Dreamer (Book Two)

Chapter Four: Down to Business

       I wrung my hands together nervously as I balanced on the railing that was the only barrier between me and the hundreds of feet to the ground below. Adrien leaned over the railing and took my hand, sending me a reassuring smile.

We were told that the others would be here to meet us soon and my stomach churned with nauseousness as I considered what to tell them. I might have pretended that I was excited about the arrival of new heroes but thinking about the possibility of anyone getting hurt made my heart pound inside my chest and, now, there were a greater number of people to possibly get injured. I understood the necessity of getting new heroes to help, but a lingering sense of doubt hovered at the back of my mind. There were a million ways this could go wrong and too many of them resulted in the injury or death of my new comrades and old ones alike.

"Ladybug! Chat Noir!" Someone called from behind me. I turned to see Queen Bee, only knowing the heroine's name thanks to Master Fu, floating in the air. Part of her powers, I supposed. Being able to fly. Sometimes I wished I could just fly away into oblivion.

"Hello!" I greeted, hopping down from my perch as Queen Bee landed softly on the ground, thrusting out a hand to me which I took and shook. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I'm the one who should feel honored! I'm meeting one of Paris' most famous heroines! That's, like, totally incredible." Queen Bee gushed, fanning her face with her hands."And call me Queen Bee. Or Queenie for short."

"Sure!" I replied through a forced smiled. I studied the girl; she had long blonde hair that loosely flowed around her shoulders, bright honeysuckle eyes that seemed to pierce me, and a smile that seemed all too innocent.

"Having a party without me?" Chat pouted as he sauntered over to the two of us. He and Queenie shook hands, exchanging pleasantries. I let my eyes wander from the two heroes to scan the city, my city. I wondered how different it would look after the battle. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt arms snake around my waist.

"Chat!" I protested, my cheeks flaming as I swatted his hands away. There were people around, for heaven's sake!

"Sorry. You just looked like you were worrying." His hot breath tickled my skin as he nuzzled my neck, his arms snaking around my waist again to hold me. "Stop worrying, ma amour. Everything will work out."

"You can't promise that." I said so quietly I wasn't sure he heard until he spun me around and crushed me to his chest.

"I will not let anything happen to you." He heatedly whispered, crushing nearly all the breath out of my lungs with his grip. I merely nodded into his chest. I peeked over to see Queenie watching us with a curious look on her face, as if wondering what was going on.

I pulled away from Adrien and smiled sheepishly at Queenie. "Sorry. He tends to be a little clingy."

"No! No, no. I was just thinking about how cute you two were. Honestly, as a civilian I wanted you two to get together for a long time." Queenie said with a smile. I wondered who exactly she was behind the mask. I wasn't sure how to respond so I just smiled and turned back to lean over the railing. It wasn't long before I caught a flash of orange.

"Eeek!" A shrill screech filled the air as I was tackled by a blur of orange and white. I gasped wildly as I landed on the floor with a person scrambling to get up. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I'm talking to Ladybug! I'm your biggest fan! Oh my gosh!"

If I hadn't been in so much pain I would have chuckled, but luckily Chat sensed my distress and came  over, plucking the heroine off of me.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you to keep your paws off my purr-incess. She has a couple sore spots." Chat explained as he deposited the new heroine on the ground beside me.