Adrien looked around his room, noticing that Wally hadn't come back yet despite having seen him earlier in the lobby...then again, that was roughly an hour ago.

The music had already been set and playing for a while, the food already gone. All that was left were the gingerbread cookies he had attempted to create earlier today. He had begged everyone to not touch them until everyone was here.

"Dudette isn't here yet?" Nino asked, handing Adrien another cup of chocolate.

After hearing that Wally went to search for Marinette, the group decided to wait on opening gifts until Marinette arrived. They remained untouched under the Christmas tree set up in his room. But that was at least half an hour ago and they haven't heard from either person since.

"Do you think Marinette-" Sabrina started, only to see Chloe shake her head.

"Something is wrong." Chloe looked at the street below, her eye barely catching a streak of red outside, zooming all over the place. It had been for some time now. "If that streak outside means anything."

Everyone scramble to the giant window, watching as a red streak continues to pass by them before it completely disappears.

A knock at the door caused everyone to flinch, watching as Natalie tried to walk in, only for Gabriel to step in.

"Father, what is-"

"So she really is missing." Gabriel quietly said, Adrien feeling a shiver run down his spine as his father looked at with frown on his face.

His father never frowned, only scowled.

"Missing?" Sabrina repeated, looking at Nino and Chloe. "Who is missing?"

"That would be Mlle Dupain-Cheng." Natalie filled in, noticing how everyone froze. "She never arrived and as of now, has been missing for an hour."

Adrien dropped the mug in his hand, the chocolate splattering all over the place. Gabriel left the room, listening as the teens ran around, their warbled voices shouting at each other as they tried to form a plan.

"Sir, are you-" Natalie asked as she shut the door. Before she could ask her boss anything, Gabriel started to cough, the coughing turning into wheezing. "Sir!"

Natalie tried to help, but Gabriel simply pushed her away, taking out a handkerchief to catch the bits of blood that seeped from his mouth.

"Now's not the time Natalie. Until I figure out that last piece of the spell, that's when I'll strike." Natalie followed him to his study, right behind him as he guided her to a secret chamber hidden within his study.

Ever since Banshee touched the link that connected her and Hawkmoth, Gabriel had been coughing up blood, the first few days being a nightmare for Natalie. He coughed up large portions of blood, staining his clothes and anything he used to clean it off himself.

"Thanks to that girl's translations she left behind in the book, I'll be able to get back to akumatizing very soon." Gabriel grinned, his blood smearing at the corner of his mouth. Natalie watched as they got lowered into his lair, watching as glowing white butterflies scattered away from them.

Some opted to land near some potted milkweeds while others opted to go further deeper into the lair.

She watched as he eagerly staggered toward the grimoire standing by the window, a table nearby with various notes laid about. "With this, very soon...very soon, I will be back," he motioned to the notes and then grasped the single jewel nested on his shirt. "I'll be back and with even more power. Power so great that Ladybird and her team will not be able to take me down and be forced to surrender their Miraculouses to me!"

Natalie watched as Gabriel hovered his hand over the jewel which then morphed into a brooch. She was as Nooroo appeared before them. "But of course, I need Nooroo's help to finish the last step...or so the book says." Natalie watched as Nooroo looked at her with dazed eyes, wondering if Nooroo was like this due to Banshee destroying the link between her and Hawkmoth. After all, it's been a while since she's seen the kwami. "After restoring Nooroo back to its original state, once I've been successful restoring my miraculous-"

"You'll restore hers...right?" Natalie softly hoped. "And then you'll bring her back to us...just like you promised...right?"

Gabriel's feral grin was all she needed to confirm her suspicion, Natalie really hoping that was the case.

She watched as he quickly went to work, watching as he drowned himself into cracking the last piece of the spell that girl left behind in the spellbook.

While he had taken the girl's mistake as a signal of luck, Natalie couldn't help but feel that it wasn't the case. After all, who simply left clues behind to solve a problem no one foresaw?

Nothing made sense, now that she thought about it.

Why would she talk about someone knowing how to crack the Guardian's language? Why would she expose knowing a bit about said language? What made it even more suspicious was the way Marinette introduced herself to Gabriel. She indirectly told them about her grief, talking about resent in the process.

