so he ushered the woman in.

The client was a very tall and willowy woman, and her attire made her look even thinner. She was dressed entirely in black, from head to toe, in tight garments that exposed her all her sharply jutting angles. Her boots, also black, were very heavy, and each one of her footsteps had a resounding thud.

"M. Detective," she said. Her voice was low and rough, and entirely devoid of emotion. "I need your help."

"Of course, madame," he said. He gestured for the woman to take a seat and she did, settling into the armchair uncertainly. "What's troubling you?"

"There's been a murder," the woman said flatly. On her face, there was as much emotion as one might find in a marble statue.

"Have the police been contacted?" Adrien immediately asked.

"Not yet," the young woman admitted.

"Then I would advise you contact them first," Adrien said, but the woman seemed reluctant.

"I'm afraid this matter must be handled with discretion," she explained. "The site of the murder, you see, was 12 Rue Chabanais."