Chapter Text
In many ways, being a hero with a Miraculous made things easy. Even taking away Ladybug usually fixing damage after the fact so they didn't have to worry much about property damage, just making sure people weren't traumatized by being hurt. The suit provided protection from most weapons. They were made to be hardier. Stronger, faster, able to take being thrown several city blocks and get up again. When it came to the mundane, it was impossible to hurt a Miraculous wielder. A large amount of magical things didn't work or didn't work as effectively either.
A large amount.
Not everything.
Magic could still get through sometimes. As was the case today.
Zoe was in London. It was a class field trip. It was all right. With Pegasus, if Ladybug needed her, then it would be simple enough to ask for a ride. Ladybug knew she was in London. Sure, if she needed her, Pegasus might have questions, but they all knew to try and keep those questions to a minimum. It was a bridge to cross if they had to. If not, she was fine to live her life normally.
Zoe...Zoe was trying to enjoy the class trip. She was. And at times she was! But the groups keep getting rearranged whenever they have to gather up and she's has most of them contain either Ray or one of his cronies and even as she tried to keep herself cheerful, it was...
Stressful.
When she's finally give a chance to explore the city with her friends, the day gets worse. She sees people yelling at restaurant staff. A man forcing a pregnant woman to stand. A woman whose clips another's car while pulling out and driving off. Its too much.
Its too much.
Then she's sitting on the balcony in the hotel room she's staying in that she sees it. A man breaking into an ATM late at night and she has to do something.
Ladybug had advised Vesperia to not act in another country unless people were in danger. There were heroes in other countries. London had its own superheroes, even if it didn't match the number in New York. Ladybug didn't want the superheroes stepping on toes unless people were in actual danger. And to try and contact Argos if so since he was the only one allowed to act there since he could usually just send sentimonsters and not necessarily declare Miraculers were in the city.
Vesperia couldn't do anything.
But FURY could.
She was so fast that cameras couldn't catch sight of her anyway. And her costume was so nondescript that it may not even register as Fury if there did happen to be some kind of report. Its not like Ladybug and the others really needed to give that much attention to London news.
So Fury had been the one to go down. Her roommate had fallen asleep hours ago, it was the dead of night. She had let far too many people get away with getting away with cruelty. She could at least stop this crime. Maybe she could lock him in a bank vault. Its Saturday. He could just hang out there Sunday and be arrested Monday.
That had been the plan.
But apparently the guy had broken into the ATM because he had the ability to create knives that could cut into anything. Or at least most things. At least some magic things.
It had been unexpected.
She had just expected some normal thug, not one with magic and reaction time to match.
Sure, Zoe has been hurt as a superhero, but it was....
It was nothing like this.
Bumps and bruises. More akin to falling down the stairs and getting up after at most.
But this was like fire. Burning and cold all at once. Pain lancing through her and stealing her breath away. She....she wasn't used to it hurting so much.
She barely had the ability to grapple herself up to a nearby rooftop, away from the guy who seemed to relish drawing blood. She heard him yell in protest and there was a fear he might come after her. She started to stumble, try to get across a few more rooftops before she collapses. Gasping in pain and fear.
Fear for herself.
Fear for Pollen.
The hood was half cut off. There was a large gash in her side. Was...was Pollen the suit? Was she hurt?
Were they both going to die?
There was a crunch of the gravel that covered the rooftop.
Fury gasped, grabbing her top with a hissed Venom, holding it up to sting the blade happy villain, only to freeze at the sight before her.
It was a girl in a warm yellow suit. Closer to a golden yellow than sunshine, with strips of black around the legs and arms. There was meshing between her arms and body that looked like gossamer and could act as a flight suit. A metal face mask covered her face and she wore green goggles, with long bright blond hair kept back in loose ponytail.
A small time hero. Really noted for her weird name. The costume invoked bee or sunflowers, something like that. But her name was Teddy.
Zoe got it. It was the green goggles. She was modeled after a Teddy Bear Bee. It matched with the nearly sickly sweet demeanor she was reported to have. Things that sounded nice until you really paid attention, with barbs under her words.
But she helped people. Not against many super powered villains. No one was sure if she had super powers, just fighting skills. Maybe hardier than normal, or it could simply be really good equipment like Sparrow used to have.
She held up her hands in face of the Venom.
"I took care of our friend down below. He can't summon knives if you keep his fingers separated and I gave him quite the cat's cradle. The police are on the way, but I saw the blood," she said, voice buzzing a bit. Again, a question of a sign of powers, or a voice modulator. The goggled eyes look to Fury's hood and then side. "I didn't know Miraculous suits could be cut through."
Fury gritted her teeth. They knew she was a Miraculous user. Could they recognize venom? She had been able to change her suit, but Venom was still the same it always looked. She couldn't change it, only hide it with the speed that she figured out she could do. This person knew.
