Hawkmoth paced his office inside the museum. The Warrior had severed their connection on her own.

It was just a matter of time before she'd come back for him.

He sighed, swinging his cane recklessly, as he weighed his options.

It had all been a calculated risk in choosing her in the first place.

It was the risk of re-Akumatizing someone who had spent years re-adjusting from the initial trauma, from the anger and self-doubt. From the parsing through every scrap of detail. Bridging the gap where the initial memory loss of being controlled hadn't masked the frighteningly thorough media reporting from each single event so long ago.

Neither he nor his sister had never been sure what was a true memory and what came from the outside observers, but the terror had been no less acute.

He had been willing to assume the mantle. To play the villain to bring it all back.

But somehow, he had forgotten that she had to spend years building up careful walls to deal with her career. Managing anger against the old boys' club sexist assertions, showing strength by proving herself to be just as strong and clever, time and time again.

He should have known if anyone could do it, it would be her.

She had been fighting all along.

Nino ran inside the house to grab his keys, letting Wayzz have a bit of tea to allow him to re-charge. They could only hope that the Warrior – their old classmate – would keep to her word. But they had to prepare for the worst.

Alya ran up to her laptop, searching out Alix's contact information at the police station.

He glanced down at his watch. He wanted to take Wayzz to Zoe; she wouldn't understand if she didn't get the chance to say goodbye.

"What is your hurry, Master Nino?"

He shook his head, ruefully. It seemed that Wayzz was never really going to kick that Master habit of his. "I was going to take you and Trixx over to Zoe. So you could say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Wayzz furrowed his tiny green brow. "But we won't be going anywhere."

Nino gaped, before dropping down into his seat thoroughly resigned. Was it possible that the Kwami weren't aware of what all went on while they were lending their powers?

"The Akuma demanded that we turn over our Miraculous. Now there is a chance that it is all a ruse, of course—"

Wayzz smiled. "But that seems unlikely from the good detective after all. I was able to see."

Nino gaped. "Then why do you think that you won't be leaving?"

The Kwami smirked, hovering above the box to tap the lid.

"I do believe I told you that Master Fu was fond of contingency plans."

It was hours later that Alix stood under her own power as she waited outside the museum. It was a rainy evening, but there was no way that she would fail in her duty.

Her partner had been standing by, keeping the police car warm and running as they neared the appointed time.

Alya had been appointed the designated courier of the Miraculous. She'd had plausible deniability as a reporter with inside access, and they all felt much more confident as soon as her stone ponytail holder had blinked out of existence.

She'd only risked e-mailing Alix with a lead that might interest her after that had happened. Alya beamed, feigning ignorance. "I was told to ask to see your part of the bargain first."

Alix had smiled. She'd held up the small dark purple broach in good faith.

Nodding, Alya handed over a small bag containing a ring, a pair of earrings, a jade bracelet, and a necklace.

"All this trouble for so little."

Alya nodded. "They asked if you could be sure that they would be locked away safely."

Alix sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as she'd ducked under the awning to fend off the rain. "I can put a few extra measures in place. It will go somewhere well-guarded, but to be honest the best security is the complete disavowal of knowledge that it exists." She shook her head. "It was too easy for me to get it out with my level of access, which means that another old friend will be helping to tighten the department's procedures. My partner already set all of that into motion anyways."

The tension fell from Alya's shoulders. All of this was going far easier than she'd hoped.

Alix pressed her lips into a thin line. "I trust all of this will stay strictly off the record, Alya."

She nodded, red hair bobbing in time. "Not an issue."

Alix still looked a bit uncertain but pressed on. The bag was shuffled into her pocket, her hand lingering above it. "Can you tell them, thank you?"

Alya blinked. "Honestly, I'm not sure that I will ever see them again. Ladybug and Chat Noir were always very strict about keeping their identities secret." Her face fell, a frown crossing her lips. "Without the masks, I am not sure that any of the them would be willing to come forward. Especially if someone took it into their heads to exact revenge…"

Alix smiled ruefully. "Trust me. I understand that concern all too well. But I hope you might hear from them again someday."

Soon enough, the jewelry and the rest of the box of the case files was safely locked away in Evidence storage.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had disappeared just as mysteriously as they had re-appeared, and life in Paris had returned to normal - for a few weeks at least.

Kim had asked Max to prod the department to fix their procedures. He already had a case in mind to demonstrate a dangerous precedence, making the financial incentive for the department to improve their processes in short order.

Including the addition of an alert system when case files had been requested.

Alix had added that now-infamous case number to her list of notifications and then tried to put it out of her mind. She had nearly forgotten all about it, until the e-mail appeared in her box that the box had been checked out for review earlier in the day.

Kim's brows had lifted, meeting hers across their desks , before they both sprinted to evidence storage directly.

Only one thing was taken out of the box – one that hadn't been on the original inventory list.

The little black broach that Jalil had been wearing when the Warrior came to settle the score.