A note on the title: When I wrote "The Queen Is Dead," the plan was always to pair it with a follow-up story titled "Long Live the Queen." Though whether that was the story when Chloe regained the miraculous or the first one afterward in which she had it still remained to be seen. But here we are, nearly 2½ years later, finally paying that off.
Chloe's eyes burned from the merciless light shining down on her, searing the insides of her eyelids whether she opened them or closed them. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried desperately to block out the light, to find some way of sleeping – it had been so long since she was able to really sleep. Her arms and shoulders ached from the hard cement floor. Bound as they were behind her back, her wrists chafed from the ropes digging into her fair skin… but all she could feel of her hands hand fingers was the occasional twinge as of needles poking her fingertips. Her fingers were still there, but would they be for long under these conditions? She lay on her side, pressed up against the wall, her hands and arms pinned between her and the wall. The featureless white concrete walls closed in around her. Her breath seemed to fog in front of her mouth in the cold room. The concrete robbed her of what heat remained to her. Her lips were chapped, her throat parched.
How long had she been here already? Time seemed meaningless in this room. She had always been here; she would always be here.
Suddenly, a door appeared in the blank wall on the far side of the room, and two people stepped through. The one face was wreathed in shadow, though the other was all too familiar. Chloe's eyes widened, and she wriggled, pulling against her bonds and trying desperately to move away from the man who had haunted her dreams for so long. The large, muscular man knelt in front of Chloe, his eyes dark pools, absent of emotion or compassion, from which inky blackness seemed to emanate, filling the air around him. Chloe's breathing hitched, and she pulled her legs up to her chest, trying desperately to protect herself. Rene sneered down at her and pulled back one enormous, meaty fist. Chloe's arms were still bound behind her back; she strained against the cords, but to no avail. Grinning at her pitilessly, Rene grabbed one of her legs roughly and pushed it down, pinning it to the cold floor with one of his feet and exposing her core. Her breath caught in her throat, and Rene drove his fist into her chest, forcing all the air from her lungs. Her eyes widened in fear. Suddenly a quiet, mechanical voice spoke.
"You are nothing, Chloe Bourgeois," whispered the too-familiar mechanical voice. The Lynchpin. "Without your miraculous, you were nothing; with your miraculous, you are only what the miraculous makes you." That second person stepped forward, out of the shadows and into the light. The voice changed to that of Lila Rossi as she lowered the hood and sneered down at Chloe. "You are weak," Lila told her, her eyes flashing with malice. In her hand she held the Bee Miraculous; seeing the hair comb, Chloe writhed, wriggling agitatedly and straining against the bindings on her wrists, but it was no use. With her arms behind her back, she couldn't do anything to stop Lila. Seeing Chloe's futile struggles, Lila sneered. Clenching her jaws, she held the hair comb up in front of Chloe's face – close enough for Chloe to see every individual tine on the comb, every specific detail on the handle. Lila's eyes flashed. She squeezed the hair comb in one hand, crushing it into fine powder. "And now, you will never be anything again!"
"Pollen!"
With a gasp, Chloe sprang up in her bed, spinning in either direction, flailing out her arms, searching the darkness for the looming figures of Rene and Lila. Something on the far side of the room blocked the light from outside; Chloe immediately threw herself down, nearly tumbling off the edge of the bed. Suddenly, her confusion intensified, as her hand squeezed not on hard floor but on soft sheets. The burning light that had been in her eyes for days was gone. The cold floor was no longer there. The only shadows she could see were those of her furniture – dresser, vanity, couch, television… She lay in her own bed, the mattress as light as if she were sleeping on a cloud. Around the room, she could just make out the shapes of her furniture, the couch, the door to her walk-in closet… The confusion remained for another several minutes, but at last she looked around, working her jaw as she did so, and let out a breath, collapsing back of her pillow. She was home. She was safe. They couldn't get her now – not anymore. Rene and Lila, both of them were in prison. Slowly, Chloe breathed in and out as deeply as she could, pulling the sheets up higher, clutching her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart.
