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Chapter 10

i'll destroy everything i love

"Well, thank you so much for your help, Queen Bee," Chat Noir said. He pulled his hand back and gave her a small salute.

"Are you going to stick around for the rest of the gala?" Chloe asked.

"I probably will for a short time. What about you, my Lady?"

"Yeah. I think it's a good idea to make sure that there aren't any other surprises."

"Alright. How about we go to that room and get our kwamis fed." Chat Noir turned to Chloe. "Do you have a place to de-transform?"

"O-of course I do!" Chloe said with a nod.

"Good. We'll see you soon!" Ladybug said with a wave as she and her partner ran in the direction of the reception room.

Chloe spun on her heel and took off in the opposite direction. It would have been nice if she could have taken advantage of the fruit there for Lyssa, but it was likely that she would detransform before then. Besides, she had back up fruit in her purse. That would be enough for now right?

As she stepped into the hallway her Miraculous began to beep insistently. She wasn't sure exactly how much time she had left so she took advantage of her wings and flew to the end of the corridor where two employee bathrooms were located.

She tried the women's door first, but found that it wouldn't budge. Huffing in annoyance, she then tried the men's restroom. It opened without any resistance.

She hesitated for a moment, but then there was a tingling sensation at the tips of her toes. She ignored her feelings of unease and pushed forward. However embarrassing it might be to be caught coming out of the men's restroom it would pale in comparison to whatever would happen should someone else find out her identity.

Chloe slammed the door shut just as her transformation fell. The golden light lit up the the pitch black bathroom momentarily before it left Chloe blind to her surroundings.

"Ooof!" She heard Lyssa say as she fell onto the ground. Chloe fumbled for the light switch. The light flickered a few times before the soft hum of the fluorescent bulb filled the air. As her eyes adjusted to the light she found her kwami laying in a heap on the tile floor.

"Sorry," Chloe said as she scooped Lyssa into her hands. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Lyssa said with a small smile. "Just catch me next time, okay?"

"I'll try," Chloe said as she began rummaging through her purse. She found her phone, wallet, a few essentials... and two empty wrappers. She shot Lyssa a glare. "You ate all of your dried fruit, didn't you."

"I'm sorry," Lyssa said meekly. "I got hungry while all of you were eating dinner."

Chloe groaned. "But, those were for emergencies!"

Lyssa's antennas drooped. Chloe tried to stay stern, but found that she couldn't hold her annoyance for long. With an exaggerated sigh she gently placed Lyssa back in her purse.

"It's fine. It just might take a while for me to sneak some fruit to you."

"Thank you," Lyssa said.

"Yeah, yeah."

Chloe was about to close the clasp on her purse when she felt a gentle pat on her finger. Looking down she found Lyssa smiling up at her.

"What?"

"You did a good job today. Especially for your first time."

Chloe blinked. "You really think so?"

"Of course! I've known many heroes who ran away the first time that responsibility came knocking on their door. And, instead of doing that, you chose to jump right into it! I'm so proud of you."

Chloe's heart warmed at Lyssa's words. She'd heard many words of praise over the years, but she could count on one hand the amount of times that someone had said that they were proud of her. Her cheeks warmed.

"Let's get you that fruit," Chloe said in an attempt to ignore her feelings. Lyssa nodded her head and retracted her arm back inside of the purse.

Chloe closed it with a click and then went about exiting the restroom. Hopefully all of the servants were off doing their jobs. As she opened the door she looked in one direction and found the hall empty. She was about to let out a sigh of relief when she suddenly found one of the staff leaning against the opposite wall.

A surprisingly familiar staff member.

"Chloe?" Nathanael asked as he pushed off the wall in surprise. "What are you doing here? What are you doing in the men's bathroom?"

"I… I had a makeup emergency after the akuma attacks. And, because the woman's restroom was locked I had to make due" Chloe said as she crossed her arms. "And what are you doing here? I didn't see you waiting tables earlier."

