Chapter 9

"ADRIEN!" Ladybug screamed as she pelted into the horde of people trying to escape the vicinity. "ADRIEN! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Chat ran after her. Being a head taller than her was the only reason he was able to grab her shoulder before it was enveloped in the crowd. "Ladybug, stop!"

She tried to throw his hand off while screaming, "Let me go! I have to find Adrien! I have to know he's safe!" He got his other hand on her other shoulder and pulled her back to him. She clawed at his grip and kicked at the air with her feet. "LET ME GO!" A car flew over their heads and crashed into the pavement behind them with a sickening crunch. Debris scattered over the crowd. "ADRIEN!" she yelled again. Chat wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet.

"Ladybug," he whispered, pressing his cheek to hers and feeling the cold dread that was there, "Adrien is safe. I saw him, running. He's escaped. He's safe. He's safe. He's safe." He kept saying the words until she stopped fighting him. He pulled their faces apart, and was surprised to feel the wetness of her tears where they had touched.

"You… You're sure?" Her eyes were following the crowd as it surged to the neighboring streets, no doubt praying for a glimpse of the familiar blonde hair.

"Cat's honor."

She was still nervous and twitchy, and talking rapidly in a panic attack. "It's all my fault… I shouldn't have let anyone see me here… Hawkmoth must have seen all the pictures suddenly go up online… It's all my fault… he knows… he used Adrien to get to me and it worked… it's all my fault…"

Chat Noir still had his arms around her. She was shaking. Her reaction had him terrified. "Ladybug, it's going to be alright, we can handle this," he pressed his thumbs into her temples and started rubbing gentle circles there, just like his mother had done when he had been frightened as a child.

She closed her eyes and relaxed into his touch. "Listen to my voice, just my voice," he said slowly and quietly. "Breathe deeply with me, inhale, exhale." She started inhaling deeply through her nose and then blowing air out her lips. "Name five things you can feel without opening your eyes." Her eyebrow raised slightly, but she complied.

As she stomped her feet, she said, "One, the ground. There is ground beneath me. Two, air, there is air around me." Deep breath. "Three," she reached up with one hand and felt her face and hair with her eyes still firmly closed, "there is my mask." Another deep breath. "Four, there is my yo-yo. And five," she reached out with her hands and felt Chat Noir there. Her fingers started on his arms, but then slid up to his shoulders, found his neck, jaw, ears, eyes, and lips. They quickly ruffled his hair and down to his back. "Five, I can feel Chat Noir with me."

"Good," he whispered so she had to still herself to hear him, "Now, tell me who you are."

"I am Ladybug. I am Ladybug," she quietly repeated, before taking a final breath and opening her eyes slowly.

"Better?"

"Yes," she breathed. "But you promise Adrien is safe?"

He nodded and pressed her hand into his chest. She could feel the steady drumbeat of his heart. He was calm and sharp. "I promise."

She finally stopped shaking and nodded resolutely.

"Whatcha say we handle this slimy situation?" he said, inclining his head toward the green sentimonster on the bridge.

She nodded again.

"I'm thinking we should split up," Chat said. "You take the horse miraculous, get back to Paris, call the team, and take down the akuma. I'll keep this thing occupied until you get back."

She bit her lip. "I dunno, Chat, that's awfully risky. And if you get the upper hand on it,"

"Paw. The upper paw."

A tiny smile played on her upper lip. "If you get an upper paw on it, you won't have any way to purify the amok."

"Ladybug, I need to face Lila." He was almost growling. That righteous anger convinced her, more than anything, to let him go.

She nodded her consent. "I'll send some help," she promised. Chat handed her the glasses and she put them on over her mask. "Tikki, Kaalki, unify!" A wave of transformation washed over her, leaving her with an interesting combination of red and black, brown and white, a white streak through her hair and stripes down her sides. Chat gave her a final hug, then released her and launched himself toward the Sentimonster.

Ladybug's miraculous-enhanced ears caught him taunting, "Alright you swamp-imonster, it's Thames to bring you down!"

She laughed a little before calling, "Voyage!" and stepping through the circle of light and onto the roof of Montparnasse Tower.

"Meet me at the top of Montparnasse Tower. Pegasus, remember plenty of carrots!" she panted and sent the group message. She spun her yo-yo in a rapid shield-circle, deflecting blasts from the akuma-of-the-day, a dark figure who had already made a couple dozen pedestrians swap places with their shadow, so that they became a two-dimensional smear on the ground and their body became black and massless. As the sun was setting, the akuma was getting harder and harder to see, and therefore harder and harder to hold off.