But she also had a secret identity. Would....would Ladybug find out? Would everyone know what she was doing? How could she keep them from talking, she can't let Ladybug know, she'd take Pollen away-
"Now be a dear and drop the venom. You're going to bleed out at this rate, but if you feel like dying..." Teddy said in a sing song voice, shrugging her shoulders.
Her....her bleeding hasn't stopped. Its slowed a bit, but it hasn't stopped.
Is Pollen in danger?
Fury looked at the wound. How...how would she explain this at a hospital?
"I can fix it."
Fury's head snapped up. "What?" She said.
"I can fix you up, if you get rid of the stinger. Not all of us get nearly invulnerable suits and don't want to explain things to the hospital. I assume it'd be inconvenient for you?" She said.
Fury looked to Teddy. She looked to the wound. There is no way she can explain to the hospital. She was supposed to be asleep in her hotel room. If it got out she was hurt, there would be questions. She could say she was attacked, but she can't give a description. The guy would say he was attacked by a superhero and describing someone else could get them in trouble.
As much as she doesn't like it...
Teddy WAS a superhero.
It was...it was probably her best bet.
She sighed, vanishing the Venom. "Help me," she said. "Please."
"There we go! That wasn't so hard, was it?" Teddy said, sugary sweet and saccharine, but she was quick to move to Fury. She knelt down, pulling out a small first aid kit from the pouches at her waist. She rips open a package of gauze and medical tape, slapping it on her wound. "We're going to need the good stuff, but this will keep you from bleeding out until we get there. You know, moments like I this, I really think about charging because I cannot tell you how much effort it takes to get this dry cleaned, but I guess we can talk about tip later," she said, voice light and teasing as she turns. "Come on, beegirl, on my back."
Fury absolutely didn't want to move.
She had to.
With a hiss, she pushes herself up to wrap her arms around Teddy's shoulders and pull herself against her. Wincing as she feels her wound press to her back.
"There we go. Hup, hup!" She chirped, grabbing Fury's arms and standing up. "Luckily for you I keep safe rooms all over the place, well stocked up and everything."
Okay, that's pointing to hero of money over abilities right there, Fury thinks.
Teddy moves over to the fire escape, carefully climbing down to a small motorcycle Teddy had been seen on before. The ride isn't the...most pleasant thing.
Which is a shame. Motorcycles are pretty cool and fun when she gets to ride them, just not as much when her side feels like it has a spike through it.
At least it was a short trip. Another point to money superhero, as the face of the motorcycle turns black along with the suit. Some kind of smart fabric. Activating about two blocks before she turns down some subway entrance, and down to the tracks. Stopping at an alcove a little way from the tracks and a wall that goes low enough that people on the train aren't likely to spot anything and likely to dismiss it as a maintenance area.
Yeah, okay, Teddy is a money hero.
Teddy gets off the bike and helps Fury off, a wall closing behind them as the bike is parked, and she helped Fury into a small, but clean room. There isn't much, a bed, a chair, a table, a small fridge, a microwave and kettle, and a cabinet, and a small bathroom nearby. Something made more for function than anything. Which, yeah, fair especially if there are multiple safe rooms.
After depositing Fury on the bed, Teddy was across the room, opening the cabinet and pulling out medical supplies and starting the kettle.
"Is the kwami all right?" Teddy asked.
Fury tensed, head snapping up. "...kwami?" She said, trying to play dumb.
Teddy scoffed. "Miraculous come with kwami. You're the Bee wielder, that was venom, which means you have a kwami. Come on, its not hard to find out after that Bourgeois girl exposed herself. Strange how it didn't show up on camera, but there were still eye witness reports. If anyone wanted to know about Miraculous, not hard to find out about them," she said, waving a hand.
Fury opened her mouth and closed it again. That....she supposed that made sense. She never really dug into it, to see what was really known about the Miraculous outside of the group.
"So is the kwami okay?" Teddy asked.
Fury didn't know. Was Pollen okay? Was she dying? Did she need medical treatment?
Teddy looked over, frowning. "....you don't know."
"...this hasn't happened before," Fury muttered, looking away, hands gripping the sheets.
She could hear Teddy taking a deep breath. It sounded shaky. Another. A third, and now steadying.
Was she worried?
"We're going to stitch up your wound. I imagine that injury is going to be a lot more painful without the magic. After that, we're going to see what we can do for your kwami," she said.
"I can't let you know my identity-" Fury protested.
"Then you change back in the bathroom and let me see what I can do," Teddy said, cutting her off, the sweetness gone. Something more commanding and harsh, if a little quick. "Its not hard to think of a solution. You Miraculous users are all so paranoid."
"For someone who knows so much, I would think you'd just say Miraculers," Fury said, a bit sullen after being scolded.
"I hate the name Miraculers," Fury said as she mixed the boiling water with distilled water.
"Why do you-" Fury started.
