Everyone began talking/yelling at once.

Ladybug looked completely flabbergasted. "What the- She's really alive?? It really worked? What the heck?!"

Jade Turtle was more focused on Queen Bee, and he grimaced in fear. "Oh god, is she alive?"

Volpina looked as though she could not even deal with this. "Hi? That's all you-" She facepalmed. "Really?? What even??"

Chat Noir was just kind of quietly screeching next to Steel Peacock.

"Guys!" Steel Peacock shouted, effectively silencing everyone. "You'll wake her up." She glanced at Queen Bee.

"Wait... I can't be the only completely lost here, right?" Volpina asked. "Weren't you trying to kill her, like, not even three days ago?"

Steel Peacock sighed. "I'll explain myself, I promise, but can we take care of Queen Bee first?" Her eyes looked pleading. "And once I've finished, can you please tell me what the heck happened to me?"

Jade Turtle nodded before anyone could respond. "Agreed! Bring her over here." He said quickly.

Steel Peacock nodded and carried Queen Bee over to Jade Turtle, and gently placed her down on the bench.

Jade Turtle checked her pulse and body temperature. "She's still alive, thank goodness." He looked at Steel Peacock. "She'll be fine, she just needs rest."

Steel Peacock's expression softened. "Thank goodness." She reached out and took Queen Bee's hand in hers, squeezing it lightly.

Chat Noir broke the awkward silence. "Um! So, start explaining. Queen Bee said you were a spy? I'm assuming that's true."

Steel Peacock nodded. "A few days before the Festival Of Heroes, I had a no-masks meeting with Queen Bee. We had to settle our differences honestly, and she convinced me to betray Hawkmoth and become a spy. I signaled her when Miss Blogger had become an akuma-"

"So that's why she looked so anxious and antsy that day!" Volpina blurted out. "She had an inside source!" She realized she had interrupted, and chuckled nervously, gesturing for her to continue.

"I didn't want to hurt her at the festival. But she said I had to, and asked me to hit her as hard as I could." Steel Peacock lowered her head in guilt. "When she used her power and her swarm chased after me, she collapsed from overexerting herself, and I carried her away to stitch her leg up." She looked back to Volpina. "I wasn't kidnapping her, I swear, I was only trying to help her." Her voice started to shake.

Volpina nodded. "It's okay. I believe you."

"And she woke up, and I was so happy she was okay." Steel Peacock paused, rubbing her head. "It all gets blurry after that. I know Hawkmoth sent me after Vixen... to witness her akumatization... But she refused, and she stole his power... And-" Her eyes widened. "Oh god. He knows I'm a spy now." She started to shiver, and her breathing became erratic. "W-What's he going to do to me?"

Ladybug placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You're part of our team now, you have been ever since you pledged loyalty against Hawkmoth, saved Queen Bee when she collapsed, and when you freed us using your Miraculous power. We'll protect you from him."

"Thank you." Steel Peacock smiled gratefully, and then she continued with her story. "I remember the pain... her puppet strings crawling through my every orifice..." Steel Peacock shuddered, like her skin was crawling at the memory. "And then... I regained control of my body..." Steel Peacock suddenly stopped, and turned bright red.

"Oooh, somebody's blushing~" Volpina teased. "Hm, I wonder why?"

Steel Peacock hid her face. "Shut up!" She moaned. "And then I woke up here, and I don't remember what happened to me!" She turned around and pointed to Volpina. "So now it's your turn! What happened?"

Volpina raised her hands defensively. "Hey, don't ask me! I was unconscious the whole time." She looked at Jade Turtle. "He was with Queen Bee when they were saving us, so he probably knows."

Jade Turtle nodded. "Right. So, basically, we split up at first, because she told me to go save the pedestrians, and she went after you." He nodded towards Steel Peacock. "You... you kind of... well, she refused to hurt you... and I think Vixen ordered you to hurt her..." He was clearly dodging the truth.

"Just say it." Steel Peacock said bluntly. "If I hurt her, whatever I did, I need to know the truth."

Ladybug marveled at how detached Steel Peacock was to things like this. It was almost scary. Ladybug knew if it had been her hurting the ones she loved, she might not have taken it as well as Steel Peacock was.

"You did hurt her." Jade Turtle finally spoke. "She might've been worse if I hadn't pulled her out of there. But once I did, Vixen was almost ready to sacrifice you guys, and Queen Bee told me to distract Vixen while she saved you, SP. She knew we couldn't survive without you, because you were the strongest of us three. I trusted her and went after Vixen, but I got taken down pretty quickly. Next thing I remember was you using your Miraculous power, and freeing me from my chains and the others from theirs, and I went to go help Volpina and the others." He paused. "I'm pretty sure only Queen Bee knows exactly how, but all I know is that you died."

Steel Peacock froze. "I died?" She placed her hand over her breastplate. "But that's-" She suddenly remembered.

"Oh god." Steel Peacock hunched over, clutching her chest. "I died."

"I remember!" She gasped, two fingers racing up to her wrist and checked her pulse, and it was beating strongly. "How am I alive??"

"Queen Bee resurrected you using the Power Of The Nines." Jade Turtle said. "She used your Miraculous and hers in unison to heal your injuries and restart your heart."

