The Perfect Tune, Chapter 13:

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He was on cloud nine. While it was perfectly reasonable to use the Horse Miraculous to teleport to New York, it would have been suspicious. Luka did decline the use of his father's private jet and instead road coach with Marinette on Air France. They had tickets for first class, but after passing an elderly couple that were obviously struggling with their arthritis, they traded seats with them.

Sometimes, it was the little acts of kindness that were truly heroic.

"This is certainly different than Paris," Marinette remarked. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as they walked the nighttime streets of New York City illuminated by countless advertising screenings and building lights.

They had taken the subway from the airport and the sheer amount of people, speaking a variety of languages, was a bit overwhelming. Luka missed the peace of his houseboat, but was glad to have Marinette by his side in this concrete jungle.

He glanced down at map on his phone and then oriented himself to the street signs. "We turn left at this next street and then we'll be a few blocks from the hotel."

"Times Square," Marinette whispered. "I wonder what it's like during New Years."

"Crowded." Luka slid his arm around Marinette's shoulder and pulled her against him as they continued to walk alongside one another. They packed light - a backpack each. He'd left his guitar back home and felt a little like a toddler without their security blanket.

"Are you excited to play in your father's concert?" Marinette asked.

"Excited, nervous." Luka pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. "Distracted by the beautiful woman at my side."

"After we drop off our gear at the hotel, I'd like to explore the city some more. I feel restless after that flight," Marinette explained. "It's so strange to be so far away from home."

"Did you go to space once?" Luka paused before the street crossing and watched as the line of yellow taxis sped past. There was a blind woman to their right and as soon as the cross walk indicated pedestrian crossing and started chirping like a bird, she eased confidently across with the cane.

"Amazing," Marinette whispered in awe, her attention also on the woman. "I am always impressed with humanity's ability to overcome barriers."

"That's part of what makes you a good leader," Luka pointed out. "We'll be sharing a suite with Juleka and Rose at the hotel. Juleka says the chocolate chip cookies in the lobby are sweeter than Christmas."

Marinette shifted her backpack strap across her shoulders. It was a heavier load than Luka's considering the Miracle Box was stashed inside. He would have offered to carry it, but he didn't want to insult his girlfriend.

They found themselves strolling down Broadway and the sounds of excited fans waiting outside the theaters ran in their ears. Luka paused in front of a poster for The Lion King. He loved the cartoon when he was little.

"Would you like to watch this while we're here?" Marinette asked. "I think we should at least see one Broadway show while we're here."

"I would love to see this one. Is there a particular show you'd like to see?" Luka asked.

Marinette grinned up at him. "Phantom of the Opera."

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It was hard not to stay snuggled on the sofa with Luka. The television was on some National Geographic series about plate tectonics — fascinating, yet easy to ignore. An hour before, they'd finished watching a matinee performance of The Lion King on Broadway.

Marinette breathed in her boyfriend's scent. He smelled especially wonderful with the new sandalwood and teak body wash they picked up the night before. She wore the Horse glasses perched on top of her head and Luka wore the Dog collar around his neck — looking like some sort of gothic choker.

Luka traced his finger around the edge of the collar. "It's taking a bit of time to get used to this," he muttered.

"I could wear it," Marinette suggested.

Luka shook his head. "We've discussed this already and decided you are already donning two Miraculous, I can bare two — especially since the Snake and Dog are both minor powers." He grinned down at her. "Besides, it goes with my punk rock image."

Marinette pressed her forehead against his upper arm. "Okay, okay. I need to pick up Adrien soon and you have practice."

"It's so wild that I'll be performing with Jagged Stone on an international concert!" Luka sighed happily. "If you told me this two years ago, I'd have had a heart attack."

"It's a good thing you can't tell your past self then," Marinette said. She tilted up her face and kissed his warm cheek. "I'll text Penny before we need to meet up with Adrien and Chloe."

"Sounds good." Luka took a deep breath and then pushed himself off the couch, pulling Marinette alongside him. "I'll see you in a few hours."

While Luka was busy practicing with Jagged, Marinette utilized the Horse Miraculous and teleported Adrien to New York. The travel time was significantly superior to the eight hour flight over the Atlantic.

"I'm not sure I'll ever be used to that," Adrien confessed when they arrived at the suite's kitchen.

"Just so you know, you'll have to fill your water canister up before we leave, unless you want to pay a fortune for bottled water at a convenient store," Marinette warned.

"There aren't fountains here?" Adrien asked.

"Not like the ones in Paris," Marinette admitted. They'd learned a great deal about the water filtration system in Paris while working on their renewable energy project. The use of Ozone and UV light was vastly superior to the use of Chlorine utilized by the U.S.

