Plagg opened the car door and stared down at a mildly concussed Trixx. He chose to ignore the sympathetic twinge in his gut.

This is her own fault. He reminded himself.

It seemed the only way for her to learn she was in trouble for her to get hurt and he wasn't going to stand in the way of karma just to protect her for the sake of their old friendship.

It was beside the point that she had brought up the topic of his parents on the way here; but that did make it easier for him to be a little less sympathetic toward her case.

He would rather run himself over with his own motorcycle than grudgingly admit to her that she had a point.. and likely knew it too... for being a compulsive liar she was brutally honest.. a combination that caused him maximum suffering.

Trixx lifted her head off of the leather seat and glared at him.

"What?"

Plagg rolled his eyes. "We're here, get out."

Trixx raised an eyebrow at his snappish tone, shot him a knowing smirk and then shrugged, clambering out of the car and swaying a bit on her feet as she attempted to walk across the parking lot.

His hand shot out and clamped around her her arm.

Damn his protective reflexes.

Why couldn't he just take pleasure in the thought of her face hitting the concrete like a jerk?

... Why did the sleeve of her jacket feel bulky?

He became very much aware of the crunch of gravel under his feet as he to a deliberate step back and shot her a glare.

Trixx met his disapproving stare with a self-satisfied smirk.

Plagg knew that look all too well. He couldn't help but let out a exasperated sigh and then the rush of anger.

"You never learn do you?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

"Never learn what?" Trixx grinned.

"Trixx." Plagg warned.

"What? I've just got a few... tricks up my sleeve."

He rolled his eyes at the horrible pun but didn't say anything for a moment.

Trixx let out a sigh of her own and reached into her jacket sleeve, revealing a crumpled up wad of euros.

... He had the sudden urge to smack her.

"I knew it! I knew you were gambling again."

"Would it make you feel better if I said I was sorry?" Trixx asked, the sudden bitterness in her tone nearly stunned him into silence...almost.

"You know, considering I got myself beat up for a couple hundred euros by a bunch of sore losers...for your benefit I might add.. I was expecting you to be slightly more grateful..."

He sputtered at her, blinking in utter disbelief.

"You expect me to say "thanks for getting yourself beat up, now give me a couple hundred in cash? Are you serious right now?"

In response she waved the cash under his nose.

"Come on, you know you need it."

He pushed her hand away from his face. "We are not playing this game." He hissed under his breath. "You promised you would stop helping me the last time I saw you!"

Plagg couldn't help the stab of disappointment and betrayal that he felt in his chest.

"Oh, like you've never broke a promise before."

He gritted his teeth and bit his tongue. He wasn't going to argue about anything with her. He wasn't even going to try and defend himself. What was the point? They both knew she was right.

His loathing stare was met with her placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I pity you and your stupid insecurities."

"Like your life is any better." He snapped.

She brushed off his jab with a nonchalant shrug.

"True." She admitted. "I can admit that I have problems though; you're still that little boy who wants to run away from them and pretend that nothing is wrong."

She waved the stack of euros under his nose again.

"Admit that you need help," she learned in a pressed a kiss to his cheek. He felt her sleight of hand as she slipped the money into his own jacket sleeve.

"and for what it's worth I hope things work out between you and Tikki."

She pulled away and turned on her heel; stumbling the hospital doors in her concussed state.

"Ciao, amico."

Plagg muttered a half-hearted complaint under his breath and shook his head. Turning to walk back across the parking lot to Adrien's car only to glance back at the hospital entrance when the enraged voice of Trixx's parole officer reached his ears.

She shot him a expression that clearly said "not a word out of you" and he had the decency not to smirk and reply with a smart comment.

Trixx slammed the door to the hospital shut and Plagg allowed himself to flinch in sympathy as he watched the two of them gesture back and forth in the pantomime of an argument.

His amusement was cut short when the possibility of having the of a similar argument in the extremely near future with his mother re-entered his mind now that he didn't have Trixx to waste his energy on...

