To yellow 14: On top of her own grief and trauma, Sabrina also has Secondary Traumatic Stress – the stress that affects care providers. That is going to make the whole thing so much harder on her.

"So what are we going to do?" Chloe asked, looking around the room at the others. Even after a night's sleep in a proper tent, Alya and Nino looked exhausted. If Chloe had to guess, they hadn't actually slept more than an hour that night; Alya's head dropping onto Nino's arm only confirmed that suspicion. Sitting at the head of the table, Adrien and Marinette had the same hollow, haunted look of defeat in their eyes that they had worn since their arrival in Angola a couple days earlier. Marinette especially sat with her shoulders slumped, her head in her hands. Adrien mechanically rubbed Marinette's back, a tight set to his jaw. Chloe's stomach twisted around. Bee-atrice nudged her hand with her nose, and Chloe absentmindedly stroked the puppy's head, scratching behind her ears. "We need to do something…"

"I don't know," whispered Marinette, shaking her head. "It–it took everything we had… and it just laughed at us."

"Not literally," Adrien pointed out humorlessly.

Nino looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow. "Seriously, dude?"

"Sorry!" Adrien burst out, jerking forward. Marinette flinched. "You know that's how I cope!" His face fell. "It might have been better if it had literally yelled at us…"

Marinette snorted glumly. "It might as well have."

"But we got away," Chloe reminded them curtly. She narrowed her eyes, her mouth set in a thin line. "We escaped, but there are still people back there who need us!"

Marinette looked up at her with a dark expression. "You don't have to rub it in."

"Rub what in?" Chloe retorted.

"The fact that your family is all here and none of mine is!" Marinette practically yelled, smacking the table.

"Dammit, Mar!" Chloe shot back. "Not all my family is here! Do you think I'm happy that Tante Emilie is back home?"

"Your parents–"

"You can have my parents!" Chloe seethed, her eyes flashing. "All the family I have in Angola is in this room! All except–" She swallowed, breathing hard, and slumped back in her chair. Even after helping Mihaela by opening portals, Sabrina still wasn't herself.

Nino frowned, resting a fist on the table, and squeezed Alya's shoulder. "You can say that all you want – and it's great to hear that you like us, don't get me wrong – but it's still not the same," he told her. "You say you don't like your parents as much, that we're your family… but you at least know where they are. Do you not think Alya and I would give just about anything to know where Otis and Marlena are? Or where my Mom and Chris are?"

Chloe clenched her jaw. "Look, I get it. Your family is important to you – I want them all to be okay, too! But if that's going to happen, we need to come up with a plan!"

Marinette shook her head, shrugging helplessly. "I–I'm fresh out," she mumbled helplessly. "None of my plans lately have been working out the way they were supposed to." She sniffled. "Why should this be any different?"

Chloe pursed her lips, squeezing her mouth shut so tightly that her jaws hurt. She stifled a sniffle. Everything was going wrong – even more wrong than it already had been. Their group dynamic was completely off. She wasn't supposed to be the voice of reason in this conversation – since when had she ever been the only voice of reason? The way their group worked best was when Marinette and Adrien were cool, calm, and in control. They were the leaders; they needed to actually be leading. She and Nino and Alya could make suggestions, of course, but they needed their leaders to take their suggestions and work them into a plan for everyone to rally behind. But ever since their escape to Africa, it was like Adrien and Marinette had been sleepwalking. Everyone was directionless. Chloe's stomach churned. At a time like this, they needed Sabrina – when tensions rose, she was often the only one who could calm everyone and get them back on track. Without her around, who was going to bring them back down to earth after all of the stress and grief and guilt and fear and frustration and – and everything? Maybe Chloe should have insisted that she come to their meeting today, even if Rugindo Leoa said that they needed her assistance. Sabrina could effortlessly identify the source of tension among them and help them to work through it. And with the Tarasque question still on the table in front of them, none of them had any idea what to do. They needed someone with the knowledge to stop it. They needed–

They needed Max.

Her hands closed and opened on the table, and she let out a frustrated breath. That's what it all came back to, wasn't it? Max was gone. Sabrina was crushed by the loss. The others still couldn't deal with it. One of their own was gone. And it wasn't like Chloe herself was in a position to help them through – even a year later, even after working through and processing her trauma, Chloe still wasn't fully better. It had dropped down to once a month or les, butshe still woke up in the dark of the night, certain that the Lynchpin had come for her again, hearing the voice and smelling the thugs' sweat. When that happened, all that could help her calm down was the puppy she held in her arms, the knowledge that Marinette and Adrien still trusted her, that she hadn't been abandoned by her friends. But all the same: she struggled so much with her own feelings of inadequacy; she sure as hell couldn't help Adrien and Marinette solve their emotional issues! They needed Sabrina, but she wasn't here with them. And at the moment, she wasn't in a position to deal with it, either.

