One week into Chloé's stint as Ladybug, Marinette was packing her things and getting ready to go when she felt a tug on her arm. This wasn't unusual. It was either Adrien ready to hover over her (which she was completely done with, thank you very much) or Alya with the latest video of the all-new Ladybug.

"Hey," Marinette said as she turned to see…

"Sabrina?"

"Hi," Sabrina said. Her voice was a bit higher than usual. She was standing right behind Marinette, which unsettled the bluenette a bit.

"Sabrina?" Adrien asked. He had also been coming up to talk with Marinette, but paused when he saw the look on the diminutive girl's face. "Um, hey. Are you okay?"

"Hey Marinette," Sabrina said, her voice sounding… Off. She glanced to Adrien. "Um, Adrien? I can walk Marinette home today."

"Thanks. I can walk her home with you, no problem," Adrien said, smiling. He looked to Marinette. "I wanted to talk to you about putting down a deposit on that apartment. Um, if you think it's good?"

"No, you can't." Sabrina interrupted.

Marinette and Adrien turned to her. "Sorry?" They both said.

Sabrina sighed. "You can't today," she pointed out. She whipped out her iPad and adjusted her glasses. "You have a modeling shoot at the fountain with Vogue in thirty minutes, followed by a press junket tonight for that the new Ladybug Movie spinoff you did the voice for, remember? Chat Noir Begins? You probably won't be done until nine, so I'll send your driver to pick you up."

"Then, maybe tomorrow?" Adrien offered.

"Do it during the day," Sabrina said. "You have a guy's night with Nino scheduled for tomorrow, as you've not spent enough time with your friend. Oh," she looked to Marinette. "Reminder for you, tomorrow is the sleepover."

"Thanks," Marinette said. "I completely spaced that."

Sabrina nodded. "Aurore won't stop texting me about it. And Ashley is really anxious, so we're going to do our best to make it a blowout night. I've reserved the pool."

"I… Wow. Thanks, Sabrina!" Adrien said. "I had completely blanked on all that. I guess I'm just used to someone telling me. I… Wait. My driver?"

Sabrina nodded. "I figured as much. I also wanted to ensure that you were with someone familiar. I trust this individual will suffice for a chauffeur?"

Sabrina spun her pad around and showed it to Adrien. Marinette took a look and put a hand on Adrien's arm as he locked up.

"That's…"

Sabrina nodded. "Your new driver. I hired him today, using your accounts, of course."

"You have access to my accounts?" Adrien asked.

Sabrina stared at him, a slight smile on her lips. "You are just adorable. I could steal your identity and ruin you in thirty seconds, sweetie."

Adrien nervously swallowed and nodded. "Um, right. So, the shoot?"

"Your driver is outside," Sabrina said, shooing him away with her tablet. "Now go. I need to talk to Marinette."

Adrien turned to Marinette and kissed her before looking like he wanted to say something more. Marinette in turn rolled her eyes and pointed to the door. "Get out of here before I have to wad up a newspaper and chase you out."

"Yes, ma'am," Adrien said. He then turned to Sabrina and gave her a hug.

"Thank you," he said. "You're the best."

"I know," Sabrina said, hugging him back. "Now shoo! You don't want to be late. It's Vogue!"

"I know!" Adrien said as he took off for the door. Both girls watched him leave.

"He is utterly hopeless," Marinette said with a sigh.

"I have to remind him to eat," Sabrina said, nodding.


Outside the school, Adrien half-ran to a waiting white limo. Standing beside it was a towering, brutish figure of a man.

Adrien ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"It's good to see you," he said. His voice broke as he said the words.

The Gorilla hugged him back and smiled. He took out his phone and gestured.

"Sure," Adrien said. He leaned in as the Gorilla took a selfie.

The Gorilla touched his right hand to his chin and brought his fingers forward.

'THANK YOU'

"Of course," Adrien said. He looked at his old friend and bodyguard for a moment. "You're going to send that to Nathalie, aren't you?"

The Gorilla blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

Adrien smiled back. "Tell her I said hi. And could you also please send me a copy?"

The Gorilla nodded as he opened the door for him. Once he made sure Adrien was secure, he sent off a quick text before getting in and driving them off.


"That was so sweet of you," Marinette said as she and Sabrina walked back towards the bakery.

"I've found he responds to authority, and while I live to serve, I know how to be bossy," Sabrina said. A small smirk played across her lips for a moment.

"You know, all he does is go on about the fun he has with you and Chloé. I've never heard him talk about his homelife so much," Marinette said. "He really cares about both of you."

Sabrina smiled. "He's a good person, and he's finally coming out of his shell. Being around him like this, I kinda get why Chloé latched on to him so hard. It's like having an oblivious, adorable big brother."

"He definitely talks about the two of you like you're family."

