"Do you even know why these things do what they do?" Avery scoffs. "How the hell do you think messing with alchemy is a good idea without even understanding your reagents' basic freaking properties?!"

The guardian's words don't come easily as he stumbles through a rebuttal. "I- well, I-"

"Listen, old man. We know more than you. Shut up and sit down." Avery shakes his head, rolling his eyes all the while. It's been a while since Carter has heard Avery sound as irritated as he does when he mutters. "A tear of joy. Oh, there'll be tears, alright."

Carter sighs. "Peace, Bärchen." He warns. "He never completed training. It's not his fault he never had an alchemy tutor. Remember, he can teach us a few things about the Miraculous."

"Don't have to like it. Or him."

"Never said you did. Just don't lose your patience."

"Ugh. You and your patience. I normally agree with you, but you have way too much of it for people who really don't deserve it."

"Excuse me." The guardian says. "I am still here!"

Avery just about twitches. "Unfortunately."

"I did what was necessary. And the wielders I chose are extraordinary. It was the right choice."

"It was the easy choice." Avery snarls. The guardian flinches. "Don't you dare delude yourself into thinking what you did was right."

"Avery's right." Carter says. He's crouched down, measuring out one of the reagents into a beaker. "You're the guardian, and Arrel is progeny of your primary partner. You can't seriously tell me you didn't know I was active. You had other options, even if it was just to look for advice."

The guardian ducks his head. "Your Miraculous are not associated with the order of the guardians. You are… unfamiliar with the box, and outside my expertise."

"Expertise." Avery repeats, mocking. "So far you've been an expert in nothing, least of all decent judgement."

"So, you're a coward." Carter says. "And because you're a coward, you chose to throw two children, with no guidance, into a magical fight to save the city. Makes sense."

"It is not so simple as that."

"No, actually, it is. Avery and I deal with the unknown every day. It's literally our job to learn and know things, and every day we still learn something new. Even just here, we've never seen anything like Emilie before. We have no experience with the temple Miraculous, either. But we didn't turn away and pawn the responsibility off on the first available children who could do our jobs for us. You're a coward, old man. And because of that, you put children's lives at risk. Plain and simple."

"…The keeper of knowledge. Perhaps she can advise."

Carter has to put down the beaker in his hand for the force of his laughter. "If you think there's even a chance Gabby is taking your side on this, you're going to be very disappointed."

Avery grabs the beaker and pours the contents into another one, which contains solid reagents. "Let's just fix this thing and move on." He says, stirring. "Before I change my mind about leaving these Miraculous here."

Hearing the clear warning in Avery's voice, the guardian wisely closes his mouth.

With no ceremony, Avery pulls the peafowl Miraculous from his pocket and drops it into the cup with their solution. "Let it soak for at least a full twenty-four hours." He tells the guardian. "I'd go forty-eight to be safe, though. And keep yourself and the kwami away from it. We don't want unnecessary magical interference. Now, if you don't mind, sir guardian, we have students to tend to.

"Neither of you need to do anything you're not comfortable with." Carter says gently. In his living room, a familiar coterie has gathered. Ladybug and Chat Noir, Arrel and Iinar, Avery ever at his side, and Gerard, Luka, and Juleka, too. "This is ultimately your decision."

"We understand." Ladybug says. "It's time."

Carter nods respectfully. "If you're sure. It could just be you and Chat, if you wanted it that way."

"No. We know Luka and Juleka's secret. We trust them with ours. Right, kitty?"

Chat Noir enthusiastically agrees. "They deserve to be here. I want them to know."

Luka's gaze softens, not that it was hard to begin with. He already knows who Chat is, after all, but this time it's Chat's choice, not Emilie's. Carter and Avery never kept secret identities in the first place, but they can appreciate the magnitude of that kind of trust. It's touching.

With just a few words and a quiet moment, Ladybug and Chat Noir transform back into their everyday selves. Luka smiles, then ducks his head like he's intruding by watching. Juleka is the opposite, hiding her gaze until she risks a glance and gets caught, unable to pull her eyes away. Gerard is predictably off to the side, combing his fingers through his beard with his eyes brimming with mirth.