She tried hooking her yo-yo around the akuma's waist, but it slipped right through. It fired black energy blasts at her in rapid succession. She jumped high to avoid them and landed on her feet a few meters away. She looked around, trying to figure out where the akuma might be hiding in the massless figure. She threw her yo-yo again with no success. They continued this dance for a while, but Ladybug knew she was going to fail as soon as she couldn't see any more. She wished for Chat Noir, more than anything, as he would have night vision and make quick work of the akuma.

The akuma fired another round of black blasts at her, and she did a back handspring to get away, but wasn't quite fast enough. One blast hit her left arm and it was immediately turned into a useless black fog hanging at her side. She saw on the ground behind her the image of her arm, hand still curled in a fist, looking very awkward on the ground there.

"Ugh!" she moaned as she turned back to the villain. "So not cool!"

She ran at the thing and tapped into her kickboxing training. But her kicks and punches just slid through the creature. Her heart sank. How would she ever stop this thing?

Just then, the best sound caught her ears: several pairs of boots had just landed behind her. She used her yo-yo as a shield as she turned around. King Monkey was setting Max down. Ryuko, Viperion, Rena Rouge, and Carapace were pulling out their weapons, ready to engage. Ladybug managed a weak smile.

"Perfect timing!" she said. She tried to pull the glasses out of her pocket, but her left hand was useless. "Rena, can you take these things for me?" she yelled, keeping her yo-yo as a shield while Rena Rouge raced forward and removed the glasses from their hidden spot. "Pegasus, suit up!"

Max called on his transformation while the rest of the team started engaging the akuma. Nobody had much luck with it.

Luck! That's what they needed! "Lucky charm!" she called, but was surprised when a bottle of herbicide fell at her feet. She looked around to figure it out, but when her eyes saw Pegasus, she knew immediately what needed to happen. "Pegasus!" she yelled, "take this, and Viperion, Carapace, and Ryuko. Go to Tower Bridge in London and help Chat Noir!" She dropped her yo-yo so she could toss the lucky charm at Pegasus, who nodded.

Ladybug turned back to the dark akuma as she heard "Voyage!" called from behind her.

The best the three heroes left standing could do was deflect the black blasts the akuma kept tossing at them. The sun had officially disappeared and the minimal light from the night sky was insufficient to see the black shadow of the akuma. To make matters worse, Ladybug's earrings were softly beeping their descent to disappearance.

"Mirage!" Rena Rouge called, and created a dazzling set of stadium lights around them. With the new light, they could see their opponent, but still didn't have any way to actually get a hold of it. King Monkey bounced from the protective fences around the perimeter of the rooftop, laughing to himself at the joy of superagility. Rena spun her flute as a shield, similar to the way Chat used his baton, and Ladybug felt a twang of heartache rip through her. Chat would've been able to bring this akuma down! Why couldn't she?

"Ok, LB, what's the plan?" King Monkey laughed, balancing on top of his ruyi jingu bang on one foot.

"I… I don't know! Let me think!" She looked around, trying to get ideas, but nothing came to her. Her earrings started to chirp in earnest. Rena Rouge's necklace wasn't far behind.

The akuma roared and started firing black blasts from both hands. King Monkey jumped in front of Ladybug, spinning his jingu bang and protected her from the shadows. But Rena Rouge wasn't so lucky. One of the blasts hit her square in the chest and she was left a smear of color on the rooftop and a massless black cloud in the perfect shape of her ears, tail, and outstretched arms.

"NO!" Ladybug screamed.

Carapace was the first one through the portal to London, and his eyes widened with horror as he saw the trail of destruction spreading out in front of him. There was a long green trail of slime punctuated with craters and rubble from the bridge pointing into the heart of London. Ryuko stepped next to him. "I imagine he must be down there," she stated.

"Yes," Pegasus breathed now that all the heroes were through the portal and he was able to close it, "but I will need to take care of my Kwami for a few minutes. You all go on without me."

Ryuko and Viperion started to run toward the slime trail, but Carapace grabbed both their shoulders and held them back. "No, we're sticking together." And by some strange miracle, they listened to him. Max handed him the red and black spotted bottle of herbicide, called off his transformation, and fed a prancing Kaalki plenty of carrot sticks. In a few minutes she was rearing her head and begging to be allowed back into the battle. They all laughed.

