Her head hurt.

That was the first thing she noticed, her senses fuzzy and her brain not sure which way was up or down.

The other details came slowly. Like the fact her eyes were shut, and she was no longer standing.

Then she realized her face was awkwardly smushed to a cold, smooth floor, her glasses askew and digging painfully into the bridge of her nose. Her hair was looser than it was when she wore Hanii's comb, and she realized she could feel it fanned lightly over her cheek.

Most of the head pain was coming from the back of her skull and one of her temples. It felt a lot like the way it did when she'd fainted in class...

Then she realized that the last thing she knew, she'd been throwing the comb away.

Her eyes snapped open.

She was no longer in Princesse Abeille's room. She was in...where was this? Sabrina squinted to see through the darkness, and slowly the shapes and shadows began to take actual form.

It looked like a basement, or perhaps a utility room, that had been cleaned out and – she blinked again and noted the gold, waxy bars in front of herself – converted into a prison.

Or a dungeon.

What was she doing there? Was Princesse Abeille here, too? Sabrina couldn't hear or see her...

And how had she even gotten down here...?

Shifting slightly on the floor, careful not to let whoever might be near that she was awake, Sabrina shut her eyes tight and tried to remember.

Staring up at Princesse Abeille, her chest horribly tight and her eyes stinging.

Time seemed to halt. Yet at the same time, so much seemed to be happening.

She could hear a faint "What...?" to the side, but didn't know nor care who it'd come from.

The buzzing dimmed slightly, the army holding themselves tense and ready to move again, the room still stuffy and warm.

Princesse Abeille was staring at her, her expression going through several emotions. First there was shock; staring at Sabrina with wide, disbelieving eyes. Then there was confusion, her lip curling slightly as she shook her head. Then that morphed into anger, her brows furrowing, eyes burning. Then that progressed into rage. Her lips curled further, exposing her teeth. Her eyes blazed in cold fire.

And then she roared out: "TRAITOR!"

The army moved again, fast. Sabrina was briefly aware of arms grabbing and pushing at her. Falling backwards as Princesse Abeille forgot herself and charged towards her with a shriek.

Hanii screamed. Two more voices yelled her name as her head hit the floor. She briefly saw two pairs of legs, one black and the other mostly red, trying to cut through the crowd surrounding her.

"Sabrina!"

And then nothing.

Oh. Oh, that was right.

She was locked up now, awaiting execution, wasn't she?

She wasn't entirely sure Princesse Abeille could do that, but...

But Akuma were capable of a lot. Hawk Moth was capable of a lot.

Sabrina, no longer caring if someone knew she was awake or not, slowly picked herself up and leaned against the cold wall at her back. Now that her eyes had properly adjusted to the dark, she could see that the "dungeon" was less a dungeon and really more of a utility room after all. The only obvious change from what it had once been was the line of bars that stretched from floor to ceiling, forming a semi-circle around her. The spaces were too small for her to slip between, and if they were made of the same substance as the stuff covering the windows, there'd be no way she could break it.

Powers or not.

And she was not powerful at that moment, Sabrina realized as she lifted a hand to her temple, feeling the empty space where the comb had been.

...the comb. The comb was gone.

And, Sabrina finally realized with a jolt, so was Hanii.

Just to make sure, she frantically tugged on her collar, half-hoping the kwami would fly out of it. Nothing.

She wasn't in her pockets. She wasn't in her hair.

She was gone.

Sabrina...didn't know how to feel about that. Hanii had once said that since she hadn't disappeared when Sabrina had yelled at her, Sabrina clearly didn't want her gone. But Sabrina didn't want her gone now, or a few minutes ago, either.

Maybe she'd stayed inside the comb, Sabrina thought. Maybe...maybe she was still safe. Maybe she'd picked up on Sabrina's desperation to protect everyone with her action and stayed hidden.

She hoped that was the case.

And come to think of it, it was rather amazing how calm she felt about all of this, Sabrina realized, frowning slightly. Maybe she had run out of fear. Maybe she was still woozy from hitting her head. Maybe she knew, deep down, that Ladybug and Chat Noir would fix everything – either before or after Princesse Abeille was done with her, she wasn't sure, but it would happen.

