#or maybe he did and that's why he changed plans last minute to bring adrien's gf onto the ark too

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

That Argos and Chat Blanc photo makes me wonder how Felix would handle Chat Blanc.

More over, how quickly would he react if Felix lived and his Lady didn't somehow.

considering how adrien acted in emotion when felix thanos snapped everyone out of existence including maribug, i'd say he wouldn't take it well at all.

we'd probably end up with a feral chat blanc trying to get rid of felix while akumatized, & felix outwitting him at every turn while trying desperately to find a way to save him. felix knows when he's gone too far and that indicator is when adrien gets pissed.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chance Ch. 15: Problem Solving (Last name: Wayne)

AO3

Prev

Walking into class after lunch break, Marinette keeps her head down. No need to bring attention to the fact that she’s late...again. Sliding into her seat, she breathes a sigh of relief that Mme. Bustier is also late. Probably making copies. Either way, it had saved her from getting in trouble for being late again. Opening her bag to take out her stuff, she winces as Lila’s voice pierces the room.

“And then, he said he missed me so much that he cried!” She exclaims, clutching her hands together and sighing. Marinette rolls her eyes, certain that whoever it is either doesn’t actually know Lila, or doesn’t know Lila. Either way….lie.

“I still can’t believe you’re official with THE Tim Drake!” Alya exclaims. Marinette immediately chokes on air, her entire face turning bright red as she coughs and attempts to catch her breath. It doesn’t help that everyone is suddenly staring at her and waiting to see if she’s okay. The story pops back into her mind. Yeah, sure Lila. Tim Drake is dating you- an annoying little kid. Sure.

“Are you okay?” Rose asks once Marinette finally catches her breath. She smiles awkwardly, not ready for a confrontation with Lila over this, but also wary to let anyone spread this specific rumor.

“Yeah, it’s just-” Marinette pauses and sighs. This wouldn’t be the high road, but she had to watch out for her brother. “I’m just not sure Lila is telling the truth.” Chaos erupts around her. She chances a glance at Adrien, surprised to see his supportive smile. Well, almost. They had gotten closer. And sure, he’s said he liked her in Gotham, but she kinda thought he just blurted it out after seeing she was Ladybug. She wasn’t quite sure if he actually liked her.

“I-I just don’t understand why you hate me!” Lila sobs.

“I don't-” Marinette tries to say. Keyword- tries.

“Girl, you should apologize. Lila's been talking about Tim since before we even went to Gotham! They’re super serious now. They have been for almost two years.” Alya says.

“No they’re not! Do you seriously think an almost twenty year old CEO would date some fifteen year old kid from halfway across the world? I doubt Tim’s ever even been to Italy or France since becoming Co-CEO.” Marinette rambles, knowing with absolute certainty that she was right.

“Marinette! You’re kind of being mean. Lila says-” Rose tries to say.

“Just because Lila said something doesn’t mean it’s true!” Marinette cries, her frustration threatening to overwhelm her.

“Girl, you seriously need to apologize.” Alya says softly. Marinette’s jaw drops.

“For what?” She scoffs, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “For seeing the truth and calling it out? For not bending to Lila’s every whim?”

“For being a bad friend.” Alya says simply. Marinette freezes. A bad friend? Really? Her? A bad friend? How? All she’d ever done was try to be good. To be nice. To be perfect.

“Whatever.” She finally says, standing and grabbing her stuff. She storms out of the room, ignoring the yells of protest from her classmates. She thinks she hears Adrien, but she ignores him too and continues on her rampage past everyone, including Mme. Bustier. She doesn’t stop until she’s in the basement of the school. The only thing down here were a few vending machines. She tries to calm herself down, knowing her anger is unnecessary. But it’s hard.

She wants to let herself be mad, she should be able to be mad about this! She was always trying to be  a good friend and do things for other people and help the class even when she didn’t have time. Even if it meant missing out on sleep or doing something she wants to do, she put them first. Always. But somehow, Lila came out on top. She always comes out on top. They always believed Lila. Always.

“You should leave Marinette, before you attract an akuma.” Tikki says calmly. Marinette blinks, trying to figure out- Oh. Kaalki. Duh. Quickly calling on her transformation, Marinette portals into her room at the manor before a butterfly can come infect her. The second she lands, she calls off her transformation and continues her pacing.

“I’ve always been there for them. Always helped them. Always cared. How is calling Lila out being a bad friend? She’s not even my friend!” Marinette rambles with a huff.

“Maybe you should talk to your family- get their opinions.” Tikki suggests. Marinette starts to turn her down, then realizes she has to say something. Lila’s telling lies about Tim. Lies that could get him in some serious trouble.

“I have to tell Tim! If Alya publishes anything about Lila and Tim he could get in a LOT of trouble.” Marinette rambles, throwing her door open. She blinks in surprise at Tim, standing there frowning with a huge cup of what she assumes is coffee.

“When’d you get here?” He asks, and she can tell he’s much too tired to take this seriously right now.

“I’ll fill you in later, Timmy. Get some sleep.” She says, giving him a quick hug before darting around him and down the stairs. She had to tell someone who could deal with it. Not that she wanted Lila to get in trouble or anything like that, but...she didn’t want them to be able to lie about her family anymore. She’d accept all of those other stupid lies if she just stopped lying about the Waynes.

