"Plagg!" Marinette shouted once she shut the heavy doors behind her.
"Nuh-uh!" Plagg zipped out of his hiding spot and crossed his arms. "You're not joining the fight!"
"Plagg, that's—no! I'm not doing that!" she huffed and shot him an exasperated look. "I just need to tell my husband what past-Adrien found out."
"Can't you text for that?" Plagg whined. He then let out a sharp yowl when the mansion rumbled at the sound of a far-off explosion.
"If he isn't already transformed," Marinette mumbled, pulling out her phone anyway to give it a try. She sent Adrien a quick text as she started up the stairs in the foyer, not feeling very confident he would be able to reply.
While she yearned to call up her own transformation and join him, she knew she shouldn't, not if she wanted him to keep his head in the fight. There was no way Adrien would be able to concentrate on the akuma if he was worrying about her the whole time.
"Marinette!" Nathalie's voice rose above the wail of sirens from the city, and Marinette looked up to find her at the top of the stairs. They met on the first landing, and Nathalie adjusted her glasses as she quickly explained, "There are reports of multiple akuma attacks and..." Her expression narrowed with what appeared to be disgust. "A sentimonster as well."
"What?" Marinette yelped in surprise while Nathalie grabbed her wrist to tug her gently up the stairs, only for her to quickly release her and head down toward the entrance where one of the security panels was hidden in the wall.
"Return to Adrien's room," Nathalie commanded. "Once I activate the security system, this mansion will be the safest place in Paris."
"I believe your security has a fatal flaw."
Marinette froze at the sound of the steely voice, and her skin prickled with a cold chill as she lifted her gaze. The intruder's dark form nearly disappeared in the shadows of the corridor, his face partially hidden behind the elegant fan he held. But she wasn't fooled by his transformation or the ornate mask over his eyes—she already knew who he was. When Gabriel had given the miraculous to Adrien to return to Marinette, there was only one person who had been capable of stealing them from him.
"It's useless when your enemy is already inside," he finished, snapping the fan blades shut to reveal an amused smirk.
"Félix," Nathalie hissed.
Félix held up a finger and slowly wagged it from side to side. "Ah-ah. We've talked about this, Nathalie. It's 'Paon,' unless you want me to inform the police of the mastermind behind Hawk Moth's activities?" His eyes narrowed into slits. "Family or not, if I go down, so do the both of you."
"What do you want?" Marinette snapped, already impatient. She had little tolerance for his condescending attitude and the games Félix constantly played with them.
"Marinette," Félix tsked as he took his time moving deliberately down the stairs toward her. She instinctively took a step back with each of his, yelping when she accidentally missed the landing at one point. "I only heard about the good news and just wanted to give you my congratulations in person." He smiled at her, mockingly. "Though… It is unfortunate that Ladybug's miraculous cure didn't help with your trip to the hospital yesterday."
"What do you mean?" Marinette felt an uneasy dread wash over her. Obviously, he had found out about her pregnancy from the news outlets, but how did he know about her hospital visit? Panicked as he was, Adrien had at least been careful to tell the doctors not to spread the news, and there was doctor-patient confidentiality to boot. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"It means that Farfalla simply wants to take advantage of this opportunity," he answered before suddenly launching himself over the banister. As he reached out for her, she managed to slip back, grabbing onto the railing and quickly vaulting to the main floor, but he met her in an instant. With his superpowered strength, he easily landed at the bottom of the stairs before her.
Nathalie's foot came up out of nowhere, aimed at his head, but Félix sidestepped, quickly dancing out of her range.
"It's laughable," Félix said as he swung his fan in an arc. While Nathalie managed to avoid him, Marinette lost her footing and stumbled backwards. "That you think you are a match for someone with a miraculous."
He twisted toward Marinette as she tried to recover, and Nathalie jumped in front of the blow meant for Marinette. Félix's heavy kick sent her into the stairway, where she slammed into the steps and slumped against them.
"Nathalie!" Marinette shouted before balling her fists and shuffling her feet into a fighting stance. Félix smirked at her from behind his fan.
"Really? Attempting to be a hero?" he said, his tone clearly mocking her.
"Just try it," Marinette growled, raising her arms in front of her defensively, daring him to come at her.
She'd been so confident that she was ready for what he might throw at her, but when Félix darted forward, Marinette swung one of her fists, only for him to catch it and evade her follow through with the other. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat. "You're in way over your head, Marinette."
