“Ladybug said I was awesome.” Not entirely true, but Queen Bee never could stand silence. “She said that I’d made huge improvements.”
Koira didn’t even glance her way. “And?”
“And?” Queen Bee repeated as they arced around the Eiffel Tower. “And a compliment to me is a compliment to you. I thought you’d like to know.”
“Compliments from Ladybug are meaningless” Koira said as they began the second half of their patrol.
Outrage boiled up in Queen Bee, for once on behalf of someone else. “Are you seriously saying you think you’re better than her?”
“I’m saying she thinks too much,” Koira said, coming to an abrupt stop on a slanted roof. “I’m saying this whole mess could have been avoided if she’d just asked for help. I’m saying Ladybug doesn’t like me, I don’t like her, and it’s fine. And I’m saying if you worried less about what Ladybug thought of you and more about what you wanted, you’d be even better.”
There was so much to unpack there, Queen Bee didn’t even know where to start. “What mess are you talking about?” Her heart beat painfully in her chest. There could only be one mess he could mean. She’d stupidly thought he of all people would never hold it against her. She’d thought they were the same.
But Koira just laughed, a bitter sound without any real humour. “There’d be no point in telling you.”
Queen Bee stomped her foot in frustration. “Why? You think I’m so enamoured with Ladybug I’ll just take her side? Or am I too stupid to understand?”
Finally, finally, Koira met her eyes. The usual disdain had vanished. In its place was…pity?
“You won’t be able to hold onto it,” he finally said as he began running again. “It’s a waste of time.”
Unease swirled through Queen Bee as she followed, but it was overwhelmed by hurt. He really did think she was stupid. He really did.
“Why do you even bother with me, then,” she choked out. Damnit, she was not going to cry. Especially because Felix had hurt her feelings. As if she cared about what Adrien’s cranky cousin thought of her anyway. As if she cared what any of them thought! She was Chloe Bourgeois! She had beauty, style, grace! She was the real deal; Felix was just too blind to see it. And that was hardly her fault.
“Ugh,” Koira groaned, glancing back at her over his shoulder. “This is why I wanted to wash my hands of this whole thing. I work better alone.” But still, he stopped, dragging Queen Bee into the thing shadow of a chimney.
“I don’t think you’re stupid,” he said, scowling. “But you won’t remember. The team is at a disadvantage because of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s choices. Everyone’s identity is one mistake away from being revealed.”
Even as he spoke, Queen Bee was having trouble remembering the words. She managed to hold onto them - barely. “Speaking from experience, your identity being known isn’t the problem. Hawk Moth had an advantage when the Miraculous were being dropped off, but now that we hold onto them full time - ”
“He can come and get them any time he wants,” Koira interrupted, starting off again.
Queen Bee followed, at a loss. He wasn’t wrong. Hawk Moth had done that very thing to her when he’d targeted her parents. He’d known she’d do anything to save them. And it was her fault most of their team was now at the same disadvantage. But…
“What were they supposed to do?” Queen Bee said at last as she followed her partner through an alley. “What would you have done?”
She was close enough she could see him scowl. He was quiet so long she didn’t think he would answer, but then he spoke.
“It’s impossible to know.” He sped up. “I’ve never loved someone that much.”
Neither had she. She hadn’t even loved herself that much.
“It doesn’t matter,” Queen Bee finally said. “It’s done. The only thing that matters is whether or not you trust them.”
Koira glanced back again, a half-smile on his face. “Not really,” he said, “And if you knew what I do, you wouldn’t either. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we have the same goals. That’s enough for me.”
Maybe it was her recent experiences with Ladybug, or the fact that she now knew who wore the earrings, but Queen Bee found herself agreeing with Koira. She trusted Ladybug and Chat Noir to do their best, but around each other…
Love was a weapon. Her parents had taught her that. It had only ever led to pain.
Queen Bee was so engrossed in her warring thoughts that she nearly hit a weathervane, narrowly avoiding it only by throwing herself into a graceful arc over the obstruction.
“Where are we?” she demanded as she glanced around. “This isn’t our normal route.”
“No,” Koira agreed. “I thought it was time to do more than just damage control.”
Queen Bee scowled at her partner. “Meaning?”
“Why are we always cleaning up Hawk Moth’s messes?” Koira said as he led her down another street. “Why are we always being chased instead of chasing?”
“Like, a million reasons.” Trust was one thing, but questioning how things were done… it wasn’t perfect but it worked. “One, we don’t know anything about him. Two, he, like, never shows up in public. Three, we don’t know anything about him.”
“Don’t we?” Koira said, finally coming to a stop on the roof of a random building. “After all, Chat Noir thought he didn’t know anything about Ladybug until he had to find her.”
Queen Bee opened her mouth to argue, but the words died on her tongue as her heart beat once, then twice. A tone rang briefly in her ear, distracting her, until she abruptly refocused on Koira shaking his head, the last few seconds a hazy blur.
