It had been a long week, and Sabrina had felt every minute of it. Between her counseling at the rehab center and her university classwork at Descartes, it seemed like she had been on the move every minute of every day – enough so that she had hardly seen Max at all that week, apart from breakfast. Now that she was getting more established at the center, her schedule was starting to fill up, with at least three new clients coming in each day. With the end of the extended schoolyear getting ever closer, this week had been the penultimate class sessions for her two classes, leaving just the final push to get through. This week she had read a half-dozen books, written first drafts of two papers, and now all she wanted was a weekend to relax. They had an entire Saturday to themselves, with two TV shows and close to three pounds of day-old pastries on the kitchen table, all calling Sabrina's name.

Unfortunately, her boyfriend had had other ideas.

Rather than snuggled together at home, this Saturday morning they were instead ensconced in the lab at the Heroes of Paris Headquarters, listening to the beeping and whirring of the devices set up along the walls. Sabrina had claimed one of the stools at the counter running around the perimeter of the lab, with Kaalki lounging on the counter beside her, nibbling on a bag of carrot sticks. Nooroo hovered beside Max, looking over his shoulder curiously. For his part, Max stood in front of a monitor, staring intently at the readout. He hummed quietly to himself, typing brief notes into his tablet without taking his eyes off of the test results. "Fascinating," he muttered to himself.

"Is the level of contamination decreasing?" asked Sabrina, raising an eyebrow and shifting on her stool.

Max pursed his lips. "That is the initial conclusion," he mused, nodding slowly. He pointed to four data points on the graph. "This shows the level of poison in the air at the Eiffel Tower when the Tarasque first formed. This is the level in the same location two weeks later when we finally brought the sensor system back online, followed by one from two weeks after that. And this last figure is from the moment after the Miraculous Ladybug energy swept past the Eiffel Tower following the Tarasque's defeat."

Sighing, Sabrina stood up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his chest and resting her head on his shoulder. She let out a breath, the tension and stress in her chest easing slightly with the contact. Even if they were here instead of watching Star Trek together, at least she could be with him; a month ago, she would have given anything to listen to Max talk about atmospheric chemical density. Examining the graph displayed on the monitor, she hummed. "And the time intervals are consistent between the data points?"

Max nodded. "As consistent as I could make it – the margin of error is less than one hour."

Sabrina's eyes widened and she focused on the final point. "The amount of poison in the atmosphere went down a lot after we defeated the Tarasque! That's amazing!"

Max furrowed his brows, his emotions shifting back and forth between excitement and caution. "That is my conclusion, as well," he agreed hesitantly. "And the data since then have continued to show a steady decrease."

"But…" Sabrina prompted, squeezing him.

He placed a hand on her arm. "But I do not think that the actual quantity of poison has changed, apart from the Miraculous Ladybug. My hypothesis – though I lack sufficient evidence to prove or disprove it – is that the poison is only spreading out."

"And what would you need to prove it?"

He shrugged. "The simple answer is information covering a greater area and duration of time. Turing is still in New York City. He has already finished linking the United Heroez into our portal system and taking some atmospheric readings; I have asked him to place more around the rest of the nation for a broader level of coverage. Once he finishes in America, we can focus on the rest of the world. That plus time will provide us with the requisite data. Until then, it is nothing but theory."

"Well, your theory is as good as we can get at the moment." Sabrina hugged him, gently tugging him back, away from the computer monitor. Max's emotions shifted swiftly between annoyance and guilt before settling on contentment and happiness. The knot in her stomach loosened, and she rested her head on his shoulder, nuzzling against his neck.

"I apologize for coming in here to work today," Max whispered, turning around in her arms to return the hug. Sabrina melted into his chest, her eyes drifting shut. "But you know, you were free to stay at the apartment."

She shook her head jerkily against him. "No; I'll stay here with you. I want to be with you."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, running his fingers through her hair. "You know I missed you too, right?"

She nodded, swallowing, and sniffled. "I know."

He hummed. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked, gesturing toward the portal he had installed in the wall.

Home. That had such a nice ring to it. After the months apart, after thinking that she would never see him again, to be home with Max – to have a home with him – it was almost unbelievable. Sabrina was just opening her mouth to respond when she felt three different sets of emotions appear in the main headquarters near the main portal ring. She sighed on sensing the tension, stress, and sadness coming off of one in particular. "Not just yet," she told Max, opening her eyes and giving him a quick kiss. "Your duty called first; my duty calls now. And I have a feeling we'll need you to babysit."

Max furrowed his brows, staring at her in confusion. "'Babysit'?"