Ignoring his taunt, she tried to twist her hand out of his grasp, but he yanked on her arm and pulled her off balance. When Marinette yelped and attempted to right herself, he caught her waist and squeezed tightly, trapping her in his embrace. She bristled at the uncomfortably close contact.
"Don't even think about using my baby as leverage in one of your schemes!" she spat at him.
"You're being unnecessarily cold." He clicked his tongue softly as his voice dripped with false concern. "With a sentimonster in the area, I thought you might look forward to the protection of a hero."
"That monster is your creation!" Marinette barked, flailing her limbs and kicking wildly to try and loosen his hold.
"Technicalities." Félix shrugged before lifting her off her feet to swing her over his shoulder.
"Félix!" Marinette shrieked, her fingers digging into the material of his dark suit as the decorative tail feathers of his costume fanned out in her view of the floor. She tried to twist around and lift herself, his shoulder digging uncomfortably into her stomach, but he still had one arm around her waist, while the other held her knees. The proximity of his hand against her thigh made her insides squirm. "Put me down!"
"Forgive me, Marinette, but I'll have to deny your request. Farfalla has stressed to me how vital an asset you are for her latest plans," Félix explained with a dark chuckle. "And of course, you know me," he added. "I never miss an opportunity to piss off Adrien."
"Well, fat chance!" She pulled her arm up and slammed her elbow into the back of his head. His grip immediately loosened, and while she had him momentarily stunned, Marinette managed to wrench her body out of his grasp. Before he could catch her again, she flipped over his shoulder. Félix recovered quickly and spun around, but he only wound up meeting her fist as she rocked forward to punch him square in the jaw. "I'm no damsel!"
Stumbling back into the middle of the foyer, Félix sagged slightly, but kept on his feet as he gingerly rubbed his chin. "Huh," he grunted. "That actually stung a little."
Marinette ground her teeth with a growl, then sprinted forward, swinging back her arm as if she were preparing to strike again. Instead, she wanted him to dodge, maybe even counter in some way, and when he moved to avoid her attack, she would slip past him and run to Nathalie, who appeared to be waking from her daze at the bottom of the stairs.
But he surprised her by jumping directly in front of her fist, catching her wrist before she could dip past. Digging his fingers into her skin, Félix tugged her around, and Marinette cried out when he twisted her arm painfully behind her back.
"Do I really need to bring the sentimonster into this, Marinette?" his voice hissed in her ear as he forced her closer.
"Marinette, the door!" Nathatlie's sharp yell rang out, right before her leg swung into view. Félix spat out a garbled curse as Nathalie's kick hit it's mark and smashed his head into the heavy wooden doors, and his grip on Marinette tore free.
She didn't waste a single second, leaping to the entrance and immediately yanking on one of the handles. Before he could regain his bearings, Nathalie tackled Félix and tossed him out the open doorway, then immediately spun around and practically punched the nearby controls to hit one of the switches inside.
Marinette hadn't even shut the doors completely when the metal plates started to slide into place, sealing the mansion behind a layer of impenetrable security. She didn't relax until the last panel slammed shut, and she all but collapsed against the floor as the quiet fell over them.
"Plagg," Marinette panted weakly. She was only faintly aware of his dark shape floating above her after flying out of his hiding spot. "Claws out."
"Marinette?" Nathalie stepped closer and kneeled beside her, adjusting the cracked glasses against the bridge of her nose as her gaze swept over Marinette's body, hesitating only for a moment over her stomach. "Are you hurt?"
"A little bruised, but it's mostly fatigue," Marinette mumbled while grabbing her baton from its holster and popping it open. She immediately sent a call to Adrien's yo-yo. Unsurprisingly, he was already transformed, but he didn't look happy when his masked face appeared on her weapon's screen.
"Why are you transformed this time?" His stern tone faltered about halfway through his words, and she watched his expression quickly morph from anger to concern as his eyes darted over her.
"It wasn't by choice," she huffed. "Félix showed up at the mansion."
"Did you activate the security system?" he asked, expression contorted with worry. "Even though there are two akuma, we have more than enough heroes out here—"
Adrien's voice was drowned out by the heavy clang of something slamming against the mansion's defenses, the floor below her vibrating slightly from the impact.
