The Peacock And The Bee (Chloe Bourgeois × OC)

~7~

I'm such an idiot. Running away from Rob felt surreal to me. He was supposed to be the one running from me, not the other way around. He was supposed to be terrified, he was supposed to be the one dreading facing me in school next week, not the other way around. It made me feel so helpless like I felt when I lost my mother. I hated the feeling. With all that going on, you would honestly have expected Hawkmoth to have mercy on me. But no. He just had to akumatize someone. And that person just had to be someone who hated me, like everyone else on the planet.

"Hey, lookie here, is that the amazing Chloe Bourgeois? Well, well, well, too stuck in your blonde bubble to notice me?" I looked up, gasping at the sight of the pale blue face of the Bubbler himself. I began to run, forgetting, for a moment, that the boy could fly and opened my mouth to say the words that would transform me when I realised that my comb lay in my drawer back at the hotel. He captured me easily enough and I stretched my hands out against the thick, purple bubble as I rose into the sky, giving up some moments later. I took a seat and gazed at my fingers intently, forcing my tears back until I realised I was all alone. Tears streamed down my face before I could stop them and I let them flow freely, insulting myself incessantly out loud.

I felt bad for Ladybug, Chat Noir and my partner. It wasn't just one villain, the Bubbler, prowling around Paris and causing utter chaos. There were two of them, him bubbling people and Lady Wifi whizzing about on her fast forward icon. It's DJWiFi to the EXTREME, bebe. Underneath that cold, black heart of yours is a shipper just desperate to be set free, Hawkie. Hawkmoth was getting even stronger and the thought alone was terrified me. Pollen had told me about his kwami and I sighed, hoping he was alright. I couldn't understand how a man could force a kwami designed for good to be a pawn in his own evil scheme. Then I thought about Pollen, letting a sigh escape my lips as I wiped my eyes, tired of crying. I missed her a lot. I couldn't help it; much like honey ice cream, she had forced herself to grow on me and I liked having her around me.

Suddenly, the bubble popped before my eyes and I began to descend slowly to the ground. It almost felt like it was happening in slow motion; my heart caught in my throat, my eyes blinded by the wind and my tears as my arms flailed beside me, trying to grab a hold of support that was non-existent. Luckily, a certain bird was there to catch me. Steel Peacock held me close, gazing at me in silence and I tried to hold his gaze, unable to last more than a few seconds before my eyes drifted to the tense battleground some feet away. He dropped me quickly and jumped on his feather board, winking at me as he pulled out one of his seemingly endless feathers that always seemed to appear out of thin air. Wait a sec... He popped the bubble?! I should be mad at him... Dammit, he's too cute to be mad at!

"Sorry to burst your bubble, civilian but I've gotta run. Wonder where that bee is. And please, Chl... Clear out. I don't want you getting hurt." I nodded, his words forcing a slight pink hue to form on my face but I shook it off. He didn't even know the civilian me, he just happened to have saved me and he wanted me to try not to run into the middle of a showdown and get myself bubbled like the idiot I was. As I ran home, my eyes drifted upward and my eyes widened. There are still so many civilians up in those bubbles, why would you save me, Peacock? It was no time to think about what happened with Steel, Rob or how mad Pollen was at me right then. I had to hurry because they needed me. My partner needed me. My team needed me. It felt good; overwhelming but good to hear the power and responsibility I now possessed in those words. I opened the drawer and grabbed the comb, slotting it back into my ponytail. Belle appeared immediately, her glare strong enough to melt the North Pole. Oh, wait, global warming had already gotten started on that. She nuzzled against my cheek and I smiled slightly, suppressing a shocked gasp over the fact that she hadn't murdered me yet.

"CHLOE! THANK GOODNESS! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" Her expression shifted from relieved to pissed off again, making me take a shaky step back and send her an apologetic smile. "I AM GONNA-"