"And there's a concert tonight?"

"The next three nights actually," Marinette said. "Luka will be performing tonight and tomorrow with Jagged. He's pretty excited."

"Wow!" Adrien smiled at the idea. Like Marinette, he was a huge Jagged Stone fan. "Maybe one day I can play the keyboard for him."

"If Luka puts in a good word for you, I'm sure Jagged would consider it," Marinette said. "Are you ready to meet Chloe?"

"We're not meeting until after her classes finish this afternoon." Adrien looked at the time on his cell phone, noting it had adjusted to Eastern time. "We still have three hours. Did you figure out what do with Barkk?"

"Since we have a few hours, Luka will wear the Dog Miraculous. Barkk's personality is a little difficult for me," Marinette explained.

A wide grin spread across Adrien's lips. "That's because you're a cat person."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but didn't deny the statement. "How did things go with Kagami's father?"

"His flight was delayed due to a bad storm. Looks like tomorrow night is the big dinner with the family," Adrien explained. A fine bead of sweat broke out across his brow. Absently, he wiped the perspiration away with the back of his hand. "It would be easier to meet him if we weren't plotting the final take down of my father and I wasn't currently homeless."

"Just be yourself — you're impressive without your family name, Adrien. He might not think anyone is good enough for his beloved daughter, but if someone were — it would surely be you," Marinette reassured him.

"I still have this vague hope that maybe we'll be able to reason with my father and he'll see the error of his ways and we won't have to ruin his life," Adrien said softly. "He's a super villain, so I don't really see how that's possible."

"Don't give up hope just yet," Marinette encouraged. "Ladybug's powers of restoration have consistently repaired the damage done by Hawk Moth and his allies. Technically, the Miraculous users are vigilantes. It may be that we can abide by the spirit of the law rather than the rule of the law."

Adrien chuckled. "You're taking those Arthurian stories to heart from Miss Bustier's literature class."

"What good is learning if you don't apply the lessons to your life?" Marinette countered.

"Touché. So, what will we do with these next few hours?" Adrien asked.

Marinette opened her email on her cell phone and pulled up the online tickets she'd reserved for a boat tour of the New York Harbor. "I thought we might do the tourist thing. Look at the Statue of Liberty that our fellow Frenchmen sent the Americans at the end of the nineteenth century."

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The harbor tour had been a nice chance to enjoy both the water and cool breeze off the New York coast. Luka had met Adrien and Marinette at the docks afterwards and they'd taken the subway towards the area of Chloe's private school. Chloe had suggested they meet at a small cafe so Adrien went to the cafe while Marinette and Luka waited across the street at a Starbucks. There really was one on every corner.

"Adriknins!" Chloe rushed at Adrien and enveloped him in a fierce hug. Only his cat-like reflexes kept him from toppling over from the impact.

"It's good to see you too, Chloe," Adrien said winded and trying to disentangle the blond's arms from around him. "How's New York treating you?"

"Mommy won't speak to me and Daddy barely will," Chloe confessed, her icy-blue eyes shimmering with tears. "Even Sabrina doesn't answer my calls. She wrote me one letter when I first got here, but that was to say her father wouldn't allow her to associate with a criminal. Though, she didn't blame me for what happened and was still rooting for me — but silently."

"Let's go for a walk," Adrien suggested, noting the various stares they were receiving. He could see Marinette and Luka in his peripheral vision and hoped Luka was able to get what he needed with Barkk. He wanted to believe in Chloe's redemption. She was his oldest friend — selfish and misguided, but still with a good heart.

"It really means a lot that you're visiting and when you called, I was so overjoyed. You'll like Central Park. We can get there in just a kilometer's walk." Chloe looped her elbow through Adrien's and began to drag him in the southeastern direction. "Can you believe these Americans don't use the metric system? How barbaric! And learning a second language is something most don't even attempt until around fifteen! No wonder they are so hopeless."

Adrien frowned at the latter comment. "It's important to begin learning additional languages before the age of eight," he agreed. "The sooner you learn a second language, the easier it is to pick up additional languages later in life. Mandarin is the fourth language I know."

"Exactly!" Chloe smiled up at him and she really was pretty when she was acting without her usual malice. "Though, it actually is okay here. I've made a few friends that like me for me — not because of who my parents are. There's even this nice boy. He plays hockey."

"Oh really? How did you two meet?" Adrien asked.

"On the debate team. I'm actually really good at arguing it seems. And then he asked me to be his French tutor." She smiled absently.

They continued to walk in companionable silence until they reached the park. Adrien hoped that Marinette and Luka were still within hearing distance, but with the Dog's enhanced powers it shouldn't be a problem.