"That's because I work in the kitchens."

"Doing what?"

"Does it matter? I'm pretty sure you have more important places to be."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Kutzblurb." She brushed past him and did her best to look more haughty than nervous. It seemed as though he'd bought it, but she had only made it a step when she heard him mumble something. She whirled around.

"What did you say?"

"Kurtzberg," Nathanael's eyes flashed. "My last name is Kurtzberg."

Chloe blinked at him in surprise. Isn't that what she'd said? She replayed their short interaction back in her head and realized that she had, in fact, said his name wrong. Usually she would manipulate a person's last name in an attempt to be clever, but in her rush to leave she'd butchered the name instead.

But he didn't need to know that.

"Kurtzberg, Schmucksberg. It doesn't matter because, as you said, I have somewhere more important to be. And that most certainly isn't wasting my time talking to a busboy like you."

Without another moment's hesitation, Chloe rushed off in the direction of the ballroom. She could tell that she'd gone farther than necessary in her attempt to avoid embarrassment, but she truly didn't have time to waste worrying about something like that.

So, she didn't.

Instead, Chloe kept her eyes open for any form of fruit as she made her way back toward the ballroom. There were many carts strewn along the hallway with various types of items on them ranging from decorations to dirty dishes. There were even a few carts with leftover food on them, but not a single piece of fruit in sight.

Chloe had nearly given up hope as she approached the direction that she would need to go in order to meet up with the others when a small cart caught her eye. It was quite noticeably meant for the bar and she nearly passed over it. But, as she looked amongst the bottles of over-priced liqueur she spotted a small jar of maraschino cherries.

Her hand hovered over the jar for a moment as the thought of just how messy they would be occurred to her. The juice alone would be impossible to control. She glanced around once more in an attempt to find a better option. But, when Chloe found none, she picked it up and shoved it into her purse with a hushed "don't spill" thrown in as well.

She almost expected someone to notice her theft, but a quick cursory glance around the hall found no servers in sight. Grateful for her good luck, Chloe closed her purse with a decisive click and continued her journey to the ballroom at a clipped pace.

Chloe stopped short of the entrance. Servers were in the process of tearing down the room. Some carried the previous contents of the tables. Others were removing tablecloths, leaving the tables completely bare. Ariel stood amongst her staff and, though it seemed as if it were pure chaos, it looked as though she knew exactly where to direct her staff. It was like watching a conductor leading the string section through a particularly dynamic section.

It was mesmerizing.

It took her a few moments to tear her eyes away from the flurry of movement to survey the rest of the room. She found a few guests milling about the room, but she couldn't seem to find any of the faces that were important to her.

There was no sign of Ladybug, Chat Noir, her father, even Sabrina was—

Chloe gasped as she felt an wave of ice cold water fall down her back and form a frozen knot of anxiety in her stomach. Immediately, Chloe spun on her heel and rushed off to release her friend from her makeshift holding cell. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to explain to Sabrina why she had locked her in the closet, but surely she would forgive her, right?

Chloe rounded the corner for what felt like the millionth time that day only to pull up short.

On the ground was the mop that she had used to bar the door broken in two. Splinters littered the floor and crunched under her feet as she approached the open closet door with trepidation. The knot in her stomach tightened when she found it empty.

Where was Sabrina?

The sound of voices caught Chloe's attention. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but they were coming from the reception room. Chloe walked as quickly as her shoes would allow. As she approached the doorway the voices gradually became clearer.

"And you're sure that's what happened?" Her father asked.

"Y-yes," Sabrina said as Chloe walked through the door. She was about to say more when her attention was drawn to Chloe's figure. Their eyes locked. Sabrina's eyes flashed recognition, fear, and then something completely unreadable before she flinched and cast her gaze to the ground. Then the floor, her father, the refreshment table... Anywhere but at best friend.