This was definitely the longest day of his life. Honestly with his luck he wouldn't be at all surprised if he were struck by lightning right now...maybe he should just lay down in the parking lot and let someone run him over with their car, drag his broken body through those hospital doors and call Adrien to get a lawyer to come with his will so that he could sign all his worldly possessions over to his cat.

That death seemed a far less painful option then facing his mother's wrath over the fact that Colette had runaway...

Trixx was right. He was a coward. It was just his mother... she wasn't going to murder him...probably...still...calling Adrien and requesting that he hide all the knives seemed like a good precaution.

He reached Adrien's car and opened the door, slamming it shut and pushing the keys into the ignition while his phone dialed Adrien's number. His roommate picked up on the fourth ring.

"How did it go at the hospital?

"Well I contemplated getting myself run over by a car." Plagg began with sarcastic cheerfulness.

"I'm on my way back to the apartment as we speak and as per my final request I beg of you that you hide all the knives so that my dear overprotective mother cannot stab me in a blind rage."

There was a shout from Adrien's end of the phone which sounded like Marinette making some smart comment about his lack of a spine and Plagg stuck out his tongue in response despite the fact that it was just a phone call and Mari wouldn't see.

Adrien hissed through his teeth and took another moment to reply.

"...yeah see about that I can't hide the knives. I'm not at the apartment right now."

Plagg narrowed his eyes and glared out of the windshield.

"Where are you?"

"At my dad's place..."

Plagg raised an eyebrow at the unexpected response.

"Me and Marinette evacuated the premises in the wake of certain disaster."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Real heroic." He mockingly praised. "They should give you two a medal, maybe they'll build you a statue-"

Adrien's protest cut him off.

"Your mom is terrifying when she's mad, and you can't entirely blame us for leaving, when Tikki came back to the apartment she kicked us out."

"Why?"

"Why do you think? Marinette wouldn't stop bugging her about what's been going on between the two of you."

"Me?! Don't try to blame it all on me were both guilty and you know it!" Marinette's protest was muffled through the phone

"My point is: Call Tikki, I'm sure she'll gladly hide all of the sharp projectiles for you... good luck!" Adrien disconnected the call and Plagg cursed his blonde roommate under his breath as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot and retraced his route back to the apartment.

The apartment door was open wide and flung against the opposite wall...it was deathly quiet inside and he braced himself for the impending storm. Standing in the threshold he made eye contact with his mother who was standing ridgid against the kitchen counter, staring down the doorway with an unblinking glare...

Neither of them spoke for a moment and Plagg took a steadying breath a split second before his mother the silence...

"PLAGG SANCOEUR!"

Plagg suppressed the urge to involuntary flinch at the use of his full name and met his mother's enraged stare with a formal nod.

"Mother."

Have to dig your grave don't you. Plagg mentally chidded himself. He could practically see his mother's nostrils flare from across the room.

"Don't you "mother" me, young man! Where have you been?!"

"The hospital."

Hs mother only seemed to process half of the sentence or she simply didn't want to muster up concern to ask why he had been at the hospital.

"And you thought it was perfectly acceptable for you to just go off and leave Colette in the hands of a complete stranger!?"

"Girlfriend." Plagg corrected.

His mother blinked and sputtered. "Excuse me?" She replied with narrowed eyes.

Plagg met her stare with measured silence

"As if that makes it better," she snapped, once his response had sunk in. "I don't know anything about this girl, I've never met her."

"I wonder why." Plagg said dryly.

His mother ignored this comment and continued the arrogant judgement of Tikki's character.

"What exactly makes you think that she can be trusted to look after your sister? If she's anything like that Rossi girl you used to hang around with I don't want her anywhere near Colette."

"And what exactly is wrong with Trixx?"

"Ah, but we're not talking about her are we, we're talking about this mystery girlfriend that you have so conveniently have forgotten to mention to me until now." His mother folded her arms. "What is her name?"