Carapace used the time to check the back of his shield, which turned out to be the most sophisticated device of any of the heroes. Thanks to Max's help just that morning, he'd figured out how to track all the miraculouses currently in use. The screen had two maps, one of London, and one of Paris. He could see the tiny horseshoe, snake, dragon, and turtle on Tower Bridge, and then the route to the little green paw print, and not far from that, the purple peacock. "Guys, Mayura's here! Or maybe the other peacock person that Ladybug warned us about? Looks like Chat's found them."

Out of sudden curiosity, Carapace scrolled to the map of Paris and saw the little red ladybug and the bouncing monkey, but he couldn't locate the butterfly, for some strange reason. And, he noted with a tinge of panic, the fox wasn't on there either. Hoping he'd just not made a thorough search of the map, he shook his head and heard Max call, "Kaalki, Full Gallop," and the four heroes barreled down the slime trail.

They found Chat Noir several blocks away, looking more than worse for wear. He was barely staying upright as the sentimonster hurled slime wads at him.

"Lightning Dragon!" Ryuko called, and a massive bolt of light blasted the sentimonster into the side of a building. Chat looked up at them and his face melted with relief.

"Second chance," Viperion muttered as he scaled his bangle back. Pegasus and Carapace ran toward Chat. The horseshoe flew from Pegasus's hand and spun like a boomerang to clock the sentimonster in the head (if that's what you could call it) and back to him. Carapace was more concerned for Chat's wellbeing than the sentimonster, now that Viperion, Ryuko, and Pegasus were all fighting it.

Chat Noir slumped to his knees and Carapace wrapped his arm under his ribs to help him back up. "Chat, it's going to be ok." Chat could barely nod.

"I know what she means about facing one of these things on your own… brutal."

"We're here now," Carapace said, still trying to comfort the distraught hero.

The monster was able to hurl Pegasus back. Ryuko had gotten herself covered in a blob of slime, so she was out of commission. The monster lifted a huge arm of goo and started bringing it down on their heads.

"Shell-ter!" Carapace screamed just as the hand should have made contact with them, and the slime slid down the sides of his shield instead.

Chat took a deep breath and muttered, "Thanks."

"Here," Carapace said, handing the bottle of herbicide to Chat.

He looked at it in his hands. "She… sent me her lucky charm?"

"Yep," Carapace nodded, holding the shield firmly in place.

"But that means she's got nothing. She's got no protection, no weapon!"
"Dude, it's fine, Rena and King Monkey are with her."

Chat's eyes blazed. "My Lady needs me. Drop the shield!" he yelled, and started spraying the monster with herbicide the second the energy field had lowered enough to let him through. The monster wilted underneath the herbicide, leaving nothing but a slimy puddle. Chat dropped the lucky charm and darted down a dark alley—apparently able to see something the rest of them couldn't.

"Hm, that was… actually pretty easy," Ryuko said as the four other superheroes regrouped.

Viperion laughed, "You didn't see the sixteen other iterations where you got pummeled."

She scowled at him. They went to help Pegasus, but Carapace was still concerned about Chat and what—or who—he suspected was down the alley. He ran after Chat.

"Chat," Carapace could hear sooner than he could see, "just think about it, you, me, Hawkmoth, Mayura, all able to work together to get you exactly what you want! She'd be all yours!"

"I don't know who you think you're kidding, but it's not me," Chat retorted. Carapace finally got close enough to see Chat slowly approaching a girl just shorter than him with a light blue, low-cut dress and goofy feather perched on her head. "But if you give up the amok and your miraculous, I promise nothing bad will happen. Ladybug and I can get you out of this. I know Mayura and Hawkmoth are abusing you. They're making you do things you don't want to do. Jeune Paonne, we can help you. We can save you."

The girl got this misty look on her face. "You mean it? You'll let me join your team? You'll protect me from… her?"

Chat nodded quietly, "Yes, Lila, it's ok, we're going to help you."

