Needless to say, Sage was not happy.

"I cannot believe you! I told you only five minutes, in and out, and don't get spotted! Yet you immediately jumped into action! Do you know how long we were gone? An hour! A whole hour you were gone playing superhero! We're gonna be in so much trouble! We'll be found out for sure and that will be it for us! Gwen! Why did you do such a thing?"

Even though Sage was obviously tired from using her powers and needed to recharge, she had no problems whatsoever to lecture and yell at Gwen. Gwen stood there looking at the floor, feeling guilty but knowing in her heart that she did the right thing.

"Sage! People were in danger! They could've been hurt, or...or killed! Did you want me to just stand by and do nothing!" Gwen looked at her kwami with pained eyes. She knew it had not been the smartest choice but she hadn't had a lot of time to think.

Sage sighed and flew over to Gwen, sitting on her shoulder. "Gwen, look. I know. You did help people, that's obvious. This whole thing started because you didn't want to get involved with something, but that shouldn't prompt you to take action when it could lead to a dangerous and risky situation! Do you understand Gwen? People saw you, people know you now. There's no way this is going to be swept under the rug. You're in real danger of getting your identity figured out."

Gwen felt her heart sink in her chest. "I...I know...but I didn't know what else to do. I'm a superhero. These powers were given to me for a reason. If I don't use them for helping people, what good am I?" She felt defeated. Part of knew it had been a dumb idea and would get her in trouble but she couldn't have just done nothing. "I'm sorry...I'm just going to go to bed. We'll talk about this later Sage."

"Wait gwen, but you haven't eaten, or done homework! And don't even think this conversation is done!" Sage flew after her but Gwen had already shut the door to the bedroom and had crawled into bed.

She curled up into a ball on the soft mattress and felt tears fall from her eyes but she did little to wipe them away or to make a sound. She just wished she could start this entire day over, make sure not to do anything that would get her yelled at or in a fight with someone. It made her feel helpless and unwanted, like a scolded child who no matter what you told it would still mess up. She wanted to be free of these feelings of guilt, pain, and hurt.

As Gwen fell asleep she wondered in her mind if Ladybug and Chat Noir fought or if they got lectured by their kwamis. She doubted it. But then again, can't even perfect people have flaws? Well yes, but she didn't think that they had to deal with the problems she did.

Gwen awoke still in her clothes from yesterday and her hair in a tangled mess. Her eyes were puffy and red and her stomach felt hollow. "What if I just skipped school today?" She asked herself but she knew that was not a wise decision having been brought here through her good character and the generosity of others. She would not want to taint that as well and have another thing to deal with.

She quickly got ready for school, showering, cleaning up, hastily doing homework to the point where she couldn't tell what subject she was doing anymore, and eating breakfast. Sage was asleep through all of this and Gwen remembered that she had forgotten to give some chips to her yesterday to help her recharge so she was probably taking a much needed rest. 'It's better this way though. I don't want to have to talk to someone so early in the morning, especially if it will be another lecture.'

Eventually, she felt ready enough to head off. She gently and carefully put Sage into her pocket so that she would not freak when she woke if Gwen wasn't there. The kwami stirred a bit but did little else to wake. After double checking she had everything, she headed for the door and was greeted by a not so happy face.

As soon as the door opened she stopped in her tracks as she stood face to face with Isaac, who had his hand raised into a fist as if he was going to knock. Both students looked surprised at each other, not sure what to do. Isaac was the first to regain his senses and his face became dark and bitter.

"What the hell did you do?" He demanded as he pushed his way inside her apartment. Gwen opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. She knew she would probably only say something she would regret, so instead she closed the door and hoped the walls weren't so thin that others could hear them.

"You...You think you can just go around and do whatever you want! No, what am I saying. It was obvious you weren't thinking! You're going to get yourself killed one of these days you know? You're just so reckless it's unbelievable! I should have never trusted you to do as you were told! Do you have an idea how much trouble you have caused?"

In reality, Gwen didn't know. She had figured that there would be talk about her sure, but for it to have reached Isaac's ears so fast? What had happened?

Isaac glared at her waiting for a response and when she gave none he gave a sigh in annoyance. "You don't even know, do you?" He took out something from his bag and threw it at her which she quickly caught. She stared down at the black and white newspaper. She didn't even get a chance to read the headline or even the text before seeing the giant blown up picture of herself as Night Owl.

Sure, it was blurry and obviously taken in the midst of her moving but there was no doubt that it was a superhero with some sort of bird look to her. She scanned the article as it described the recent akuma attack and how a "mysterious new superhero had joined Ladybug and Chat Noir on their epic take down of the Tinkerer."