Nathatlie cursed and placed her hand over Marinette's to shift the camera so that Adrien could see her as well. "Paon is using a sentimonster to attack the mansion. Before we got the security system up, he tried to abduct Marinette." At her words, Adrien's expression narrowed in fury. "The defenses are in place, but I don't believe they will hold him off for long."
"We'll be there shortly," Adrien stated before the call cut out.
"Claws in," Marinette sighed while Plagg reappeared in the green flash of light, spinning around in the air above her head.
"What are you doing!?" Plagg yelped, throwing his arms up. "You'll be safer if you're transformed!"
"There is no way in or out of the mansion right now," Nathalie pointed out while Marinette gently rubbed her forehead. She was completely content with letting her explain, since Nathatlie had obviously caught on to her train of thought. "If the sentimonster manages to break through the security wall, then Félix will be suspicious when he finds Lady Noire, but no Marinette."
"Well, we should at least go further in," Plagg grumbled. "Does your boss still have that evil lair beneath his office?"
Nathalie stood and brushed off her pants, then bent down to offer Marinette a hand. "Yes. The chamber is still intact, but Félix knows about it. Still…" Nathatlie hummed softly as she helped to pull Marinette to her feet. "We can use it as an extra barrier between us and slow him down." Her lips pulled into a thin frown, pausing to make sure Marinette could walk before quickly stepping toward Gabriel's office. "It's a good thing you were here and not at your parents' today."
Marinette stopped in the middle of the foyer at that, the low drumming of her pulse echoing in her ears. "It was lucky…" Her gaze narrowed as it darted back toward the main doors. "But if he was looking for me specifically, how did he get here so quickly?" She saw Nathalie's expression widen. "And how did he know I was here?"
"Foresight!" Plagg shouted.
"Is that the akuma from the past?" Nathalie asked. "So Farfalla is using her ability to look into the future?"
Marinette nodded to agree, but before they could move again, the entire mansion shuddered with a loud rumble. The shriek of twisting metal split the air, and rubble rained down from the ceiling in a shower of dust.
"Gabriel's office! Now!" Nathalie shouted, but she didn't have to tell Marinette twice as sunlight poured in through the new hole that had appeared in the roof. Despite her exhausted body, she darted after Nathalie, attempting to follow her into the sanctity of Gabriel Agreste's not-so-secret lair.
She didn't make it very far before Félix dropped down in front of her, landing in a crouch against the floor and rising to completely block her way. He lifted his hand and twitched his wrist, flipping his fan open with a grim frown. "Do you really think you can escape me?"
Nathalie's heels clicked against the marble, and Félix spun around just in time to block her kick with his weapon. Right as her foot connected, he tossed his arm out, sending her tumbling backward to slam into the door of the open office. "Nathalie, you're just going to get yourself hurt trying to help her, or worse. Why not make this simple and let me take her?"
"Not a chance," Nathalie hissed with such venom in her tone that it surprised Marinette.
"Suit yourself." Félix shrugged and snapped his fan closed, then pointed it at Marinette, who had been attempting to slink away while Nathalie had him distracted. "Arbor, capture Marinette. I don't care how you deal with anyone that tries to stop you."
The walls and foundation of the mansion crumbled and cracked as, what looked like, a gigantic arm-shaped tree limb shoved its way inside the hole at the roof, shaking the building and causing more debris to rain down on them. Marinette sprinted toward the entrance doors and hit one of the security release buttons as the spindly claws made up of leaves and twigs slowly moved over the floor, seemingly hesitant, as if it didn't know where she was.
"Félix, call it off!" Marinette heard Nathalie shout. The sentimonster wasn't moving very quickly, but the shadow of it's arm slid over her while it crept closer, and the steel panel blocking the door seemed to be grinding open at an agonizing pace.
"It's Paon!" Félix shouted back, his voice rising in anger. "You would do well to remember that! And I wouldn't have to resort to this if you would stop interfering!"
Marinette let out a surprised yelp when something brushed up against her back, and she spun around to press herself flat against the wall to see the sentimonster's hand hovering right in front of her.
"Arbor! There! Capture her!" Félix shouted.
Marinette jumped to the side and threw her body to the floor right as the sentimonster's hand slammed into the wall, sending up an explosion of dust and rubble as it nearly collapsed beneath its strength.