Running past the ballroom, a sudden movement makes her backtrack and actually glance into the ballroom. Her eyes widen when she notices the movement she caught was Dick….hanging from the chandelier. Of course. Well, he’s not going to be much help, she thinks, shaking her head and turning to try and find someone else. Maybe Mr.- maybe her dad was around. Now if she was a superhero/co-CEO combo where would she spend her free time. She hums, before deciding to check his study. If he wasn’t in there, she’d just go through and check the Batcave. He had to be in one of those places. She knocks on his study door, completely expecting silence, so she’s confused when she hears him call:

“Come in.” She raises an eyebrow. Okay, so he is in the study. Pushing the door open, she smiles at him, rubbing the back of her neck nervously at the brief look of complete and total shock on his face.

“Uh, hi Dad.” She says, rocking back onto her heels nervously. He controls his face quickly, gesturing for her to shut the door.

“Marinette. When did you arrive?” He asks, carefully examining her. She turns red when she realizes- he’s looking for injuries. Since going back to Paris, she hadn’t really communicated with her family unless she was injured or unable to fight. Promising herself to change that, she sits in the chair in front of his desk.

“Five minutes ago, maybe? I’m not sure. I just-” She pauses and frowns, realizing that her emotions almost got the better of her today. She almost let her frustration win. Over something silly. Shaking the thoughts away, she says “I was upset. Lila was lying again and usually I can just ignore her but this time… She was telling everyone that she’s dating Tim, and that they’re really serious and have been for almost two years.” Her dad’s eyebrows twitch slightly.

“Isn’t Lila your age?” He asks.

“Well, she’s already fifteen. But still, it would put Tim in a really bad light if Alya posted it somewhere and knowing Alya, she’s going to post it. Because they all believe Lila. And I tried to explain to them that Tim is quite a bit older than us and he’s an actual CEO and we’re just kids to him and he hasn’t even been in Italy or France and-” She pauses, letting herself take a breath. “I just think it’s wrong for her to lie about my family.”

---

Bruce tries hard to hide his shock. His daughter, who he’d known for less than two months, came all the way to Gotham because someone lied about Tim. It wasn’t the first time someone lied about the Wayne family, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last time. But the fact that his daughter was so upset that she had to come here...he was not going to let this slide. Wayne manor was a safe place, so he would make sure Marinette was able to breathe and relax a little before going home. And he was going to plan a way to stop the lies, to help Marinette.

“How can I help?” He asks, wanting to help but also wanting to make sure he does not overstep. He had heard her explaining to Damian why she let the girl get away with so many lies- it was an attempt to stop a mass akumatization. Bruce also wanted to avoid something like that, which is why he would follow his daughter’s lead.

“I don’t know! I know if I reveal everything it’s- it’s gonna be bad. I don’t know if we’d be able to handle something like that right now. Two of our temporary holders, people I trust a lot, are out of town. I don’t really trust anyone else and I’m certain we’d need their powers for the fallout from Lila’s kingdom falling.” She explains, bouncing her leg up and down as she glances around the room, possibly to come up with a plan. Bruce knew that he used a similar method when he was younger.

“What about the rumors related to the family? Do you think it would be safe to end those?” He asks, a plan beginning to form. But he’d have to get her permission. It would change many things.

“Well….yes. Yes, I think it would be safe. And even if it wasn’t, I know the fallout wouldn’t be anywhere as bad as if some of the other lies came to light.” She says. Bruce nods.

“Very well. Marinette, I believe I have something that might work, but I’m unsure if you’ll agree.” He says.

“We tell them I’m a Wayne.” Marinette says simply. Bruce blinks in surprise. It had definitely been what he was thinking, but thinking it and hearing his daughter say it out loud as if it was the most simple thing ever, those were two completely different things. He’s silent, trying to gather his words again when Marinette chuckles nervously. “I mean, we could say that I know you guys. Cause that’s not a lie.” She says. He sighs, realizing that his silence may have hurt her.

“Marinette, honey, you’re a Wayne. I want you to be one, and if you do as well, then of course we can tell them. I can even arrange for nondisclosure statements to be signed by the students in your class and the faculty. In case you’re not quite ready for the entire world to know.” He says quietly, hoping his voice is soft enough to reassure her. Her tense shoulders fall as she relaxes, her smile easing back into a natural one. Good. He didn’t mess up this time.

“Can we really do that? I do want to be a Wayne, it’s just. I’m not sure I’m ready for the world to look at me.” She says quietly. At this, he quirks a smile.

“If Adrien Agreste’s father is able to get an entire school to sign NDA’s about the boy’s lunch habits, I’m certain that having them sign an NDA when it’s for your safety will be no issue. Besides, if anyone breaks the NDA with malicious or ill intent, we can sue them.” He says simply.

“Oh, well, suing them seems a bit much.” She mumbles. He’s about to argue, when she shrugs. “But it also makes sense. Let’s do this.” He’s instantly proud of the determined look in her eyes. From saving her city to fighting lying bullies, his daughter was so much stronger than she thought.

---

Walking into class the following Monday was nerve wracking. It was almost the end of the school year, so she could’ve asked her Dad to wait until the next year to fix it. But she didn’t want to chance Lila lying about Tim all summer. Or anyone else in her family. Lila could use anyone else- even MDC- to get ahead, Marinette didn’t care. But she was done with Lila using her family. Originally, she had wanted to just do it quietly. Tell the teacher and have her pass out the forms. That’s probably how she would have done it too if her brothers hadn’t found out.