God damn that fucking Tarasque to hell.

Nino frowned. "It's too bad we don't know anyone who has actually fought this thing before," he mused, looking down at Wayzz.

Wayzz's shoulders slumped. "I am sorry, Nino," he apologized, shaking his head. "Perhaps it is possible that the Guardians had encountered the Tarasque before, but they never shared that information with us."

"And none of us had ever seen one of these Beasts before, let alone the Tarasque itself!" added Plagg. He slammed his forehead into Adrien's water glass, which tipped over, spilling its contents across the table.

"It's not like we don't want to help," Tikki squeaked. "We do. But…" She shrugged helplessly.

"What about Mnemmi?" wondered Trixx. "Would he know?"

"Mohamed already tried that, though, didn't he?" Marinette objected.

"Could one of the other groups have information?" suggested Alya.

Chloe hummed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "New Atlantis and the Egypt Temple are the two places that have the most Atlantean records," she answered thoughtfully. "We can ask Yousef if he knows anything. Maybe he could have their Guardian check their archives?"

"We should ask Jack the same thing," Adrien suggested. "They might be able to find something faster at New Atlantis – if they have anything."

Tikki nodded, a troubled look in her eyes. "I don't know how much help it will be, though," she warned. "If Mnemmi doesn't know, then the Guardians probably didn't either."

"We have to do something!" Marinette shouted. Chloe jumped in surprise. Marinette blushed. "It's just… everyone is counting on us to figure this out. And we don't know any more than anyone else."

"We need Max," Adrien whispered in agreement, rubbing Marinette's back soothingly. Suddenly he froze, his eyes widening, and turned to stare at Marinette, an eager grin spreading across his face. "No; we need Chloe!"

Chloe quirked an eyebrow at him in bemusement, waving one hand. "Um… I'm right here."

Marinette nodded slowly. "She might know something about the Tarasque – maybe they faced it."

Chloe scoffed. "Hello! We did face it," she interjected. "It kicked our asses. I'm not sure how much more I can tell you!"

"Not you," Adrien told her, shaking his head and giving her an amused half-smile. "The other Chloe. The one from the other universe – the Chloe we met a couple years ago. Or in the future. Or in a future. Maybe we can ask her."

Slowly, Marinette reached into her purse and pulled out a wooden box. Chloe, Alya, and Nino all turned to stare at it in surprise. Opening the box, Marinette showed them the Rabbit Miraculous. "It's worth a try."

"How long have you had that, girl?" asked Alya, cocking her head.

Marinette shrugged. "I grabbed it before leaving the Mansion… the last time." Her shoulders slumped. "I figured it might be safer with me than at the Mansion, what with the Tarasque rampaging the streets. I thought it might be helpful, though there was never a moment we could really use it."

Nino hummed. "Not much use for hopping between timelines," he allowed.

Adrien pursed his lips. "And now we don't even know if the Mansion is still there." He chuckled wryly. "There was a time I wanted nothing more than to blow that house to pieces, but now that it may have happened…" Marinette squeezed Adrien's hand, and he gave her a small smile. "But you being safe is more important than the Mansion."

Nodding, Marinette pulled the miraculous out of the box, and Fluff appeared. "I'll say 'hi' to them for you," she told Adrien, reaching up to remove her earrings.

Alya frowned. "Are you really the best one for us to send? We need you here."

"With everything that's been going on, this isn't a time to lose one of our two leaders," added Nino, nodding.

"But–" Marinette protested, only for Adrien to take her hand.

"I'll feel better if you're here with me," he told her, staring into her eyes.

Marinette huffed and folded her arms. "Fine. But we need to find someone to send. Who else is there?"

"I mean, are any of us really in a good frame of mind to go and interrogate an older version of Chloe?" wondered Nino. "Um… no offense," he added, glancing nervously at Chloe.

"Ridiculous." Chloe scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I could go," she offered.

Marinette frowned and started to pass her the miraculous. The floor beneath them shook; a cloud of dust fell from the ceiling around them. Marinette froze, eyes wide, her eyes darting between the ceiling and the door. "What the hell–?"

"Dammit," Chloe muttered, jumping to her feet and grabbing her helmet as flashing lights filled the conference room.