Adrien cut to the chase. "I've got to ask you, Chloe. Why? Why did you team up with Hawk Moth?"

Chloe's shoulders slumped at the question and her overall presence deflated somewhat. "The truth?" Chloe asked. "It would be easy if I said it was because I was jealous and wanted the Bee powers. I do feel I make an amazing Queen Bee. But the real reason, Ladybug was right. It was foolish to reveal my identity so brazenly. My parents were constantly in danger as a result. When Hawk Moth approached me, I really had no choice, but to comply. I just didn't anticipate the dark version of Queen Bee to be so corrupting. I was arrogant. I thought I could defeat him by joining him." Chloe shrugged. "At least Ladybug's powers restored everything so the damage wasn't permanent."

"Chloe, do you know who Hawk Moth is?" Adrien felt his heart warm with hope at her answer.

"He seems very familiar, but I couldn't say for sure," Chloe admitted. She smiled up at him with a wavering expression. "I'm not very helpful and for that I'm sorry."

"We all make mistakes, Chloe. It's important that we learn from them." Adrien gestured towards an unoccupied bench. "Can you wait here for a moment? I'll be right back. I'm going to grab us a couple of ice creams from that vender we passed a little while ago."

"Sure," Chloe agreed. She sat heavily on the bench and slouched immediately. The confident girl he knew from France was gone, defeated by her poor choices.

Adrien reached for her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm not mad at you, Chloe. You were put in an impossible situation." She looked up at him, hope shining in her pale eyes. "Strawberry still your favorite?" She nodded.

Adrien took off at a run for the vender. Marinette and Luka waited at the cart, each partaking in an ice cream. "What do you think?" He asked Luka in the Dog miraculous.

"I think New Yorkers assume I'm a cosplayer," Luka joked. He looked down at Marinette.

"She's sincere," Marinette said. "She one-hundred percent believes everything she's said. It does make sense that Hawk Moth would threaten her parents. If I'd been in the same situation, I might have done the same thing." She sighed. "Which is why secret identities are so important — at least from the villain." She licked her ice cream and glanced towards Chloe on the bench. "But now we know the identity of Hawk Moth too. He wouldn't expect Chloe's return as Queen Bee."

"Nor our expanded roster," Adrien agreed. "So, do I give her the Miraculous as Adrien or as Cat?"

"It's a gamble either way," Marinette reasoned. "If we are half-hearted, she might only half-heartedly join us. If Ladybug and Cat Noir ask her to join and offer her both forgiveness and friendship — that would be powerful."

"I'm going to feed Barkk the rest of my ice cream under that shady tree over there," Luka said.

Adrien and Marinette walked back towards Chloe. Adrien handed the surprised blond her strawberry ice cream cone.

"Marinette?" Chloe gaped. "You're here with Adrien?"

"More like Adrien is here with me and my boyfriend," Marinette explained, sitting next to Chloe on the bench while Adrien sat on Chloe's other side. "We've been debating about what to do with you, Chloe. However, I'd like to offer you a chance of redemption."

"How do you plan to help redeem me, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe asked coldly. She bit into her ice cream cone savagely.

"Chloe Bourgeois, I have come to offer you the Miraculous of the Bee. Will you use your powers to help us defeat Hawk Moth once and for all?" Marinette held out her hand, offering the Bee hair comb.

Chloe's gaze swiveled between the comb and Marinette's eyes. "I don't understand."

"I'm Cat Noir," Adrien explained, earning a shocked icy stare.

"And I'm Ladybug," Marinette confessed.

Chloe chuckled softly. "No wonder you didn't want to give me the Miraculous." She reached her hand over Marinette's and accepted the Bee Miraculous. "I will do all in my power to help you defeat Hawk Moth, but I don't know how much help I'll be on the other side of the Atlantic."

"We have the ability to teleport," Marinette explained.

"And apparently Hawk Moth is my father," Adrien added. He handed over a box of colorful treats for Pollen. "These will enhance your kwami's powers. There's a list of instructions included. I suggest you familiarize yourself. We will be striking next week."

Chloe closed her fist tight around the comb and slipped the box of treats into her purse. "I will not let you down."

"I know you won't," Adrien agreed.

"And if you're up to it, we're going to Jagged Stone's concert tonight — we'll be watching from the front row if you're interested in joining us," Marinette offered.

"How did you arrange that?" Chloe asked.

"I'm dating his son," Marinette answered with a cheeky grin. She placed her hand on Chloe's wrist. "This time, try not to tell everyone about your alter ego."

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A/N: My apologies for the delay. Thanks for your encouragement last chapter regarding the story and life. Stay safe everyone! I had wanted to flesh this chapter out some more, but I'm currently incapable. I appreciate your patience!