I own nothing except Jeanne and Shii.
The first thing Jeanne woke up to was Shii frantically grabbing at her shoulder.
"We need to go." He said. "Something is very wrong with me."
"What's wrong?" She blinked blearily and sat up. It wasn't like him to be this jittery and panicked. She was immediately worried.
"That akuma did something to me. We need to find Wayzz and his master!"
"Who's Wayzz?"
"He's the oldest of us. His holder always knows what to do when something goes wrong. We have to find him!" Shii was pleading, holding onto her collar.
"Okay. Okay." She stood and cradled him in her hands. "Just let me get dressed and we'll go." Shii calmed down a little but remained jittery as Jeanne got dressed and slipped him into her shirt pocket.
"We'll start at Adrien's school, okay? Adrien said he got his Miraculous after helping an old man near the school, so maybe Wayzz is there."
"Okay."
Jeanne went downstairs, going to Nathalie to explain where she was going. She gave some vague excuse as to why she wanted to go, citing needing some fresh air.
"If you're going to Adrien's school, could you bring him his lunch?" Nathalie asked, handing Jeanne a bag. "He forgot it here and I'm too swamped to take it myself. Your father has five meetings lined up today."
"Of course." Jeanne took the bag, and headed for Adrien's school. In the back of her mind, she wondered if Dr. Delacroix had said something to her father because she hadn't been chewed out for not staying in the house. She supposed that was a good thing. As much as she disliked sessions with Dr. Delacroix, he did seem to understand her in a way very few people did. Her mother had always said that was what a good therapist should be.
As she arrived at the school, she remembered Adrien's class was shooting a movie.
"Maybe not the best time." She said, turning to go back home. "They'll probably be really busy. I can't ask Adrien about the old man."
"Kid, this is important!" Shii said, straining her shirt pocket trying to fly forward. "We have to find Wayzz and his partner!"
"But they're shooting a movie right now! I can't just interrupt Adrien! He has the lead role! Maybe I should just drop off the lunch and leave."
"Kid, we need to find Wayzz. It's important."
"Fine." Jeanne took a few deep breaths and put on a sunny smile before pushing open the door to Adrien's classroom.
"Jeanne!" Adrien ran over when he saw her, making Nino groan. "What are you doing here?" The rest of the class stopped what they were doing to look at the eldest Agreste child.
"Nathalie said you forgot your lunch." Jeanne said, holding out the bag. "Plus, I wanted to see how your movie was going. Couldn't miss my little brother's leading role, now could I?" She resisted the urge to ruffle his hair given that everyone was watching.
"It'd be nice to have more help." Nino said. "We're kinda short-staffed."
"I'd love to help." And so Jeanne was roped into assisting in the production. Mostly she provided refreshments, along with Rose and Juleka. She really did like those two girls. Rose kept asking if she wanted a snack or if she was hydrated. She was such a mother hen. Jeanne couldn't help but enjoy it though. It reminded her of her mother. As they all bustled around, she looked for any sign of the turtle kwami. Backpacks, shirt pockets, purses. Anywhere she could imagine a kwami would hide. She had little luck, only succeeding in spotting Tikki and Plagg. Shii stayed out of sight, lapsing into feverish sleep. Jeanne settled on a chair in the back of the room, sighing to herself. So Wayzz didn't belong to one of Adrien's classmates. This had been a waste of time. Maybe she should have stayed home. Well, getting out was always good. Dr. Delacroix had been suggesting she be more independent. A scream startled her out of her thoughts, sending her reaching for her ring. Fortunately it was only Mylène. This had to be the tenth take. The poor girl was just scared stiff of that monster mask, wasn't she?
"You're playing a hero from the special forces! You're not supposed to get all freaked out." Nino said. His patience was obviously running thin.
"I know, but...That monster mask he's wearing is so...realistic and scary." Mylène shuddered.
"Just big ol' me, Mylène. Nothing to be scared of." Ivan assured her, pulling up the mask to smile.
"If you ask me, he doesn't even need a mask!" Chloè sneered before bursting into high pitched laughter with Sabrina.
"Chloè!" Jeanne stalked down to where the blonde heiress was. "Apologize this instant!"
"Why? I'm only telling the truth." Chloè tossed her hair. "He's ugly and Mylène's a pathetic scaredy-cat."