Groaning, Chloe collapsed back onto her pillow and closed her eyes, trying to force herself back to sleep. The clock on the far side of the penthouse continued its slow and methodical ticking, holding Chloe's attention. But the steady ticking was not enough for her to fall asleep. She groaned. It had been over a year – nearly sixteen months – since the Lynchpin had abducted her and tortured her. Sixteen months since the exhaustion and starvation, the beatings and threats of worse. Sixteen months since she had lost Pollen. Sixteen months since she had stopped being Queen Bee. Her hand drifted up to run through her hair, and she fingered the hair comb that she had not removed in three weeks. Lying beside her on the bed, Pollen stirred in her sleep without waking up. Chloe smiled down at the Kwami, running a finger down her side and eliciting a sigh as Pollen rolled over, toward Chloe. Chloe swallowed back the anxiety once more building up within her and threatening to overwhelm her, even after all this time, even just at the memory of the torment she had faced. She let out a heavy sigh, looking down at her shaking hands and trying to slow her heartrate back down to normal. Losing the miraculous had been difficult – the lost of independence and power, the violation, the weakness. Being held captive for a week without knowing where she could or if she would even survive, that had been terrifying – she could have been anywhere; Lynchpin's people could have done anything they wanted while she was helpless in their power. But losing her best friend… She let out a breath. That had been the hardest part of all.
Even if she had found another companion in that time.
A little further down the enormous bed, alongside Chloe's knee, Bee-atrice curled up on her side, her legs sticking out and moving the slightest bit in her sleep. A soft whine resonated from the puppy's throat. The puppy's tail thumped softly on the comforter, and her forelegs tensed for a moment before relaxing, her paws kneading at something. Fondly, Chloe ran her hand down Bee's flank, smiling tenderly as she stroked her fingers through the soft fur. Bee rolled the slightest bit, giving Chloe access to her stomach, and she batted slightly at Chloe's hand, though without opening her eyes.
Chloe swallowed back bile, sniffling and blinking away tears that had sprung unbidden to her eyes as she remembered the first time she had seen the tiny puppy.
Bee had been a gift from her father, his way of apologizing for not realizing what had happened to her until it was too late, after the Heroes of Paris had already rescued her. Chloe hadn't been able to sleep more than a couple hours, still seeing Rene's face in her sleep, still dreaming of the beatings that she had received at the Lynchpin's people's hands. And then her father had taken her to the pet store and offered her any animal she wanted. Though she had looked at the cats and birds, she had taken one look at the tiny Papillon puppy – so small that her ears had been the same size as the rest of her body – and decided that Bee-atrice was the only animal for her.
Running her fingers through the soft fur, Chloe looked down at the puppy fondly. Finally, her breathing was starting to come under control.
If it hadn't been for Bee, would she be here now? Bee had been her constant companion, ever since the Heroes of Paris had rescued her from the Lynchpin's men. When she went on patrol, Bee-atrice went with her held in her pouch on Chloe's chest – that had been the first thing she had noticed from her miraculous suit: it needed a spot for Bee-atrice. Though she had never brought a puppy with her before, now, Chloe couldn't imagine going anywhere or doing anything that didn't include the puppy. She had always been able to rely on Bee-atrice, even when she hadn't been able to rely on anyone else. Even when Sabrina and Marinette were busy, even when Adrien wasn't available, even before Emilie had woken up, Bee had still been there for her, always eager, always cheerful, always happy. When Chloe had felt angry and upset, Bee had loved her unconditionally. When she had felt like a failure, Bee had trusted her to do the right thing – to always feed and protect her. And when Chloe had gone out to fight the bad guys, Bee had always helped her, biting and scratching at the criminals to stop them. Just as she had done to Lila during their last fight.
Finally, Chloe glanced away from the puppy, to find a pair of large eyes, the size of dinner plates. The eyes looked up at Chloe, reflecting the dim light filtering through the curtains. "Are you alright, My Queen?"
Chloe sighed and lay back down, one hand still on Bee-atrice's back. She rolled onto her side to face Pollen, and she nodded slowly. "I'm alright," she assured her. "I was just… thinking."
Pollen hummed. "I am glad to see how well you recovered from your ordeal, even before you rescued me from… her."
Chloe nodded, letting out a breath. "It… wasn't easy," she admitted. "Losing you – it was one of the worst moments in my life. But I'm glad to have you back." She smiled. "I'm glad I get to be your Queen again."
Pollen patted her hand gently, her eyes catching the light as she smiled up at Chloe. "You have always been my Queen, ever since you first found my miraculous. And you are a hero – even without my miraculous."
Chloe finally felt her heartrate going back to normal, and she nodded. "Still, I'd rather be a hero with you."