"Are you trying to kill me!?" Marinette screamed, peeking back up at the damage the sentimonster had caused.
She immediately regretted her words, because the sentimonster's claw-like fingers spread open and shot straight toward her. Marinette tucked to roll through the opening of the damaged doorway, but surprisingly, the sentimonster's limb suddenly retreated when its beastly roar pierced the air outside the mansion.
"What are you—!" Félix growled, whipping back around to the opening right as an excited voice whooped from outside.
"Yow! Looks like this sentimonster's bark is worse than it's bite!"
"Chat Noir!" Marinette cried, pushing her way through what was left of the front doors. She slipped out into the courtyard to stare up at the sentimonster that loomed over the yard, its spindly limbs swatting the air as it tried to catch a small black shape darting over its leafy exterior.
"What is he doing here!?"
Marinette turned to see Félix already following after her, though he had frozen on the stairs to glare at his sentimonster—or more specifically, Adrien, as he annoyed the gigantic beast with his baton.
"What's wrong 'Paon?'" Marinette couldn't help the snide remark at seeing his disgruntled expression. Things were obviously not going his way, and it was too tempting to pass up an opportunity to disrupt his normally poised demeanor. "Didn't have the foresight for a better plan?"
Félix whirled around to face her, his furious expression making her rethink her decision to rile him up—but only a little. He didn't say a word as he snapped his fan in her direction, which did little more than to create a gentle gust that didn't even reach her.
As she puzzled over that, a shadow blotted out the sunlight, and Marinette jerked her head back to see the sentimonster reaching for her. When did it move so quickly!?
Marinette scrambled to move, but the monster's claw fell around her like a cage dragging over the pavement. She screamed as it closed, scraping up a bit of the walkway in the process. As cobblestones fell away and tumbled to the ruined yard, the spindly branches that made up the monster's hand trapped her, pinning her arms even as she tried to twist free from its grasp.
"Marinette!" She heard Adrien's shout shortly before he landed against the sentimonster's forearm, his claws scrabbling over the bark as he ran on all fours toward her.
He didn't get very far when Félix suddenly slammed down in front of him, brandishing his weapon as he pointed it at Adrien. "How are you here!?" Félix growled.
"May… ura?" Adrien froze, his mouth gaping open in a stunned expression.
"Chat Noir!" Marinette yelled to snap him out of it while Félix lunged. "Don't zone out, he has the peacock miraculous!"
Adrien ducked beneath Félix's swing and flipped onto the sentimonster's shoulder as the large beast turned away from the mansion, its heavy footfalls shaking the nearby buildings with every step.
"I can't get these off!" Plagg hissed from somewhere in the tangle of branches as she twisted toward his voice.
"It's alright," she whispered back to him, trying to move her hands protectively over her stomach. The branches and vines within the monster's grip appeared to be tangled around her limbs, and something else poked uncomfortably close to her abdomen. "I'm fine. The baby's fine," her voice wavered quietly as she tried to reassure herself. "We'll be fine."
"Marinette!" At Adrien's shout, she craned her head around to watch as he sprinted back along the sentimonster's arm, falling into a crouch above her with a panicked look. Behind him, Alya had Félix distracted with an array of Rena's illusions flitting through the air.
With a nervous glance at the clawed branches, Adrien worked his baton into a small space between her and the sentimonster's appendage, and wedged it against the rough bark. As he extended it, the grip squeezing her loosened, and she eventually found that she could easily pull her arms free.
Adrien grabbed a hold of her wrists and helped to gently tug her up, but something jerked her back, and Marinette glanced down to see a length of vine wrapped around her stomach. Adrien cursed and eyed his claws with a wary expression. "Uh, is it alright...?"
"Cataclysm here." She pointed to a section of the vine that wasn't touching her, but still connected to the one that stubbornly held her.
Adrien called out for his attack through grit teeth, his expression stiff with concentration and far from anything but calm. He reached forward, claws trembling slightly as he carefully worked them toward the tether, ensuring that the destructive power was kept well away from the baby that she was carrying.
Lost in his concentration, Adrien didn't notice Félix swing in from behind, and Marinette couldn't warn him in time to avoid his cousin's kick to the back. As Adrien tumbled into her, he quickly flung his arm around so that his Cataclysm was well away from making any contact with Marinette. Unfortunately, his claws hit his own baton, and as the metal of his weapon corroded, the leaves of the sentimonster's spindly claws shivered around them.