It was as if she was giving Gabriel an indirect heads up.

But then again, how could she even know that Gabriel is Hawkmoth. After all, no one knew besides her. He had been careful to not let himself get caught, meticulously redirecting any suspicion to another direction.

Sighing, Natalie rubbed her fingers against her forehead.

That's right. He had taken precautions, she was looking into the situation more than she should have. There was no use in fussing over it.

The end was already near and she could feel it.

Soon, very soon, they'll both regain what they had lost.

They'll get back their love, even if they didn't know the price of it.

-----

Amira quickly sat up the moment her guard was back up, scanning the- she was still in Paris?

Tossing the comforter on top of her aside, Amira got to her feet, only then realizing that she was on a sofa, in the middle of a tiny living room. A tiny living room where one entire side was just glass, Amira watching as the snow gently fell from the gray sky above.

As much as she wanted to stay and watch the snowfall, Amira had to scout the rest of the apartment, listening as she heard sizzling from the room over. So, she went to investigate.

Talia was in the kitchen, placing a last waffle onto a stack of two. Amira watched as she took the plate and some syrup and placed it onto the table.

"Waffles?" Amira asked as she eyed them when she entered the kitchen, not exactly the thing she thought Talia was going to be doing while she awaited for her to wake up.

"I heard they're a good midnight snack." Talia easily replied, placing another plate of them down. "Syrup?"

Amira eyes it as she takes the syrup. "Amira, I didn't do anything to the food, I-" a huff. "I didn't mean to do that to you, but it was...necessary. We needed somewhere safe, warm to talk in." Talia tried to apologize when Amira decided to take a seat.

"So after telling me you're my mother and then promptly kidnapping me, you expect me to believe that you're actually my mother?" Amira questioned, still taking in her surroundings. She eyed another window and door. "You definitely sold it."

"Amira, baobei-"

"I'm not a baby." Amira stated, surprising herself. She looked towards nothing before turning to Talia who smiled at her. How did she even know what that meant?

"Amira, baobei, my little treasure child. So a part of you still remembers a bit of our past." Talia softly spoke, something humming inside Amira's head. "I used to call you that all the time when you were still in my arms. Small and yet so precious... mu'qin de baobei.

Despite being apart, there wasn't a single moment where I wasn't thinking about you. Where I wish I still had you...in my arms, within my grasp so that I could say it one more time."

As Talia tried to reach for her face, Amira quickly leaned back, feeling a bit guilty when she saw her eyes filled with sadness. "I'm assuming your father never spoke about me." She tried to go back to their original talk.

"He rarely spoke about you." Amira admitted, feeling her stomach wanting to grumble. "You were... taboo." She didn't expect Talia to chuckle.

"I don't blame him. After all, we hooked up, had sex," Talia watched as Amira wrinkled her nose a bit as she said that, holding in a laugh. "Then I went and disappeared on him. I come back to him almost a year later with a baby I claim to be his. After telling him, I dropped you off with him and left." Talia played with her next piece, sliding it across the syrup covered plate. "Not exactly a person worth talking about, don't you think?"

Talia watched as Amira took everything in with ease. She's heard this before, or so she thought. "Did he tell you why I left you with him?" When she watched Amira's shoulders tense a bit, she continued. "Someone wanted you dead."

"W-What? Who?" Amira dared to ask, watching as Talia pursed her lips. "Who would want to kill me? I'm pretty sure-"

"Your grandfather, my father." Talia bluntly said, stabbing the waffle. "He's the one who wanted you dead."

"Wha-why?" Amira whispered, her hands balling into fists, her nails digging into her skin. She never met the guy. Why did he hate her so much, especially as an infant?

"Perhaps," Talia softly spoke, watching Amira loosen a bit. "Perhaps, I should start from the beginning. From when I was born. Perhaps that would clear up a few of the possible questions running in your mind."

-----

"Anything?" Dick asked Wally, Wally shook his head as he looked out the window. Dick let out a 'tch' followed by a heavy huff.