Sabrina nodded. "Well, give Ms. Bourgeois half a chance, and I'm pretty sure she'll adopt him. She's, um, very protective of us."

Marinette smiled at that. It was definitely in line with what she knew about their teacher.

They made it another block before curiosity finally got the better of Marinette.

Honestly, it was a personal best for her.

Marinette finally stopped near an intersection by the bakery and nervously said, "Um, don't take this the wrong way? But, I don't remember you ever wanting to hang out before. Not that I don't want to! I think it's great! I'm just, um, surprised? Is, uh, everything okay?"

Sabrina hugged her tablet to herself. "Um, no, actually? No, it's not. I, um, I have a, well, a problem that recently came to my attention and… I've been doing some research? Kind of a side project. It's a personal thing? And, um, I've been coming up dry, which honestly does not happen with me. And, well, I think I need to take an unconventional approach to deal with this. I think."

"Okay?" Marinette said, more than a little confused.

"Right," Sabrina said, more to herself than to Marinette. "Very unconventional. For me, at least. I just…" She closed her eyes and sighed. "Have you ever tried to find something, and you just couldn't? Like, honestly, completely couldn't?"

"One time I lost my favorite scissors," Marinette said, thinking about it. "I set them down and poof, gone. I know I'll find them one day when I go to sit somewhere, but for now, they've just vanished."

"That's… Kind of the same? Not really, though." Sabrina said with a nervous laugh.

"So, how can I help?" Marinette asked. "I mean, I'm not the best for finding things, I can tell you that."

Sabrina nodded. "I get it. I… Um, no. No, it's not that I need, um… Oh boy. I actually have a favor to ask you? A really, really big favor."

Marinette saw the troubled look on Sabrina's face. It was decidedly out of character on the ginger girl, and even though they weren't what Marinette would consider to be good friends, just seeing the stress and worry that was there made Marinette's heart hurt. "Um, okay. Sure. What's up?"

Sabrina looked around. She nervously shuffled her feet as she swallowed down her nerves. "Well…"


It was a chilly evening as Gina, transformed and souped up on caffeine, swung over the city on a nightly patrol. While Chloé may have been out and about as Ladybug, it didn't change the fact that things had been busy as of late. Hawkmoth suddenly seemed to have more free time to possess people, and until Chloé was 100% up to speed as Ladybug, Marinette agreed that it would be a good idea to have all hands on deck.

Granted, she hadn't specifically meant Gina in that. More like, give out the rest of the miraculouses and have everyone do a nightly sweep, but she wasn't about to turn down time with her daughter/friend.

Marinette also noticed that Gina had been popping in at random, despite being told to lay off the time travel. The bluenette suspected it had something to do with rampant curiosity concerning a certain young man, but she wasn't going to pry.

Okay, she was going to pry a little, but only after patrol was done. Marinette knew how to space things. Sometimes.

Gina was patrolling the south side, staying close to the bakery and doing her best to avoid Gilen's section of town. She wanted to swing by and see how he was doing, but every time she imagined what would happen if she did, the scenarios always turned out bad.

"I mean, it might not be all bad," she said to herself as jumped between two buildings and cleared a street. "I mean, he might have rebounded… Which would suck as I am single, but hey, that was my own fault. Can't bitch about that."

She turned and sprinted along a narrow rooftop before leaping over a restaurant. "Or I could run into his mom. Hi, Ms. DeMarc! Sorry I broke your son's heart. Why, noooo, I'm not rolling on his bed and hugging his shirts and no, I have no idea how I got into his room! Heavens!"

She grabbed her staff and twirled it ultra-fast to fly over a smaller section of buildings before landing on an apartment complex. "Or hey, maybe I'll walk in on him and Angie. Hey guys! No, no, you're good. Don't put your clothes back on, I'll see myself out. I was just stopping by. For no reason."

She planted her staff and did a 90 degree turn at high speed, flinging herself across the sky as she headed towards the Eiffel Tower. "Or hey, maybe he'll be there, and I'll crack, and we'll end up sleeping together and completely messing things up even more. Hey, I know I dumped you, but surprise! Also, we're still through. Or not! Who knows? Yeah. That would be just great."

Gina got a running start to clear the park between her and the Tower. She jumped with all her might and gracefully soared through the air.

Or she would have, until a brown streak slammed into her at high speed.


Notes:

So, I struggled with where to cut this one off at, but the next section is long enough on its own to be a complete chapter. Take your guesses now as to what's about to happen!

NEXT TIME!

A new threat!

Gina gets some screen time! (Yay? Boo? Look, she's a part of the story at this point...)

A massive beatdown!

Multiple hero cameos!

A shocking confession!

ALL! NEXT! CHAPTER!

Things are only heating up! So, be here next time, faithful readers! Same Bug Time...

GINA: I still need an adult!

CALINE: Kiddo, I barely qualify.

...Same Bug Channel!