Now, her entire family was coming. She was cautious, but they promised to keep their emotions in check while they were in town. And they could always portal out if things got too tense. But, her brothers were drama queens. So it just made sense that they wanted to give her class the papers in person. She suspected Tim also wanted the chance to glare at Lila in person, and she wasn’t about to deny him that.

“Okay class! We have a few guests coming in today. They’ll be here in a couple minutes and I want you all to give them your full attention and respect.” Mme. Bustier announces, clapping her hands to get their attention. Marinette lets out a shaky breath. Here goes nothing. She tunes out the chatter of her classmates, keeping her eyes on the door. Waiting. Watching. Finally, she sees their shadows outside and her leg starts bouncing. Maybe she shouldn’t have let all of them get involved….

“Oh my god! That’s Bruce Wayne!” Alya yells as her family walks in. Marinette winces slightly at the instant fangirling from many of her classmates. She risks a glance at Lila and tries not to laugh at how pale the Italian girl had gotten. In fact, she looked a little green.

“Hello everyone! My name is Bruce Wayne, though I think you all should remember me from your trip to Gotham.” He says with a wide (fake) smile. Marinette wrinkles her nose. She doesn’t like this fake side of her Dad. She’d much rather watch him be overly serious than use that weird fake smile.

“We’ve brought some forms for everyone in this class to sign, as well as the faculty. The rest of the school won’t be required to sign these forms because it is assumed that what we are about to tell you will not go outside of this room.” Tim starts to explain, no coffee in his hand for once. “I know that it will not go outside of this room because these are NDAs, and we can and will take legal action against anyone who tells someone outside of this room about this information.” Everyone is silent, and while Marinette herself feels tense, she notices that most of her class just looks excited. Except Adrien, who was glancing back at her and looking worried. They’d already talked about this, but he was still worried. He seemed to think that this was one of her worst ideas, but honestly, Marinette didn’t care. She wanted to be able to (kind of) openly accept the other half of her family.

“Oh my god, is Tim about to propose?” Alya loudly whispers to Lila. Marinette can’t help it. She snorts. Out loud. Her face instantly heats as the entire room turns to look at her.

“Oh, uh, sorry?” She says, though it’s definitely more of a question than a statement. She wasn’t sorry.

“I am not about to propose. I’m actually not currently seriously seeing anyone, but there is a boy back home who I’ve had a few dates with.” Tim says. Marinette watches as Alya tries to say something, only to be stopped by Nino gently patting her hand and shaking his head. Good. Maybe they’d get through this without anyone getting akumatized. She glances at Lila again, rolling her eyes at the obviously fake upset look on her face. Is she seriously acting like Tim is cheating on her? In front of Tim? How dumb is she?

“I actually came to have everyone sign an NDA since my youngest daughter is in your class.” Her dad says, metaphorically dropping the bomb. He didn’t just drop it though, he chucked it at the class. The effect is immediate, the entire class erupting in whispers. Mme. Bustier tries, without luck, to gain control of the class. Marinette watches as Damian, who looked ready to murder any and all of her classmates, whistles an insanely high pitch. Wincing slightly, she makes eye contact with him and quirks an eyebrow. He shrugs, but it had been successful. The class was silent once again.

“When is she starting here?” Alya asks, obviously going into reporter mode. Marinette makes eye contact with her Dad, watching as he barely quirks an eyebrow, a silent question. One last chance to back out. She nods for him to continue. She wanted this.

“She actually already goes here. She just decided it was time to embrace the Wayne name.” He says, nodding at her. Marinette lets out a grounding breath and stands, quickly moving over to stand by her brothers. She tries to hide her hands behind her back, knowing they’re shaking like crazy. She positions herself between Dick and Jason, instantly able to relax as the feeling of safety washes over her. The class is completely silent, and Marinette isn’t sure if they don’t understand or if they’re in shock. She’s not sure which would be better.

“What?” Alya asks, barely audible.

“Marinette is my daughter, I am her biological father. She’s a Wayne. And you all have been provided with an NDA about her identity, so that she can remain safe and anonymous to the rest of Paris. Your parents have already agreed and signed both their forms and forms giving you all permission to sign a form. They all understand the importance of this secret, and I urge every single one of you to take this seriously.” Her dad says, giving the class another wide (fake) smile. She lays her head on Dick’s arm, relieved that her class instantly starts signing the forms. No outbursts right now, no possible akumas forming. Nothing. It was a relief, it was freeing. She was certain that it was going to come back and bite her- sooner rather than later if the look on Lila’s face was anything to go by- but for right now, everything was calm. And her family was supposed to stay in Paris for another day, so she’d finally be able to let three of her parents meet in person. It was nice. It was safe.

Next

Master List

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[nobodyfamousposts]

Miracle Queen Aftermath

Because there is a disappointing lack of focus or depth for the aftermath of Miracle Queen in canon, I have made my own.

Be warned of: Chloe salt. A lot of it. Chloe faces consequences for things.

Some Bustier salt. Some Adrien being called out on things (but he gets better).

Enjoy!

In the weeks following the Miracle Queen incident, a lot had happened.

Hawk Moth had increased his power, and was now able to summon akumas and amoks at the same time.

Master Fu was gone and now Ladybug found herself the official Guardian of the Miraculous—along with the Miracle Box, kwamis, and duties that entails.