"Tikki Bonheur... I would say it's a pleasure to meet you ma'am but... regrettably I'm afraid that neither of us is making a very good first impression."

Plagg's head turned so quickly that he almost got whiplash; Tikki stood in the hallway, one hand on the wall as she sized up the angry woman who was staring her down.

"And what gives you the right to use that tone with me?"

"Tone? What tone? I came out here to ask that the two of you keep your... discussion... civil, you don't want to upset your daughter do you?"

Plagg blinked at Tikki..

...she wasn't...

"I understand your concerns for your daughter but I assure you that I'm very capable of watching over a child, unlike some people."

...Oh God she was...

She chewing out his mother!

Plagg's jaw hit the floor and it took him a second to compose a straight face when his mother shot a seething expression his direction.

"This is the kind of company you keep? I expected better of you after you decided to reconcile with me and Colette."

Plagg opened his mouth to respond but Tikki was in too deep to stop now and he was admittedly enjoying this too much to have the sense to tell her to stop.

"I will have to disagree with you on that matter; I consider your son a good influence but I will respect your opinion of me and would kindly suggest that you leave if you find my presence so insulting."

His mother turned her loathing expression back to Tikki and lifted her chin.

"Will I have the... pleasure of seeing you again?"

Tikki looked at Plagg over his mother's shoulder and smiled. "I'm sure you will and I look forward to it. Now, could I walk you to the door?"

"I'm quite capable of that myself, thank you for the offer."

Plagg stared open mouthed at Tikki as she shut the door behind his mother.

Tikki turned around and leaned against the door, raising an eyebrow at Plagg's expression. "What?"

Plagg blinked at her in utter disbelief.

"You just insulted my mother's parenting skills and kicked her out." Plagg whispered in awe.

Tikki leaned back against the door flinching. "It wasn't that bad... was it?"

Plagg shrugged. "Could have been worse." He reassured her.

"Could have been better." Tikki countered shaking her head as she pushed away from the door and brushed past Plagg into the kitchen.

"I was going to make hot chocolate, you want some?"

"I was thinking coffee." Tikki turned out tilted her head at him as she glanced at the kitchen clock.

"Coffee? At ten o'clock at night?"

"Long day." Plagg defended, leaning his elbows on the counter.

Tikki shrugged and offered him a sympathetic smile. "Which is why you should sleep." Tikki prompted, glancing down the hallway with a small smile on her face.

"Sleep? What is this concept? It's foreign to me." Tikki rolled her eyes and huffed, she fixed him with the considering thoughtful expression.

"Well you and your insomnia can stay up all you want but you should at least check on your sister... she was worried about you, I managed to get her to go to sleep though."

Tikki watched as Plagg disappeared down the hallway and was only pushed out of her self-contemplating when the microwave beeped. She withdrew the mug of hot water, her fingers curling around the the hot cup. Seeking comfortable warmth in wake of the knowledge that the temperature outside was most likely below freezing now that the sun had gone down.

Her phone chimed in her pocket and she pulled it out to see a message from Marinette asking for the all clear to come back to the apartment. She shook her head and replied with the all clear before she set her phone down on the counter and walked down the hallway to lean against the doorframe. To look in at Plagg sitting on his bed and watching his sleeping sister.

"You know, you're pretty good with kids."

Plagg lifted his head and blinked at her. "How dare you."

Tikki scoffed at his tone of mock offense and crossed over the door threshold to stand at the corner of the bed. "Don't worry, I won't tell Adrien that your secretly a sap."

"I sense a catch to this." Tikki grinned and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Very observant of you." She commented, setting down her mug on his desk.

"But there is no catch." She crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. Unless you count me saying that I'm sorry."

"Why are you saying sorry?"

Tikki edged an inch or two further onto the bed and dramatically flopped backwards... seemingly unaware that her head was now resting on his chest on she simply was far more interested in scolding her own behavior. "I insulted your mother...on multiple accounts!"

