Adrien couldn't stop looking at her. He'd woken up before the sunrise with her in his arms, sound asleep and snuggled up against him with her head on his chest. He didn't dare to let go.

"Hm?" She stirred suddenly, eyes scrunching up as she frowned.

"Morning." He whispered gently, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"No." She shook her head slightly, curling back up. "Too early." He chuckled and planted a kiss at her hairline.

"That's the Marinette I know and love. Come on, you're awake now. Might as well go get some breakfast before the team shows up." Adrien pulled himself out of bed and pulled on some clothes as Marinette groaned and rolled around aimlessly on the comforter.

"Body doesn't work. Too early. Gotta go back to sleep."

"Ah, come on bugaboo." Adrien scooped his partner up out of bed and she squealed at the sudden loss of warmth.

"Hey! I was comfy!"

"You were stalling." Adrien walked her to the kitchen and unceremoniously dumped her into a kitchen chair. "You sit. I'll make breakfast."

"I hate you." Marinette grumbled, burying her face in her arms.

"Our time last night says otherwise." Adrien kissed her forehead again before turning to the cabinets and beginning to gather ingredients.

"Adrien..I'm really sorry. About everything, I never meant to-"

"Don't." He turned to look at her over his shoulder. "Don't torture yourself with constant apologies. We've been through so much. And while we've made mistakes, both of us, there's nothing we can do now. I just want to know, are there any more secrets? Anything else I need to know?"

"No." Marinette shook her head violently and Adrien smiled at the way her ever present pigtails bounced with the movement.

"Then it's over. I just want to be with you, Marinette. I don't care about the past. I just care about our relationship now." He turned back to the stove just as Marinette began to fidget behind him. "Is there something wrong? Do you not want that? If you-"

"I love you!" Marinette blurted, eyes shut tight with anxiety. "I have for years and I'm never going to stop and I just want you to know that you're nothing like your father and you never will be and I could never think of you like that and you have never, ever, made me uncomfortable with your flirting. I enjoyed it, though it was annoying sometimes in the heat of the battle, it's always meant so much to me that you cared about me that way and I just don't want you to ever think that I-"

Marinette was silenced as Adrien's lips pressed to hers.

"I love you so much, M'lady. That is never going to change."

"Hey lovebirds! Your phone's beeping." Plagg grumbled, tossing the phone onto the table. "Gross humans and their stupid mating rituals."

"Sorry." Adrien apologized, leaving Marinette's side to grab his phone. "It's Max. He's calling a team meeting. For once we didn't have our comms in."

"Thank Kwami for that."

———

Felix ducked into an alleyway when he spotted his uncle in the crowd. He had assumed Gabriel would follow him, but he hadn't known it would be so soon. Looking for an escape route, he was caught off guard by a quick punch to the side of his face. Whipping around to defend himself, Felix came face to face with Gabriel Agreste.

"Duusu-"

Gabriel lunged, placing his hands over Felix's mouth as they struggled. Felix elbowed his uncle in the ribs and tried to throw his head back as Gabriel yanked him across the pavement, headed for the back of the alley. Just as Felix raised his foot to kick again, a voice rang out from the shadows.

"Kaarhu! Bear it!" There was a bright flash of brown light and as Felix looked up, his eyes widened at the girl before him. Her black hair was down, a headband with bear ears centered on her head. She wore a brown spandex suit, like most of the other heroes, but hers was accessorized with fur boots and gloves. She raised a hand, yelled "Bluff!" and Gabriel Agreste fell to the ground screaming in terror.

Felix tried hard to fight the overpowering fear he felt, scrambling away from his uncle. It was like suddenly all the bravery he had ever had in his life had been stripped away from him and he was just a husk of fear, trapped-

"Fortitude." The girl called another power this time and Felix felt the fear leak right out of him, comfort seeping back into him as if it had never left.

"Who- what are you- What did you do?" Felix gasped for air as he stood, keeping enough distance between him and the screaming Gabriel Agreste as he could.

"I can explain, but he won't be like this for long. We should leave." The girl held out her hand and cautiously, Felix accepted, not even flinching when she threw him up in the air and jumped after him, catching him and carrying him across rooftops like a rag doll. When they stopped, she let him down easily and held out her hand once more. Felix shook her hand as she smiled. "I'm Madre Orso. Nice to see you, Felix Graham De Vanilly." Felix stuttered in response.

"You're a miraculous holder. How- how do you know my name?"

"You look like him, but different."

"Who?" Felix questioned, eyebrows raised.

"The boy. He used to be on the billboards. He was everywhere when I visited last. I remember his name…Adrien! Adrien. I remember he has a cousin who shares his mother's name. I'm good with names."

"That you are." Felix frowned, brushing dirt off his shirt and pants. "I've never seen your miraculous before. How do I know you aren't an Akuma pretending to be a hero? And how did you know to protect me and not..him?"