Adrien and Marinette themselves take a moment to stare, another to stare at the floor, and yet another to wrap each other up in a painful-looking embrace. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Marinette whispers.

Adrien sniffs, wiping away his tears, but he's smiling. "He deserved it. Mom'll be back soon, and I'll be okay. Don't worry."

"You know I'm never going to stop worrying."

Despite the moment, Avery quietly snickers. "That's why you like her so much." He whispers into Carter's ear. "She's you when you were her age."

Carter elbows Avery just a tad roughly. Nothing he can't handle easily. "That's a compliment."

"Did I say it wasn't?"

"Um, Monsieur Carter?" Carter's attention is quickly pulled from his boyfriend to his student at her quiet words. "What, uh, should we do now?"

"Well, that depends on what you want to do." Carter says. He looks over everyone in the room as he talks. "You know what we do over in America. You could take up a similar job here, now that you're not needed as heroes. You could also hang up your masks and live a normal life – as normal as it can be, anyway, and no, you don't have to give up the Miraculous entirely to do that. No one is stopping you from doing anything you want to.

"As for more immediate plans, if Juleka is willing, I'd recommend she go visit Emilie in the hospital when she can until Emilie wakes up. Her body is the real limit here, but her spirit has been separated for over a year. She'd recover quicker with regular dilation treatments. It's not necessary, she should be fine either way, but that may help things move quicker. Permissions obviously can't be asked, but Adrien is her next of kin and Juleka already has experience casting a dilation spell on Emilie with her direct consent, so she's the best option if that's the route we want to take."

Adrien looks over to Juleka hopefully. "If it'll help her." Juleka says quietly, nodding to Adrien.

"Thank you." He sniffs again. "You've done so much to help me already. Really, thank you so much." He turns his eyes to Luka. "Both of you."

"We're friends." Juleka says softly. "And this was important."

Carter lets them have their small moment before moving on. "The peafowl Miraculous is being primed for repair right now. It'll take a couple days before we can truly fix it, but the process is already underway. Avery is taking care of that, so you don't need to worry about it. Marinette, Avery will send you a copy of our record on the damage done to the peafowl and how we're fixing it, just in case something like this happens again. If you have any questions, you can ask either of us, as always."

"I'd appreciate that. It'll be good to know we won't have to worry about a damaged Miraculous like that."

"The grimoire that Gabriel had," Carter continues, "technically is the property of the temple guardians, but you are the leader here, boss. So, with your permission, I would like to entrust it to the librarians that watch over the keeper's library. I believe they are the most sensible people to keep that thing. You would still have Fu's copy of it, and once the librarians give you access, you could find it in the library at any time."

"It won't go to Master Fu?"

Carter chares a look with Avery. "We won't stop you from giving it to him, but he already has a copy and the librarians can better preserve it. He doesn't need the original book, and it's ultimately safer at the library. Your decision."

"I'll talk to Master Fu, but I think that sounds reasonable. I trust your judgement. Adrien?"

Adrien blinks for a moment, and then nods. "Sounds reasonable to me. I trust you, too."

"Thank you." He nods to her and continues. "Paris police will handle Gabriel. We are here to help out and teach you anything you need to know. We were thinking we'd start making plans to head back home after Emilie wakes up. We won't leave right away, since if Emilie accepts the peafowl Miraculous once more she'll need to be taught as well, but we'll start figuring out exactly when we'll leave around then. Hm, what else? Oh! Once we do go home, we'll of course be available through our phones if you have questions, but you're also welcome to sit in on our classes through video call if it's convenient for you. That goes for all of you." He looks pointedly to Luka and Juleka. "We do a whole schooling thing. We'll give you all the details soon so you can plan for it and think about whether you want to join or not. It'd be late for you guys, because of the time difference, but we think you'll find it useful. We go over a lot of the basics of magic. Practical magic, basic theory, reagents and their attributes, that sort of thing. It's intended to give our students the tools they need to explore their magic safely.

"You two in particular though could choose to step back from magic entirely." He eyes Marinette and Adrien. "You're not magic, so it's not impossible for you."

"I want to learn." Marinette says confidently.

"Me too." Adrien says. "We're too far in to back out now. I want to be like you guys! I want to help people."