Marinette had resolved to let go of her crush on Adrien, and to support him and Kagami in their new relationship together.

And Chloe had been arrested and would now be going on trial for assisting a terrorist.

It was that last bit of news that had caused the most commotion in Paris and the world at large. What people would have dismissed as simply another akuma attack turned into a much greater matter when accusations started to be made about Chloe helping the super villain intentionally. This was soon backed by multiple eyewitness accounts and further proven by leaked video evidence showing Chloe not only attempting to grab a butterfly for herself after she was de-akumatized but even negotiating with the terrorist before the incident in which she betrayed the heroes of Paris and revealed the identities of most of the team.

To say that the people of Paris were outraged was putting it mildly. People were akumatized over it. Chloe was in a secured facility where she had armed guards around to watch her just as much as they were there to protect her. New legislation was being considered to specifically address willingly aiding supervillains. The backlash was so severe that many were calling the mayor’s own position into question.

After all, if his daughter could do all of that, who was to say that he wasn’t also in Hawk Moth’s pocket?

For Mayor Andre, his hands were tied. While he had covered for his daughter and her selfishness in the past, this was one thing he couldn’t overlook. Not when it brought his position as mayor under scrutiny. And certainly not when it opened a probe into his own dealings.

None of this was helped either by the multitude of witnesses of Chloe‘s past behavior. In particular, her many victims over the years.

And there were a lot.

Now that Chloe was actually being held accountable for something, it seemed to have opened a floodgate of outcries as the many people she tormented finally felt able to air their grievances. They came out on TV, on social media, on radio. Stories littered the air and internet of the horrors of dealing with this single teenage girl.

“She tried to cheat during this designing competition. She apparently stole some other girl’s hat design and tried to pass it off as her own.”

“She was the reason the mayor tried to shut down my ice skating rink! To build another gym! Paris has enough gyms! Why couldn’t she just go to one of those?”

“She had her dad shut down Clara Nightingale’s music video and got her akumatized just because she didn’t get to play Ladybug. We waited in that line for HOURS and didn’t get chosen either, but no one else threw a fit over it.”

“She shoved a giant signed poster of Adrien Agreste professing his love to her in my friend’s face just to make her cry! I found out after the fact that he didn’t even know about it!”

“Our entire school was punished for someone pulling the fire alarm except for her because she threatened our principal. So while the rest of us were having to clean up the school, she spent the entire time insulting and making fun of us.“

“Knowing her, she probably pulled the fire alarm in the first place.”

“She tried to crash a train! I don’t think I can emphasize that enough: she tried to crash a train!“

“Chloe Bourgeois joined up with Hawk Moth? Can’t say it’s a shock.”

“Yeah, given how many akumas she caused, I’d been wondering if she hadn’t been working with him all along.”

It wasn’t that unbelievable to the populous. Nor did anyone feel particularly sympathetic towards her for her current situation. Some might have for lack of knowing her, but Chloe had carved herself a special place in the memories and hearts of nearly every Parisian. There was nobody who didn’t know of her or have some experience with her by this point. So when it came out that she was arrested and facing criminal charges, the response was…rather telling.

Practically everyone was calling loved ones as soon as they heard, resulting in high phone and internet traffic. The Ladyblog crashed after making the announcement. Several people threw parties. People over the internet started coming up with a list of “Things We Will Be Allowed To Do Once Chloe Is In Prison”, with a count that currently rested at 139 and was rising quickly. One guy bought 500 cupcakes and just started passing them out to people on the street singing a jaunty little tune from some late 1930’s cult classic American movie. The school had closed down for a couple of days due to several teachers calling out sick—possibly with hangovers from celebrating a bit too hard. Various Queen-related hashtags and memes were trending with each seeming to fight for the top spot of most used. #let her eat cake was currently in the lead. And Mr. Ramier somehow orchestrated a 21 pigeon salute. On Chloe’s rooftop.

As it was, nobody expressed surprise when it came out that she worked with a supervillain. Many were disappointed, shaking their heads and saying “if only something had been done sooner” or blaming the parents and teachers and other adults in her life. Most were angry, mainly that things had been allowed to get this far and that they hadn’t been acted on earlier—particularly after the train incident.

But no. Nobody was surprised.

Except, perhaps, Marinette herself.

Still reeling from the events of Miracle Queen and the aftermath of…well…everything involved, Marinette had been questioning herself. Constantly. Incessantly. Going over and over in her mind all the things she could have done differently. Blaming herself for all the major blows to their team.

She lost her mentor. Her allies have been compromised. Chloe, one of her former allies, chose to betray them all. Hawk Moth had the grimoire now. Marinette didn’t have a grimoire. Fu had no memories.

And it was all because of her mistakes.

Last time, the prospect of never having to deal with Chloe again had been a relief.

Now…it was background static to her.

She could barely hear the announcements and cheers over the endless cycle of her own thoughts.

I should have tried harder. I should have been more aware. I failed them all. This is because of me.

So while everyone else in Paris was celebrating, de-stressing, or just outright reveling in the news, Marinette was grieving. With the help of the kwamis and Chat Noir, she had been trying to come to terms with what happened and figure out the next plan of action.

Hawk Moth had changed the game, so she needed to step up hers.

The days seemed to have passed in a blur. Between working with the kwamis, trying to recreate and retranslate the grimoire, and simply trying to deal with the remnants of Fu’s life that he had left to her, Marinette had barely even kept up with the current state of things in Paris. Or in particular, Chloe.