"I've mixed the boiling and distilled water because the distilled gets super cold down here. It warms it up and keeps it clean," Teddy said, like Fury was going to ask about that. Maybe she thought Fury was about to.
She pulled the table and chair to the bed, grabbing a pair of disposable gloves. "Now this is going to hurt," she said, pulling out a hard plastic tube with bite marks on it. "I don't really account for other people in here. I suppose I'll have to fix that, but you're not going to get any germs, I sanitize reusables with boiling water before they go into the box."
Fury hesitated, but after glancing at her wound, she grimaces. It would be for the best. She takes the tube and bites down as Teddy pulls away the gauze and begins cleaning the wound.
It hurts. It hurts it hurt it hurts it hurts-
She screams around the tube, biting down hard enough she's worried its going to crack between her teeth. It takes everything in her to be still, to not kick the other hero away as she works. Teddy, for her part, ignores her screams, focused solely on the task at hand. Cleaning away the blood, disinfecting the wound which is another fresh hell, dressing the wound until the needle and thread comes out.
Fury is crying and shaking by the end and its a relief when Teddy pulls back. "Done," she said, tugging off the gloves and tossing them into a garbage pail.
Fury slumps over to the side of the bed, shaking and crying, trying to get herself under control.
She isn't in a state to react when the hand reaches under the half cut off hood and yanks off her Miraculous.
"Don-" Zoe can't even say before the magic washes over her followed by a fresh wave of hell as the pain hits her full force, a choked out cry of pain as she curls up on the bed around her side.
There's a ringing in her ear, barely able to make sense of the words above her.
"Are you okay?" One voice, deeply concerned.
"I-yes. The damage is temporary. As long as my Miraculous is undamaged, nothing can cause me real harm," Uncertainty and confusion.
"You look weak."
"I will recover. I simply need time and food."
A scoff. "How incompetent, who even-" That sentence ended in some choking sound. Silence from the two voices for a time.
The first thing that registers is a weak, but familiar voice. Pollen. Pollen was-
"Your Majesty, its okay. You'll be okay. You're not in danger," Pollen said, words trying to be reassuring.
Zoe opens a teary eye, looking over the kwami. "You....are you...?"
"I will recover," Pollen said. "The damage is temporary, I will be fine after some honey," the kwami assured, gently brushing back Zoe's bangs.
Zoe looked up to see Teddy there. Just....staring at her with goggled eyes. Face unreadable under the mask.
"You....you said I would change in the bathroom," she said, her eyes narrowing. There was honey candy in her bag. She just needed to give it to Pollen and...
And....
And do what?
Teddy lied, but also helped her. It wasn't like she could get rid of her, that would be evil. Even in her darkest urges, she didn't...she didn't want to kill anyone.
However, her thoughts are interrupted as Teddy starts to laugh.
It starts small at first. A breathy, disbelieving sound. Zoe can only stare, unsure what was going on. But the laughing continues, longer and longer, getting louder.
Higher.
Strained.
Manic and now its almost deranged and Zoe is starting to wonder just how many mental health issues this hero is using beating up criminals to keep under control. Was she in the safe room of some kind of maniac?
"Of course its you. Of course its you!" Teddy finally said, bitterness and mania in her breathless declaration.
"I-you-there's no way you know me-" Zoe said. Unlike Chloe, she had never been in the limelight. At best only a few brief moments in the background while Andre was mayor and one school made movie, but it was never something anyone outside of Paris would know about.
"Oh, please, Zoe Lee. Like I wouldn't know my replacement," Teddy said, as she pulled off her mask, the voice modulation fading into an all too familiar voice. One confirmed as the goggles are pulled up to reveal deep blue eyes.
"Chloe...?" Zoe said in disbelief.
Chloe looked at Zoe, her smile wide and tight and full of teeth. "Hello, half of a sister," she said, venom and cheer in her voice. "So, did you steal from Vesperia too, or did you you 'grow up' into a whole new style change?"
"I...I didn't..." Zoe opened and closed her mouth. Unsure how to handle this revelation.
"It is possible to change outfits if you transform with enough deliberation and intent. Zoe wished to act as a freer agent, so her costume changed," Pollen said.
"Pollen! Why are you telling her that?" Zoe asked, looking at her kwami aghast.
"She never renounced me. She is technically still my holder as well and I don't like to lie to my holders," Pollen said.
Zoe wasn't sure how to take that revelation, but she was distracted rather quickly as Chloe started laughing again. That...manic, high, sounding on the edge of some kind of mental break laugh.
"You're...you're telling me its possible change the costume? You could take on a whole new identity?" Chloe asked, a hand to her face.
"That is correct," Pollen said.
Chloe smiled wider. "Of course. Of course that's possible," she said and then slammed a fist down on the table. "Of fucking course." She hissed.