Its grip came crashing back against her, and Marinette let out a strangled gasp as it crushed the breath from her lungs. But the suffocating pressure that squeezed her body was nothing compared to the sharp ache that shot through her stomach.
Marinette's knuckles turned white as she clenched at the rough bark, all thoughts going to that barely formed baby tucked protectively in her abdomen. She prayed that it was only her own pain that she was feeling and not her unborn child's.
Adrien was already gone, dragged back into a fight against Félix. Even with his sensitive hearing, he probably couldn't pick up her soft, strained breaths as she tried to call out, all the while her sight faded behind a patchwork of dark blotches.
Spots.
She almost giggled at the thought of seeing spots.
Then a familiar yo-yo zipped into view, and she believed she was seeing double as the pair of miraculous weapons wrenched the sentimonster's branches apart, its grip instantly releasing her.
Strong arms caught her before she could fall, and for a brief moment she thought the splotches were taking over her vision before she realized it was only her past-self crouched on the tree limbs before her, helping her husband to untangle the remainder of the vines. Soon enough, she was free, and her Adrien's deep voice was there in her ear, his arms hugging her as he whispered gentle reassurances that she was safe.
Not me, Marinette tried to say, but the air in her lungs had completely left her. It's not me. Please, the baby! Please!
Marinette's ragged breath made it impossible to form the words, to take in the necessary oxygen—anything to let them know that she was fine. But her voice rasped out formlessly as Adrien carried her from the fight. He eventually set her down on a rooftop far away from the mess happening in front of the Agreste mansion, her back resting against the wall of a chimney.
Adrien must have noticed her struggle, because his voice was full of concern when he leaned over her. "What's wrong?" he asked. His hand found hers and squeezed it. "Are you hurt?"
Taking a breath felt like a fight on its own. It was as if her lungs had turned into deflated balloons, stuck together and unable to expand. When words failed her, she finally thought to communicate by moving her free hand over her belly and clutching at her wrinkled shirt, flicking her eyes down. His face turned pale behind the mask as he quickly understood the message.
"I'm taking her to the hospital," Adrien announced as he moved to cradle Marinette in his arms, but she pushed his hands away and shook her head.
"She's telling you to stay." Her younger-self appeared over his shoulder, obviously suited up from the battle, and placed a hand against his back. "Chat Noir and Rena Rouge are holding off the sentimonster, but we need to find the feather and purify it. Not to mention there are still two akuma out there!"
"I know that—I just—I have to—" His voice cut out when Marinette squeezed his hand.
She pointed toward the sentimonster and managed to get out a raspy, "Mi… ra... culous..."
Adrien nodded slowly. "Okay." He grasped both her hands in his and brought them up to lay a lingering kiss against her fingers before setting them in her lap and stepping back. "Stay with her, please?" he asked her younger-self.
"I will," Ladybug answered, her eyes flicking over to Marinette with a curious glance.
With that, Adrien nodded and swung out his yo-yo, leaping away to rejoin the battle.
Ladybug knelt down next to her and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?" Her hands hovered over Marinette's midsection, where her own were tightly clenched in her rumpled shirt. "I don't see any blood."
"It's internal," Plagg popped up from behind her shoulder. "The sentimonster probably crushed something when it grabbed her." His voice sounded strained, possibly agitated—furious, or just a combination of everything.
Marinette couldn't help the small whimper that escaped at his words. It was a problem caused by the miraculous, so the lucky charm would fix everything… right?
"Looks that way," her younger-self responded to Plagg before her eyes flicked back to the battle. Though Marinette's thoughts were clouded with anxiety and pain, she recognized that calculated look on her face. "He seems a little distracted."
"No surprise," Plagg said. "He can't concentrate when he knows his partner is hurt."
"Partner?" Ladybug stiffened before relaxing and nodding slowly. "Right, it's hard to remember that he knows who we are. It's just so… surreal."
"He's worried," Marinette finally managed to rasp out. Her rough voice could barely go above a whisper, but at least she'd managed to take a full breath again. That, unfortunately, did not help with the sharp ache growing in her abdomen.
"Uh huh," her younger-self mumbled in agreement, but from the brief reply, Marinette didn't think she was entirely convinced Adrien's concern wasn't something more.