Chat didn't notice the way her eyes went wide with shock when he said her name. "Thank goodness for you, Chat," she said in her sickly sweet way. She dropped a keychain she'd been holding. Chat lunged and caught it, but she used his shift in position to her advantage. She brought her elbow down hard into his back and kicked his knee out from under him. He pushed up to his knees. Carapace ran toward them, uncaring that his bracelet was beeping like mad. He was still several paces away when Chat Noir yelled "Cataclysm!" and pulled his arm back, aiming for the peacock brooch on her chest, but her fan flew forward just in the nick of time and caught the destructive power of the Black Cat. The fan disintegrated as she laughed.

"I don't need you, I don't need Ladybug, and I don't need Mayura," she sneered. "She's going to regret not trusting me, ooooh she's going to regret it!" Jeune Paonne kicked Chat into the wall behind them, and he crumpled in shock. She reached down, grabbed his right hand, and slipped the ring from his finger.

Carapace tried to cover his eyes, but he wasn't quite fast enough. The mask sparkled and the claws faded to reveal a bruised and broken Adrien Agreste with his hands pulled over his face.

She laughed and jumped up the walls to the rooftops, clutching her new prize in her fist.

As Rena Rouge disappeared, her mirage fell, plunging them all into darkness. It was ironically good timing, because Ladybug's transformation fell seconds after.

"Ladybug?" King Monkey called.

"Keep your shield up!" she yelled, feeling Tikki's weak body in her right hand and still nothing in her left. She knew everyone's eyes would adjust to the dark in a matter of seconds, so she dove behind an air vent on the roof and fed Tikki whatever she could find in her purse. Quickly, Tikki recovered, but held up a little hand before Marinette could call on her transformation.

"Marinette," she whispered, "get me the purple macaron!"

"Oh!" Marinette gasped, her eyes popping wider. She reached into the special pocket of her purse that held the little box of power-ups. She'd never tried the purple one before.

She tossed it to Tikki, who swallowed it whole and spun in a dazzling array of sparks and rays of shimmering moonlight. "Nocturne-Tikki!" she cried.

"Nocturne-Tikki, spots on!" Marinette cried, and was shocked at the difference the power-up made. She still had no left arm, but she could see. Everything was highlighted in perfect detail. Not only was her vision perfect, she could hear even better than before as well. She took a few steps and noticed her feet made no sound as they padded across the ground.

She saw King Monkey flailing around, spinning his jingu bang like a shield, but nowhere near the crystal-clear shape of the akuma. She stifled a laugh. He was hopping from foot to foot, doing a cartwheel or a handspring, and then hopping some more. Suddenly, he landed and she simultaneously felt a crushing pain in her left arm. "Ouch!" she screamed.

Wait! Why would her left arm hurt like there was a man-sized monkey on it? Her arm wasn't currently in existence. As King Monkey heard her cry, he jumped again and yelped, "Sorry!" and the pain subsided. She looked where he had been standing and saw the outline of her fisted hand, still smeared on the ground. So, that meant it was still there, just… not on her any more. If that was true, then that meant the akuma must have a real body, somehow.

She ran to the edge of the building and looked down. With her fantastic vision, she was able to see a scowling, 2-D figure on the ground far below her, without an attached shadow body. But with only one arm, she wouldn't be able to get to it. "King Monkey!" she called, racing so she stood directly behind the shadowy half of the akuma, "throw a banana at my voice!"

He laughed and called, "Uproar!" The banana swished through the massless akuma, but still did its work. Its powers faltered for a second, Ladybug's arm came back, and Rena Rouge bounced up and high-fived King Monkey. Ladybug jumped over the safety barriers and pointed her hands down in a swan dive. When she had five stories left, she tossed her yo-yo and slowed her descent so she landed softly on her feet. The akuma's face was glaring at her, yelling, "No, no no!" as she stomped into the flashlight it appeared to be holding in its hand. A black and purple butterfly wriggled free, and she called "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma, time to de-evilize!"

Once she'd waved the white butterfly away, she raced inside and took the elevator back to the top of Montparnasse tower. Kim and Alya were standing side-by-side, trying not to look at each other as they fed their kwamis.

"We need to go help Chat Noir," she panted. She used her yo-yo to try to call Chat Noir, but there was just a busy signal. She pulled out the silver cellphone and dialed his number. It went straight to voicemail. "Where is that cat?" she growled, going back to the yo-yo and trying Carapace, then Ryuko, and Viperion. No answers, none at all.

Thoroughly panicked, she took the silver cellphone and tried Chat one more time.

"L-Ladybug," a quiet, broken voice whispered through the speaker.

"Oh Chat! Are you ok?"