Dick had managed to sneak back to Paris, hoping to spend Christmas with Amira as much as possible before heading to the WatchTower party later on. But the minute he stepped out of the disguised zeta tube, he found Wally running all over Paris, Dick having to attempt to hit him to get his attention.

Finding out your sister has gone missing while trying to have a good time with friends wasn't exactly the situation Dick wanted to walk into.

"How's Selina? You didn't leave her alone, did you?" Wally asked, his mind trying to figure out where Amira was despite it being now two in the morning.

"Don't worry, Sabine is right by her side. She's making sure Selina doesn't do anything reckless."

When Selina heard that Amira had gone missing, she began to panic, hanging up on Wally and had grabbed her coat, heading to the skylight. Selina suited up and ran across rooftops, searching any place where someone could potentially hide a child or teen. She searched in lone apartments, old abandoned buildings, old shops, not-yet-rented studios...anywhere abandoned she could possibly think of...

In the end, she had just about the same information as Wally: nothing.

She had bumped into Dick when she was heading back home, filling him in before he could even get the chance to greet her.

Seeing that she was just aimlessly looking around for Amira, Dick suggested they regroup, only to tell Selina to stay put while he and Wally looked for Amira.

"But shouldn't she in this situation?" Dick looked at him quizzically. "It's what a mom should be like when their child goes missing." Dick still looked at him as if he grew a second head. "Seriously? Did you not notice that Selina sees Amira as her daughter, as her own child?"

"She- what? She does?" Dick asked, wondering how he had not noticed it before. But then again, that would explain the smile on Selina's face once she had finished styling Amira's hair before she went missing.

"She does...and Amira loves her back." Wally let out a smile as he remembered Amira hugging Selina before leaving the apartment. "Haven't seen her smile like that in a while."

Dick watched as his best friend then frowned. "So then the question remains. Where is Amira? And who took her?"

"Amira is missing?" A new voice interrupted, Dick and Wally turning their heads to see who it was.

"Barbara. What are you-" Dick was about to ask only to find her with a stern face.

"Alfred sent me here to drop off some gifts," she motioned to the bags in her hands, "-but it seems as if it can wait for a while. Not exactly urgent as the news I just-"

"Can you help us, please?" Wally practically begged, Barbara feeling her chest twist at the sight of fear in his eyes. "We need as many eyes as we can possibly get to get any type of lead on Amira."

"Lead?" Barbara turned to Dick.

"There's little to no evidence on her kidnapper." Dick clarified. "Barely a trace that would even help us start somewhere."

"Then leave it to me. I haven't seen a case like this in a while," Babs admitted, "but if there's one thing I've learned from both my father and Bruce, it's that there's always an answer behind cold cases." She straightened herself. "Let's find ourselves a kidnapper."

"Marinette's been-" Sabrina spoke, the trio wondering how they didn't hear the group sneak up onto them.

"Kidnapped?" Chloe finished asking, Wally and Dick noticing the group's fear in their eyes.

Not good.

When Chloe noticed the exchange of expression between themselves, she didn't need any type of confirmation.

Chloe felt as her heart thumped against her chest, her vision tunneling. She failed to hear Adrien's voice as she let out a deafening scream.

-----

Amira sat there, still processing her mother's words. Her waffles were now cold and the syrup thickened and stuck to the plate like glue.

She learned of her training, of how her grandfather raised her, how he looked at her as a mere tool, about her feelings and emotions when she met her father and...how much she loved Amira despite only being together for mere months...

"My own grandfather? As in your father," she pointed towards Talia, "wanted me dead because he believed that women are inferior to men..." Amira watched her mother's eyes soften sadly, a small forced smile made its way to her face. "If he actually wanted me dead, then why?" Amira looked at herself. "Why did he let me live? Why did he allow you to leave me with my father?"

"That, I do not know." Talia honestly answered, the answer still not in her, even up to this day. She had always found it strange. Her father never showed mercy, so why? Why did he let her save Amira and not kill her then and there all those years ago?

"And why...why are you here? Why now? After 13 years? There is no point in you-"

"It's because it's been 13 years," Talia started, finally being able to place her hand on Amira's cheek, even if Amira did flinch at the touch. "13 long years without seeing you, without being able to be by your side and not being able to see you grow up to be the fine young lady you are today."