Carter chuckles. "In that case, we're going to be seeing a lot of each other. We've got a lot to teach you. Not just about magic in general, but the Miraculous too. I'll say it now, and y'all are going to get tired of me saying it right quick but remember that your normal schooling takes priority. Never neglect your school studies for something we assign you, alright? Even if our assignment is more fun. We're not on a time limit." He lets each of the kids acknowledge his words before saying, "But that's more stuff for the future. Right now, I'm guessing you two have a lot to talk about, and sooner or later y'all are going to want to party. Hawk Moth's gone. No need to jump into lesson plans and the next great adventure. Enjoy your win. Alright?"

"Right." Marinette says, looking to Adrien.

"We will." Adrien says.

Carter gives them a 50/50 shot, if he's totally honest. Marinette and Adrien. After the reveal, Carter is half-certain that they'll end up dating. Sure, both of them took some lessons on their love lives from Carter and Avery's teachings, but even still it's hard to resist that mutual attraction they both so obviously feel. It's not even necessary, really. Carter believes they'll continue learning to curb their more toxic behaviors as they grow into themselves, even in a relationship. Especially if they have people who they can talk to about it.

But still, Carter is actually quite proud when Marinette quietly tells him that she's just not ready to date Adrien. "I don't think I'd be able to stop the worst of my more… well, toxic behavior. And, honestly, he was pretty pushy as Chat, and I know he knows better now, too, but I'm not sure he's ready for… us, either. We talked for a long time about it. We want to work on ourselves together, but dating isn't going to help us do that, so we're just friends for now."

"That sounds like a very reasonable decision." Carter says, unable to hide his smile. It's very mature of them both to recognize their readiness for something like that. "You'll get there, boss. Whether it's Adrien or someone else, you'll get to where you want to be, and you'll find someone to love."

Marinette nods. "You're right. Thanks, Carter."

There have been a few moments in Carter's life that he just doesn't know how to describe. Sometimes, when he's with a student like this, he'll get this strange feeling. It doesn't even really matter what the student is doing. Once, he was exasperated with a student not listening, another time a student read ahead and knew Carter's whole lesson before he started. Another teased Carter for lecturing when asked a simple question. This time, it's just a bright smile. The feeling is nostalgia and the sting of missing someone all wrapped up in exasperated disbelief of a strange role reversal because these moments make him realize that he's the teacher now. They remind him of his time with his own teacher, of his antics and how she'd deal with him, and he wonders what she'd think of him if she could see him now.

It's hard to believe any teacher can stand up to her legacy, much less him. He wonders if he measures up. Wonders if he's really doing right by these kids, or at least as right as his own mentor did by him. No single person, possibly not even Avery, or Carter's mother, or even his sister, have been so fundamental to who Carter is now as his mentor was. In moments like these, he misses her so much.

It stings in his chest, but Carter's happy with what he is and what he's doing. For that alone, his mentor would be proud of him. That knowledge kind of hurts, too, but in a much sweeter way.

"Hey, boss." When he calls to her, Marinette snaps her head up to look at him. "I'm proud of you." She immediately flushes crimson and covers her face, which makes him laugh. "Come on." He stands up. "Adrien and Avery are probably already on their way. We should get to the mayor's thing. Don't want to be late."

"No, of course not." Marinette grins at him. "Thanks for the tea. Tikki, you ready?"

"Let's go, Marinette!" Tikki chirps.

The both of them transform and take off. Ladybug leaps and swings with her yo-yo, of course, but Carter enjoys simply free running. He's not used to doing so openly, at least not in costume, so that's a nice change of pace, but climbing, jumping, and rolling never really gets old. If he needs to go farther than he can jump, he can throw his discus and freeze it in the air to make a platform or handhold for him. He's been doing this long enough that he's far beyond the power use restriction, after all.

He's not quite as fast as Ladybug, since swinging along is a much more efficient means of getting places, but she's kind enough to keep pace with him.

They hear the crowd before they see it, and when they peek over the edge of the mayor's hotel, they can see the huge swarming of people in the streets just outside. There are media trucks parked all around the block, even tents set up in some out-of-the-way areas. Ropes cordon off walking areas so people can still get through, notably the important folk invited to the press event.

