Chapter Text
12 years later
Chloé hesitantly stepped onto firm ground, her eyes on Ladybug as the spotted heroine cleansed the akuma and cast her miraculous cure. Once that was done, there didn’t seem to be any deterrent to all eyes being on her instead, and she fought not to squirm under the gaze of her new team members.
She found some reassurance in the proud, almost gleeful look Chat Noir was sporting – he reminded her an awful lot of someone, but she couldn’t exactly place it. The magic of the miraculous, she supposed. Ladybug was smiling somewhat tentatively at her, and she smiled back, waving sheepishly. “You did really well out there, uh…”
“Oh.” Chloé chewed on her bottom lip for a second before she smirked, a little more confidence in her stance as she internally preened from (LADYBUG’S!!!) praise. “Uh, you can call me Queen Bee. Thank you so much, I’m really just… a huge fan.” She ended somewhat meekly after Chat Noir raised a pointed eyebrow in her direction. Right. No fangirling. That was most definitely one of the points he’d covered during the introductory talk.
She heard a snort from her right and turned to see Rena Rouge trying to hide her face behind her hand. “Sorry, this is just so déjà vu.” The fox themed superheroine leaned in conspiratorially and threw her a wink. “Don’t worry, you get like five more minutes of this and then you can go home and fawn over her however long you want. Took me like three hours to calm down after my first time. Cool name by the way, I dig it.” Chloé couldn’t help but smile; when was the last time someone had been this genuinely… chummy with her?
Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly, blushing slightly, then pointed an accusatory finger at the brunette. “Rena is a flatterer. You stay away from her, Queenie, you hear?” Chloé’s heart did a double beat at the nickname, and it only got worse when Rena threw an arm around her shoulders and stuck her tongue out at Ladybug. “Hush now, spots, this is my brand new partner. You can team up with the stray.”
Chat Noir’s hand flew to his chest and he let out an ultimately dramatic outraged gasp. “How dare you, rey-rey?” Suddenly Chloé’s own hand found itself in front of her mouth, dislodging Rena’s arm still around her in order to keep the astonished shout that almost flew past her lips. She knew that routine step by step. It was usually chlo-chlo, though. And it was usually not from Chat Noir’s mouth, but from her best friend’s. Her eyes skimmed down the hero’s figure, but she knew she was right. Who else would’ve given her a miraculous if not Adrien McSunshine Agreste.
Adr- Chat Noir tilted his head at her but she only shook hers frantically. She wanted to let him know she knew, but she was pretty sure none of the others knew, and now he was looking at her funny and oh no they were going to kick her out of the team and never call her again and she’d be alone forever and she would never see Pollen again and- oh. Wait.
Hesitantly, she lifted her right hand slightly at her side and opened and closed it in quick succession three times, saw his eyes widen in recognition.
When they were around twelve years old and Gabriel was just starting to curb Adrien’s appetite, Chloé used to sneak him cookies and other sweets – the hand thing was their “all clear sign”, and something that later on became just as useful when either of them needed reassurance in more public settings. There was really no mistaking it.
Apparently none of the other noticed, however, and Rena merely gave them a puzzled look before Ladybug intervened. “Okay, well, Chat has most likely already briefed you, and you seem to be a natural out there, but there are a few important things to keep in mind.”
Chloé nodded and turned towards her, putting on her best professional face and ignoring Adrien’s weird self-palm moment she knew he was bound to be having. Ladybug smiled. “Alright, so I don’t know what your kwami eats, but they’ll let you know. It’s important to keep your kwami with you at all times, and keep them fed as well in case you have to transform in a hurry. You might want to carry around some extra food too for emergency recharges. You got that?” At Chloé’s nod, she seemed satisfied, and carried on. “Good, so that covers kwamis. We called you in because we were in need of assistance, much like how Rena here started out…” The fox hero finger saluted, and Ladybug smiled at her before focusing back on her. “…but the truth is we’ve been feeling overwhelmed for a while. So. How would you feel about this being a full time thing?”
Chloé felt like she was suddenly floating.
And then she realized she actually was buzzing a little over ten inches from the ground in excitement, because Rena grabbed on to her calf laughingly. She landed back down, blushing profusely, but managed to push away her embarrassment in the face of more pressing matters (such as confirming she’d actually heard right). “Wait, you actually… want me to stay?”
