To Cesar848: Always nice when you can add a legit magic user to your super team!

To yellow 14: I really should have used that one!

To Lyger 0: That's the one! The Ripper was trying to get her to give him powers, but I think Danu had other ideas!

To Butterfly: Okay, I wasn't really going to murder Bri's BFF. Though I do enjoy playing around with those expectations!

To StarDaPanda225: That she does!


The next day, Felix arrived at the Strand House a little after lunch. The previous night they had given statements to the police – Barkk had protested half-heartedly about transforming yet again so they could do so – and then he had accompanied Anne and Iron Maiden back to the workshop so Bri could shed her suit, and from there to their apartment building. Only once the two girls were safely inside did he finally return to the workshop to take the portal back to the Manor. Too exhausted to even think about doing anything else, he had simply passed out into his bed, still wearing the same clothes from the day before. He had woken up, late and smelling of smoke, showered, and went downstairs to find his mother sitting in the dining room with Duusu and Barkk. She had immediately run over to hug him before plying him with pastries. Then after breakfast he had checked his phone and found Bri's invitation.

He stood awkwardly outside the apartment building, waiting for them to come out. It was funny: he had stopped on the roof of this building so many times while patrolling in the last week, all without realizing just how close his partner was. He closed his eyes to soak up the bright sunlight streaming down on him. "Everything feels so much brighter today, Barkk," he whispered.

The Kwami, hidden in his breast pocket, whispered back, "The darkest nights always give way to the brightest days!"

"That they do!" he agreed as the apartment building's door opened.

"What do what?"

He opened his eyes to find Bri standing in the doorway in the Ladybug sweatshirt they had given her almost exactly a week earlier, her hair dyed bright orange. He cocked his head in surprise; this might be the first time he'd actually noticed Bri to be wearing makeup; normally he only saw her with grease smudges on her face from working on her suit. Anne stood behind her in a dark green jacket and, apart from a few scratches on her face from stray branches, looking none the worse for wear after her ordeal. "Something Barkk said," he explained with a small smile.

Bri hummed. "Well, shall we?"

Felix nodded and fell in beside Bri, Anne on the opposite side from him. "Where are we going?"

Bri shrugged. "I thought we could check out some of the Halloween decorations along the river," she explained. "Now that the Ripper is gone, the City decided to lift the curfew for tonight, and Instagram made it sound like people are planning an all-night celebration!"

He allowed himself a smile. The darkness was gone: the Ripper was no more. If that wasn't cause for celebration, he didn't know what was! "Are you planning to dress up for Halloween?" he asked as they made their way down a couple blocks before turning to walk by the Thames. He wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Because I would beagle-ad to give you some ideas!"

Bri gave him a look. "Down, boy."

"Well," Anne began slowly, an amused lilt to her voice, "I was going to dress up as a Druidess this year… but I suppose that won't work now, will it?" Bri cocked her head in confusion. Anne smirked and ran her hand along a tree, which abruptly put out a tiny new sprig. "Halloween's supposed to be about dressing up as something you're not; I can't exactly be dressing up as what I am, now, can I?" she explained, giggling.

Bri laughed, a light and carefree sound that Felix hadn't expected to hear again after the past week. He glanced down in surprise as her hand brushed against his, though she didn't look at him. "In that case, you could always just grow yourself a laurel wreath, put on a bed sheet, and say you're one of those Roman colonists you're always talking about," she suggested.

Anne hummed dubiously. "Dressing up in a toga doesn't sound all that exciting," she pointed out.

Bri shrugged. "I never even picked anything out, so…"

"I still say you'd look cute with floppy dog ears!" Anne wagged her eyebrows cheekily.

"Are you actually planning to go trick-or-treating?" asked Felix. He couldn't really remember the last time he'd done that – probably before his father died.

Bri shook her head. "No, it's more like our floor is having a Halloween party tonight and invited one of the local primary schools to trick-or-treat in a couple hours," she explained.

"Ooh, we should definitely get a pumpkin to put outside!" Anne suggested eagerly, nodding to the row of carved gourds along the riverfront.

"Couldn't you just grow one?" asked Bri wryly.

Felix stared at the one on the end in confusion, an oblong squash with a terrifying face carved into it and a knife sticking out of the top. "What's with that one?" he wondered.

Bri frowned. "Maybe it's supposed to be the Ripper," she guessed, shuddering. "That's no more than he deserved." Felix took her hand and gave a small squeeze. She nodded at him and returned the gesture, letting out a breath. She snorted. "If I were going to carve a pumpkin, that's probably what I would want to do," she observed humourlessly.

Felix smirked. "No need; you already carved up the real thing last night!"

She smiled in satisfaction. "That we did," she agreed, nodding.

"That was pretty savage last night," Anne commented, her gaze drifting between them. "I don't think I said it enough, but thank you. For finding me, I mean."

Bri released Felix's hand and wrapped her arms around Anne's shoulders. "Of course!"

Anne chuckled and returned the hug. "And after last night, I guess I don't need to be afraid of walking to and from work," she observed.

"No, just of the losers who would bug you at work," Bri joked, raising an eyebrow at Felix meaningfully.

"Hey, don't look at me!" he protested. "I passed obedience school!"

Bri snorted. "Right…"

Anne frowned at them in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Bri tried and failed to stifle a laugh. "So do you remember a couple weeks ago? The jackass with the birthday who kept on getting handsy? You didn't stop ranting about him for a week?"