Chloe, on the other hand, couldn't look away from Sabrina.

Sabrina's previously immaculate dress had stains on the train as well multiple rips. The tracks of her makeup easily betrayed the amount of tears that she had shed in the time that they had been apart. What was most jarring, though, was the myriad of bruises and scratches on her arms and hands. One of which was cradled her elbow gingerly.

"Chloe." André said as he stood from where he had been sitting across from Sabrina. There were a lot of emotions in that one word. She couldn't name all of them, but it was quite apparent that he was quite upset. "I'm going to give you one opportunity to explain yourself."

"W-What do you mean, Daddy?"

"Sabrina says that when the two of you ran away after Hawk Moth's appearance that you hurt her."

Chloe took a step back. "I-I didn't. I wouldn't. I would never—!"

"Chloe Noëlle Bourgeois!" Her father yelled. Chloe gasped as her she watched a vein in her father's head pulse. "This isn't some trivial school matter! Tell me: did you or did you not push Sabrina into that closet and lock her inside?"

Chloe could clearly picture the scenario in her head. They had been walking towards the exit when she had spun and pushed Sabrina into the closet. She barely caught her friend's look of surprise before slamming the door shut and jamming it with the mop.

But, throughout the memory, she couldn't find a single image of Sabrina being hurt. She had been clearly seen her standing and okay as the door had shut. And, while Chloe wasn't a doctor, she was quite sure that there was no way that she could have been hurt to this degree from simply falling down.

Chloe scanned the room searching for an answer. As her eyes moved around the room she was surprised to find that she had missed the rest of the rooms occupants: Ladybug, Chat Noir, Gabriel Agreste, and Nathalie Sancoeur. They were standing apart from the confrontation, but it was quite clear that they were all paying close attention.

Bile rose in Chloe's throat as all she could find was Ladybug's disappointed gaze.

"Yes, I pushed her into the closet. But! But, there's no way that she would have—"

"I think we've heard enough, André," Gabriel said as he and Nathalie broke away from the group surveying the scene to rest a hand on the back of the couch that Sabrina was sitting on. "As I said earlier, I believe that it would be in your best interest to allow Nathalie and I to escort Miss Raincomprix to the hospital while you send your daughter home. I don't imagine that her father would take too kindly to having her attacker going along for the ride."

"I imagine not." André brought a hand to massage his scalp for a moment before turning to the injured girl in question. "Sabrina, dear, does that sound alright to you?"

Sabrina kept her eyes glued to the ground. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then bit her lip. It seemed as though she had something to say, but a cough from Gabriel startled her into sitting up straight and looking André in the eye.

"T-That sounds like a plan, I-I guess." She winced and belatedly cradled her arm to her chest at her quick movement.

"Sabrina?" Ladybug asked, "Would you like us to go with you for moral support?" Ladybug began walking towards her.

"No!" Sabrina burst out startling everyone in the room, including herself. Her eyes had blown wide at her exclamation. She moved to bring her right hand up to cover her mouth, but faltered as her injury made itself abundantly clear. She cleared her throat. "I-I-I mean I wouldn't possibly want to bother either of you and. And I'm sure that I-I'll be fine."

Ladybug carefully continued to approach Sabrina as she spoke. "It wouldn't be a bother, I promise you."

"Yeah," Chat Noir chimed as he tried to mask his concern with one of his usual smiles. "Besides it's the least that we could do."

"We have the room," Nathalie said as she looked to Gabriel. They shared a look before her employer nodded decisively.

"Then if it's decided, we should leave immediately," Gabriel said. "Nathalie, call Miss Raincomprix's father and inform him as to which hospital we will be going to."

He turned to address André. "I assume that I should have them send you the bill?"

"Of course. I'll call Jacques to pack up her things and take them to the hospital as well."

"Would you like me to carry you?" Chat Noir asked in a jovial tone.