Zoe jerks back at that. For all Chloe can be cruel and mean, she's never heard her be crass. "....what do you mean of course? That isn't an obvious thing?" Zoe said, edging back on the bed.
"Oh, you know," Chloe said, voice sugary sweet venom as she pushes herself to her feet. "Yet more evidence Ladybug is a liar. No wonder she likes you." She turned to the kettle, grabbing it to fill with water and start boiling it before going to the medical supplies to clean them up.
Zoe was honestly tempted to just lay down. Maybe pass out. Except-
She jerked up with a hiss.
Chloe's head snapped back. "Stop moving! You'll tear out the stitches!" She scolded.
"Where is my Miraculous-" Zoe said.
"Its by your PILLOW, you ridiculous nitwit!" Chloe snapped, pointing down and-
Oh.
It was. It had been lying on the bed right beside her.
"I'm not going to kidnap Pollen," Chloe said. "I'm better than that. Are you?" She demanded.
"....I didn't steal her," Zoe grit out. She didn't like admitting she was Vesperia. She hated the idea more that Chloe might think she's better than her.
"...so you are the wasp," Chloe said with a scoff. "I thought so."
"What are you talking about? You act like its obvious?" Zoe demanded, flopping back down on the bed. She didn't have the energy to stand up, not with the pain like this. Even sitting was proving to be draining.
"Ladybug hated me," Chloe said, focused on packing up the first aid kit. "And people who hate me loved picking you up. After all, you're like me, except you know how to make them think you're a good person."
"I am a good person," Zoe said.
"Right. Because good people lie to their families and treat people cruelly so they don't have to deal with mom's judgement," Chloe said.
Zoe's flinched back as if struck. "It was the only way to survive until I had friends. Other people I could go to. I couldn't risk being sent back to New York and if mom disliked me too much-"
"Oh yes. So easy to justify it for yourself, isn't it?" Chloe said, voice low and bitter.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zoe shot back.
Chloe slammed the first aid kit shut, looking back with a glare. Then she turned away, heading to the cabinet to put everything away.
"....if Ladybug hated you, its because you made her," Zoe said, feeling the frustration. Chloe was always like this. Blaming others for why she didn't have the things she wanted.
"I'm sure I did," Chloe said. "She probably hated me from the start, but she was too much of a coward to tell me."
"Ladybug isn't a coward!" Zoe said, glaring at Chloe's back.
"How did Sabrina react when the name Miraculer started taking off?" Chloe asked, open another drawer to pull out fresh clothes.
"Sabrina? I...don't know? She didn't have any big reactions?" Zoe said.
Chloe scoffed. "Well, I guess she doesn't remember being Miraculer. Maybe it doesn't hurt her as much," she said.
"My Queen," Pollen said, Zoe looking up at her, but seeing the kwami's eyes were on Chloe. Sympathy on her face. "I'm sure she just wanted to keep you safe."
"Come on, Pollen. Ladybug is the guardian. Do you really believe that was Ladybug's motivation?" Chloe asked.
Pollen opened her mouth. Then closed it slowly, her antenna lowering.
Chloe glanced back. Then she sighed. "Yeah, I thought so..." She muttered, looking away.
"What is she talking about, Pollen? What is this about Sabrina?" Zoe asked.
"It was some weeks before your arrival in Paris," Pollen said, glancing at Chloe and then focusing on Zoe. "And some months. You already know Chloe was Queen Bee. The first time she had me and made some...mistakes, she had found me on her own. The next time, Ladybug needed help with her father being akumatized. Then Ladybug needed people with experience when Scarlet Moth had an army. After being recruited twice, Chloe was hopeful she would be trusted, and then..." Pollen trailed off. "Between the two close deliberate recruitment, there was weeks between. Where Chloe would signal she was ready and waiting at the hotel to help. Ladybug never used her," Pollen said.
"Yeah, because her identity was exposed," Zoe said.
Chloe scoffed. "Like that matters to her."
"When Chloe was recruited again, it was because Sabrina had been turned into Miraculer, a power stealing Akuma. With the dangerous power and Chloe being her focus, she was recruited again. However, after things were settled, Ladybug told Queen Bee she couldn't be recruited with her identity known. That it was too dangerous for her and her loved ones," Pollen said.
"So? Its true," Zoe said.
"She says its true, but even if it was true," Chloe started, setting down an outfit on the table before grabbing a pot to sterilize the reusables from the kit in the water. "She had decided it after Scarlet Moth. Weeks. Weeks where she refused to talk to me and tell me her decision. She had never intended to recruit me again unless it was dire and specific for me. And even then, she couldn't even give a definite. It was 'you probably can't be.' Because Ladybug loves giving false hope."
"She's busy! She probably didn't have time!" Zoe protested.
"She had plenty of time!" Chloe snapped, slamming down the pot. "I would see her patrol. I would see her after akumas. I would even be rescued from attacks. She had plenty of time to talk to me, to let me know, to not let me hope and she...." Her shoulders were shaking. "Well, its not like she was even telling the truth. She lied."