"D-Don't come yet. Pegasus will get you soon." He hung up on her.

"Chat!" she screamed at the phone, even though she knew he wouldn't hear her.

"VIPERION!" Carapace screamed as he raced back to the square where they'd battled the sentimonster, "TURN IT BACK SECOND CHANCE SECOND CHANCE DO IT NOW!" Carapace rounded the corner and saw Pegasus standing next to Kagami and Luka, who were holding their kwamis in their hands gently and looking his direction with bemused faces. "NO!"

"What is it, Cap?" Luka called after him as he spun on his heel and headed back into the alleyway. Carapace's transformation fell as he crouched next to his friend who was stashing a silver phone back in his pocket.

"Adrien," Nino whispered, "Adrien, I'm so sorry man…"

Adrien just shook his head. "I… need to get back to my hotel room."

"Sure, anything, where is it, dude?"

Adrien was shaking so hard he could hardly stand. Nino heard the others entering the alleyway. "Stop! Don't come any closer!" Adrien yelled with surprising force. "Go back to Ladybug, but don't come back until I say so, ok? Promise me?"

"Chat Noir, are you alright?" Pegasus's voice called to them.

"Just go, and don't let her come here until I say so!"

"O-ok," Pegasus responded with uncertainty.

Adrien reached out to Nino, who wrapped his arm under his friend's bruised ribs to steady him on his feet. "Where's your hotel?" Nino repeated.

"We're not that far, I was trying to lure the sentimonster closer so I could pick up some… supplies…" Adrien winced as they hobbled to the end of the alley. "Still, I'd rather not have a million pictures of a bloody-pulp-of-an-Agreste all over the internet… could you manage to take me through the window?"

"Sure, dude," Nino said, and checked on Wayzz who was happily chowing down on the host of goodies Nino had stuffed in his pockets—unsure of what his kwami might enjoy. "Shell on," he requested, and once he was super-strength again, he scooped Adrien gently in his arms and jumped to the rooftops. "Which room?"

Adrien gave a mirthless laugh, "The penthouse suite, of course." Adrien pointed to an open window on the top floor of the hotel. Carapace jumped through the open window with a soft thud and set Adrien down. He hobbled to the closet and started rifling through it, and Carapace dropped his transformation out of respect for his unmasked friend.

"Adrien, I… I… You're Chat Noir. Like, The Chat Noir." Nino's brain was racing. "All this time, all those random disappearances, all those lame excuses…"

Adrien wasn't really listening. He pulled out a black garment bag that had a lock on it. He pressed his thumb to the lock and it popped open with his fingerprint.

"You're Chat. Noir."
"Not any more," Adrien moaned as he pulled out the contents of the garment bag. "Not unless we can get my miraculous back."

Nino's mouth dropped open. "I'm so sorry, bro," he huffed.

Adrien just shook his head. He pulled off his shirt and started putting on a sleek black one with green accents and buttoned it up. "We've got to get it back. Lila's got it, and by extension, Hawkmoth."

"I don't follow, man…"

"Lila's been working with Hawkmoth since the end of school," Adrien said rapidly, now replacing his pants, "Ladybug and I tracked her here. Mayura's been training her to be some kind of a replacement. Tonight… well, tonight was a disaster. I was trying to find out more about Lila's connection with Mayura so I took her on a date as Adrien, but Ladybug was willing to meet me after and I shouldn't have pressed her to do it… gah I'm such an idiot! Why did I invite her here? It just lured her into a trap!"

Adrien was talking so quickly that Nino was having a hard time keeping up. "Wait, you were on a date with Lila? Or Ladybug?"

"Both, Lila first, but that was just a façade to press her for more information. Then Ladybug came because Chat Noir asked her to check up on me."
Nino scratched his head. "This is kinda confusing."

Adrien paused from tying his shoes and dropped his head between his knees. "I know. Confusing has been the story of my life for the last year."

Nino laughed. Then Adrien laughed. And they both sat there laughing until they'd had their fill.

"So you tried to get information out of Lila, and then you met up with Ladybug, and of course Hawkmoth found out that Ladybug was in London because even I saw the pictures of her picking you up in front of St. Paul's Cathedral."

Adrien nodded. "I just couldn't help it. She was willing to meet me without my mask on and I've… loved her since day one, man. I couldn't say no. I knew the danger of it, I knew what was at risk, but I couldn't help myself. I had her meet me in a super-public location and I took her to the top of Tower Bridge and brought her bonbons and the whole works."