"Seriously?" Felix muttered.

"Yeah…" Anne replied slowly, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Bri nodded toward Felix.

Anne's jaw dropped.

"It wasn't me!" he insisted, raising his hands. "It was Charlie."

"That asshole was one of your friends!?" Anne demanded. "He nearly earned himself a lifetime ban!"

"Trust me," Felix assured her. "There's is no way I'm bringing them back down to your pub any time soon." Although, he mused to himself, they do have a way of making me look better by comparison!

Anne made an amused noise. "So really, I guess when I said I wanted to meet your 'Mister Project,' I'd already met him!" she observed, arching an eyebrow.

Felix stared at her in confusion.

Anne smirked. "So how long have you two known each other really?" she asked, giving Felix an intense stare.

He shrugged. "We met about three months ago when I showed up to try and stop a bank robbery and found Iron Maiden mixing it up with Mecha-Man," he replied. "We worked together a couple times that week before we decided to partner up, even if that just meant sharing patrols on occasion while hunting for the Ripper."

Anne hummed in surprise, eyes widening, and trailed her hand along a bush which started to put out blooms. She turned an accusing look on Bri. "Huh. I thought this 'boyfriend' was more of a long-term thing," she teased.

Felix furrowed his brows in confusion.

Bri flushed. "I never had a boyfriend," she retorted. "When you thought I had a boyfriend I was going to see, it was only ever the suit."

Anne giggled. "And yet you described him to me, and from your description, I'm pretty sure I'm looking at him!" she commented, grinning knowingly. "Can you tell me you weren't describing Felix?"

Bri rolled her eyes. "Of course I was describing Felix," she retorted, her lips twisting up in amusement. "I had to tell you something! And that way I could keep my story straight."

"Uh huh." Anne gave her a dubious look. "Whatever you say, girly." She smirked mischievously. "Just remember, if anything does happen, just put a sock on your door!"

Bri scoffed. "There's pretty much no chance of that!"

Felix raised an eyebrow at her, and she flushed. He grinned, his hand brushing against hers. "I'm just glad to see you so happy today – after the last week, I didn't know if I ever would again. It's… nice to have my partner back."

"Yeah…"

"So you've got to tell me about that savage suit of yours, girl!" Anne enthused. "Where did it come from?"

Bri grinned eagerly and jumped into an animated description of how she had first begun building the suit only a couple days after they had met that summer, using parts and ideas she'd been toying with for years. As she spoke, Felix began to get lost in his own thoughts while looking over the slapdash Halloween decorations strewn across the sidewalk above and around them. A string of cats cut from black paper hung from one light post to the next, and Felix frowned: a celebration of his victory, and they had Adrien's animal. To be expected. He glanced down in surprise as once more Bri's hand brushed against his without pausing her story about stopping a mugger two weeks ago. Turning from his surroundings to his company, he examined Bri's profile as she described the sensation of flying with her jetpack, her eyes lighting up animatedly. She wasn't close to the type of girl he was usually attracted to – she spoke her mind and wouldn't hesitate to tell him off – but maybe that was a good thing. At the same time, they had only just started to get comfortable in their partnership. And after her experience of the last week, was she interested in anything more than friendship?

"Felix?"

He blinked and found two sets of eyes staring at him. "What?" he asked dumbly. He thought he detected a trace of amusement in Bri's eye, and coughed. "I'm sorry. Yes, mon Fer?"

"Care to add anything?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He shook his head. "Just that there's something oddly disconcerting about being carried around like a sack of potatoes when you are flying around!"

Bri stifled a giggle.

"But all the same," he went on, "there's nothing quite like doing this hero thing with someone else." He bumped her shoulder with his. She bumped him back, and they slowly continued along the riverfront. "You know," he began, "the Heroes of Paris have a pretty big team…"

Bri raised an eyebrow at him. "And?"

"And does this mean we have a third member now?" he asked, nodding toward Anne. "We could use the help if we have another super-criminal show up when Mother doesn't have the miraculous."

"I suppose that's up to her," Bri commented, turning toward Anne and raising an eyebrow.

Anne started in surprise. Instead of responding right away she knelt next to a barren flowerbed in which someone had placed a pair of witch's boots, and put her hand on the soil. A single flower grew between her fingers and she carefully plucked it, brushing off the dirst. Straightening up she started walking, with the other two following. "I suppose I could do it," she agreed, smirking. Behind Bri's back she poked Felix and handed him the flower. He furrowed his brows at her, and she nodded insistently in Bri's direction. He nodded in realization. "But if I'm going to be a hero now, what does that mean?"

Felix smirked. "The simple answer is that we don't have to go on solo patrols anymore!"

"I bet that's something you'll appreciate, Pup," Bri commented. "No more worrying about that Acolyte guy going after you."

Felix nodded seriously and held out the flower. "I never really had the chance to thank you for kicking that asshole's ass the other day," he noted. "So…"

Bri took the flower and inhaled its scent. "Why thank you… Anne," she replied, giving her roommate a deadpan look.

Anne looked back at her with an innocent expression. "I have no idea what you mean, girl."

Bri snorted. "Uh huh. Still…" She took Felix's hand. "You were there for me; I was there for you. That's what friends are for, right?"

He nodded and squeezed her hand in return. "That's what friends are for."