A piercing wail reverberated off of the stone ceiling, and Max's eyes widened, his emotions shifting to nervousness. Sabrina took his hand and led him outside, Nooroo and Kaalki flitting after them. She stepped out of the lab just as Julia set down a baby carrier on the edge of the butterfly garden. Inside, little Vida lay nestled in a knit blanket decorated with silver wolf paws that had golden eagle feathers for claws, sucking on a bottle. Marco had already raced away through the grass and flowers with Mettli in pursuit, chasing after one of the butterflies that had begun to spread and grow wild without Gabriel's exacting care. Julia looked up at them as they emerged from the lab, the surprise on her face instantly shifting to guilt.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she apologized with a grimace.

"We were–" Max began, but Sabrina cut him off with a hand on his shoulder.

"–not busy," she finished. She gave Julia a warm smile. "I always have time for you."

Julia looked at Max nervously before raising an eyebrow at Sabrina. "Um, could we…"

Sabrina took Max's hand and squeezed it. "Are you okay keeping an eye on the little ones?" she asked him.

He blinked nervously, glancing back and forth between Marco and Vida before his eyes settled on Sabrina. "I–um…"

"Oh, calm down," Kaalki snorted, giving Max a deadpan look. She turned to Nooroo, and the two Kwamis nodded confidently. "We'll be fine."

Mutely, Max nodded, approaching the baby carrier with trepidation.

"Thanks." Sabrina turned to Julia and gestured toward the grotto. "We can talk in there." Julia followed her inside, looking around in confusion. Sabrina stifled a laugh and spread her arms wide. "I've redecorated a little since you were here last," she explained, gesturing toward the new chairs and card table. "Pick whichever seat you would like!"

Julia chose the seat closest to the doorway, while Sabrina took the seat opposite her, leaning forward and reaching out with her senses. Julia's emotions turned anxious. "I'm sorry for imposing like this, especially without calling," she told Sabrina. "I didn't want to come, but Paola and Maria both told me I had to do this; they said they were afraid for my kids and for the team if I didn't come and talk to you."

Sabrina's eyes widened. "I'm sorry–I had no idea! I–I meant to give you a call after the memorial, but I've just had so many other things come up… what's wrong? Are the kids okay?"

"Oh, the kids are fine," Julia replied, a bitter edge to her voice. "The team is doing okay, too – it's been very busy around the Temple, what with a new Bison coming in, on top of all the other young miraculous users we've been working to train. Hero groups in Argentina, Chile, even one in Suriname, have all contacted us looking to join our 'alliance' since seeing the news about the Tarasque. The United Heroez invited us to send people to Washington to meet with Victory and discuss how we can work together. And then there's Ruth coming here to Paris… Dan has been busy trying to keep all the new heroes organized and work on their training. Everything on that front has been going amazingly well."

"So… what's the problem?"

Julia's tension and embarrassment increased. "That's the thing – it's all the times when I'm not busy with something else." Sabrina nodded slowly in realization. "When I'm busy with the team, I'm fine. When I'm reading to Marco, everything is fine. When Vida is being fussy…"

"… you're fine?"

"More than fine!" Julia smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "I love my kids – I live for my kids! They – and my team – keep me going. But when nothing is happening, when I'm not working, when Lise is watching the kids… that's when the memories come flooding in."

Sabrina hummed, eyeing her closely. "And how are you dealing with those memories?" Julia quirked an eyebrow, and Sabrina cocked her head to one side, giving her a meaningful look. "Or should I say, how many extra hours are you putting into your work to avoid dealing with the memories?"

Julia's shoulders tensed, and she looked down. "Paola thinks I'm going to burn myself out."

Sabrina sighed sympathetically. "Throwing yourself into your work – the team, the guardianship, the family – in order to escape the grief?"

Julia swallowed hard. "I just – when I close my eyes, I see him. Sometimes when I look at Marco, I can see Pablo in his features. Or I think about how excited he was to meet Vida, and how now he never will." Through the doorway, the sound of Marco's giggling drifted in, along with the tinkling laughter of the Kwamis. Sabrina could pick out Vida cooing – evidently she had finished her meal and was looking for attention. Max's emotions turned anxious before he picked up Vida out of the carrier and both their emotions shifted. Sabrina smiled in relief at feeling Max's confidence and self-assurance return. Julia sighed heavily, looking at Sabrina with wide eyes. "What do I do?"

Sabrina leaned forward and placed her hand on Julia's. "The grief is to be expected," she told her. "The memories are going to be there, and you should welcome them – they mean that you had a happy life together! Life won't be the same – ever. But life will continue. And, with some work, it can be better now than it was when the grief was so fresh."

Julia frowned. "Yeah? So how is that supposed to happen? what am I supposed to do?"

"Allow the memories to come," Sabrina told her. "Allow yourself to feel the grief and the loss. Pause for a few minutes when it happens and allow yourself to remember. But don't allow the grief and loss to overwhelm you – those aren't your predominant emotions." She let out a breath. "Other than that? Keep listening to your friends when they say you need to take a break."