Something like this is way outside of Carter's comfort zone. The idea of being publicly photographed in the suit at all is alarming to him, much less making the headlines. That's not even starting on the crowd itself. Carter's used to quiet, private events. Not this. "Let's go through the inside." Ladybug says, as if reading his thoughts. "We're basically just there to look pretty anyway, and it doesn't look like Chat or Otter is out here."

"Good call." Carter turns to the door leading inside the building, catching sight of Ladybug's expression on the way. "Aha, sorry. I'm not used to this kind of thing. Usually for us, public attention spells trouble, you know?"

"I understand." Ladybug says gently. "It can't be easy to hide like that."

"Easier than you'd think." Carter says. "We've never had to hide from magic folk, or each other. Just keep the transformations and other more obvious magic out of sight of muggles. Can be inconvenient, sometimes, but it's not hard." Carter chuckles. "Honestly, all my friends are part of the community, anyway."

Ladybug bites her lip and ducks her head. "Speaking of. My friends…"

"If you trust them, you don't have to keep it hidden." Carter says. Her head snaps up. Carter supposes with so much emphasis on secrecy for her thus far, that isn't the answer she expects. "Alya already knows about magic, and everyone knows about the Miraculous now. You don't have to explain everything in detail, or anything, but if you don't want to hide being Ladybug, I don't see why you should. If that goes public, you'd have a lot of attention, though, so you have to think about if you want that or not."

"Really?"

"Really really." Carter nods. "Just use your judgement. Don't tell people you don't trust about the community, and if it's your classmates I'd talk to Juleka first, since she's community proper. Other than that, your secrets are yours to share or hide as you like."

Ladybug is quiet for a long time. So long, in fact, that they're very nearly at the ground floor before she speaks up again. "I'll think about it."

"You've got all the time in the world, boss. No rush."

They exit the elevator to another crowd of people. It takes almost no time at all for them to be seen, and the press rushes to them to ask questions. Carter politely reminds them that they can ask all the questions they want when the event starts, but they can't start the event if they won't let them pass, so the crowd parts for the keepers to make their way to the stage.

"You're late." Avery whispers to him when he takes his place by his side.

"I'm never late." Carter says. "You're just always early."

Avery chuckles. "True."

The mayor approaches them, thanking them for their help with Hawk Moth, and takes his place at the podium to address the city. Carter just crosses his arms and tries to keep a polite smile on his face. It's not too difficult. He just has to focus on Ladybug and Chat, who're both glowing under the camera flashes and the appreciation of their city. Watching them, pride swells in his chest and it's not at all hard to smile.

Ladybug fields the majority of the questions, once it comes to that. Chat does his part, too. As Adrien, he has a lot of experience speaking for the press, so his input is valuable. And the city certainly has a lot of questions for them. Things like, what are they going to do now, without Hawk Moth to fight? "We'll be around." Ladybug says. "We might go running from time to time, and we're going to be available to help wherever we're needed. We're still not vigilantes, though, so moving onward we ask that everyone continue to go to the police to handle regular crime. Not having Hawk Moth around does not mean we're turning our attention to everyday crime. We have an excellent police force who are more than capable of doing their jobs without our help."

What's happening to Hawk Moth's Miraculous? "We're going to be watching over it, along with our own Miraculous. We can promise you that it will never fall into the hands of evil again."

Now that Hawk Moth is defeated, will you reveal your identities? "Chat Noir and I still have to talk about how we'd like to handle this issue, so I can't make any promises just yet. Personally, I would rather not have the attention that would come with everyone knowing my real name. For privacy's sake. We'll keep you updated on that, but I hope everyone understands."

Are you and Chat Noir really dating? "No." Chat Noir answers. "Ladybug and I are just friends, and happily so."

Didn't you yourself say you were dating previously? "Yes, and that was a horrible thing of me to do. Ladybug was clear that she wasn't interested, something that was even on record in interviews, and I crossed the line more than a few times. I recognize what I did was wrong, and I'm working on making sure I never do that to anyone else. Frankly, I'm disappointed that the media supported me in that toxic behavior, and I hope that no one else is hurt because of someone thinking that's an appropriate way to treat someone you love. Especially not if they took me as an example."