Or maybe, she thought, finally considering that odd boiling sensation in her gut, she'd just had enough of being afraid? Or it didn't matter what happened to her, so long as the city was safe and Hawk Moth didn't get the Miraculous? As long as her friends were safe?

Yes, she thought to herself as the door opened, letting light into the room, that must be it.

Hanii, on the other hand, was not nearly so calm.

"Let me go!" she buzzed angrily, struggling against the fingers that desperately held onto her. "Let me go, let me go, she needs me! My bee needs me!"

"Miss Kwami, just-"

The 'Miss Kwami' part only made it worse. Sabrina had called her that once. Sabrina with her eyes teary and full of fear and hope at the same time, her hands trembling with desire to take up Hanii's offer and fear of rejection all at once. Sabrina, whom she had seen slowly blossoming, slowly becoming happy. In her mind's eye she could just see her, see how natural and easy her smiles had started to look, how her eyes had become brighter.

Sabrina who made her sugar petals.

Sabrina who had blankets that smelled like vanilla and honey from the laundry soap, Sabrina who had a pet cactus, Sabrina who worked so hard and expected, and received, so little in return. Sabrina who wasn't just her new bee, but her friend. Her 'human-daughter.'

Sabrina who'd thrown her comb at Ladybug, not because she no longer wanted it or felt unworthy, but because she wanted to protect.

Sabrina, whom Hanii had failed.

"-calm down-"

"You do not tell me to calm down!" Hanii screeched, whirling around to face her captor. The green eyes she met were wide and startled, but she didn't care. Her little body was shaking slightly as she shouted, voice hitching. "Sabrina's gone! It's my fault! It's my fault, if I'd just – if I had told her to stay safe, stay hidden, this would never have happened! If I was a better kwami I could have protected her, I could have told her to not take the comb out, I could have – I could have done something, I could have saved her!"

She quieted slightly, tiny hands covering her face as most of the fight seemed to drain out of her.

Ladybug reached out for her, and Hanii seemed to collapse into her palms. She still covered her face, but now instead of shouting, she was simply sobbing, tiny and soft.

"She was...she was so happy, you know..." Hanii whispered. "She was so happy to be with you two- a-and not because you were heroes, or famous but – but you were her friends... You cared about her, just like I did – she was so happy, I really saw her getting better. H-Her eyes were sparkling, you know?! Sh-she was smiling more! Real smiles! She was getting so happy, and then – It's my fault, I told her she should stand up to Chloé, I smiled and I cheered for her when she yelled at her over the phone last night-!"

If Hanii were looking, she would have seen Ladybug's brows lift in surprise.

"I should have told her to stay safe. It's my job to take care of her, and I failed her!"

She'd failed her twice, in rapid succession. She'd failed her when Sabrina had removed the comb, and she'd failed her again when everything was lost in a mob of buzzing people, intense heat, and shattering glass. Too fast for any of them to react. She'd failed her when she'd tried to fly back to her, but was held at bay by the sea of people. When the room finally quieted and emptied, and they saw Sabrina had vanished along with the others.

"She's gone..." Hanii whispered. "My bee – my girl is gone and I don't know where she is."

"I think I might."

Hanii's head lifted, tear-stained eyes opened to see Ladybug looking pensive. The red and black hero was looking out the shattered window, towards-

"My Lady?"

"The school."

"What?"

"Think about it! Chloé – Princesse Abeille is a princess. A ruling regent. Her castle is this hotel – it's one of the places she's most powerful. And where else does she have the most power?"

Hanii looked back and forth between the heroes as comprehension dawned in their eyes.

"School."

"Right," Ladybug nodded, eyes grim and mouth tight. "Mis – Hanii, we're going to get Sabrina back. We're going to stop this." She looked down at the Bee Comb that she held in her hands. "...but we also need you to do us a favor. Can you...?"

She had to give Chloé some credit.

Even as an Akuma, or maybe especially as an Akuma; when she wanted something, when she wanted to go all out? She went all out.