"Ladybug isn't a liar! Why do you keep saying that?!" Zoe demanded. Sure, she might not agree with Ladybug in some things, but she was a kind girl. She was always doing her best, she led the team, and saved Paris countless times. She might be a little too hopeful about people learning with kindness, but that wasn't a fault! It just showed how good of a person she was.
"Because the fox, the horse, the monkey, and the snake were all exposed when I was Miracle Queen! If not more!" Chloe snarled, turning around to glare at Zoe. "Those four were outed for sure! Because they sure weren't transformed when I was Akumatized, which meant they came to Hawk Moth and transformed in front of them! And yet they came out, again, and again, and again. The fox was the one Ladybug called on the most, but she was allowed to keep being a hero with an exposed identity! Ladybug said she couldn't recruit me because it put me and my family in danger. But its me! I had been attacked by Akuma's all the time! Mom and da-and ANDRE had been targets or caught up in attacks. The entire hotel was an Akuma epicenter countless times. My classmates! Literally the only people I knew by name back home that weren't Akumatized was Adrien and Marinette! Everyone I knew had experienced weathering Akuma's countless times, but somehow my having a Miraculous put them in more danger than those four? How were those four any safer?!"
Zoe opened her mouth, ready to defend Ladybug's decision, her teammates, but as she thought about it, she....she couldn't think of why they would be? Rena Rouge especially. Chat Noir and Ladybug were the ones in charge, sure, but Rena Rouge was the next down the totem pole, the one who seemed to know the most on what was going on otherwise. Honestly, Zoe suspected that Rena Rouge might have been Scarabella because of how close they were. That meant not only was she in danger, but she was also a lot more dangerous than Chloe would have ever been.
And Viperion's Second Chance...
She shudders to think what Monarch had been doing with it. What kind of luck had Ladybug and Chat Noir had to retrieve it?
"Even if Ladybug didn't know about this whole....outfit change thing then...that was only a few weeks after she told me no. Why did the rule change then? When my identity being known might have been the reason Hawk Moth recruited me for Miracle Queen?" Chloe demanded. "If anything, Miracle Queen should have proven her caution right, and instead she throws out the rule entirely?"
"I....I don't know..." Zoe admitted. Because Chloe was right. It DIDN'T make sense.
"Maybe you had hurt her as a civilian and that's why she changed her mind about you? It didn't all have to be a lie...." Zoe tried.
"I was nicer after I was recruited as Queen Bee," Chloe said. "And even then, she knew what being Queen Bee meant to me. What kind of hero give someone false hope?" She said, and while the bitterness is there, her posture is slumping. She looked tired.
Zoe rolled her eyes. "Oh yes. Glory and fame and popularity. Real important things," she said.
Chloe stared at Zoe at that. Her expression dead eyed and tired. "Yes. Of course. After all, that's what you want. Popularity," she said, voice hollow as she grabbed her clothes and turned to the bathroom. Something about how she quietly closes the door unnerves her after that.
Zoe glared at the door and then laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Not everyone wants popularity," she muttered.
"But isn't that what you want, Your Majesty?" Pollen asked.
"What? No, of course not," Zoe said. "I want to be liked for being me."
"But who are you?" Pollen asked.
"What?" Zoe asked, looking at her. "I'm Zoe. I'm a good person. I want to be an actor. I'm a superhero."
"But you hide Fury from your teammates, who you trust," Pollen said. "And even as Vesperia, you will throw out more insults then you ever do as Zoe."
"Well, that's...that's because..."
"You can get away with it," Pollen finished.
Zoe looked away. "That-no. No, it isn't-"
"I am not judging you, Your Majesty," Pollen said gently, flitting over to Zoe's bag to pull out some of the honey treats. "Its a common thing for people to do. The Miraculous allows them to act how they want since their identities do not have to be known. When you could not be fully yourself with your teammates, Fury is what came out."
"That isn't-its DIFFERENT," Zoe insisted.
"Is it?" Pollen asked. "You want people to like you. You were nice to them. You show them care. That is still you, but there is a part of you that is angry. That feels fury at the injustice you see and you wish to punish them, but to make those desires known, then people might be upset or not like you. It doesn't make Zoe Lee a lie, but it does mean its not all of her either."
Zoe felt like she was about to fall over a ledge. Or maybe it was the blood loss? "....how long have you been thinking that?" She asked, voice quiet.
"I was not sure if you realized it or not," Pollen said. "I wanted you to figure it out, but I also want you to understand My Queen and you unfortunately like to assume the worst of her."
"You-you can't tell me you're on Chloe's side," Zoe said.
"I'm on no one's side," Pollen said. "I merely wish the best for you both as my holders."
"And she's yours-?"
"Because she never renounced me. She technically has some ownership of me. She just cannot order me against my will since she does not own my Miraculous," Pollen said, nibbling on the treats.