"Chloè, I do not have time for this. Apologize." Mylène and Ivan were some of the sweetest kids she'd ever met. They deserved Chloè's abuse even less than the rest of the class did.
"No way! It's totally-"
"Apologize. Now." Jeanne's tone lowered considerably, dropping to an almost masculine register. Her eyes were tinted purple, the pupils slitted almost like a cat's.
"I-I'm sorry." Chloè said quickly.
"Good." Jeanne drew back, her voice and eyes returning to normal. "That's better, isn't it?"
"Jeanne, are you feeling okay?" Adrien asked. "That was...really weird." His sister blinked, bringing a hand to her head.
"Did I say something strange?"
"Epic, Chloè! Just epic!" Nino snapped, diverting everyone's attention. "What are we supposed to do without our leading actress?!" While Jeanne had been intimidating Chloè, Mylène had run off to cry in the bathroom. Ivan had run after her, but was back now, glaring at Chloè.
"Whatever." Chloè muttered, careful not to say anything to upset Jeanne. "Just have someone else do it."
"What, are you going to say you want to do it?" Marinette folded her arms. Jeanne was also surprised Chloè had't jumped on the opportunity. Then again, she had just scared the crap out of the mayor's daughter.
"This is stupid! Why would I want to be in it?" Chloè sat down, refusing to look at anyone.
"Well someone needs to take Mylène's part." Nino said. "We only have the school til, like, six!"
"Why don't you let Marinette do it?" Jeanne asked. Marinette seemed a decent choice for a replacement, assuming Mylène didn't turn into an akuma and disrupt filming even more. Not to mention the girl had a good head on her shoulders. She could certainly act, what with hiding her identity as Ladybug.
"W-What?" Marinette went bright red. "I can't act! I'm the producer!"
"Just do it." Jeanne pushed her not so gently towards Adrien. "I'll go look for Mylène." That was the end of the discussion. Jeanne slipped out of the classroom again, but not before Chloè had a chance to follow.
"What's wrong with you?" Chloè asked once they were away from the classroom.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jeanne said icily.
"Something's wrong with you." Chloè insisted. "I want to know what it is."
"It's not like you to care about someone else."
"It's different when it's you! It's always different when it's you!"
"I'm fine, Chloè."
"No you're not! You're acting weird! Even Adrien thinks so!" Chloè stomped her foot. "Tell me what's going on!" Jeanne stopped walking just short of the girl's bathroom. A trail of purple slime led out of the room and into the hallway. A pool of it was in the middle of the hallway and it seemed to be growing.
"Tell me what's going on!" Chloè demanded.
"Chloè, this is not the time." Jeanne held out an arm to stop her from going any further. "That. What is that stuff?"
"How should I know?" Chloè asked, folding her arms. "It's totally gross! And don't try to distract me!"
"I'm not distracting you!" Jeanne snapped. "That's not normal!" A low growl echoed from above them. Slowly, the two girls looked up.
Screams echoed through the hallways. Chloè was sent running back to the classroom. Jeanne just stared up at the creature clinging to the ceiling. Out of all the things she'd seen during her time as Blanc, this was definitely pretty up there. She felt all positivity draining out of her at the sight of the akumatized Mylène. She knew she was supposed to be afraid, supposed to scream. She just found herself too tired to muster up any of that emotion. The creature was a little surprised it wasn't eliciting fear, but covered hre in goo anyway. She felt herself being dragged somewhere before her cocoon was hung up.
"What the hell, kid?!" Shii demanded in a low whisper. "Why'd you let yourself get captured like that?! I gave you power for a reason!"
"This whole thing was a waste of time." Jeanne muttered, hugging her knees. "We couldn't find Wayzz, everyone thinks I'm acting weird...Maybe this whole thing was a mistake. Maybe I'm not cut out for this."
"Kid, come on." Shii perched himself on her knee. "You don't mean that, do you?"
"Of course I do. I'm no hero."
"You don't have to be a hero. As long as you're not hurting anyone, I'm fine with whatever you do. I'm just here to help."
"I don't even know how to use my powers!"
"Well, there's no time like the present." Shii said. "You wanna try it out now?"
Jeanne blinked. "Isn't it a bad idea to transform before we know what Dark Cupid did to you?"
"Eh, I'm feeling better now." Shii waved a paw dismissively. "Whatever that guy did, I think it's worn off now. Besides, when have I ever done something that's a good idea?" He had a point there. It was worth a try at the very least. She was finding she didn't like being cooped up in a cocoon. It was sticky too.