As she continued to read, Isaac grabbed the remote and switched on the TV which had been preset to the news channel. Gwen looked up as the reporter talked. "News of the brand new superhero has been spreading around Paris faster then one can blink. Thousands of people got a chance to see this new hero spring into action at yesterday's akuma attack when she saved civilian lives from being crushed by the Eiffel Tower itself. When trying to get an interview with Ladybug and Chat Noir we asked the two about this new teammate"

The video switched over to the two superheroes Gwen had met yesterday and her eyes lit up at the sight of them. They were surrounded by reporters all asking questions but one question stood out. "Do you have any thoughts of the new superhero? Has she joined the two of you in fighting against the akumas?"

"Unfortunately, we don't know who she is. She just appeared out of nowhere. We're lucky she came along though or else more people would have gotten hurt." Chat Noir answered honestly to the camera, all while flashing a dazzling smile.

"We don't know anything about her but I'm not sure if she'll be coming back. Oh dear, looks like we've got to run! C'mon kitty!" Ladybug's answer was cut off by her earring beeping, a clear indication she was about to detransform. The two superheroes then ran off and the clip returned back to the newscaster. However, Isaac shut it off.

"You're on every channel, every website, every newspaper. Everyone wants to know where you appeared from and why you're here. So far no one has made the connection between the New York superhero and you but it's only a matter of time. Do you want to explain yourself?"

Gwen opened and closed her mouth like a dying fish, unsure of how to respond. Eventually she lowered her head so she wouldn't have to meet his intimidating eyes. "I...I'm sorry…" She mumbled quietly

"Sorry!? Sorry for what? Sorry for ignoring all the rules we set in place when we got here? Sorry for using your powers and possibly risking your and my exposure? Sorry that we fought? Gwen, look around you. Your actions have consequences! Why can't you understand that? Why on Earth were you out there?" His voice was piercing in Gwen's mind, striking her heart with every word. She felt sick or like she was going to pass out but she had to remain strong...if only for now.

"I...I'm sorry we fought...but I'm not sorry for what I did." She finally looked up, her face set and her voice trying to sound determined even though it was raw and dry from crying. "I saw the tower moving from my window. I heard yells and cries for help. I knew that Paris had its own set of superheroes but I couldn't...I couldn't just ignore it! So...I forced Sage to make me transform and I hurried down there. I didn't mean to use my powers or anything, just save the people who were most in danger. But Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't coming and more things were getting destroyed and more people were going to get hurt so I had to do something. Why can't you understand? I just...I just wanted to help people." Her voice threatened to break again and tears threatened to escape her eyes but she hastily swatted them away, wanting Isaac to be the last person ever to see her cry. She knew she lied and said that she hadn't gone out before everything went out but she knew if she said that Sage would also be in trouble and she wasn't about to throw her friend under the bus. This was her problem, her issue. She was ready to accept her punishment and consequences.

There was silence, a long and dreadful silence. For some reason the thought of Isaac hitting her or slapping her came across her mind and she felt even more sick. Would he really do that? Was he really so angry he would harm her? Why was she even thinking that that was going to happen?

"I'm sorry too." Gwen's eyes shot to Isaac, wide with surprise. Isaac was now the one looking at the ground, his hand was tightened into a fist and he was shakily slightly. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you. You were right, it wasn't my job to scold you or force you to stand up to anyone. I was being irrational, the stress from everything being thrown at us all at once was too much for me yesterday. It was my fault that I set you off. I won't yell at you again, I promise...well...unless you do something truly worth it." He glanced up and tried to offer a small smile to show that he was joking.

The tone he used was the once Gwen was used. The teasing, non-serious lecture voice. A voice that was meant to teach her a lesson but also show that he wasn't truly mad. Gwen felt a heavy weight lift from her shoulders. Isaac didn't hate her. Isaac wasn't going to stop being her partner. Isaac wasn't going to hit her. In the darkness and seriousness of the situation, Gwen somehow found herself smiling.

"Apology accepted. After all, what's a superhero duo if there's only one?" Gwen looked at Isaac with a smile but she tensed when he saw him frown and look up at her again.

"Yeah. A partner that has to always clean up your mess. Look, maybe this will all blow over. Keep your head down and never, never do that again. Maybe there's still a chance we can sweep this under the rug."

"Isaac...I…" Gwen felt her close her mouth and nodded. Now was not the time for her to try and convince him of anything else. "I understand. It won't happen again…" She hoped that she wouldn't regret this promise she made to the dark haired boy before her. With all of her being she wanted to find those superheroes again. With all of her might she knew that when the time came if someone was in danger she might do something crazy again. But for now she had no reason to go against him.

Isaac let out a slow sigh. His hand unclenched and he nodded towards her. "Alright. We'll put this aside for now and hope for the best. Shall we go to school then?"

And just like that, the two found an understanding between each other. The two had been with each other long enough that everything seemed to fall into place. The air was cleared and the two knew that the best thing for both of them was to move on.

Needless to say though, the promise they made was not going to last as long as they would have liked.