Zoe thought about that. What it meant to wish the best for them. Staring at the ceiling as she heard movement in the bathroom. Honestly, longer than necessary for Chloe to change.
"Didn't she use you as Miracle Queen? Aren't you upset about that?" Zoe asked.
"She was targeted and isolated by a very manipulative man who knew exactly what she told herself she wanted to hear and without someone to tell her what she needed, she listened," Pollen said. "After weeks of them having targeted her and doing who knows what kind of other manipulations I wasn't aware of, and she is fourteen. Its a miracle she lasted as long as she did."
"Targeted her for weeks?" Zoe asked.
"Oh yes. Mayura asked Chloe to join them during Miraculer," Pollen said.
"She did?!" Zoe asked, looking at the kwami in surprise.
Pollen nodded and her expression saddened. "She said Ladybug trusted her. She wished to do the same. That was right before Ladybug told her she couldn't be recruited."
After weeks of being left in the dark. Then find out other people were trusted with known identities.
"Because....Ladybug trusted her? That's it?" Zoe asked.
Pollen nodded. "Chloe trusted Ladybug. Deeply. To say Chloe wants to be popular....while not wrong, its merely a means to an end."
"A mean to an end of what?" Zoe asked.
"Why do you want to be popular?" Pollen asked.
"I don't-"
"You are popular with your classmates, Your Majesty," Pollen said, gentle. "What would you do if you weren't? Or rather...what are you doing to ensure you don't become unpopular?"
Zoe swallowed. Thinking of Ray and the video.
"...that....Chloe isn't like that. She's cruel. Vindictive. Spiteful and evil," Zoe insisted.
"Why do you think that?" Pollen asked.
"Because it was how she always was! She was always rude to me, threatening to send me back to New York!" Zoe said. "She would bully everyone at school!"
"So that makes her cruel?" Pollen asked.
"Yes!"
"Then why aren't you?"
"Because I was trying to survive!"
"Who said she wasn't?" Pollen asked, eyes focused on Zoe. Expression neutral, but eyes deep. Almost glowing in the dim lighting, Zoe felt like they were piecing into her soul. They spoke of untold centuries.
She forgets that, most of the time, just how old Pollen was.
"What?" Zoe said, voice small, quiet. Feeling as young as she was.
"Why are you so certain she wasn't trying to survive too?" Pollen asked.
The door finally opened. Zoe's head snapped over to Chloe, carrying a folded up suit and now in yoga pants and a yellow tank top. While Chloe's forearms were fine, Zoe could see on her upper arm was a nasty scar.
Right. The other question. Why was Chloe Teddy?
"What happened to your arm?"
"I didn't know how to care for my injuries well enough to not get scars," Chloe said, voice flat as she shoved the dirtied clothes in a bag and then pulled out a designer purse to shove it into. "I learned after that. Kevlar is good, but there are ways through it."
"You got hurt on the job?"
Chloe looked at Zoe like she was stupid. "Why are you surprised?"
Zoe opened her mouth and closed it again. It does feel like a stupid question. Like her acting as a superhero would be the most likely situation for her to get a nasty scar. It was just....it was so hard to imagine. Zoe can feel the pain in her side, and its impossible to imagine Chloe would want to continue with ANYTHING after feeling anything close to this. "You...kept being Teddy after it...."
"And you thought I would give up?" Chloe asked, the scoff clearly offended.
"Of course! You're you," Zoe said, gesturing at her with the arm of her unhurt side.
"I'm me," Chloe said with an eyeroll. "You don't know anything about me."
"I know plenty about you," Zoe said.
"No, you know everything everyone else said," Chloe said. "And no one talks about Queen Bee who fought her family, her best friend, an army, and was still ready to keep fighting."
"Don't act like that's such a big deal," Zoe said.
"Not all of us can just abandon our family on a dime," Chloe shot back.
"I don't-" Zoe started.
"Where's your father? Your actual father, not my d-not ANDRE, who you took away from me. How is that going, by the way? Did he remember your birthday? Has he ever asked, it has been a year," Chloe said.
Zoe frowned. "It....didn't come up," she said.
"And he didn't ask for it. Don't worry. He does that. Armand always had to remind him," she said. "Oh, right, you don't even have the butler to remind him to be around for the holidays."
"We've just been dealing with a lot!" Zoe said, feeling hot under the collar. Then she frowned. "Wait, you remembered his name?"
"I always remembered his name. Its the only way I could never say it right."
"Oh, of course. You remember to be disrespectful," Zoe said.
"No, I did it because that's what mom did, and clearly if she never got it right, its because it was a game she was playing with me," Chloe said.
Zoe had to stare at that. "You...you can't seriously think that's why...." Was Chloe that stupid?