Not until the day came when Bustier made an announcement.

Chloe‘s trial date was finally decided. And though she didn’t say as such, it was clear that the case against her was pretty solid. There was video evidence. Eye witness accounts. And Chloe’s own words and actions working against her.

The odds were not in her favor on this. Even if her parents did try to help her, she wasn’t going to get off this time. Aside from getting the best lawyers money by, there really wasn’t much they could do.

Maybe that was why Bustier had tried to step in?

“Now class, I have received word that they are moving to the next step with Chloe’s hearing. Right now, they are looking for character witnesses for Chloe’s defense.” The kind teacher explained, causing Marinette to snap to awareness and realize just what was going on. Partly because of the mention of Chloe and her court case.

But mostly because of the sudden dead silence in the class…

To be fair, she wasn’t sure she could say anything either. Marinette felt her throat go dry and her muscles tense. There was a sudden tightness in her lungs that while she could breathe, it felt like she was suffocating. Why was Bustier bringing this up now?

The teacher smiled, seemingly unaware of the sudden tension and Marinette’s slow drowning. “I know this has been a difficult experience knowing that one of your classmates is facing such a trial. And Chloe will certainly need support. So I thought it would be kind if everyone wrote a letter supporting her for the hearing coming up, so the courts can hear about Chloe and understand more about who she is.”

Silence. Dead silence.

Maybe Bustier herself picked up on the growing tension, as she proceeded to move to passing out papers to the class. “I thought it would make for a nice project, so I will give you all the forms explaining the requirements. Take some time to think over what positive things you want to say about Chloe. If you have any questions, please feel free to come talk to me.”

After that, she quickly left the room, citing the desire to let them have this free time to work on the letters.

The class remained silent for a good minute after she left. Almost as if they were questioning if she would return. Or perhaps if she was listening.

Then—

“‘Think about what positive things we want to say about Chloe?’ Well that’s easy!” Alix spoke blithely, curling the paper she received into a ball. “Nothing!” She shouted and tossed it over her shoulder. “Assignment done!”

Murmurs filled the classroom. Some sounded uncertain, but most seemed to be in agreement. Or at least expressing distaste for the assignment.

“Is she serious?”

“Does she really expect us to?”

“Of all the worst ideas...”

Marinette could hear them, but couldn’t seem to acknowledge anything around her. And furthermore, she couldn’t make herself respond.

Chloe‘s trial was set for a point in the next few weeks, and at this point there was no denying just what type of person she was. If anything, this was probably the first time that anyone was allowed to actually speak their mind about the girl, and they were all reveling in it. Her classmates in particular.

Marinette couldn’t quite bring herself to.

Sure, Chloe has tried to blackmail her more than once.

And damaged her gift to their teacher.

And attempted to frame her a few times.

And stolen her hat design.

And her diary.

And a Miraculous.

And all of the other Miraculous.

But...she had been doing better for a while there, hadn’t she?

Didn’t she only betray them all in the end because Marinette had chosen Kagami over her for her own selfish reasons? Didn’t Hawk Moth only capture Fu because of her own mistake? Hadn’t Chloe only revealed everyone else because she felt betrayed? Couldn’t Marinette have done more to prevent Chloe turning?

Wasn’t a simple letter on Chloe’s virtues the least she could do?

So why...

Why couldn’t she seem to bring herself to?

Kim frowned, looking at his paper in worry. “We’re not going to get graded on this, are we?”

Nathaniel huffed. “I’ll willingly take the failing grade any day.”

“Hear hear!”

“But if it’s a grade…” Max murmured to himself. Out of everyone in the class, he took his grades the most seriously, so this was no doubt a difficult choice for him. He looked at his paper with a rather conflicted expression for a minute before sighing and turning it face-down on the desk. “No. It’s an impossible task in the first place.”

Kim rested a hand on Max’s shoulder in sympathy. It wasn’t that he cared as much about grades as Max did, but it was clear that the fallout of refusing could be more troubling for the genius who took his academic performance so seriously. If Bustier did make it a mandatory assignment with a grade, it’d be horribly unfair of her.

“What was it Chloe said before?” Ivan asked, looking over his page with a glare. “Once a monster, always a monster? I guess she’d know more than anyone.”

Mylene hugged him. “You’re not a monster. You never chose to be.”

“None of us did.” Nino agreed.

“Nobody did except her.” Alix bit out.

Mumbles of agreement came from the rest of the class. It was clear that none of them were on board with having anything to do with Chloe, much less try to help her with her current legal woes.

There was a large part of Marinette that agreed with them. But even so, there was also a large part of her that insisted she had to do the right thing and help.

She knew she should say something. She was supposed to say something here. Because it was her fault, after all. She was Ladybug. She had to be the better person. Shouldn’t she?

“Marinette? Girl, are you okay?” Alya asked, drawing her attention. “You look a bit pale.”

It was too much. It was suffocating.

“I think I need some air. Excuse me.”

She didn’t know if anyone watched her leave the classroom. She hadn’t even noticed if anyone had chosen to follow her.

Not until…

“Marinette, are you all right?”

She spun around in surprise.