“We just think we don’t know anything about him,” Koira continued as though nothing had happened as he pulled a loose tile out. “Truth is, LB and Chat Noir have been so busy cleaning up they haven’t had time to do anything else. But now they have us.”
“Are you going to stop being cryptic or do I have to continue to pretend to be interested in whatever you’re rambling about?” Queen Bee snapped.
Koira scowled, but leaned back to show her the map he’d pulled out from under the tile, marked with dozens of red dots. “Do you know how criminal profiling started?”
“Like…instagram accounts for bad guys?”
“Profiling.” Koira pointed to the map. “Where detectives and scientists would put together a profile on their bad guy based on the data of their crimes to help them catch them when they didn’t even have an eye-witness to go on. It started when investigators would mark where suspects carried out their crimes. More often than not, the crimes would take place in a radius around where the suspect did the deed. They didn’t like to go too far from home, but they didn’t like to be too close, either. Too obvious. Problem is, you’re left with a nice little target on your head that anyone can find if they just notice the pattern.”
Queen Bee frowned at the map. “But that doesn’t look like anything. There’s dots all over Paris.”
“But just Paris,” Koira said, splaying his gloved hand over the map. “So we know he’s probably in the city.”
“Puh-lease! He’s after the Miraculous, right? Which is where Ladybug and Chat Noir are. So he’s creating akumas here. That’s all that proves. After all, you’re not from here.”
“He has to be close,” Koira insisted. “The Miraculous have limits. He wouldn’t be able to feel negative emotions from too far away.”
“Not necessarily,” Queen Bee said, crouching closer to the map for a better look. “The horse miraculous and rabbit miraculous have no limits on distance, temporal or physical. He akumatized a villain in the United States just a few months ago.”
Koira huffed, running a hand through his hair. “This is why I bother with you.”
Queen Bee blinked over at him. “What?”
“You’re so combative.” He traced an invisible line from dot to dot. “You just love to be right.” His hand abruptly froze on the map as he looked over at her. “I see things more clearly with you.”
Queen Bee could feel every nerve in her body tingle as those green eyes bored into hers. So similar, but so different. Amber flecks instead of blue. But looking at Adrien had never made her feel like this, like every nerve in her body was on fire.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re right,” she whispered. “He would want to be here, to get his hands on the Miraculous as soon as possible. Maybe not when everything first started, but now…”
“He’s appeared in the city,” Koira said, but his gaze didn’t stray from her face. “He saved Mayura when she was in danger. He wouldn’t have been fast enough if he’d been elsewhere.”
“So he’s here,” Queen Bee repeated, finally breaking his gaze to scour the map again, but no pattern revealed itself.
“Somewhere. We just have to flush him out.” Koira paused, tracing more invisible lines. “It might take some…bonding time.”
Queen Bee made a face. “Bonding time? With…?”
Koira barked a laugh as he caught her meaning. “God, no. I meant you with our fearless leader and me with my dear cousin. There’s a pattern here; we just need more details. I’m betting the wonder twins have just been too enamoured with one another to see it. But you and I can probably find it, or some clues, to start to form a picture.”
“Oh. Right.” She was definitely not stung that he didn’t want to hang out with her. She was just embarrassed to have jumped to conclusions. That was it. “Well, I must warn you, the Lady’s not my biggest fan. She might be suspicious.”
Koira glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Trust me: play your cards right and she’ll give you just about anything. I, on the other hand, have no such trump card. The cat will have his back up.”
But Queen Bee bit her lip. “Maybe it would be better to just tell them.” Striking out on her own, not trusting Ladybug had been what had caused all her problems in the first place.
“Answer me this,” Koira said, turning to face her. “Do you honestly think they’ll let us do this if we say anything?”
No. No, they wouldn’t. They’d be afraid of the consequences. Queen Bee was afraid of the consequences. But she was beginning to be more afraid of what she already had to lose. A sense of urgency rose up in her, nudging at her in a way she couldn’t quite grasp. She breathed through the panic, letting it guide her to a conclusion.
“Once we find him,” Queen Bee said at last, “We tell them, before we do anything.”
“Deal,” Koira said, reaching for his map. “I would have anyway. I’ve seen first-hand the consequences of taking Hawk Moth on without everyone on board. But until then, this stays between us.”
Queen Bee stood, arms crossed. “As if I’ll even remember what house this is after we leave,” she scoffed.
But she would. She’d memorized the house across the way and the name of the street. She might not get it on the first try, but if she had to, she could probably find it again. She was done, she decided. She was done letting Hawk Moth jerk her around. She was done having her life ruined over and over again because she was afraid. And she was done being on defense.
And she wanted it, she realized. More than anything, she wanted Hawk Moth’s head on a platter. It had been months since he’d last manipulated her, but the wounds were still fresh, and stung more than she remembered.
Queen Bee wanted her life back.
And Hawk Moth was going to damn well give it to her, even if she had to chase him through all of Paris to get it.
Rewatching seasons 1 & 2 had me asking this question and lots of things that I saw back then were odd, but now make sense.
The first timeline in Timebreaker.