Marinette sighed, but that simple action sent up a twinge of pain through her, and she clenched her teeth, hissing with a sharp intake of breath.
Ladybug reached out to her, but her fingers hovered without touching. "If you transform, would the suit help with your injury?" she asked.
Marinette was grateful when Plagg answered for her with a shake of his head. "The suit can only protect what isn't damaged, not heal what's already been done. We'll just have to wait for Mister Bug to use his lucky charm. It should fix whatever's wrong." Plagg sent her a concerned look. "I-it will fix things, okay, Marinette?"
Plagg appeared to be just as worried as her. It was technically miraculous related, created by the sentimonster, but was there a limit? Would there be complications like the previous day? Or had that simply been a fluke caused by her own negligence?
She felt the tears fall from her eyes before she even realized they had formed, and there was nothing she could do to stop them or try to calm herself.
"Woah! Hold on!" Ladybug's hand squeezed her arm, looking just as awkward as she felt at being comforted by herself. "If our Chat Noirs are anything alike, then I know we can count on him, so hold out until that time, alright?" She smiled reassuringly.
A loud commotion rose up from the mansion behind them, and Ladybug jolted to turn and watch. Marinette could just barely see over the lip of the roof, but she noticed a few extra heroes had joined the battle, with Pegasus and Carapace lending their strength now. The greatly outnumbered sentimonster had little chance against an entire team, and in no time at all, the creature was promptly overwhelmed.
Someone must have figured out the amok's location, because the sentimonster's echoing roar cut out as it dissolved into billowing darkness. Adrien's voice rose up in a cry for his 'Miraculous Mister Bug' as he tossed his lucky charm into the air, summoning the storm of healing ladybugs to swarm the city.
The cloud of magical insects appeared to gun straight for her, because not even a second had passed when they converged on Marinette with a glowing warmth. Her pain all but disappeared, and Marinette had to cover her eyes as more tears streamed down her cheeks. She couldn't stop them. The relief of knowing and feeling that her baby was safe again was too much.
There were a few soft thumps against the roof as the other heroes joined them.
"Marinette?" Her husband's gloved hand laid atop one of her own. "Did the miraculous help?"
Marinette nodded, but she didn't pull her hands away. "I'm okay," she sobbed softly.
"I'll take her to the hospital." Adrien pushed his arms beneath her and gently scooped her up to cradle against his chest. "Just to... uh... make sure. Post-akuma check-up," he said for the benefit of her past-self.
"Is the baby alright?"
Marinette sucked in a breath and peeked through her fingers just in time to see past-Adrien slap his claws over his mouth.
"Baby?" Ladybug whispered as her eyes grew wide. "W-wait... What!?"
"How did you...!?" Her husband's gaze switched between their younger-selves and Marinette before landing on past-Adrien with an angry glare. "Wait, did you leave the apartment!?"
"Alright, everyone stop!" Alya yelled out before pointing at Ladybug. "You! With me. We're going home." She then turned to past-Adrien. "You! Back to the apartment! And try not to look at anything!"
"But I want to go!" he cried back. "I already know everything!"
A sudden hush fell over them as his words took a moment to sink in. Their stunned silence was only broken when Alya slapped her forehead.
"Everything?" Adrien looked down at Marinette, meeting her wide gaze with his confused one. She was just as shocked as he to hear that revelation.
"W-when you say everything...?" Marinette asked, her brow furrowed as she turned to stare at past-Adrien.
"Uhh..." His eyes flicked to Ladybug, and Marinette's heart stuttered before he started to explain. "I don't know Ladybug's identity." His eyebrows knit together, and he smiled apologetically with a shrug. "But I... accidentally figured out who the father is."
The soft beep of his ring pulled Marinette out of her daze. Her eyes flicked over it, seeing enough to notice that it was down to the last paw pad.
"He should come," Marinette said quickly, turning back to her husband and surprising him with her words. "He's about to change back anyway." Her gaze glanced over to her younger-self, who was looking between her and past-Adrien in complete shock. It was impossible not to see the dots connecting in her thoughts.
Marinette silently apologized to Alya, confident that her friend would be able to handle that situation on her own.
"Right... Okay," her husband sighed. "Pegasus?" The hero standing off to the side perked up at his name. "Can you bring us close to the hospital?"
"Of course," Max answered before quickly lifting his arm and shouting, "Journey!"