Sabrina's hands fidgeted as she stood there alongside her, on the roof of the school. More specifically, on the way-too-high scaffold on the roof of the school. Like the bars that'd been around her before, it was yellow and clearly made of wax, but still strong enough to hold both of their weight.

The wind whipped Sabrina's hair, made her eyes burn and stung her cheeks. Her wrists felt heavy, trapped in more of that waxy substance – a cross between a block and over-sized handcuffs trapped her hands, which were held in front of herself. Princesse Abeille had put them on her personally, with a wave of her hand, when she'd come to fetch Sabrina from her prison.

Apparently, she wanted this to be even more personal, so didn't even bother to send a guard to do it.

Speaking of guards, the crowd twenty feet below the scaffold was comprised entirely of the hive army Princesse Abeille had created. They all held themselves still, staring up at their princess and her prisoner, waiting. Their quieter, monotonous buzz filled the air, providing white noise to what would otherwise be a dead silent scene.

Apparently Princesse Abeille did not recall the punishment for high treason very well, as there were no swords for the act. There was, however, a guillotine.

It should have been threatening, but honestly Sabrina found it nearly ridiculous.

Princesse Abeille really was going all-out.

Princesse Abeille stood in front of Sabrina, facing the crowd. Her arms were folded at her chest, and she stared off into the distance at nothing. Her eyes were hard, stony, and her jaw was clenched. She seemed to be thinking of what to say.

She had to be. Chloé would never be silent, not during something like this.

A purple light flashed around her eyes, and Princesse Abeille snarled under her breath. "Not yet," she hissed. "I need this!" Sabrina watched in morbid curiosity, her arms shifting slightly, as Princesse Abeille tilted her head to the side as if listening. "You'll get them later, okay? Just let me-!"

She suddenly recoiled, tensing up slightly as if she'd been struck and then held in a vice grip. "Alright – alright! I'll do – let me do this first!"

The light disappeared, and Princesse Abeille bodily turned towards Sabrina, straightening her back and making her face a mask of composure. Sabrina's brows lowered as she looked back at Princesse Abeille, still fidgeting.

"Sabrina Raincomprix," Princesse Abeille said, "Do you fully understand why you are here?"

"No," Sabrina said, inwardly proud of how even her voice was.

Hanii was gone. Hanii was safe. None of the guards had a comb in their hands, Hanii might have gotten away with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"You stand before your princess today as a traitor to her crown." Though Princesse Abeille didn't raise her voice, it still carried loudly. "As a traitor to me."

"How did I betray you?" The words came out before Sabrina could stop them. The boiling feeling intensified as she moved her hands faster.

Princesse Abeille's eyes lit up, a little smile on her face. "You really don't know?" she asked. She took a step forward, hands on her hips. "Let me make it clear, then!"

The comb was gone. Hanii was safe. Her friends had escaped. They would be fine.

"I have been nothing but kind and generous," Princesse Abeille began. She put a hand on Sabrina's shoulder and began walking with her, as if this were a friendly stroll down the hallway. The illusion was ruined, of course, by Princesse Abeille's stronger-than-necessary grip on her shoulder, and the fact they were moving for the guillotine.

"I was the only one who was willing to befriend you. I was willing to remain your friend, even when you messed up. I gave you nice things. I let you eat with me. I let you visit me and accompany me wherever I went. If it weren't for me, you would never have been able to ride in a limousine, go to those fancy boutiques, or even set foot into my kingdom."

Sabrina's jaw tightened.

"Yet you never," Princesse Abeille squeezed Sabrina's shoulder briefly before whirling around, looking her dead in the eye. "You never seemed to appreciate my friendship."

That boiling, tightening feeling was steadily getting worse.

"I went out of my way to help you. I didn't have to forgive you for humiliating me in front of Jagged Stone. I didn't have to let you be my friend again. I didn't have to continue being your friend, no matter how embarrassing you were. I didn't have to do any of those nice things I did for you. But I did anyway. And you never showed me any gratitude, you never once appreciated how many chances I gave you. I could have cut you loose at any time, you know. I could have never let you back in my life. I could have ruined your life. I could have done so much, and yet I never did.

"And did you ever, ever, appreciate it, or thank me, or show any real gratitude about being my friend? Never."