Chloé clearly saw Alix give Alya the watch. She looks at it along with everyone else in that scene. Takes it once it's out of the hands of Alya and Marinette, doesn't give it back after calling it "probably worthless" & pushes the button.
After she drops the watch, she lied by saying she had nothing to do with it. If this were some other episode in season 1 she'd be like "So, it's just some stupid (object)". Also why would she lie despite the fact there were at least five people who saw her drop it? Also this is the 2nd time Chloé stole something in season 1, but the first (and possibly the only) time she steals something (seemingly) without a motive! No contest to win, no Prince nor a mother to impress. She wasn't going to give back to Adrien and she sure wasn't gonna do so on Marinette's command. Again why did she take the watch and lie about dropping it?
Chloé with other girls:
Chloé with Alix:
Chloé is NEVER seen singling Alix out. Chloé didn't even get her akumatized by being her mean self. She was bratty and clumsy, but not (much of) a bully. If any of the other girls (mostly Marinette) were to call Chloé out on her nasty and arrogant behavior, she'd try to get back at them or at least have a comeback but with Alix... she either does nothing about it or just leaves.
No ruining her life, no getting her family to leave Paris, none of that. The most she'll do is give her a look.
Alix's stare?
In at least two episodes, Alix is seen staring at Chloé while everyone else is doing their work or looking at the teacher. Did they mean to do this?
The bus scene in the episode Zombizou.
First thing I gonna ask is what is it with Chloé and ruining birthdays? Back on topic, when the girls are sitting down, Chloé says nothing! No insults on how they're doing a lousy job of protecting her, none of that. Alix is even seen giving her a mean look for a split second before looking away. When Alix sacrifices herself, Chloé is shown to have abit of an upset look on her face and THEN she starts insulting them. She even says "You people need to stop invading my personal space," despite Alix not letting them anywhere near her.
That one scene from the episode Reverser.
This scene revealed certain things about Chloé. This wasn't the first time that Chloé tried to become a member of the art club nor was it the first time she tried to use a collage of selfies to do so. Why would Chloé want to join a club where almost all of the members hated her guts?
The Chloé/Sabrina/Alix friendship?
For those of you that are not aware of this, Alix was going to be in a trio group with Chloé and Sabrina. Out of all the girls to remove from the group, why did they remove Alix? Will this friendship come into play later on? The people who make this show are big on recycling old ideas, maybe a friendship of sorts will be brought up?
Queen Bee & Bunnyx?!
We've been getting a lot of Chloé in season 3, but very few of Alix. What we have on Alix has me asking questions. Does Queen Bee exist in the future? What is their future like? Are Queen Bee and Bunnyx a duo team in the future? Hopefully at least one of these questions will be answered later on.
Some of the questions I've got answers to (these are just opinions)!
It isn't until after Alix revealed that the watch was a birthday present when Chloé lied. We know that Chloé has trouble remembering birthdays. She even looked shocked before telling the lie.
I'm guessing the reason for Chloé not picking on Alix is because the two girl may have history. They may have even been friends at one point.
Chloé may have wanted to join the art club to show off her looks or her makeup skills. She was really surprised when Alix's guess was right. She was embarrassed, so she left.
Headcanons!
Chloé has a crush on Alix.
Chloé showed up to the race to cheer for Alix.
Alix feels the same way, but doesn't show her feelings due to Chloé's arrogant and nasty personality.
Chloé is so mean and nasty to Nathaniel because he stole Alix's friendship away from her.
Felix being Chloe’s twin brother, one who their mom decided to take with her, leaving Chloe behind, and her father tries to overdote her to make up for it and make it clear that he loves her very much; only it still hurts and Chloe doesn’t get why she chose Felix and not her.
And one of the reasons Chloe approached Adrien was because he looked a lot like her twin brother Felix, only a lot more talkative and sweeter.
And then, years later, Felix returns.
Things don’t go well.
Felix is too stiff, too cold, to mean and just wants to criticize her all the time; Chloe is a complete child, immature, a brat, and they have a reputation to uphold...
"Hey, Felibear.”
“Stop. Calling me. Felibear.”
Adrien wants to give Felix the benefit of the doubt but he rubs him wrong and doesn’t want to get along with Chloe which isn’t really helping...
Alya eagerly sneaks popcorn to school, eager to see any fights.
Nino (and the rest of the class) just wants to stay out of it.
Marinette is weary because now there are two Bourgeois at school and both can really mean when they want to be and she’s not going to let them rule the school.
And after potential reveal or both find the miraculous at the same time, mama Pollen looking over her two childish kids, reminding them every day to “Beehive!”
Competitive Bourgeois siblings, miraculous sharing that Pollen tolerates because goodness, both these kids need help and guidance; King and Queen Bee, the miraculous bee hero siblings who both really struggle with teamwork and can be really haughty.
Chat prefers QB, she’s a lot more fun and laid back, reckless duo, mischievous duo.
LB prefer KB, they like to plan out their moves together, focus on the task at hand. Bonus she doesn’t get tackled with hugs in the middle of akuma fights with KB.