“Oh! Adrien! Hey! Hi! Hello!” She blabbered. Why was he here? Did he come out after her? Why? She didn’t need this right now! She struggled enough with him under normal circumstances, she wasn’t sure she could handle being alone with him now. Her stress over everything was bad enough, but having him approach her set her anxiety skyrocketing.

“Hey,” he replied, smiling at her—and oh, what a beautiful smile. On any other day, it would ease her worries and make her want to swoon, but right now, it just made her more nervous.

“Are you all right?” He asked again. “You didn’t look so well in class.”

“Y-yeah. Just…” she sighed. “I just have a lot on my mind. With…you know…everything.”

He nodded in understanding. “I know what you mean.”

She smiled. She could always count on Adrien to be a calming supportive friend. He was always so sweet and reliable. If anyone could understand or relate to the chaotic mix of emotions she was feeling, he could.

He sighed in sympathy. “Poor Chloe.”

She froze.

“Chloe?”

“Well, yeah.” He replied, like it was obvious. “I mean, she did a bad thing, but now she’s going through the worst experience of her life. One that could ruin her future. And people are glad about it!” He shook his head. “It’s just too cruel.”

Marinette just stared.

He wasn’t wrong. But…that was what he was worried about?

She couldn’t fault him of course, because Adrien was always so kind and considerate and of course he’d feel for Chloe but…something about this just…pulled at something inside of her and was choking it.

“Chloe is already suffering enough and it feels like no one wants to help her. You heard them.” He gestured back to the classroom. “We’re being given an opportunity to make a difference for her and they’re all just saying she deserves it. Chloe is alone and hurting and they want her to hurt more.”

She felt a denial on her lips but couldn’t give voice to it.

“Everyone is so great with each other. It’s always just Chloe who is kind of on the outside. I know you’ve seen it.”

She hadn’t, actually. Because it was never Chloe on the outside looking in, it was Chloe looking down on them. Whether it was because she genuinely thought she was better or because it made her feel better to do so.

He hesitated for a moment before looking at her. And there was something in his expression that told her he was about to ask something. A gut feeling told her that it was going to be something she wouldn’t like.

“Do you think you could talk to them?” He asked her, looking so sad and despondent that she just wanted to hug him and agree to anything to make that look go away.

“M-me?”

He wanted her to convince her classmates to help Chloe?

“I know you and Chloe have had your differences, but you’ve been able to see past her front. And you’ve done a lot to help her before.” He smiled. “Like the party you threw for her after she became Queen Bee.”

A traitorous voice asked if giving her a second chance with the Miraculous she had previously stolen wasn’t enough? Why did she have to feel bad for her leaving and throw her a party to make her feel special?

“Chloe really needs the help right now. And you’re always so good about that sort of thing.” He looked to her imploringly. “Do you think you could try to get them to at least give Chloe a hand? I don’t know what impact it’ll have in her hearing, but any little bit helps, right?”

Go back in there? With the tension and the suffocation to try and convince her classmates to help when she was questioning whether to herself?

But she had to, right? After all, couldn’t she have prevented this if she had acted sooner? Couldn’t she have helped sooner instead of being focused on her own petty problems? Isn’t that what Ladybug should do?

“Please, Marinette? They listen to you. If you asked them to, I’m sure they’d be willing to at least try.”

Her vision started to dim, seeming to tunnel in on Adrien and his sad and hopeful expression. Her thoughts crying about CHLOE and poor CHLOE and how hurt CHLOE was and how it was her fault for CHLOE—

“I—”

“Oh no! No, you do NOT.”

Marinette suddenly found herself torn away from Adrien by a sudden grab of her arm and pulling sensation. She felt as if she was pushed out of the way by a fierce gale. Like a raging whirlwind had spun her around and behind it.

That whirlwind’s name was Alya.

“How dare you? How dare you try to make my girl be responsible for this!”

Marinette floundered because she had not expected this and oh no now her best friend looked ready to tear her crush’s head off!

“Alya, we don’t have to do this!” She pleaded, trying to calm the other girl down.

“Oh, we most certainly do.” Came another voice. And sure enough, the rest of the class had stepped out as well. All of them looked in varying ranges of frustrated and that frustration was clearly directed at her and Adrien.

Or rather just Adrien, as Marinette discovered when Rose and Juleka pulled her aside and out of their direct line of sight. They were all looking at Adrien, and those were not nice or understanding expressions.

Oh no! This was a disaster! Now everyone was upset and she should have just agreed or said something sooner!

Completely unaware of Marinette’s inner turmoil, Alya stepped forward and jabbed at Adrien in the chest. “You are not going to make my girl feel bad and try to help someone who has never done a single nice thing for her or anyone.” She spat out, forcing him to back away.

Adrien held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Come on, Chloe is not that bad.“

“Not that bad?” Nino exclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief at his friend’s words. “Adrien, Chloe betrayed us!“

“She took over Paris!”

“She turned us into her servants!“

“Not to mention the other things…”

“Do we really have to name each time?” Alya started to count on her fingers. “Chloe CHOSE to take the Miraculous for herself instead of returning it. She CHOSE to transform in front of everyone and reveal her identity to the world. She CHOSE to try and crash a train, risking the lives of EVERYONE on board just to show off. She CHOSE to run off with it when Ladybug tried to take it back.”

“She also chose to continue being horrible to everyone even after Ladybug gave her a second chance.” Nathaniel added, bitterly. “She didn’t get better after becoming Queen Bee. It just became another thing for her to lord over people.”

