"Alright, battle summary anyone?" Alya began the team meeting, leaning over in her chair to rest her arms atop the large office table.
"The first call came in around 8:53pm, that was me. The original call was a vandalism but calls began pouring in to the police station and headquarters as the situation escalated. By 8:57 at least twenty more calls had been placed by civilians in the area." Max began listing off the battle details, pacing along the front wall of the room where they'd installed a white board. He quickly wrote down the times and calls he had mentioned. "By 8:57pm I had already made it down to the lobby of the building, having seen the vandal on the security monitors in my office and making that first call. It was at 8:58 that Chat Noir, Carapace, King Monkey, Minotaurox, Viperion, Caprikid and Rooster Bold landed on scene, having received my first call. It was 9:02 when we noticed the victim and the butterfly symbol over his face. We made the call to the girls; Ladybug, Rena, Tigress, Pigella, Queen Bee, Polymouse and Miss Hound, and they arrived at 9:12. Fairly good timing, all things considered. The battle continued as follows…" Max continued describing the battle as the holders around the large table examined his notes carefully. "And then of course the akuma was purified, released and we met back up. We had three holders sitting out for this mission, Alix due to pregnancy," Max nodded to Alix who sent a sideways peace sign, rubbing her belly from her spot in the corner. "Kagami, due to distance." Max nodded to Kagami through the video call running on his laptop. "And Zoé, due to Chloé having the miraculous at the time of the call."
"Sorry, replacement." Chloé joked lovingly, elbowing her sister in the ribs as she fed their kwami. "That's what happens when you jet off to America with your new friends."
"Yeah, yeah." Zoé rolled her eyes but smiled and happily pet Pollen's head as the kwami soaked in all the attention.
"Questions, comments, concerns?" Max asked, diverting attention away from the two girls and their shared god.
"Nino and I talked on the way back here and we've decided to cancel the honeymoon." Alya jumped in, not surprised when the other holders at the table began to vehemently deny such a decision.
"Alya! This is your wedding, your honeymoon. You only get one chance, you have to go!" Rose cried, shaking her head as she threw her hands in the air.
"We want to, Rose. We do." Nino assured, wrapping an arm around his fiancé. "But with the butterfly back in action..and on the wrong side of the equation..we just can't leave."
"We'll go on a honeymoon next year, once we've figured this all out."
"What if this is like the first time and it's years before this new villain is defeated? You can't just give up your honeymoon, Alya!" Zoé argued, Chloé immediately backing her up.
"You hired me to plan your wedding and your honeymoon. I can't do half a job. Do you know how that would make me look? Utterly ridiculous! You simply must go! There are plenty of holders here to handle a few akumas. Kagami flies in tomorrow, with you two gone we'll have fifteen people left to hold things down here."
"Not quite fifteen." Kim interjected. "Alix is due any day. I've got to leave, get her out of the city. It isn't safe here anymore."
"Absolutely not! You are not taking me out of Paris!" Alix yelled at her husband, throwing a pen at his head. Kim caught it and shook his head.
"I don't want to argue, Alix. I want to keep my family safe."
"Well fourteen then!" Chloé argued. "Still plenty of holders left to keep up with one stupid butterfly."
"Fourteen holders maybe," Max supplied, still writing on the white board. "But only thirteen able to be active at a time. You and Zoé can only count as one holder since you can't both be transformed with Pollen at the same time. And Zoé and the rest of kitty section will be headed back to America after the wedding so that leaves…"
"Nine then." Chloé ground out with a snarl. "Still safe enough for Alya and Nino to take their very luxurious, very well planned, very expensive honeymoon."
"Actually," Luka began, looking hesitant. "Kitty Section decided as a group on the way here that we would cancel our tour for the time being. Paris is more important."
"Cancel your tour? But what will you tell Jagged?" Myléne worried. "That could ruin your careers!"
"Nobody is canceling anything." Adrien waved a hand to get the others in the room to quiet down. "At least not until we've decided on a game plan." Adrien turned to Marinette but then thought better of it. Even if she was the best with making plans, she had yet to resume her full leadership role with the team since Monarch's defeat, preferring to sit on the sidelines and intervene only when she thought their plans were likely to fail, which, if he was being honest, happened pretty often.
"This is all my fault." Marinette whispered, hands clasped together in her lap. "If I had just been able to secure Nooroo.."