No. No, that didn't sound right.

Sabrina tried to quiet that thought, staring up at Princesse Abeille's comb.

Princesse Abeille didn't seem to notice, or maybe she didn't care.

"I was the only person at school who cared about you – I was probably the only one who cared about you at all!"

The tower that night. Crying into Ladybug's shoulder. Chat Noir touching her on the back to calm her down. Both of them texting her.

Holding Hanii and talking to her at night.

Her dad, making sure she was well. Thinking of calling in just to make sure she was going to be okay.

Her classmates. Her classmates, who barely interacted with her at all and who only knew her as Chloé's sidekick, had helped her when she'd fainted and asked if she was all right when she came back to school.

The only person who cared about her?

The only person who would ever be her friend?

"And all I asked for in return...was very little. Precious little. All I asked was for you to remember your place, and remember that everything you were, you owed to me. And you did not keep your end of the bargain."

Bargain...?

Sabrina's wrists were shaking. Princesse Abeille's comb was blurring and doubling before her stinging eyes.

No, no, no, she would not cry, she would not cry...

"You betrayed me, Sabrina! You broke your promises to me, you bailed on me when I could have used you-"

For homework, to carry her bags, to sit and smile and listen to anything she said without protest, to do what she was told-

"-you tried to upstage me-"

She'd only wanted to look pretty, she just wanted one nice thing for herself-

"-made horrible, multiple mistakes on my homework and made my grades fall when I know you can do better, I'm positive you did it on purpose-"

Why couldn't Chloé do it herself, huh? Why couldn't she do it on her own, why did she have to make Sabrina do everything for her?

"-you overstepped your boundaries, you crossed several lines. You act like you don't want to be my friend anymore." They were at the guillotine. Princesse Abeille smiled sweetly. Sabrina's stomach and chest felt hot, her vision tinted red. "Well. The good news is, now you don't have to be. It was good while it lasted, but traitors must receive their just."

Princesse Abeille's hand gripped Sabrina's shoulder.

She pushed Sabrina to the guillotine, her other hand on the back of her head to lower her into position.

Sabrina bent at the waist-

-and suddenly swung around, her arms straight out in front of her.

WHAM!

Princesse Abeille screeched, more fury than pain, and fell backwards.

A wax block fell to the wooden floor, Sabrina's wrists red and raw from all the twisting and pulling she'd been doing to free herself. "You're. Not. My. Friend!"

The crowd surged forward, climbing up over each other to reach the scaffold, their buzzing intensifying so Sabrina could barely her herself over them. But with all of them trying to climb up such a tiny space, they ended up trying to climb over each other, pushing their neighbors down, shaking the scaffold... it would not be much, but it bought Sabrina some precious seconds instead of being swarmed instantly.

Princesse Abeille recovered and shot up, screaming as she grabbed at Sabrina's shoulders. The scaffold kept shaking, making the girls unsteady. Princesse Abeille was shaking her, pushing her backwards so she'd fall back towards the guillotine.

Sabrina wasn't letting her. Not this easily.

"You're not my friend – you were never my friend!" she shouted, feeling like a dam had burst in her chest. She dug in her heels, fighting back. Her hands moved to Princesse Abeille's arms, shoulders, trying to reach further. Her vision tinted red again, her throat burned, but she still screamed. Screamed over the loud buzzing, the faint voices she was hearing. "You never treated me like your friend, you were never nice to me, you made me do anything you wanted, you never cared about me, you hurt me, you threatened me, you're trying to get me killed – none of the other Akumas tried to kill their best friends, Chlo-"

"It's Princesse Abeille!" Purple flashed around her eyes again.

"You're no princess, Chloé! You're a spoiled brat who never thinks of anyone but herself or even cared about anyone but herself-"

She was shaking worse than ever. Was it the scaffold or her? She honestly didn't know anymore – she barely noticed anything. She barely noticed or cared when the buzzing grew louder and right behind her, when someone put too-hot hands on her shoulders to try to pull her away from Chloé.

("Sabrina!")

"You're a spoiled, awful girl and I never did anything bad to you I tried to be whatever you wanted me to and you never-"

("Sabrina, don't move, the-!")

