Chloe was dreaming again. It was the same dream - she'd gotten used to it by now. She was standing on the steps again, the same building as always, with six people in front of her. Four of them she recognized, two she didn't. She couldn't see their faces, they were all bowing down before her - no, before the bees buzzing around her. The noise was deafening, almost drowning out the sound of her screams.

As always, she felt the presence around her, giving her power and yet taking it, allowing freedom yet keeping her tied, and no matter what she did, she couldn't break away.

As always, she felt not the giddy glee she had hoped for, but the sick panic at her own helplessness.

As always, she woke with a gasp.

She quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen her moment of weakness. And, as always, there was no one there in the darkness.

She turned to check her phone and see how long she'd actually slept.

11:52pm.

Only an hour or so.

She remembered the silly image her brain had conjured of Pollen, telling her that she'd be receiving visitors at midnight.

"Stupid." she thought, turning over and trying to settle herself. But something in the back of her brain kept nagging at her, forcing her to toss and turn. Finally, she decided she might as well do something useful with her time, and she picked up her phone.

11:56pm.

She opened up her Instagram feed and began scrolling, but her eyes were constantly drawn to the clock at the top of her screen.

11:58pm.

She tried to put her finger over the screen to hide the numbers, but she caved and had to look.

11:59pm.

Something in her kept her eyes on the clock until it finally changed numbers once again.

12:00am.

Then Chloe realized how stupid she must look, and she threw her phone to the other side of her bed.

"This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." she said, turning over and pulling her blanket closer around her.

"You know, you shouldn't throw your phone like that." a voice said from the other side of her bed. She jerked up and looked around once more in astonishment.

Two figures were standing at the end of her bed, looking at her reproachfully.

Chloe jerked into a pose of defense on her bed - then she looked more closely at the two of them. The first, the one who had spoken, had hair arranged in a high ponytail of brown, with two protrusions, one on either side of her head. The other seemed to have no hair, since his head was entirely covered by a green hood. Both were wearing a mask of some kind, but Chloe recognized them despite - or perhaps because of this.

"R-Rena Rouge? Carapace? What on earth are you doing here?"

Carapace rolled his eyes - or so she assumed from his tone, as she couldn't actually see his eyes.

"We're here for you. Didn't Pollen tell you we were coming?"

Chloe backed up in an attempt to avoid their eyes, only stopped when she fell off the other side of the bed. From the floor, she rose with a flounce, muttering to herself.

"You're crazy. I'm crazy, this can't be happening!"

Rena Rouge stretched out a hand, saying gently

"It's okay. I know you're probably pretty freaked out by all of this, but believe me, this is important. We're here to help you."

Chloe scoffed again, and echoed her words to the kwami - the non-imaginary kwami?

"I don't need help. In fact, I'd much rather be left alone. So why don't you just drop the mirage and let me go back to sleep?"

"Because there's something you've gotta see, Queenie." said Carapace, also stretching out his hand. Chloe gaped at him for a moment, then crossed her arms belligerently.

"What is it that you two dweebs are going to show me that's supposed to fix my life? It's already in shambles, thanks for bringing it up, and hanging out with you two losers isn't going to help anything. So why don't you just get lost and-"

With a look at each other, the two superheroes launched forward and grabbed an arm each, pulling Chloe toward the large window.

"Hey, what are you doing!" she screamed as they pulled her out onto the balcony. "Are you insane! I don't have superpowers, I can't fly, you stupid- AAHH!"

With a leap, the two superheroes left the balcony of the Grand Paris Hotel, Chloe still held between them. As she struggled, the two of them pulled her along the rooftops of Paris. She was still shouting, begging them to stop, pleading Ladybug to save her, until she heard a shout from Rena Rouge. With a final leap, the three of them landed on the ground, and Chloe, who had closed her eyes, carefully looked around.

Then her eyes opened wide in surprise.

They were back in her hotel. The lobby was almost the same as it had been the night before, only… something was different. Something indefinably wrong.

Then the sliding doors opened and a pair of children came running in, a boy and a girl, both blonde, no older than seven. Chloe gaped at them as they ran toward them, then screamed as the boy ran straight through her. The girl laughed and ducked around a chair, beating him to the stairs and tapping him on the shoulder, shouting "Tag!"

Chloe turned to the two superheroes behind her.

"What on earth? How- It's- It's me!"

Carapace grinned at her.

"That's right, Dudette. It's you. Take a guess as to where we are!"

Chloe looked harder at the two children, now chasing each other around the lobby as the figure of her butler came into view. But he looked younger now, less haggard, more ready to smile. Chloe caught her breath and said, without turning back to her companions,

"I get it. It's a mirage, isn't it? You're using your powers to show me things I'm supposed to remember or something?"

Rena Rouge shook her head, but smiled and said

"Not quite. Imagine it more like we're the mirage and they're reality."

Chloe looked back at her and glared.

"So why did you decide to show me this? I don't need you to tell me how much better my life used to be."

"You're really not getting this, are you?" Rena said with a sigh. "Haven't you ever heard the saying "Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it"?"

Chloe bit back the retort and looked instead at the two children still playing before them. The boy was flopped onto a chair, and the girl was sitting on the floor, looking with a smile at the golden stuffed bear in her arms. Chloe moved forward to see more clearly the form, and heard the girl say

"Adrien, do you think Mr. Cuddly needs a new bow tie?"