"Don't beat yourself up about it." Adrien frowned, a hand instinctively going to her shoulder. "I didn't secure Nooroo either. You weren't the only holder there that day. You can't be to blame."
"Adrien's right." Myléne agreed with a firm nod. "You're our leader, without you we'd still be under Monarch's control and that would be no better. Good and evil will always be at odds, but we can handle this."
"So what are we going to do then?" Ivan asked from his seat at the head of the table. A phone began to ring and Max hurriedly dug it out of his pocket.
"Hello? Jon? Yes. Status report? Item number? No..no, of course I wouldn't take it off site without specifying so in my notes. Is it not in my office? It should be on platform three." Max began to pace and then turned to make eye contact with Alya, murmuring as he ended the call. "That was Jon, head of security at M2M. Alya's bot went missing during the attack."
"Surely it was caught on camera. Who-"
"No, Alya. It just..disappeared." Max held out his phone as he pulled up the security footage.
"What do you mean it just disappeared?" Adrien asked, skirting around the table to look closer. Sure enough, one moment the bot was on the platform, the next it was gone.
"How would someone do that? There was an active akuma! It couldn't have been this new butterfly, could it?" Viperion stated, thinking back to the battle.
"No. A first time user wouldn't be able to make multiple akumas at once like that." Nino waved off that idea, bringing his feet down off the table to sit up straighter. "Maybe a sentimonster?"
"It's possible. The peacock was never recovered." Alya joined in on the speculation, typing furiously on her phone. "I can't believe someone would take my bot. It's not there under Rena..it's just under my civilian name. Why would someone want it?"
"So now the butterfly and the peacock are active?" Myléne questioned. "And working together again."
"No..no I don't think that's what's happening." Marinette interrupted, fiddling with the hem of her pants.
"Isn't that the most likely explanation?" Adrien asked, confusion clearly displayed on his features. Marinette tried to hide the way her breath hitched. How to tell them without telling them?
"I just..I don't think the peacock is in Paris anymore. I've searched for years and come up empty." Marinette knew she had become a better liar over the years, but she still prayed each time she did, fear of being caught most prominent in her mind. What that would mean for the team…she glanced to Adrien…what that would mean for him.
"But we've looked for the butterfly and come up empty too. And the butterfly is still around. That logic just doesn't quite make sense, Marinette." Max instructed, not missing the way Marinette flinched.
"Yeah..I guess you're right." Marinette looked down at her feet as the meeting continued around her.
After countless rounds of speculation and debate, it was decided that Kitty Section would return to their tour after the wedding, but Alya and Nino would stay behind to help locate the new butterfly. The promise of a make-up honeymoon next year did little to soothe their friends' sorrow. Kim and Alix were still undecided as to where exactly they should go.
More accurately, Kim and Alix were both decided, but still opposing.
"It is not safe for you two here. If you won't leave Paris on your own, I'll carry you out."
"Have fun trying to pick me up! I've gained like a ton carrying your baby around!"
"It's not my fault! You're the one growing her!"
"Oh my god, you're having a girl!" Chloé squealed, already pulling out her phone to start an online shopping cart.
"Way to go, Kim." Alix threw her hands up in the air and practically waddled from the room, mumbling unintelligible curses as she departed.
"Yikes. I've gotta go fix that. See you later guys." Kim hurried after his wife and slowly each member of the team trickled out of the room. As Adrien was leaving, he stopped to call back to Marinette.
"Hey, want a ride?"
Marinette looked around at the now nearly empty room and shook her head.
"No thanks. I'm gonna take the long way." She pointed to the balcony and Adrien nodded.
"No problem. See you tomorrow?"
"Uh yeah, sure." Marinette nodded and waved as Adrien left the room, leaving Marinette alone with Max who was gathering up his things.
"You mind closing up for me? I've got my hands full." Max held up his armful of electronics and markers and other supplies and Marinette nodded, watching as he disappeared into the hall. When she was sure she was alone, she pulled out her phone and texted the one person she had hoped to let disappear into the background.
'Where are you? If you're in Paris the deal is off.'
Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Marinette headed for the balcony doors. Just as she was about to transform, her phone began to vibrate wildly.
'London, where else?'
Another
'I am not in Paris. Though I heard the butterfly is back. Turns out the old akuma alert system still works.'
And a final message
'If you break your end of the deal, I'll break mine. I won't hesitate Marinette. I'll tell him everything.'