"That would be hard to prove without revealing my identity to you. Though, I have no problem with doing so. Gabriel Agreste is an escaped inmate. He's big and scary. You? You're just grumpy looking. I went for the obvious choice."

"Are you crazy?" Felix scolded. "Reveal your identity? To a stranger? What kind of hero are you?"

"I can hardly say you're a stranger." Madre Orso laughed. "We've met before. And I know you hold the peacock."

Felix took a step back.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"No need to worry. Kaarhu told me. He is my small spirit."

"Your kwami told you my identity? They're forbidden-"

"Maybe your god is forbidden. Mine is free to speak his mind. Kaarhu, bear down."

And there was the girl he'd bumped into outside of the cafe, a bear like kwami resting on her shoulder.

"Hello. I'm Bridgette. Nice to meet you officially, Felix Graham De Vanilly. I have a feeling we are going to be great partners."

———

"What do you mean, you lost him?" Lila questioned, knife in hand. "Don't play me, Gabriel."

"I'm not. There was a girl and-"

"A better excuse than a girl, Gabriel. Retrieving the peacock should have been an easy enough task for you, even despite your…age." Lila gestured to his body and frowned. "I'd hate to have to dispose of you already, Gabey. Tell me the truth."

"It was a girl." Gabriel scoffed, yanking the knife from Lila's hand. "She had a miraculous. Don't threaten me. I'll talk."

"You'll do no such thing. If you tell anyone, even one person, who I am, I swear Gabriel Agreste that you will never see a ray of sunlight again." Lila took the knife back, rolling her eyes. "And neither will your wife. Got it?"

"I'll find Felix again." Gabriel promised.

"Be my guest. It's your wife's life on the line. And I mean, what do they say? Third times the charm? You should hope that works out for you."

———

"I wanted to gather you all here to show you what I've been working on." Max pulled a large bot onto the table and Alya squealed at the words written on the side.

"Bug bot 2.0! Are you serious?"

"I wasn't going to let you go without a bot. I know how important the ladyblog is to you. Though I do have another purpose in mind. I was thinking this would be the perfect way to find out if Lila is actually the new butterfly or not. We could use the bot to follow her around."

"Wouldn't she see it though?" Nino asked, looking over his girlfriend's shoulder. "The bug bots aren't exactly inconspicuous."

"Well like this I'm sure she would. But I've got a new feature on this one." Max pressed a button and suddenly the bug bot disappeared from view. Max knocked on it to assure everyone that it was still there, then smiled. "An invisibility cloak."

"Kwami, Max, you're such a nerd." Chloé joked playfully, staring in awe at the spot where the invisible bot lay.

"So what do you think?" Max asked the team leaders, looking up when they didn't respond. The rest of the team turned to look and broke out in groans when they realized Adrien and Marinette had missed the conversation, too busy staring into each other's eyes.

"Just get a room already." Alix groaned, shielding her eyes.

"What are you grossed out by? You're pregnant!" Kim asked just as Alix elbowed him.

"Oh, i'm sorry. What were we talking about?" Marinette asked as she turned to the group.

"The bug bot, i-"

"Yeah it's a shame it disappeared, but there's nothing we can really do about it until you make a new one." Adrien answered, causing Max to place his face in his hands.

"I already did. It's right there!" Max gestured to the bot and Adrien and Marinette exchanged a confused glance.

"There's nothing there." Marinette told Max, looking at him as if she was studying his expression.

"No! It's invisible. We just had a whole- You know what, i give up." Max turned and found his seat just as there was a knock on the door. The team as a whole stiffened. The club was closed, how-

"Marinette? Adrien? Guys?" Sabrina's voice called from the other side of the door. "Please let me in!" Max hurried to the door and opened it as Kim stood guard in front of his pregnant partner.

"Sabrina! What happened to you?" Myléne asked just as Chloé scoffed.

"You've got some explaining to do, leaving me in battle like that."

"I'm so sorry. Lila tricked me. She told me if I worked with her no one would be hurt and that we'd all get a wish and…but now I know better. She's been getting worse, more violent. I know where her hideout is. I can tell you where it is so that you can apprehend her."

Marinette stood and examined Sabrina carefully, eyes judging every movement Sabrina made.

"Step out while we discuss." Sabrina was out of the door in an instant and Marinette nodded to Nino who quietly transformed and placed a shelter over the room, not allowing Sabrina to enter or hear them from her spot in the hall.

"What is it, Bugaboo?"

"She's lying. It's a trap. Sabrina has completely changed loyalties. And before you ask, I don't have any proof but I-"

"We trust you." The team chorused, all ready at her side.

"So we take in Sabrina then?" Kim asked, already heading for the door.

"No. We get the address from Sabrina and tell her that we're going. Then we send a bot in our place. Max do you think you can make a new one within the next-"

Max pressed the button on the bug bot, making it reappear on the table.

"Okay then. Thanks Max."

Max groaned but gave a thumbs up anyway before sinking into a desk chair.

"I don't get paid anything to be a superhero, but even if I did, it wouldn't be enough for all of this."