"Chat Noir and I are good friends." Ladybug says. "And he's not the only one who needs to work on himself and his behavior before he's ready for a relationship. Now please stop asking. We shouldn't have to keep talking about this even now."

Are you saying you're bad role models? "We never set out to be role models." Chat Noir says. "We just did what we could to protect the city from Hawk Moth. And we're human just like you. We make mistakes, too. How I've been treating Ladybug is one of those. One that I'm doing everything I can to fix."

What can you tell us about the revelation of Hawk Moth being Gabriel Agreste? "No comment." Ladybug shrugs. "We don't know the man personally, only his actions as Hawk Moth. I expect his trial will say everything that needs to be said about him."

Do you think Adrien Agreste knew about his father's plans? "No, he didn't. We've talked to him, and if you don't trust our judgement, trust the police, who have also determined he has nothing to do with it. Adrien is innocent, and we will not tolerate anyone attacking him for his father's crimes."

Where did Polar Bear and Otter come from? How do you know each other? "They're our teachers." Ladybug says simply. Carter shares a proud grin with Avery. "They guided us when we needed help and taught us what we needed to know. Without them, we never would have been able to defeat Hawk Moth so quickly. I've said it in private, but at least once I'd like to take this chance and say it publicly. Polar Bear, Otter, thank you so much for coming to help us. You've no idea what you being here means to us."

"Hear hear!" Chat Noir cheers. "You've taught me so much already. I owe you a lot."

Carter blushes at the attention and crosses his arms. He knows Avery won't be able to speak up in a situation like this, so he answers himself. "A good teacher can only open the door." He says. "You two are the ones who deserve the praise." It's something he's heard nearly word for word from his own teacher so many times it'll never leave his head. Every time he and Avery accomplished something, she'd tell them that. When he glances over, he see's Avery's soft smile and distant eyes, remembering her as well. "We're just honored to have been of help."

Polar Bear, will you and Otter stay like Ladybug and Chat Noir are? "Only for a while." He says. "We still have our lives to get back to back home." Carter smiles at the cameras, wondering if their students are watching this right now. It seems likely.

The conference goes on and on, everyone asking everything they can think of, even taking questions from the internet, but it eventually wraps up and Carter and Avery can finally escape into the privacy of their temporary home. "That was exhausting." Avery complains. "Glad we never have to deal with that kind of stuff."

"I know, I know. But Marinette and Adrien really appreciated us being there. You could tell, right?"

Avery slowly smiles. "Yeah. I could." He takes Carter's face in his hands and gives him a gentle kiss. "You sounded just like our mentor out there, you know."

"Yeah, I heard it as soon as I said it." He chuckles. "But hey, that's a good thing. If we're half as good a teacher as she was, Marinette and Adrien will do just fine."

Avery snorts. "Lord, ain't that the truth." He sighs. "I miss her."

"Me too. She'd be proud of us, though."

"…Yeah, she would."

According to Marinette, school is interesting. She tells Alya that she's Ladybug, so those two are closer than ever without that secret hanging between them. Adrien likewise tells Nino, and so together they decide to open the secret between the four of them completely, but surprisingly those four aren't a core group in class even like they used to be.

Marinette and Adrien are friendly, of course, and they love each other, but they're still focused on improving themselves rather than their relationship with each other. It apparently takes some convincing to get Alya to accept that, but their previous conversation on the topic and both Chat's and Ladybug's scolding of the press at the conference tones back her drive to set them up. So, while Marinette and Alya are thick as thieves, Adrien is not so much a part of that group. More close acquaintances.

Instead, he hangs with Nino most of the time, and with his newfound free time without his father defining his schedule, he spends a lot of time at the hospital, visiting his mother. More often than not, Juleka joins him. That leads to an unlikely friendship between the two, and it's Carter's understanding that Juleka is essentially Adrien's best friend, next to Nino, of course. The two groups overlap a lot, especially with Alya and Nino's relationship tying them together, but they remain two distinct groups.