"N-No I can—"

"He doesn't bite, I swear," Ladybug cut in with a wink. "Besides I doubt that you want to try to walk in broken heels."

Sabrina looked down and seemed to notice her destroyed footwear for the first time. She stared at them for a few moments before looking back up at Chat Noir.

"Y-you don't mind?"

"Of course not!" The superhero walked around the coffee table into position. "Ready?"

Sabrina nodded.

"Up we go!" He said cheerily as he did his best to carefully pick up Sabrina. It wasn't too noticeable, but while it was obvious that whoever was underneath the mask was strong enough to carry the other girl, he wasn't quite as graceful about it as he would have been with his powers.

Ladybug hovered nearby ready to assist if need be as Chat Noir turned to face Gabriel. "Where to?"

"Follow me."

As they group left, Gabriel turned to André. "Perhaps this will prove to you that you should re-evaluate your parenting techniques."

Her father bristled. It looked as though he wanted to refute Gabriel's claim, but Gabriel left before André could get a single word in.

Chloe found herself at a loss for words as she stepped back to allow the group to leave. She could feel tears stinging her eyes as the overwhelming unfairness of it all began closing in on her. Why didn't anyone believe her?

"I'm also going to call the chauffeur to take you home," André said as he brought his phone up to his ear and turned away aggressively. "Don't expect to attend any other events the rest of this year."

"Daddy," Chloe pleaded, "I—"

"Jacques?" André said into his phone as he began walking away from her.

Chloe listened listlessly as the memory replayed over and over again in her mind. There had to be something that she was missing.

There just had to be!

André let out a long sigh as he ended the call.

"I hope you understand the type of position that you've put yourself in, Chloe. Not only is Sabrina hurt, but it is likely that her father is going to want to press charges against you. I've done my best to protect you in the past, but I don't know if there is any way to do that with so many witnesses"

"Daddy," Chloe tried one more time, "Please. You have to believe me. I swear that I'd never hurt Sabrina like that. I—"

"That's enough, Chloe."

"But—"

"Enough!"

Chloe fell into the wall in shock. Of all the times her father had been upset with her, he had never raised so much as his tone. His voice rang loud in the small space and towered over her in a way that she had never noticed before. In that moment, Chloe felt a fear that she had never felt once in her life.

André stood imposingly over her for a few moments before he took a deep breath and stepped away from her. His momentarily imposing stature returned to normal and he brought his hand to rub at his temples.

"We'll talk about this later. The chauffeur is waiting for you out front."

A guilty look passed over her father's face. It looked as though he wanted to apologize, but instead he avoided her gaze. He picked up a clipboard, two small boxes, and a gift bag and exited the room.

Chloe didn't leave until half an hour later.

[A/N: Thanks for reading! So, in a way, this chapter is the end of the first arc of this story! It's crazy to think that this is only about one-third of the way in, but I've gotta say that I'm excited for everything that is to come! I have quite a bit planned, though I must admit that if you have anything thoughts for what is to come I would very much appreciate it since there are some details in this middle section that could be lengthened or shortened depending on what you guys are feeling. For example if you guys like more of the action more of the superhero type things could be lengthened, but if you're more interested in the character relationships those could be lengthened! (If both then I guess we're just in for a long-haul XD). So, if you'd like to influence this story in anyway that's a bit more direct, now's the time to chime in!

Also, I know it's been a while, but life's been super rough. I'm not going to get into everything, but basically I'm doing my best to look for a new job and so most of my attention has to go towards that. I'm also doing my best to work through burn out so writing has been a very hard thing to accomplish lately. Thanks so much for all of your guys' understanding throughout all of this. It really means a lot that none of you come banging on my door/inbox to demand updates like I've seen others do. If I'd had that kind of pressure who knows if I'd have made it this far. (Now if you just want to strike up a conversation about anything else, I'm totally up for it!)

Anyways, thanks, as always, for reading! Hope you all have a good day!