"She saved me?" Steel Peacock turned back to look at Queen Bee.

"I mean, I thought it would be more along the lines of bring-you-back-from-the-dead-so-I-can-kill-you-myself, but whatever works for you." Volpina attempted to lighten the mood.

Everyone laughed a bit at that, even Steel Peacock. But then, she turned back to Queen Bee and pushed away a stray hair from her face.

"What... what do we do now?" Chat Noir asked after a moment of silence.

Ladybug swallowed hard. "We rest. And then we're going after Hawkmoth."

"What-" Volpina looked as though she hadn't expected that. "So soon? Wouldn't we be pushing our luck a bit, going after him so soon after an akuma battle?"

"I agree with Ladybug." Steel Peacock remarked. "I can't risk going out there, he knows who I really am. And after knowing that I'm a spy, he's going to hunt me down. We have the upper hand here, there's no point in waiting."

"How exactly do we have the upper hand here?" Chat Noir demanded. "Ladybug and I have been at this the longest, and we still have no leads on who he is or where he's stationed."

"Chat Noir, you're forgetting something." Steel Peacock smirked. "You have me now. And I know exactly who he is and where he's stationed."

"What?! You do?" Chat Noir's eyes lit up with hope. "Tell us, please!"

Steel Peacock seemed hesitant. "I'll tell you all when Queen Bee's awake... She's a part of this too."

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're not avoiding the topic?"

Steel Peacock didn't speak for a moment.

She sighed. "Look... I want him behind bars just as much, if not more than you all. But I don't know who you all are, and you all are bound to have different initial reactions to his identity than me. And I want you all to believe me when I tell you who he is, rather than focus on who you think he is and ignore the truth." Although she was addressing everyone, her gaze was locked completely on Chat Noir.

Chat Noir felt as though her words were only meant for him, which raised several red flags. One, that she might know who he is in civilian life, and two, that he might somehow know Hawkmoth in his civilian form.

Steel Peacock's gaze didn't waver as she continued. "My reaction was that if it could have been anyone in Paris, it just happened to be this person. Just please try to have an open mind when I do reveal it. This man has an agenda for ultimate power for reasons even I, his former lieutenant, don't know."

"Understood." Chat Noir felt as though she was waiting for his reply.

She tilted her head slightly, as if to challenge him. Do you?

She finally shifted her piercing gaze away from Chat, and he felt strange from her direct challenge and what it could mean.

"Another thing about this man is that he will shift and manipulate whoever he needs, he will destroy or cast out anything he deems unnecessary, all to further himself to his goal. Do not underestimate what he is capable of." She thought for a moment. "He will probably try to akumatize any of you to use you to defend him."

"Is there any way to defend yourself against akumatization?" Ladybug asked.

"Yes, there are several methods."

"Wait, then why haven't any of the villains and akuma's we've fought so far used them?" Chat Noir asked.

Steel Peacock shook her head. "That's not true. Vixen may have been an akuma, but she was in no way under Hawkmoth's control. She baited him by allowing herself to feel the proper emotional response that Hawkmoth seeks out, and then stole his power when the butterfly entered her necklace. But we aren't going that far." Steel Peacock explained. "What we can learn from Vixen's method is that she thoroughly mentally prepared herself to resist Hawkmoth's persuasion, and that's what we're going to do." She paused. "Think of every insecurity, weakness, strength, anything someone could take advantage of if someone got into your mind. Take everything and imagine in your mind it being used against you, and how you can respond without submitting."

The group all nodded. "What about you? Will you be preparing as well?" Ladybug asked.

Steel Peacock smirked. "I only have one weakness, and I'm never letting her out of my sight ever again. And the only other thing he could use is my desire for justice to be served against him, so if he tries to use me, all I can say is, good luck with that."

Volpina gave a loud sigh. "Oh jeez, you two are so meant for each other I don't know if I should be touched or disgusted."

Ladybug giggled a bit at that. "Anyway, we should all hurry up with the mental prep." She looked at her yoyo display. "It'll be dark soon. Maybe we should call it a night, though?"

Volpina shook her head. "No. We're not going home, we have to make sure Queen Bee recovers and Steel Peacock doesn't get hurt or captured by Hawkmoth. So, we're stuck here until it's time to go after him."

Chat Noir nodded. "I agree. But maybe two of us should go get some food or something, maybe some medicine for Queen Bee?"

Jade Turtle spoke up. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I'll go with you."

"Glad that's settled!" Ladybug said. "So we'll stay behind and hold the fort while you guys bring some food." She shot Chat a look. "It better not be tuna, or some kind of cat pun."

"Hey! Now that's just not fair!" Chat Noir whined, but then his former smirk came back. "Though, are you sure you lovely ladies will be fine without us?"

"Hey! Don't forget this lovely lady kicked your butt on her second day of the job!" Volpina replied hastily.

"You wound me!" Chat Noir feigned hurt. Volpina and Ladybug chuckled a bit at his antics.

"Anyway, we should be going now." Jade Turtle began to drag Chat Noir away from the girls and outside of the building.

"Don't come back without something good!" Volpina chided after them.

She looked into her palm, staring at Eliza's ring. "I'll be right back, girls." Volpina started to stand and head towards another room to explain what had happened over the past day and to her sister to Eliza.