The boy - a younger Adrien - looked at the bear, cocked his head, and then shook it.

"I think he's perfect just the way he is. Hey, are you going to come over tomorrow and help open presents?"

Little Chloe grinned at him.

"Of course! I got your Mama a really cool gift, and I wanna see her open it!"

Little Adrien grinned right back at her, moving down to sit next to her. He put his arms around his knees and looked up at the ceiling, which was covered in Christmas decorations. Little Chloe was looking around, but jumped up when she saw a figure enter the hotel. Chloe looked at the figure as her former self ran toward it, and felt her eyes start to water.

She knew what came next.

Little Chloe called out to the figure, who stopped her stately walk and looked down - a long way down - at the little girl. Chloe jumped up and down, pulling at the woman's skirt.

"Mommy, you're back! You came home for Christmas!"

Audrey Bourgeois put down a hand and patted the little golden head, but said absently

"No, Cleo. I'm just stopping by to see Gabriel to discuss our next season's designs, then I'll be off to work again tomorrow."

Chloe felt the sadness welling up in her as her younger self took a step back in shock, almost stepping into Little Adrien, who had come up behind her.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," he said politely, "But my father isn't here yet. He'll be here soon."

Madame Bourgeois nodded curtly and snapped her fingers, indicating to the porter that her things were to be removed from the lobby, not seeming to notice the tears running down the cheeks of the little girl in behind her. Little Adrien, however, noticed and took immediate steps to comfort her, grabbing her and hugging her tightly.

"I remember this." Chloe murmured, more to herself than to anyone else. "I thought it was the end of the world. Mummy had never been the most open, but… this was the first year she just didn't come home."

Little Chloe was sniffing in front of her, and Chloe wanted to reach forward and reassure her, but she knew that nothing she could say would change the fact that this was the beginning of the end. She knew that Little Chloe would have to accustom herself to simply being disappointed by her mother, over and over again.

She felt her companions approach her and looked back at them fleetingly, hoping they couldn't see how affected she was by this. Carapace seemed to simply be saddened by it, but Rena looked shocked.

"This was your childhood?"

Chloe nodded, looking back at the crying little girl before them.

"Mummy was never around after this, and Daddy got busy with politics. Adrien and I were the best of friends until his mother… you know. But even before that, he got so busy with modeling and everything, I kind of was left to myself."

Rena smiled at that.

"Are you quite sure?"

And with that, she swiped her flute before them, pushing away the room they stood in and the figures of the two children until they were nothing more than smoke. When it cleared, they were standing in the center of her suite once again. Once again, it was the same room, but different. Instead of the elegant decor she had insisted upon a few years prior, it was a child's room, a room filled to the brim with toys and other items to keep a child busy. In the window seat, a slightly older girl sat, perhaps eleven years of age, holding a phone. She seemed not to even notice the opening of the door, but looked up immediately as her father called her name.

"Chloe, darling?"

Younger Chloe was instantly on her feet, reaching for a tiny clutch purse with a smile.

"I'm ready to go, Daddy!"

Mayor Bourgeois smiled sadly and shook his head.

"I'm afraid I spoke to the Prime Minister, and there simply isn't a good way to get you included - there are some important things we need to discuss and I'm afraid that having a child there would make things… awkward for some of the politicians. You understand, don't you, baby girl?"

Chloe looked at the younger girl's eyes, knowing exactly what was happening in her head. Rejection, betrayal, sadness, anger. Younger Chloe looked away, directly at her unseen visitors, trying to hide her tears, but the Mayor kept speaking.

"I know it's hard for me to be away, but I talked to Officer Roger, and guess what? Sabrina can stay here with you until I get back!"

Chloe saw her younger self's spirits raise, and a real smile on her lips. A small smile, but a real one nonetheless.

"Really? That's awesome, totally awesome!"

The Mayor gave a comforting smile and opened his arms, and Younger Chloe ran quickly into his hug. He lifted her up off the ground, but had to set her down as a cough came from the door.

"Your taxi, sir." said the doorman. Mayor Bourgeois gave one last smile to his daughter, and walked out of the room. Younger Chloe ran after him and waved, calling out,

"I'll miss you!"

The invisible Chloe, still standing where she had been, felt the tears running down her face. She felt a hand on her shoulder, but shook it off, sadness giving way to anger as she realized what had happened. She quickly wiped her cheeks and turned to the two superheroes behind her.

"So that's what this is? You think that by showing me what I used to be I'll suddenly be happy and filled with sunshine and rainbows!? Take me back home! I never want to see you again!"

She lunged for Rena Rouge, who was closer, but Carapace jumped in the way, pulling his shield forward and shouting "Shell-ter!" Chloe ran straight into the barrier and stumbled back to the floor, the impact filling her vision with spots of light. She scrambled up from the floor and blinked rapidly, but she was alone.

Alone in her own room, just as she remembered it, just as it had been for years. Elegant, minimalistic, with her closet open to display her latest Agreste outfits. Chloe turned in a circle, looking for the superheroes, no longer angry but scared.

There was no one there. She was all alone in the empty room. She made her way to the window seat and sat down, trying to control her shaking hands. She looked out at the lights in the city, but many of them were out now, as people were sleeping.

And indeed, she herself was almost drifting off again when she heard a voice behind her.

"Queen Bee?"