"And Hawkmoth, that jerk, decided to launch a double attack because he knew you couldn't be two places at once," Nino finally deduced. Adrien dropped his face in his hands.

"And we split up, which was my brilliant idea," he said with venom in his voice, "and now Lila's got my miraculous."

"Hey, dude, we'll get it back. I promise we'll get it back."

Adrien managed to stand up and even Nino had to appreciate his amazing new outfit. Adrien pulled out a mask and attached ears from the bag and slipped them over his eyes.

"Uh, that is the coolest Chat Noir costume I've ever seen, including the actual one," Nino muttered.

Adrien smiled his little half-grin. "Thanks, Marinette made it for me. Well, technically, she made it for Ladybug who gave it to me."

Nino cocked his head and raised his eyebrow. "Huh?"

"See? Story of my life."

"Maximilien Kanté you take me to him this instant or I'll take your miraculous away forever and give it to your pet robot!" Ladybug threatened with her finger on his nose. Max shuddered in fear.

"He… he made me promise!"

"I don't care what he made you promise! He's my partner and he needs me, now!"

Luka, Kagami, Kim, and Alya were all eyes as they swiveled between Ladybug and Max, back and forth, like some kind of super-charged tennis match.

"Give me the glasses!"

"No!"

"NOW!"

"No!"

"Monkey, Ryuko, strong arm him!"

Kagami placed her hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "Ladybug, you need to trust Chat. He knows what he's doing."

Ladybug glared at Kagami, who, of course, was right. "I really hate you right now," she growled.

Kagami smiled gently, and Alya gave Ladybug a light hug. The three girls paced the roof of Montparnasse tower for several minutes while the boys looked on, unsure of how to handle the situation. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Ladybug, a text came through.

Kitty: safe

She held it up to Max, who called on his transformation and quickly cried, "Voyage!" and took her back to the square where the puddle of green goo still slimed. Carapace was standing guard in front of a boy wearing a black jacket… black pants… and bright green shoes.

"Oh no, Chat!" Ladybug cried, covering the distance between them in three huge leaps. She threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. "No, no, no! I never should have left you, this is all my fault, I'm so so so sorry!" She pounded her fist into the lapel of the stunning jacket.

"Ow," he winced.

She pulled back and looked at the pain in his eyes. "Oh," she moaned, "I'm sorry!" she repeated.
He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the ground.

"No, this is all my fault."

"Chat, no, I'm not going to let you take the blame for this."

Carapace cleared his throat. "As eager as you two are to win the battle of the blunders, we do have two cities in ruins and a very battered Chat Noir to heal, so…"

"Oh!" she squeaked before she picked up the wasted herbicide bottle, still on the ground where Chat had dropped it half an hour earlier. Chat Noir tossed her the keychain Adrien had made for Lila earlier that week. She cracked it in half and released the amok, purified it, and then threw the lucky charm in the air with a "Miraculous Ladybug!" Quickly the buildings were healed, the goo cleaned up, and a huge portion of sparkly Ladybugs flew south—undoubtedly healing Paris at the same time.

She half hoped that when the miraculous finished its magic, Chat's mask would be back on instead of the imposter she'd made for him. But not even the magic ladybugs could return his miraculous to him. His body was healed, but he stood there, quiet and distraught, in the fake mask and ears with tears running down his cheeks.

She walked up to him, placed her hand on his cheek and forced him to look her in the eyes. "Chat Noir, this is not your fault. We are going to get your miraculous back, if it's the last thing I do."

"But it is my fault," he tried to say, but she pressed her finger to his lips.

"No. It's Hawkmoth's fault. And Lila's fault. Not yours." He was still shuddering with sobs. She pressed her thumbs into his temples and started rubbing circles there. "Tell me five things you can feel."

He smiled at her though the tears. She pulled his face down to her level and kissed him, hard, square on the mouth. He tensed up in shock, but didn't pull back. She pressed her lips into his even harder, until his face and neck softened and he placed a hand on her back. She didn't let the kiss end quickly—she had too much important information to give him with that kiss—but eventually she pulled her face back just far enough that she could look him in the eyes. "Could you feel that?"

He nodded, breathless.

"Good. I promise you, I promise you, we will get your miraculous back. And then I'm going to kick Lila's butt."