"Okay. Let's go."
The space became considerably more cramped once Blanc was out. His legs were a bit longer than Jeanne's, meaning he was practically squashed in the cocoon. Now he just needed to get out. He rolled over and pressed his hand to the bottom of the cocoon, trying to gag as his hand sunk into the goo.
"Void." He said. His hand glowed purple and the cocoon vanished, depositing him squarely on the floor. Face first of course.
"Ooow." Jeanne groaned and sat up, Shii floating near her head.
"Void? That was the best you could think of?" He said, tails whipping around in apparent annoyance.
"Well what else am I supposed to call it?" Jeanne dusted herself off. "It was the only thing I could think of!"
"It's called the Kronos Touch."
"The Kronos Touch."
"I named it myself!"
"Of course you did." It seemed about as cheesy as she'd expected from him. She did like it though. "Let's just go home now. They'll be by soon to fix everything."
"Yeah, okay." Shii shrugged. "We can look for Wayzz again tomorrow. I really am feeling better." She knew that was more to comfort her than anything else. It was then that Mylène returned. Jeanne became Blanc again and put up his hands.
"Easy there tiger." He smiled disarmingly. "I'm not here to hurt you." Horrificator frowned and shrunk back. Even in this form, Mylène was wary of the villain. Hawkmoth didn't trust Blanc either. Just then Ladybug and Chat burst in, their classmates close behind. Horrificator immediately snapped its focus to them, swatting Blanc out of the way with one hand. He hit the wall and crumpled down. Thank God for the invulnerability Miraculouses provided. He didn't want to go to the hospital again. They were starting to call her by her first name when she showed up.
"Ladybug? Is that Ladybug?" Chloè's voice came from one of the cocoons. "It's me, Chloè Bourgeois! Get us out of here!"
"Don't worry, we'll get you down." Ladybug said.
"Hurry up!" Chloè whined. Blanc didn't blame her this time. Those cocoons were kinda gross.
"I'll get them down. You deal with her." Blanc picked himself up, dusting his suit off.
"What made you want to help again?" Chat asked, dodging balls of Horrificator's slime.
"I felt like it." Blanc winked. More than anything, he just didn't want to hurt the girl. Mylène needed help and he had no right to interfere in her healing process. Chloè was already in a cocoon. There was no one else to take revenge on. He hopped up to the ceiling, activating the Kronos Touch and running along the pipes to get all the cocoons. Soon everyone was safely on the ground. Somehow Ladybug had managed to acquire guitar strings, likely from her Lucky Charm.
"What are you going to do with those?" Blanc asked, noting the flashing of the butterfly wings in his ring.
"We're going to play Mylène's special song." Ladybug explained as she rigged up a makeshift guitar. Chat was making drums out of some trash cans.
"Sounds nice. Good luck with it."
"You're not going to stay and help?" Chat frowned.
"Nah, kid." Blanc shook his head. "I already used my power. I'll be turning back soon. Don't want any of you to learn my secret identity." He then disappeared into the rafters, only for Jeanne to appear behind a trashcan. She waited to come out until everything had gone back to normal. The first thing Adrien did when he saw her was grab her and hold her tight, babbling about how scared he'd been that he'd lost her. Then he yelled at her for going off on her own.
"I wasn't alone." She said, trying not to groan. "Chloè was there."
"Yeah, but Chloè's not good at keeping people safe." Adrien folded his arms. "Don't do that again! You had me worried!"
"Fine fine." Jeanne rolled her eyes. "I'll be careful." Part of her seethed at being treated as though she couldn't defend herself. Then again, it was normal.
"Adrien! Dude!" Nino yelled. "We gotta turn this in to the mayor! Come on!"
"Coming!" Adrien yelled back before turning to his sister. "Are you okay getting home on your own?"
"Yeah." Jeanne took out her phone. "I'll call Nathalie. It'll be fine." Adrien nodded and ran off. Jeanne watched him go, her expression settling into calm indifference. How much longer could she keep this up? He had to suspect something. Oh well, that was a worry for another day. Tomorrow she'd go out again to find Wayzz. Shii stayed nestled in her pocket the whole way home, asleep and content. It seemed like he really was okay. But it wasn't him that they had to worry about. It was her.