Alya nodded. “And when Ladybug made it clear to her that she wasn’t going to be Queen Bee again, she felt ENTITLED to something that was never hers in the first place. And because of that, she made the active, knowing, and willful choice to work with Hawk Moth.”

“And out all of us while she was at it.” Kim added. “Turning us into her personal ‘guard’. Making us fight our heroes against our will.” He shuddered. “I don’t know if you were hit by those things, Adrien, but it was NOT a pleasant experience having your body turned into a puppet.”

Adrien wanted to argue that he understood full well, but that was only as Chat. He couldn’t say that here.

Unaware of his inner turmoil, Alya continued. “So no, we are not going to forgive Chloe. We are not going to try and ‘get along’ with her because her own poor choices have led her to have a ‘rough time’.”

Adrien grew nervous at the way the others drew closer to Alya as she spoke, clearly backing her statements as she continued.

“We are not going to defend her or speak up on her behalf to the entirety of Paris she ALSO betrayed. Whatever consequences Chloe has to face—quite possibly the first ones she will EVER have faced in her LIFE—are nothing less than what she deserves.”

“Yeah!” Came the exclamations from the rest of the crowd.

“She didn’t know what she was doing!” Adrien argued.

“Not know what she was doing?! Adrien, she willingly accepted an akuma! She used it to take control of us and revealed us to Hawk Moth!” Alya exclaimed. “That’s just—how can you even justify that?”

With as angry as Alya was, any lesser or wiser man would have backed off.

Adrien…well, she certainly would never call him unwise, so it had to be because he was more strong-willed than that to be willing to stand his ground here.

“Hawk Moth was the one who manipulated Chloe!” He insisted. “And he’s the one who got away scott free and left Chloe to take the fall.”

“And whose fault was that?” Alya countered. “Chloe HELPED him. He only got as far as he did because of her and he only got away because she helped him!”

“Don’t you think this is cruel?” He argued back. “Yes, Chloe was wrong, but she was already called out for what she did by Ladybug and Chat Noir. The entire city hates her. Isn’t that enough?”

“NO!” Alya shouted. “No, it isn’t! Because Chloe has always gotten away with her antics in the past but you’re actually trying to get us to let Chloe off for a legitimate crime here! If Chloe is going to prison, it’s only because she deserves it!”

Around them, several of the others in the class nodded in agreement.

“How can you say that?” Adrien demanded. “Chloe made a mistake and she’s suffering for it! All this time, she’s felt left out and cut off and this only further emphasizes that for her! She’s been alone all this time and now she’s alone and miserable!”

“Then why should that be OUR problem?” Alya questioned, raising her hands in exasperation. “Why are you trying to MAKE it our problem?!”

Adrien drew back, looking genuinely hurt.

"But treating someone badly never made them become a good person."

"Yeah, because letting Chloe have her way all this time has totally made strides in her path to becoming a good person." Alix called out sarcastically.

"If anything, it's made her worse." Max added. "She's gone from simply causing akumas to intentionally becoming one."

“But—”

Alya cut him off. “But nothing, Adrien! You have to have some gall to be trying to get us to make nice with Chloe after she betrayed us all! And here I thought your little lecture to Marinette to make her feel bad for being relieved that Chloe was leaving Paris was pretty hard to beat.”

Nino blanched at that. “You did what?” He turned on Adrien. “Dude! You know that happened after Chloe tried to crash that train!”

“She was just trying to prove herself.” Adrien weakly argued.

“PEOPLE were on there!” Nino bit out. “They could have DIED because Chloe was showing off! And you got on to MARINETTE? Where was this attitude with Chloe?”

“I’ve called her out!”

“Yeah, one time.” Alya groused. “AFTER the rest of us had spent the better part of the day cleaning up after HER mess. Which she never apologized for or admitted to doing, by the way.”

“And in response, she threw a party.” Juleka muttered.

“It was a nice party, sure.” Rose added quickly.

Alya though shook her head. “But being a good hostess is nowhere near the same thing as being a good person. And before the night was over, you rolled over for her and she went RIGHT back to acting as she always had.”

“She made Mylene cry.” Ivan glared. “She made Mylene cry and you just laughed.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“You said it yourself: ‘she’ll never change’. Except you said that like it was a good thing.”

Marinette looked back and forth between the two, everything inside her screaming at her to help. But she was completely lost on which one she was supposed to help. Because Adrien had a point about what Chloe’s going through but Alya was right about what Chloe did and she needed to do the “right thing” and help Chloe but why did everything Alya say resonate so strongly with her and bring such a feeling of vindication—

No. She was getting distracted. She needed to help. And right now, it was Adrien against the rest of the class.

But Alya was worked up. And Adrien was looking past her to Marinette, eyes begging for help and still so hopeful that she would step in. And Chloe was still in prison and Marinette could fix everything if she just tried so why can’t she try?

“Alya,” Marinette tried. “You told me to give Chloe a chance before after the fire alarm incident, remember? You said we were a lot alike.”

“That was to get you to go to a party!” Alya shouted, making Marinette step back in surprise. “I never meant it like this!”

She stepped forward and took Marinette by the shoulders, holding her sternly.

“Marinette, you are nothing like Chloe! Not where it counts! Yeah, you both can be short sighted when it comes to trying for what you want, but you at least notice and CARE how other people feel! And when you make a mistake, you at least TRY to make it right!”

