A standard factory worker was Papillon's latest victim. An unusual story in anyone's books - to say the least. His reason for victimisation was quite personal and was obviously for selfish desires. Couldn't hold together the relationship between him and his girlfriend, and then everything fell apart at the seams. Now, wanting to 'patch' things up, his rampage against all ex-girlfriends caused anyone who touched the glue he shot from his hands to stay stuck forever.

The hero team was mobilised as soon as they could. Ladybug and Chat Noir took to the rooftops while the fox and turtle duo took to evacuating everyone from the surrounding area. Paon and Queen Bee were tasked with distracting the Akuma on the ground. Would have been a good plan.

"You had to get our hands glued together didn't you, birdbrain?" Queen Bee commented as she examined the sticky grasp of the Akuma's glue. Both Nathanaël and Chloe's suited hands wouldn't budge under the magnetism of the adhesive. His left hand and her right were permanently conjoined when their fingers accidentally interlocked with each other. Chloe let out a sigh, "I'm the only one who is capable of solo flight in our entire team and you decide to go for me. Thanks a bunch."

Paon quickly pushed her out of the way of another glob of glue coming in their direction. He looked around carefully before pulling her up and started dragging her behind him as he searched for a place to hide from the barrage of attacks. He quickly spotted an empty warehouse and made a dash for it. "Come on, let's get out the Akuma's sight. Chat Noir and Ladybug can handle him while we clean this up."

They made it in, moments before a huge glob struck the door they just entered. It oozed through the cracks and hardened into a stiff putty. That exit was now blocked.

"Great, just brilliant!" she said as she kicked at the door, "no means of escape and trapped like a bird in a cage. Thanks, Nathanaël, you did a wonderful job of mucking things up."

"Hey, I saved you! You were the only one in danger, Chlo. I had to get you out of there," he argued as he turned to walk further into the warehouse.

"Once again, what part of 'ca-pa-ble-of-flight', do-you-not-get?" she huffed as she was dragged along behind the redhead.

They made their way through to an open storage area and stopped to have a proper look at the damage. He tried to pull their entwined fingers apart but to no avail. The powerful glue induced an inseparable bond between the two hands, so nothing was going to stop it. Instead, all Nathanaël achieved was smearing glue onto his other hand and getting that one sticky too.

"Well isn't that brilliant..." Chloe huffed as she brushed a strand of her hair back in place, "That's gonna make flying all the more of a breeze."

"I can use my cloak as a parachute of sorts," he said, improvising an escape plan. He turned to face her and explained his idea. "I can hold on to you and we can glide out of here through that open window up there; you as the propellor and me as the rudder. Now please listen to me for once and we can hopefully get out of here." He absently placed his free hand on the small of her back.

She gave him a harsh look.

"Nath..."

"Yes, Chlo?"

"Did you just put the hand that had glue on it... on my back?"

"That I did," he nodded with an awkward grimace. He gave a couple small tugs, "Yep, completely stuck."

"Great..." She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Just what I needed."

"You know you could be a little more cooperative," Paon snapped. He tugged harder against the glue in spite, causing her to be yanked to the side. "I am extremely new to this, Bee, so have some decency and give me a break."

"Decency? You wanna talk about decency?" she said raising both eyebrows.

"Treat me as your equal and maybe I can do my job properly!"

"Emphasis on the 'may', tomato head! You couldn't get us out of this situation if you tried!"

"Come on then, name-caller, give us your best shot of getting us out of here."

She looked around and huffed agitatedly. "I hate you, you know."

"I hate you too."

"Well, then that's settled it."

"What?"

"I don't want to help you," she said sticking her nose up in the air.

"Good! Neither did I!"

They turned their heads away from each other and sulked.

...

As the slow minutes passed by, they stood there in each other's silent embrace. They both opted to stand instead of sit, their predicament barring them otherwise. In the small warehouse, they could hear the sounds of battle echoing outside. Soon, seconds painfully dragged out in the awkward silence.

"You know what Nath?" Chloe abruptly announced as she let her free hand rest on his shoulder, "This is the exact same way we first met, isn't it?"

"What?" he replied, quite concerned.

"In this pose, you dummy." She swayed her hips a little and guided him softly through the small steps. "You were always terrible at the waltz."

"Wasn't that at the art exhibit three months ago?"

"I always liked how that your portrait of me sits on my bedroom wall. It reminds me of you."

"Ahh," he recalled and his cheeks turned slightly rosier.

"'Ahh' indeed my blushing boy." Chloe leant forward a little bit and made sure to invade his personal space. "Wait. Why does that make you blush?"

He coughed to the side and dismissively rolled his mouth around, which was then concluded with a sigh. He looked back at her tried to hold the unblush-iest face his could. "You paid triple for that painting."

"That I did. That I did."

"Come on, now isn't the time to dawdle, we have to at least try to find another exit." He tried to pull away but found that his partner was keen on moving yet.

"You gonna try and run?" She gave a small chuckle. "Have fun with that. We are literally glued together."

"Well w-w-what if... We go ahead with that p-plan I made up earlier?" he stuttered as she pulled his body flush to his.

"And fly out of here?" She shook her head. "Can't-do, tomato. You've put your sticky hand on both my wings and my back. You've doomed us til rescue."

He looked around nervously, "So... In the meantime what shall we do?"

She lifted her free hand off his shoulder and lightly grabbed his chin, turning his head to face her. "We could dance."

"D-dance?" His stomach was doing flips. "I thought you hated me."

"I thought you hated me too, so we're even." She squeezed his hand. "Now shut up and dance with me."

Nathanaël reluctantly performed the usual shuffle of the waltz. Two steps forward one step back. The clicking of their feet against concrete echoed in the small warehouse. Chloe wasn't paying much attention to the dance itself, but more to her partner. His rosy cheeks suited well to the brilliant red of his hair. The flowy swish of the peacock feathers brushed up lightly against her legs. Her memory flashed back to that art exhibition.

"You know, I don't really know why I danced with you that night," Chloe said as she spun around Nathanaël while keeping the embrace.

"I don't know how to take that comment..." he clarified, a tad bit disturbed at her remark.

"I meant it as a compliment, Red." She let out an anxious breath and stared directly into his eyes. "You know I've never actually hated you right?"

He dipped her down as they danced while speaking. "What do you mean by that?" he asked as he held her there.

"I... kinda... mean the opposite... of 'I hate you'."

He blushed. Hard.

"How the heck don't they realise?" Ladybug whispered under her breath.

"What? That the Akuma has long since been defeated, all the glue was removed with the lucky charm, and that they aren't trapped in each other's embrace?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Nope, I don't think they do."

"Shouldn't we tell them before things get out of hand?"

"This is the perfect time to see if they kiss. I have good money on those two in the shipping pool."

"You sly cat!" she hissed as quietly as she could, "I have it that they get together next week!"

"No interference with the bets," he remarked softly, "If they kiss now, I win the mula and get the kitty."

"Oh, well isn't that just great..."

"What?"

"Look down there."

Chat Noir turned to see.

Locked in each other's embrace, Chloe and Nathanaël shared their first and tentative kiss.

Chat Noir fist pumped the air multiple times and as silently as he could manage. He wordlessly thanked the Glue Akuma many times for attacking that day and squealed maybe just a little. Ladybug rolled her eyes as he celebrated his victory, but he snapped out of it when he realised he hadn't been paid yet.

"Come on. Cough up the money." He beckoned with his fingers in anticipation. "Deals a deal. Nothing wrong with harmless betting. Cough it up. I won fair and square. You can't be a hero if you can't stick to your word, now. Cough it up, cough it up, I say."