''Why do you phrase it like that Luka, you'll worry them!'' Juleka popped into the screen of Marinette's phone. She could feel the others in the room interrupt their conversation to join her video call, and it made her feel extremely self conscious. ''Oh hi'' Said Juleka once she noticed everyone behind the heroine. Marinette shrugged.

''So what happened with Chloe?'' Asked the heroine, and she could see the snake hero trying to appear nonchalant on the screen but somewhat failing.

''She's just late for lunch with my family... and she's not answering her phone'' Luka said, obviously uncomfortable at the multitude on the other side of the screen listening to him.

Oh, thought Marinette…that explained the joint video call with Juleka. Chloe being late to places was not weird at all, everyone on their group had adjusted what 'late' even meant just because of her. But her not being close to her phone? That did warrant some worry.

''Anyways, I just wanted to check on you guys before I went to the hotel myself'' Said Luka, sighing at the end.

''Later guys'' And he just ended the call.

''Well that was… weird'' Commented Marinette out loud. Adrien nodded and Felix was just quietly raising an eyebrow.

''So is Chloe bourgeois a hero as well or…?'' Asked Louie, seemingly confused. Right, everyone knew that Chloe was Queen Bee, but also everyone knew that the Bee heroine has not been seen in years.

''No, she doesn't have her…'' Marinette started, but interrupted herself once she saw the face Tina was making at her. She had the look of someone watching a three legged puppy play. ''Tina?''

The woman snapped at hearing her name, and then smiled sadly. ''Sorry, I was just thinking how young all of you are''

''Huh?''

''It's the first time I stop to think that the heroes of this city are just kids… well teenagers'' She corrected herself once she saw the pout that started to form on Marinette's mouth. ''We all knew about Chloe and you Adrien but… Knowing who Ladybug is pretty much confirms that we are at the hands of kids who haven't even finished school…'' Coming from anyone else Marinette would have thought that Tina was worried about her own safety, but judging by her tone it sounded more like she was worried about HER. Marinette smiled as sweetly as she could.

''We are who we are for a good reason, Tina. Please don't worry about us''

...

Adrien followed Marinette and Felix out of the studio, the cold hitting him in full force once on the face. Even if the day had started somewhat nice it was quickly reminding them again that they had not fixed balance yet. But the boy was not stressed about it, not anymore. They knew all the wrongs now, they just had to solve them. Marinette would reveal herself to the whole world and get her powers back in control, and then they would defeat Gianna Rossi. The last thing was returning the temple in Tibet back to the guardians, which admitelly sounded a bit more of a grown up, laws and stuff, problem, than a superhero one, but they would help however they could.

The conversation inside was a lot more pleasant than Adrien expected, specially after witnessing the famous designer fangirling on the floor when he and Felix first came in. Sure, the woman was a bit crazy, but after the call from Luka and she calmed down, she was a delight. As for the modeling… he still wasn't sure how wise was that as an idea. At least for now. Adrien shrugged as he kept walking, deciding to ponder on these things later along with Plagg. He was lagging a bit behind Marinette and his cousin, who seemed to be talking about the lunch they had earlier.

''And then we got kicked out'' Adrien catched up with them just in time to hear that, and although the admitelly found it still quite funny, specially after seeing his cousin genuinely laugh at something, which was refreshing; He was grateful to see that Marinette only smiled and searched his gaze, a mute question lingering on her eyes.

''You can laugh at it, my Lady. My spirit won't be hurt by a tiny chinese lady kicking me out before dessert'' He assured her, earning a chuckle. It was cute that she was worried about his feelings, considering she was the biggest tease usually.

''Is your dignity not hurt, Felix?'' She asked then, and Adrien snorted.

''Pff, what dignity? He's just happy he didn't have to pay!''

They continued walking towards the bakery and teasing each other while subconsciously moving faster and faster as snow started to fall again and the cold began to really bite them.

...

Luka stood up as soon as he finished his call with Marinette, picked up his jacket and was about to leave when he heard his mother's call from the kitchen.

''Tell her It's an emergency'' He said to Juleka, who had been quiet after he complied in calling their friends before letting his panic flow free, like it was doing now that he knew Chloe wasn't with them.

''Y-yeah.. I'm sure she's fine though… probably taking a milk bath or something'' Jules tried to lighten the mood to no avail, they both knew that, with all that was going on, not answering multiple calls and being late to lunch with your boyfriend and his family was worrisome.

Luka didn't even pretend to find the humor in his sisters joke, though before he left he forced a little smile at her, or he knew she would be feeling bad for hours.

He left his house with only a ''Be right back!'' to his mother and Juleka being there to somewhat explain. As soon as Luka was out of sight from unwanted eyewitnesses, he transformed and leaped to the roofs. Much faster, not to mention warmer, way of traveling.

The moment he arrived at his girlfriend's window he felt his stomach drop to the floor.

Everything in Chloe's usually neat dormitories was destroyed or broken in some way or another. The windows were all barely keeping themselves together through cracks, as if they had popped and broken but something kept them in one piece, at least until Luka touched one. The noise from the falling glass broke some kind of spell in the snake hero, because his body finally started moving reflecting the panic he felt inside.