Ladybug smiled reassuringly at her. “Of course. You were invaluable today. And you seem very nice. And well, Chat trusted you enough to choose you, and I trust his judgement.” Chloé had to keep herself in check to remain completely normal, but Adrien, the sly cat, only winked at her, apparently not all that bothered anymore by the fact that she’d managed to figure out his identity. Really, he should’ve seen it coming; she’d know her Adri-kins in diapers, she’d recognize him anywhere. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Ladybug’s voice. “We’d be thrilled to have you.”
Rena threw herself at her, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she laid a hand on her forehead like a dying noblewoman. “Oh, please say yes. I can’t handle the sexual tension between Mr. and Mrs. Oblivious by myself much longer! I fear I might snap any day now.” Chloé couldn’t help herself, she burst out laughing – especially when Ladybug turned as red as her suit and Chat Noir glared daggers at Rena. She looked up at the fox themed superhero and wrapped an arm around her in return, smirking before donning her own overly enamored voice. “Oh, but of course, my love. You see, we are now partners, and so I am entirely devoted to you from today forth. For no other reason than the flowering of this professional relationship, of course.”
Rena Rouge beamed at her before throwing a glare at the remaining duo. “Yeah, we’re keeping her. You guys have zero say in the matter here.”
Ladybug was still fighting back a mighty blush, but she held out her fist with a smile anyway. “Welcome to the team, Queen Bee.”
Chloé’s fist bumped against her spotted one and she grinned. “Thank you so much.” Ladybug’s earrings beeped and she reached for her yo-yo. “Ups, gotta bounce.”
Rena sighed and disentangled herself from her. “Yeah, same here.” She smiled and bowed to her in a clear imitation of Chat Noir’s usual behavior, even going as far as to take her hand and kiss it, but her words were sincere when she came back up. “It was a pleasure, honey.” Chloé giggled before putting a hand over her heart. “Thank you, Rena. I shall anxiously await our next encounter.” The superheroine let out a hysterical laugh, shaking her head. “Man, this is gonna be awesome.” She waved before apparently falling off the ledge of the roof they were all standing on. “Toodles.”
Ladybug rolled her eyes once more, waving a goodbye of her own before she halted and turned back to them. “Oh, I almost forgot the most important part. You have to keep your identity secret.” Chloé’s smile almost dropped and she had to fight tooth and nail not to glance at Adrien. “Chat Noir knows yours, inevitably, and I know Rena’s since I chose hers, but that’s pretty much it. I know it will suck sometimes, but it’s really the safest course.”
Chloé nodded frantically with a smile she was sure must’ve looked like a grimace up close. “Yeah, sure, sure, superhero’s double life and all that, gotcha.” Ladybug chuckled and then her earrings beeped again. “You’ll take it from here, minou?”
Chat Noir nodded (a little too eagerly, but their other team mate didn’t seem to notice). “Yeah, I didn’t use cataclysm, so I’ll be good for a little while longer. You get home and get some sleep, my lady.”
“Alright. Well it was nice to meet you, Queenie. Is it okay if I call you that? I kinda have nicknames for everyone.” Chloé grinned. “It’s totally cool.” The red clad hero smiled back. “Cool.” And with a final wave at them both she was swinging herself away, leaving the two blondes alone on the rooftop.
Chat Noir scratched at the back of his neck. “It was the how dare, wasn’t it?” Chloé snorted, nodding, and he hummed. “Yeah, I should’ve known.”
“You should’ve.” Suddenly she had her arms around him in a tight hug. “Woah, what’s that for?” He chuckled, hugging her back, and she buried her face in his neck like she did when they were little. “Thank you. For all of this. I’d forgotten what it was like.”
He poked her cheek. “What what was like?”
“Meeting people who don’t really have the bratty blonde in their head right when they meet me. People I can befriend and be nice to and… god, just being liked.” He squeezed her softly. “Hey, I like you.”
She chuckled and squeezed back. “I know you do. And I won’t let you down, Adri-kins.”
He just smiled and rested his chin on the top of her head. “I know you won’t, Chlo-Chlo.”