"She deserved it."

"I was a total bitch!" Tikki whined.

"She started it, you were just standing your ground."

Tikki made a non convinced sound in the back of her throat and pulled her knees up to her chest with a dejected little whine. He couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not funny!" Tikki hissed.

"I beg to differ, it was very entertaining to watch."

She let out another whine and pulled her knees closer to her chest. Plagg sat up straighter and pressed his back against the wall. "You don't need to take this so seriously, she'll get over it, or she won't; honestly I couldn't care less about you injuring her pride I've been trying to knock her down off her high horse for the years."

Tikki sighed.

Plagg echoed the sentiment and bent his head to rest his chin on top of her head, acutely aware of the fact that she smelled like cinnamon and roses.

"It's not your fault," he insisted when she still didn't respond. "You're stressed out about New York. You've got better things to worry without getting into arguments with my relatives."

She tensed up even further at the mention of New York and dodged the subject, fixating on the last part of his sentence instead."

"She had a valid reason to be upset; she's right she doesn't know anything about me."

"And you had a valid reason to be upset in the same! She insulted your character based off of my behavior in the the past and now you're upset about it."

"I'm fine."

"The fact that you're posture could be described as the vertical equivalent of the fetal position says otherwise. You need to relax."

Tikki hummed and pushed her knees away from her chin. Her shoulders reflexively tensing when she felt fingers rubbing at the knots in the muscles. Her shoulders slumped and she leaned back against Plagg.

"Better?"

"I sense a catch." Tikki hummed.

"How very observant of you, there is in fact actually a catch, what are you going to tell Adrien?"

"That you're not a soft hearted sap." Tikki repeated her statement from earlier and Plagg felt his mouth twitch into a smile. "Good, go to sleep."

Tikki opened her mouth, the protest already coming out of her mouth. "But I need to tell you about New York."

"Shhhhh, in the morning." Plagg coaxed, exhaustion bleeding into his own tone.

Tikki relented with a sigh and pressed her head to Plagg's chest.

"I... might... not go." She muttered into his shoulder as he threaded his fingers through her hair.

"Why's that?" He hummed, already half asleep.

"You..."

"...hmm..."

Marinette turned the doorknob and was only was half surprised to find it unlocked...No what shocked her more was the silence that met her on the other side of the door.

She shot a look at Adrien who shrugged Equally confused by the silence.

"Maybe they're actually dead " Adrien supplied optimistically.

"Tikki texted me saying it was safe."

Marinette objected, waving her cell phone for proof.

Adrien shrugged, dismissing the possibility of murder. "Maybe she went back to your apartment."

"Maybe- no.. that's her phone right there." Marinette pointed out the electronic device abandoned on the countertop.

Adrien glanced down the hallway.

"Plagg is probably in his room I bet he's still awake."

"I'll go ask him." Marinette spoke almost to herself as she made her way into the hallway.

Silence ensued and Adrien had the overwhelming sense that Marinette was about to scream.

He made his way into the hall.

"Mari?"

She was standing in front of Plagg's bedroom door, her mouth open. Motionless.

He had only a split second to process the scene before he clamped a hand over Marinette's mouth to muffle the predicted scream that attempted to to escape her mouth.

"Shhhhh!" He hissed. "You'll wake them up."

"Mmmhmh!" Marinette protested, pushing his hand away from her mouth to whisper a smug reply. "How much money did you say you'd bet that Plagg was awake?"

"It seems I was wrong, he's asleep."

"Asleep with Tikki." Marinette whisper-squealed. For a moment Adrien thought that Marinette had a desire to fulfill a death wish because she seemed to be contemplating marching in there and walking them up but she suddenly pivoted on her heel and marched on of the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Adrien asked.

"Home." Marinette snapped. "When I said those two would make a cute couple I wasn't expecting that I'd suffer through this many heart attacks. I need to go somewhere where I can scream without the risk of someone waking up and murdering me for seeing too much."