"Oh. Good. So you are aware how awful she is," Chloe said. "I wasn't sure if you were like Andre and decided to blame me for why she's an awful person too."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zoe demanded.
"What? You think its right for a grown man to blame his daughter for why his life is terrible and why he was an awful person?" Chloe asked, sitting down in a chair and looking at Zoe with a hard look. "How much does he need you to pep talk him?"
"I support him-" Zoe started.
"And how much does he support you? Support. Not he lets you do what you want, but supports what you're trying to do?" Chloe demanded.
Zoe opened her mouth. Then she froze. She looked down. Actually....thought about it. Andre didn't stand in her way. Didn't demand she act a certain way. But when it came to support....
She thought about all the times she talked him up. How she encouraged him to follow his dreams. Propped him up. And while he never tore her down, most of his encouragement was....was in response for her going out of her way to support him. An agreement for them to follow their dreams together. But other than good luck when she said she's off to an audition and a few words right after...
She is coming up rather sparse.
Any which way she looks at it, its barely bare minimum.
Especially in comparison to how often she goes out of her way to help him.
"There it is," Chloe said, crossing her arms and her legs as she leans back in her chair. "He's not very good at giving attention. Not unless you yell and scream and demand it. Now imagine how much harder it would be if you lived in a hotel where its a lot harder to run into each other?"
He so rarely went out of his way to see her. It was usually run ins while looking for others in the hotel.
"But I guess that seems like heaven than whatever your father was like if you decided to live with someone you only knew a few months than him," Chloe said, shrugging her shoulders.
Zoe didn't want to think about her birth father.
"What do you know?! Its not as if you ever did anything worth supporting," Zoe snarled.
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "How do you think I've survived this long as a powerless heroine?" She asked.
"You've clearly bought expensive gear," Zoe snapped.
"Yes, but fancy toys don't mean much if you don't have the ability to last in a fight. Luckily! Eight years of ballet and several of Savate is pretty good at helping me last in a fight," Chloe said and there's another scoff. "Not that anyone acknowledges that Queen Bee knew how to move in a fight unlike Vesperia."
"There is nothing wrong with how I move!"
"You are awful at moving! Its obvious you're relying only on the Miraculous' physical enhancements. They keep needing to use the horse to throw you at enemies that should be no issue for you. You keep fighting GIANTS!" Chloe shouted, throwing up her arms. "Do you know how much I would have killed to fight one large enemy?! You just need to get in range to touch for two seconds and its not like a giant can turn venom back on you like my opponents. I fought a bunch of enemies that I couldn't one shot, obviously, and extremely skilled enemies who could have easily turned Venom back on me if I wasn't careful. You? Giants! So many giants! Why aren't you punching ankles?! Venom works no matter where you hit them!"
"Because that isn't Ladybug's plans!" Zoe snapped back. When Ladybug called her, it was always with a plan.
"And is the dark suit part of her plans?!" Chloe demanded.
Zoe's mouth snapped shut.
Chloe glared and she scoffed. "Of course its not. If it was above board, you'd just do it as Vesperia. But can't have her disapproving. Then she might not like you," she said, a venomous smirk on her face.
"I don't need her to like me," Zoe ground out.
"You need everyone to like you," Chloe said, that barbed sing song in her voice from Teddy. "Zoe Lee has to be loved by everyone, no matter what she has to do to get it."
"Don't act like you know me! People like me because I'm nice," Zoe insisted.
"Yes, because nice people lie to their sisters and disown them the first chance they get," Chloe said, her tone infuriatingly smug.
"You're the one who disowned me, wanting to send me to New York!" Zoe said, throwing up an arm with a hiss.
"After I figured out you were lying to me," Chloe shot back, the sing song cracking a bit.
"Don't pretend you wouldn't have disowned me eventually. You're just upset I can get people to like me, unlike you!" Zoe said, pushing herself up a bit, the anger countering the pain.
"Don't tell me what makes me upset," Chloe sniped back.
"Oh, its obvious. You wanted so desperately to be popular-"
There's a crash as the chair hits the ground. "You wanted to be popular! I wanted a sister!"
There was silence as the two stared at each other, breathing hard. Zoe from the pain and anger, that is turning to confusion, and the...
A kind of fury on Chloe's face she's never seen. She's seen her angry plenty of times, but the expression on her face, she couldn't say why it was like that.
But the silence hung between them, mostly because Chloe didn't have a follow up and Zoe didn't know what to make of it. Chloe...wanted a sister? No, surely not.
"You....what?" Zoe finally asked.
Chloe turns away and yanks open the cabinet, pulling out a coat and glasses. "I'm going to get more honey treats an electrolyte drinks. I ran out in this spot and stupid girls who get themselves stabbed for stupid reasons need them for recovery, and that's something a good superheroine would make sure gets done," she said curtly, yanking on the coat and putting on the sunglasses. She grabs her purse and without another word, she slips out the door.