''Chloe!'' He started calling her, louder than necessary for the rooms.

He looked around trying to make sense of what happened while he called her name uselessly. Many things in the room were turned into mere pieces of what they were before: The couches, the bed, the chests where Chloe usually kept her stuff. He found her phone on the floor in front of her wardrobe, it's screen shattered and black. And then he found a little box, the only object that was turned into a useless pile of materials, and it finally clicked on Luka's head.

Gianna and her red smoke had been there, she left a box where he was certain had belonged to Pollen's miraculous, and Chloe wasn't there.

Rage and guilt and panic filled the young hero like never before, and he leaped out the window. The last bit of logic left in his brain tried to warn him that what he was about to do was very stupid, that he should at least tell the others about it, ask for help, go down the hotel and ask for Chloe. But he knew that she wasn't there, that Adrien was still recuperating and Marinette couldn't use her lucky charm. Alya and Nino didn't even cross his mind while he rushed towards the national assembly, where he knew he would find the men investigating Gianna's location other than his hero team.

...

Marinette and Adrien chuckled quietly as they watched Felix catch his breath for the second time on their trip back to the bakery. Not everyone had the stamina of a superhero, and they had almost started jogging when the snowfall became stronger.

''It's just one more block, you can rest there'' Adrien said in a mocking tone. Marinette was grabbing his arm for warmth.

''You can refuel with anything you want from the bakery'' Added the heroine, trying to sound as condescending as possible. Adrien chuckled.

''Oh you two can go to-''

Felix interrupted his retort as he looked up, and he froze in his hands in knees pose right there as he stared at something behind Marinette and Adrien. The girl frowned, noticing the very wide eyes on the boy.

''What?-'' She said as she turned towards the direction they were going, Adrien doing the same at her side.

In the sky right behind the building that blocked their view from the bakery, mixed with the white snow that fell, was red.

Red smoke.

...

''Mari! MARINETTE!'' Adrien screamed at his girlfriend, and once he noticed she was not gonna stop with just words he leaped at her and tackled her to the ground.

Police and firemen surrounded the bakery, but Adrien managed to stop the girl before any of them saw her. Felix jogged behind and helped get them both back up. Marinette was quiet, staring at the red smoke coming from her home. She was probably in shock, Adrien realized.

''Don't let her do anything, I'll be right back'' He ordered to Felix, who just nodded while he grabbed Marinette's shoulders in support.

Adrien called for his transformation and ran towards the people surrounding the scene.

''Is she still there?'' He asked, startling the policewoman with his sudden appearance.

''Chat Noir!'' She exclaimed. ''She just left the scene, we got orders not to follow but I think the higher ups know where she's headed'' Thankfully the woman knew exactly what he was there for and didn't waste time. He nodded.

''Thank you, did she take anyone with her?'' He asked next. The woman shook her head.

Moments after one of the firemen screamed something along the lines of 'smoke is out!' and the rest of them rushed inside in search for the victims. Chat Noir followed them, ignoring their questions and warnings.

The red smoke had indeed cleared out from the building, but he noticed that it still leaked from some of the broken furniture. He ignored the shattered glass that was supposed to showcase delicious pastries and the foreign smell of mold and rushed to where he knew Marinette's parents would have been, the kitchen. And indeed there they were.

Sabine was on the floor, her eyes wide open and her mouth leaking saliva, though she was breathing. Tom was sitting on his stall where he was probably working with what used to be flour, and now was just mold. The firemen followed in seconds after Chat, not letting him do or think anything before they started working on the two victims. Tom's body collapsed on top of a not-big-enough fireman as soon as he was touched, and the hero decided right then that he was useless for now, so he left.

''Take care of them, please'' He pleaded doing his best to contain the tears as he left the room.

The whole in and out of the bakery Chat did must have taken less than three minutes, but apparently that was time enough for Marinette to wake up from her shock and overpower Felix, because as soon as the cat hero was out of the building she collisioned with him.

''Let me in!'' She demanded, tears finally showing up on her face contorted with pain.

The boy knew that whatever he said she wouldn't listen while she was like that, so he hugged her for a brief moment to calm her down a bit first.

''Is this your house, girl?'' Asked a policeman who had also failed at stopping his girlfriend from approaching the bakery. Felix was right behind him with a sad expression.

Marinette had her face buried in his chest, and Chat knew that she didn't need to see her parents right at that moment. So he took her shoulders and forced her to look at him.

''Let's go, Mari. We'll fix this'' He said, sounding every bit as confident and reassuring as a hero should.

He didn't wait for her to nod or say anything in response and grabbed her like he had done so many times before, like a princess. He didn't care how confused the policeman looked, knowing that identities didn't matter anymore, so without any further explanation he leaped out of the scene; Though he did give Felix a little nudge with his head, telling him to go home, before disappearing.

Chat Noir had one big conclusion in his mind as he jumped through the roofs towards Master Fu's: Gianna's attack on the bakery had not been random. She either knew he had been living there, or someone told her who Ladybug was.