To Butterfly: Plagg in any universe is amazing! And I do kind of prefer this explanation for how much knowledge the Kwamis have of what happens while they are transformed, over the idea of them knowing and seeing everything.

To yellow 14: Camembert is going to remind Plagg of Adrien for a while…

Finally placing the ring on his finger, with a resigned sigh, Alex whispered, "Plagg, Claws out."

As the transformation washed over him, Alex felt a sudden burst of energy. All the weakness and exhaustion from his time on the run vanished in a flash of green light, leaving behind what felt like a boundless well of energy. The fake leather of his suit encased his entire body from head to toe. He reached up to feel the fake ears in his hair, and found them closer in shape to those of a mouse. The staff detached from his belt easily, and he extended it to full length, propelling himself up into the air. Looking out from his perch balanced on top of the staff, he could see all of Paris spreading out around him, with tiny patches of light to show where groups of survivors still lived – or at least the ones with working electricity. In other places the faint wisps of smoke showed the locations of other camps, their inhabitants having kindled fires for cooking and for light.

Okay, now what?

Cat Noir pursed his lips in irritation before looking back down at the slip of paper that Ana had given him. His eye quickly settled on the Eiffel Tower and moved from there along the partially-repaired skyline to find the gap that showed the location of the Place de Vosges. One of his earliest memories – the only pre-CBN memory he had – was of his parents bringing him there to play on the carousel. If he was reading the address correctly, the Resistance's new headquarters was just across the street from that park. With a sigh, he leaned in that direction, retracting his staff as he fell toward the nearest rooftop and landed, pumping his legs in a sprint the moment he landed. Despite living his whole life in Paris – the last two years on the streets – this was still a completely new perspective, the air rushing through his brown hair, mussing it up. Coming to the first gap between buildings, his eyes widened. He had watched miraculous users all his life, but he had never imagined what this experience would be like. But he was going so fast – he couldn't stop now. Without adjusting his speed, he hurled himself across the gap between the two buildings, arms and legs flailing wildly as he went airborne. His jump carried him – far higher and longer than he had ever jumped before. He shot the gap in a blur, along with half the building beyond. On landing he nearly stumbled, pitching forward and gaining speed as he fought to keep his feet under him. And each step propelled him forward faster than the last.

Faster and faster he raced across the Paris cityscape. After the Swirl two weeks ago, entire city blocks had reappeared almost overnight, as had buildings and monuments that had been destroyed early in CBN's reign. And yet, for each city block that had been restored, another stood empty and abandoned, moss growing in the gaps between the bricks. For each monument restored, another city block did without. Idly Cat Noir wondered if the park where his father had landed, or the building CBN had punched him through, had been repaired. He clenched his jaw. Better to leave that question alone for now.

Finally the address Ana had given him became clear as he landed on the roof of a building on the far end of the old Rue Gotlieb and bent almost double, racing toward the far off building across from the park. Cat Noir stopped on the rooftop patio of a building across from the new Resistance headquarters, standing on the railing and staring across. The building itself was three stories and long, easily taking up and entire city block. Lights streamed from only a handful of the rooms. Peering through the long floor-length windows of one room he could make out a head of hair pulled back in a ponytail, his miraculous-enhanced vision easily picking out the streaks of grey in the blonde. The woman inside sat on a couch with her back to the window. But on the ground outside the building stood a trio of Resistance fighters wearing the simple uniforms that Chloe had adopted three years ago – doubtless there to stop him if he chose to approach as a civilian.

But he didn't have to use the front door anymore, did he?

Cat Noir eyed the gap between the two buildings carefully before extending his staff and planting it in the center of the street between his location and the headquarters. One of the guards started at the sudden appearance, looking for the source. Cat Noir coiled his legs and sprang, using the staff as a fulcrum and pivoting around until his feet were pointed directly at the window in front of him.

The window shattered in a spray of glass as Cat Noir burst inside, dropping to the ground in a crouch and shortening his staff to bō staff length, holding it in front of himself defensively. He was in a high-ceilinged room with bookcases lining both walls. The bookcases, however, stood mostly empty, with only a handful of knickknacks on the shelves. The woman on the couch didn't look up as he landed, merely turning her page and calling over her shoulder, "I hoped Ana would find you, Bruel."

"How did you know it was me?"

"As if Ana would trust anyone else," she scoffed dismissively. "It was only a matter of time before she found you and gave you the miraculous. I'm glad she found you, Alex – so much better than any of the other options."

"You don't get to call me that, Chloe," he retorted, mustering his courage, clenching his fists. "Not after my Mom."

Chloe finally set her book down and twisted her head around to look at him. Her face had become drawn and haggard, lined with far more wrinkles than he had remembered two years ago, aged beyond even what Ana had described. In spite of his anger, he couldn't help feeling the littlest bit sorry for her. But then he remembered his mother the last time he had seen her, just before she and Chloe left on their final mission. His mother had given him a pat on the shoulder and turned toward the portal. He and Ana had watched them jump through before Aunt Sabrina had led them away. Then they had returned to find Chloe back, but without his mother. Cat Noir's eyes narrowed at Chloe. She stared back at him calmly.

Suddenly Cat Noir lunged forward, swinging his staff at her with both hands, yelling with all his might. Chloe sat still until the last possible moment before she transformed, bringing up her top as a shield the moment it appeared, catching his staff and deflecting it to the side into the ground. His staff bit into the hardwood floor, sending woodchips in all directions. Queen Bee was on her feet, top held in one hand, eyeing him carefully. He glared at her in anger, tugging his staff from the floor and swinging it at her again. Again Queen Bee blocked, pushing his staff over her head and twisting him around to expose his side.

"You left Mom behind!" he shouted, eyes ablaze with rage, spinning with his momentum to jab at her with the opposite end of his staff. "She fought for you – she trusted you – and you abandoned her!"

Queen Bee sidestepped his strike, and he struck the bookcase behind her, shattering the shelves and strewing their contents across the floor. "Yes," she admitted curtly. "I did come back. And she didn't. I wish she had. She sacrificed herself for a greater purpose. Not a day goes by that I don't remember Mylène and all the others we lost."

"I was alone!" he bellowed, swinging his staff wildly. The desk smashed to pieces, and Cat Noir collapsed to his knees, dropping his staff to the floor, clenching his fists around a piece of the wreckage. Tears sprang to his eyes for the first time in two years, his shoulders wracked with sobs. "I was alone…"

Arms wrapped around his shoulders, and he stiffened in surprise. "I'm sorry," Queen Bee whispered softly, hugging him tightly, running her fingers through his hair and pulling his head down onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry I wasn't really there for you growing up. I'm sorry I didn't try harder. I'm sorry I let you run away and didn't even try to find you."

Cat Noir melted into the embrace. It had been close to four years since his mother had shown him much affection… and now he had received two hugs in the same day. He sniffed, placing one of his hands on Queen Bee's back. "Mom wasn't always there, but at least I still had her. But then one day she was gone."

Queen Bee nodded, her shoulders sagging. "Your mother loved you," she told him. "I know she didn't always show it very well – she changed so much after your father's death. I think – I think you reminded her too much of him, of what she'd lost." She sighed wistfully, tears in her eyes. "And after Alix – your Aunt Alix, I mean – after she was killed, your mother retreated even further from the rest of us. Even Sabrina couldn't find her some days. But she still loved you, even to the end. Believe that. At the end, you were the only thing on her mind when it happened. You, and the new world that she was trying to make possible for you."