("What's she saying?!")

"And I hated hated HATED every minute of my life because of you and friends don't treat each other this way! I was AFRAID of you, I hated myself, I was cruel to my classmates – my other friends – I hated myself I felt like dirt-"

Fingers were clawing into her sleeves. Hot tears were rushing down her face, she could feel herself choking on her words and held-back sobs, her chest was too tight, everything was too hot and the scaffold was shaking and coming apart-

("Sabrina, hang on, we're coming!")

There was a bright flash in the corner of her eye, like when her father adjusted his car mirror. She felt most of the hands pull away from her, heard people screaming in pain and surprise. Sabrina shut one eye automatically, Princesse Abeille threw her arms over her eyes.

"You shouldn't have complained!" the Akuma screamed. "I was the best thing to ever happen to yo-"

Sabrina's breathing was rough, ragged. "No-"

(Hanii, floating before her with a kind smile.

Her father kissing her forehead before work.

Rose offering her an orange juice, checking on her when she was ready to puke.)

Her arm shot forward, upward towards Princesse Abeille's hair. "-you-"

(Classmates asking if she was all right.

Ladybug comforting her, reassuring her it was okay. Listening to her.

Chat Noir actually asking if she was being hurt.

The both of them never breaking their promise, treating her like a normal girl, like a friend-)

Her fingers – shaking and slightly bloody at the tips – wrapped around Princesse Abeille's hair comb and yanked, hard. "-WEREN'T, CHLOÉ! YOU WERE THE WORST!"

"(SABRINA!")

Sabrina's head whipped around. Through blurry, shaking vision she saw familiar blurs of red and black.

Her arm lifted over her head, comb in hand. "Ladybuuuuuug!"she screamed, pitching her arm forward.

The bee-tiara comb sailed into a waiting hand, and smashed into pieces on the ground a split-second later.

Princesse Abeille screamed again, but it didn't sound real anymore.

Sabrina felt herself being pushed, or maybe thrown, sideways. She didn't care anymore – all she felt was some grim satisfaction at what she'd done, at the sound of metal breaking.

There was a far-away yell, a familiar red glow-

"Sabrina, jump over here!"

Time briefly slowed down as Sabrina tore her distant gaze away from the tiny ladybugs, off to the side and down below. She was near the edge of the scaffold, which was quickly being removed. The tiny bugs were lowering Chloé to safety but-

A familiar black figure with wide green eyes stood below, arms out. "Over here, I'll catch you!"

She didn't jump.

She leaped.

She wondered if maybe she'd blacked out for a second. It wouldn't surprise her, honestly.

But the last thing she recalled, she was leaping away from the scaffold – from Chloé – like her life still depended on it. And then the next thing she knew, everything was over.

The sun was shining benignly, as if this were a normal day.

The wax and gold were all gone.

The tiny ladybugs were gone, having healed everything.

A large group of hotel staff and guests were groaning, sitting up and rubbing their heads. Some asked their neighbors what had happened, they didn't remember anything...

Chloé sat up, a hand pressed to her temple. A few feet away from her sat her new comb, good as new.

And Sabrina...Sabrina blinked, and realized she was in two people's arms.

Ladybug looked into her eyes, concern and mild horror all over her face. "Are you all right?"

It hit her all at once. How tight her chest was. The burning in her throat, how she'd screamed it raw a few seconds ago. Her hands and fingers – no longer injured but still trembling from what she'd done. What Princesse Abeille had been about to do. What Chloé had said, what she'd said back. Hanii. Her friends, coming for her.

How scared, angry, sad she was. How she'd screamed and cried at the same time as she yelled at the Akuma.

And how, even with five minutes left – or was it four now? - her friends were still here, holding onto her and keeping her upright, holding her as if they didn't want to let her go.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Sabrina shut her eyes, felt her legs give out, and cried.

Ten feet away from the rest of the people, Ladybug and Chat Noir held onto her, keeping her upright and petting her hair, rubbing her back.

"It's okay, Sabrina," Chat Noir whispered, too low for anyone but the other two girls to hear. "It's okay... We've got you."