All's Well that End's Well

*Part Sixteen*

___________Eden's POV__________

"So, you're certain we don't need to look for Adrien? Won't it be easier to keep him with us, so we don't have to worry about Liam getting to him?"

Chat's suggestion that we forget about Adrien for the moment still didn't make very much sense to me, but he was determined to focus on planning an attack rather than a rescue mission.

"It's thoughtful of you to be so concerned, but I know Adrien very well and he's quite resourceful. We don't need to worry about him, Eden," Chat promised, but his reassurance did little to ease the anxiousness rising in me. What did help my anxiousness, however, was the appearance of Ladybug and Viperion.

"Everyone's been frozen," Ladybug gasped, before quickly pulling us all behind a parked car for cover. "Liam could be anywhere, we need to stay alert."

"Right, so what's the plan bugaboo?" Chat asked, scooting (not so subtly) closer to his partner. Scooting away, Ladybug continued.

"Well, once we have Liam here, Viperion will activate his second chance. Then, Chat Noir will distract him while I sneak up from behind him and destroy his belt."

While everyone thought it over, I raised my hand, unsure how to politely interrupt a superhero.

"Uh, Eden, you don't have to raise your hand. You can just speak," Chat Noir said teasingly, and I swallowed, hoping my embarrassment wasn't as evident on my face as it was in my head.

"Right, yeah, it's just, don't you have to use your lucky charm to beat the bad guy?" I gestured to her yo-yo for effect, and Ladybug laughed, shaking her head.

"Sometimes, I don't need it every time. I'll still use it, but just so that I can restore any destruction caused by the Akuma."

Next to me, Viperion made a thoughtful noise as he mulled over what that meant, meanwhile Chat Noir jumped at the chance to direct the conversation back towards himself.

"It's the same way with my cataclysm. Sometimes, I have to use it, and sometimes the situation doesn't call for it," he droned on, and I decided to humor him.

"No way, really? I would never have guessed," I told him sweetly, and he took it as a sign to continue, mansplaining about how not every plan Ladybug makes needs him to obliterate something. He was so caught up in himself, that he must have missed my eye-roll.

"Can you believe this guy," I whispered to Viperion, and he chuckled softly.

"Welcome to the team, Eden," he responded, somewhat sarcastically.

"Thanks, but superheroing isn't for me. I'm happy here, watching safely from the sideline."

Viperion smiled, shrugging.

"It's not for everyone," He told me, but his eyes were shining with excitement of what was to come.

Not for everyone, but definitely for him. I'd be willing to bet he wasn't scared of heights too. I could see it in the way he carried himself that he was meant to be a hero. His quiet confidence and ever calmness even while enduring the most chaotic of circumstances. While I may not have known the guy for very long, it was obvious even to me that helping people was in his blood. It crossed my mind then that I would have liked to know who Viperion was really, underneath the mask.

I must have been staring as I processed all of this, and Viperion shifted uncomfortably under my gaze.

"...what?" He finally asked, and his voice drew me out of my thoughts entirely. My mind buzzed with familiarity for a second as if I'd experienced dejá vu, but I knew it was impossible. I would have remembered a situation like this.