Zoe stared after her. "That...she wanted a sister? She can't...she can't think I'd believe that," she said, letting herself move down with a hiss.
"Why not?" Pollen asked.
"That would require her to care about someone other than herself," Zoe said with a huff.
Pollen nibbled on the treat in silence. Simply staring at Zoe. Zoe tries to ignore it, but the weight of her gaze feels heavy.
"What?"
"Why do you think she only cares for herself?" Pollen asked.
"Because its CHLOE," Zoe said like ti was obvious.
"How many bad things do you expect from Chloe with the reason being 'its Chloe' as the answer?" Pollen asked.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zoe asked, moving an arm over her eyes to block out the light.
"Simply confirmation bias. You expect Chloe to be bad because you expect Chloe to be bad. You are not thinking of why she might be bad," Pollen said.
"And why do you expect her to be good?" Zoe asked.
"Because every time she had me, her love was on full display. Sometimes the display was messy and harmful and other times pure, but it was love all the same," Pollen said.
"How was Miracle Queen a display of love?" Zoe asked derisively.
Pollen hummed a buzzing tune. "Well....the first time we met, it was her desperation to have her mother acknowledge her, even a little, to be loved by her mother. Then the second, she felt bad for her father and did want to help him. Heroes day, the only time she started to falter was in fighting her family. And Miraculer, she understood her friend. And of course, her admiration for Ladybug the whole time, the person she trusted," she said. "And Miracle Queen....she refused to do anything for Hawk Moth until he released her parents."
"Is fighting family really a sign of love?" Zoe asked, frowning. She really spoke up for their parents?
"It is when its for their own good. And even her mistakes in attempting to impress your mother, it was still fueled by her love. Despite how terrible it is for her, she valued her family," Pollen said.
Zoe frowned. "What do you mean how terrible?" She asked, lifting her arm up to peak at Pollen.
"You mother was incapable of remembering her name. I know queen bees who can remember the designation for every drone in their hive and she could not remember one of her children's name, and frankly, she encourages the worst of all of her traits," Pollen said.
"But Andre is a good dad!" Zoe said, looking at Pollen with a more stubborn look.
Pollen tilted her head, glancing to the side.
"He is!"
"....do you wish for me to agree or to be candid?"
Zoe grimaced. "That-I don't want you to lie."
"I will not say he is terrible, but he is a fairweather father. He is acceptable if the child is agreeable and doesn't require real guidance," Pollen said. "You need freedom, not the pressure your mother put on you, and the issues with your birth father-"
"I don't want to talk about him," Zoe said firmly.
"You needed to be away from family expectation and Andre has no real expectations of you, at least nothing beyond what you have already been providing. But if you ever needed defense....well, he has never provided very good defense. He's a rather poor guardian," she said.
Its disturbing how much it matches what Chloe said. How Andre wasn't too terribly supportive unless it was easy for him to do. He wasn't a bad father. He was just....maybe a little lazy in the parenting department.
"So with a child with no particular difficulties, and no one like Audrey who would make certain demands, he can be an acceptable father figure," Pollen said. "Neither circumstance applied to Chloe."
No. It didn't.
"That still doesn't mean she wanted a sister," Zoe said, ready to dismiss the notion. "That she wanted me."
"Why not? You were the first person who may have wanted her that she could hope to have," Pollen said.
"She had Sabrina and Adrien," Zoe insisted. "And Armand was fond of her."
"Sabrina was her mistake, but also too passive for what Chloe truly needs, and Adrien had been quite distant with her for some time. Any hope with Armand vanishes if he ever loses his job for any reason and that would end any closeness. Quitting, firing, or retiring. Its a non-permanent thing. A sister, however, would be an equal she would keep her whole life," Pollen said.
"She could have still moved like I did!"
"She couldn't. She already tried."
"What do you mean she already tried?" Zoe asked, frowning.
"Andre was Akumatized when she tried to leave to New York with your mother. When she was more approving of Chloe as well. However, Andre presumably could not travel with them with his role," she said. "He was unwilling to leave his role to join them in New York."
He was willing to leave the role when it was too inconvenient for him and he has Zoe. She could read between those lines.
"Chloe wanted to leave, to start somewhere new. She wasn't allowed. You were the closest to a fresh start she would ever have," Pollen said.
Zoe looked away. Staring at the ceiling of the safe room, hating the feeling the thought brought. She thought of how desperate she had been to leave New York. How she had clung to those shoes with the message from her one friend, hoping there was more. That she could escape her past mistakes. To be someone she liked more. Even with her friend, how long would she had lasted in New York?
She thinks of how desperate she's been to keep Ray from bringing up her past.
She thinks of how much she didn't even want to deal with Chloe when she arrived.
She had seemed just like Audrey at the time.
Maybe part of why she had dismissed her was because of how much she hated looking in that mirror.
But at least she had been allowed to leave.
How long would she had lasted without that?