The Helpers

Asking

Sabrina blinked back to her senses. The pain was gone. The confusion was gone. She was still in the sewers with her halo of phone-light. The tail end of a swarm of Ladybugs spiraling through the air was all she needed to know what had happened. Ladybug had succeeded.

Succeeded! Sabrina scooped up her phone and turned to run through the blockage. No wait, They'd be back on the boat right? She spun in place. But the manhole would probably be back in place too, she spun back. Had Mint Condition fought in his lair or had he escaped further into the sewers? She spun again then sat down hard, dizzy.

"Can't leave you alone for two minutes can we?" Cat Noir's voice came from behind her, in the lair.

Sabrina turned and briefly blinded the hero with her phone light. His feline pupils narrowing to slits. Sabrina tilted her phone away,"Sorry."

"Not a problem, on both accounts." He bowed and offered her a hand up for the second time today. "You made this whole chase much easier than we could have hoped for. Just think what you might've done with a miraculous as well." He grinned at her over the offered hand and Sabrina swore she saw one of his ears twitch in mirth,"Are you okay?"

Sabrina took the offered hand,"Yeah, just a little dizzy." She rubbed her head, her hand came away clean this time,"I can't get back up."

Cat Noir puffed up,"That's why I'm here little lady. I'll pop a cover for you so you can get home." he paused,"though, if you like action figures this guy had a horde down here. He must've been stashing things here long before he got akumatized."

Sabrina's mind strayed only for an instant. Figures? She did have shelf space... No! Focus! She shook her head,"I want to see Luka." she affirmed.

That seemed to surprise Cat Noir but he covered it quickly,"Well then, let me be your guide to freedom." He flashed a smile and trotted ahead down the line to the first ladder. A quick yelp from Sabrina stopped him, and with some direction they went down two more before he scrambled up a ladder to open a manhole on a side street, peeking around before shoving it aside to let Sabrina up,"Thanks again, and try not to go charging after any more villains eh? You can't just run off without thinking you know."

It was a long walk back. Sabrina alternated between a fast walk and a nervous trot that turned into a run as soon as she saw the boat. There were people on deck. He was on deck. This time she tackled him hard enough to send him over.

She was burrowed in and warm, squeezing as hard as she could until she actually got a grunt out of him then she eased up. The blood rush in her ears receded and she realized people were laughing, it sounded strange though. With a sudden blush she looked around from her prone position, Luka was sitting on the deck with her sprawled along his lap. The faces of the other band members circled them. Mylene, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka. There were laughs all around, but they weren't laughing at her. They were just... happy?

Sabrina scooted back and sat on her heels, the blush wasn't going to go away now, but she wasn't shrinking. She just didn't know what to do. She looked up at Luka, who just had this adorable silly smile on his face watching her,"Did- did I do something wrong?" It was usually a good guess the answer was yes.

Luka opened his mouth to speak but Rose beat him to it. "No!" she was still giggling even as the others calmed down,"It's actually good you came. Poor Luka was a wreck." she put on the sweetest of smiles glancing at the boy in question.

Luka shifted, moving into a cross legged position. That serene smile stayed in place as he defended himself,"I was not 'a wreck.' I was the normal amount of concerned. I knew everything would be fine since the Akuma was defeated."