Avery manages to repair the peafowl Miraculous fully in just a few days, so it's waiting patiently in the Miracle box for Emilie to awaken. Adrien talks to Avery often, as well, but as ever Avery doesn't share the details of those conversations with Carter. If it's not necessary, they don't share things their students have told them in confidence, even with each other. Carter trusts Avery to look after Adrien. Carter has more than a few conversations with Marinette himself, anyway.

Juleka apparently talks to Avery, too. Carter thinks that's probably good for her. Avery knows intimately how tough social anxiety can be, and he's shy even without that, so he relates to her a lot more than Carter can. Carter wouldn't call himself an extrovert by any means, but he's never been shy. Likewise, Luka talks to Carter as well. As ever, Carter makes himself available to help with anything he can.

It goes on for a week and a half, until Avery receives a phone call from Adrien frantically trying to tell them that Emilie has woken up. Her recovery is slow, slower than expected, but as she remains stable all through the wait, that's a good thing. It means she's taking the time to heal.

There's a whole welcoming party in the hotel lobby when they arrive. Adrien's bodyguard and temporary guardian is there, of course, Marinette and her parents, Juleka, Luka, and Anarka. Nino and his parents as well as Alya and her elder sister. Gerard is there, too, and Britt and Julian. Many more of Adrien's classmates and their families. Anyone they know who's nearby and knows Emilie, and many who simply know Adrien and are here to support him. Adrien has clearly been thorough.

Adrien waves them on, though, saying that Emilie wants to speak to them. When they have the hospital's permission, Carter and Avery enter the room alone. "There you are." Emilie says sharply. "About time."

Carter chuckles, and Emilie quickly breaks into a smile. "Good to see you up." Carter says. "How do you feel?"

"Weak. But, I haven't been using my body for over a year, so… all things considered, I'm doing well, I think. That was something I wanted to ask you about, actually. You would know better than I would."

Avery furrows his brow as he looks her over. "You look alright. Could put on some muscle, of course, but spiritually, you're fine. Only problem is the traces of Juleka's magic. The threading that kept your spirit inside until it settled in. Since you're not a spellcaster, it won't hurt you, but we should probably get those stitches removed before you work with Duusu. I don't see them being a problem, but better to be safe than sorry."

Emilie nods. "Understood. When can we do that?"

"Anytime. Your spirit is locked in like anyone else's so removing the stitching shouldn't hurt. That said, your body is still weak. Miraculous transformations aren't anywhere close to transfiguration, but they do have a physical element to them. I wouldn't transform for a long while. Until your strength is back up. Because of that, there's no real rush to get the stitches removed. You shouldn't be transforming anyway, so it doesn't really matter."

"Hm. I see. But… you think I will recover?"

"That's a question for your doctor." Avery says honestly. "I can tell you confidently that your spirit is fine. If your body makes a full recovery, then you should be alright."

Emilie lets out a breath. "Thank you. That's… a relief to hear." They linger in silence for a moment before she beckons them closer. "Come here, please. Both of you." Carter and Avery take up positions on either side of her bed, and at her insistence get close enough for her to pull them into a hug. "Adrien caught me up on everything. Thank you for looking out for my son."

Carter chuckles. "Avery's the one who should be thanked. Adrien's taken quite a shine to him, so I don't do nearly as much work with him myself."

"A good teacher can only open the door." Avery says. "I haven't done anything except open the door for him. It's his choice to listen. And to think."

"You listened." Emilie says seriously. "You took him seriously and treated him with the respect he deserves. I know for you that doesn't mean much, but it means the world to him."

"I'll be sure to make myself a 'not an asshole' award." Avery says, curling his lip.

Emilie giggles, which sets the boys off, too. "Well, you're not wrong. Still, I had to thank you. You've done so much for my family, without even a thought of reward. We'll never be able to repay you."

Avery just shrugs. "It's our job. Our reward is the chance to watch our students grow into great people. That's more than enough."

Emilie smiles kindly. "You two really are something special. Paris, and my family especially, has been blessed to have you here." Heaving a great sigh, she adds, "Now, if only I could find the strength, I'd feed Gabriel his own ass, and then things can really be perfect."

Avery cackles, though Carter rolls his eyes. "It's good to have you back, Emilie." Carter says.