"Did you ever try to visit me before? I'm pretty sure that you could have during one of your-"

"And risk putting your life in danger?" Talia shook her head. "Your grandfather may be many things, but a liar he is not. He would have kept his promise to kill you if I dare step out of line."

"Threatening you to kill me..." Amira pushed the plate away from herself, looking at Talia before she let out a chuckle.

"What?"

"He doesn't deserve my respect." Amira found herself saying. "Grandfather...only one man has that title and it is not Ra's Al Ghul."

"I'm guessing Mr.Pennyworth has rightfully earned that title."

"Not earned," Amira let a smile grace her face. "He rightfully deserved it, owned it the minute you placed me into my father's arms." While Amira smiled at each memory she had of her grandfather, reminiscing the times they would clean together, cook together and even drink tea together. That's when Selina's face appeared in her thoughts followed by those of Dick and Wally. Adrien, Chloe, Sabrina, Nino....

"What's wrong Amira?" Talia noticed Amira tense up, her eyes darting across the room.

"How long have I been here?" Amira asked, only then realizing there was no clock to be found on any wall she looked at.

"Perhaps two hours or so."

"I have to go." Amira stated, getting up from her chair, quickly looking for a coat, her coat in particular, but didn't find any. "Where's my co-"

"Amira."

"I have to go. My friends are waiting for me. Wally is probably worried sick."

"Amira, please. Wait." Talia said, grabbing onto Amira's arm.

"I should've been at Adrien's hours ago!" Amira jerked her arm from Talia's grasp, walking out the kitchen and to another room, not seeing her coat anywhere.

"Do you have to go?" Talia softly asked, causing Amira to stop rummaging through the apartment in search of her coat. She carefully turned to Talia, her eyes narrowed.

"Before being brought here against my will, I was heading to a friend's house. To a party. A party that started hours ago and despite having told them I was to go, I'm here." Amira gestured to the apartment. "I was brought to an unknown place after being knocked out, after you followed me..." Talia watched as something dawned on her. "How long have you been in Paris? How long have you been planning-"

"Amira. Please, listen to-"

"How long have you been in Paris?" Amira growled out, hoping she wasn't overthinking things. She watched Talia bite her cheek.

"A month." Talia watched as Amira scowled. "Amira, baobei. I know-"

"You know nothing about me." Amira growled. "And don't call me that. I'm not a child anymore nor a baby."

"Amira, I am your mother. I-"

"You may be my mother by birth, but you're not my mother. You haven't been my mother for the past 13 years, so why do you think you deserve to be called my mother now?" Amira looked Talia straight in her eyes. "I already have a mother, a mom. Even if we've only known each other for three months, Selina would always be the mother you never were for me. She is the one I think of first when the word 'mother' comes to mind, not you."

Amira finally found her coat, quickly slipping it on while Talia remained still. "I didn't mean to be harsh, but-" Amira was silenced by an awkward embrace, not helping but relish a bit in the hug from her mother.

"I should've known better than to think you would accept me with open arms. I knew you would not easily welcome me into your life, but I just had to try. Gamble on the tiny bit of hope that you would accept me."

Amira found herself hugging Talia back, ingraining her scent before it was her turn to say goodbye to her mother. To think she would smell so nice despite her blood stenched job.

"I'm glad to have met you, Mother." Amira softly replied, pulling herself from Talia. "But I have to get back to my family. Back home, with them."

Talia gently pushed herself away from Amira, smiling at her as she caressed her face.

"If that's your wish, then so be it." Talia spoke, pressing her forehead against Amira's, caressing her hair. "But of course, I have a gift for you before you go."

Amira watched as she walked to the door she saw earlier, watching as Talia opened the door to a pitch black room. "You truly are your father's daughter. So kind and loyal, brave and loving...so that's why I knew I had to bring him back to you." Amira watched as something emerged from the shadows. Or rather, someone.

When Amira saw who stepped into the room, she felt her eyes begin to sting. Her eyes darted between the boy and Talia.

"H-How-"