She shook her head.

“Chloe…doesn’t.”

“She doesn’t try to.” Alix cut in. “If Chloe was feeling sad and lonely, that was pretty much her own fault.”

Adrien looked like he wanted to argue, but Alix didn’t even give him a chance.

“It wasn’t like we left her out. We went well out of our way to try and befriend her. We invited her to things. We tried to help her. Hell, you said it yourself—Marinette has tried to help her more than anybody! And each and every time, Chloe only took what we offered like it was something we owed her but that she was also too good for. I mean, I certainly can’t recall a time she ever thanked me. Can you?” She asked, turning to the other classmates.

All around them, there were murmurs of agreement. Maybe a couple hesitated as they tried to recall a time—one single moment of kindness on Chloe’s part only to come up empty.

“Chloe’s had a hard time.” Adrien insisted. “You know how her parents are—”

“Oh yes, her ‘Daddy the Mayor’.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Like we don’t hear enough about him every time it comes to something Chloe wants. She only threatens us or anyone with him every other day.”

Adrien shook his head and tried to explain. “It’s only because her parents aren’t there for her emotionally.”

“Again, not seeing how this is our problem? Or justification for anything she’s done to us? Or how this excuses her willingly helping a supervillain?”

“Because we’re her classmates!” He argued back, gesturing to all of them. “Out of everyone, we’ve all had the most interactions with her.”

“All of which were negative.” Came a cutting remark, followed by grumbling.

“There were good times, too!” Adrien insisted with a frown. His eyes spanned over the assembled classmates before they came to rest on one in particular. “Kim, you have to have seen Chloe’s good side. You liked her before.”

“Before.” Kim replied, emphasizing the word and the timeframe it referred to. “But being humiliated and her sending out that pic to everyone in school kind of crushed that crush.”

“How did she even have our numbers?” Ivan asked.

“But there had to be something that made you like her in the first place.” Adrien encouraged.

The taller boy shrugged, uncertain and uncaring. “Maybe so, but was it something that was really there? Or something I just wanted to see? Because I’m looking back and quite frankly, I don’t know what past me was thinking.”

“Wow, that’s deep, man.” Nathaniel whispered.

“Thanks!”

Seeing Nathaniel gave Adrien an idea. “Wait, Nathaniel! Didn’t Chloe let you put her in your comic?”

“Forced us to, more like.” The artist bit back. “And even when we tried to fit her, we got nothing but complaints from her. It was no wonder we never got past the initial concept art for her character.”

Adrien winced. “It was an attempt, at least?”

Nathaniel wasn’t buying it. “A poor one.”

“She’s been trying to be better.” Adrien was getting increasingly frustrated. This was not how he was expecting this argument to go. “Rose? What about you? You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

After all, Rose was sweet and caring, always willing to see the good in anyone. Surely she would have something nice about Chloe!

Juleka frowned at him over his focus on her girlfriend and moved to stand beside her. “Don’t push her.”

Still he tried.

“Rose?”

“I’m sorry, Adrien.” Rose said, hugging herself. “But Chloe has done nothing but hurt people. And going out of our way to protect her has only ended up biting us.”

That wasn’t true. Not...all the time at least. There had to have been at least one instance where she did the right thing!

Adrien brightened in realization. “Didn’t she catch you when you fell after being deakumatized during Heroes Day?”

The blonde girl frowned. “Well, yes…but she wasn’t very nice about it. Even though I did the same for her before.”

“Rose, come on…”

She shook her head. “I put myself at risk to help Chloe when she was being chased by zombies, and only got turned into one for my efforts. Chloe never appreciated it. She never thanked me. She didn’t even do anything to help when we were trying to keep her safe!”

“We all ended up kissing zombies because of her.” Alix accused, crossing her arms and looking particularly annoyed. “And not just because she caused the akuma in the first place.”

“Why are you pushing this?” Mylene asked. “We’ve been asked. We said no. Isn’t that enough?”

“But—”

“Adrien, you’ve got a good heart.” Ivan started.

“Easy for him when he’s not the one who has to be on the receiving end of Chloe’s tantrums.” Alix cut in, clearly sounding bitter.

“You’ve got a good heart.” Ivan repeated, sending Alix a look that asked her to back off. “But Chloe…doesn’t.”

Adrien shook his head, remaining insistent. “That’s why she needs help.”

“If she needs help,” Mylene spoke, “It should come from her parents. Her teachers. Any of the adults in her life. She has plenty of adults who are fully capable of helping her. It should not be expected to come from the kids she’s spent years tormenting.”

She gestured to herself and the others around her. “And that’s what she’s been doing: tormenting us.”

“To great joy, might I add.” Max droned.

“She hasn’t been cruel to everyone.” Adrien muttered.

That brought out a backlash of outrage.

“She outted my crush!”

“She insulted Mylene’s cooking and made her cry!”

“She got Aurore akumatized and nearly caused Paris to be incinerated in a volcano!”

“She tried to push Mylene out of the lead role of our movie!”

“She locked Juleka in the restroom!”

Wait...

But that hadn’t been Chloe. She had stayed with the class at the time. The one who did do it was...

He glanced around until he saw her—a redhead in the background behind the rest of the class. She looked anxious and uncomfortable, and almost seemed to be trying to edge around the class to get to the stairs.

Adrien did seem aware. Or rather, he was focused on the fact she was there.

“Sabrina? What about you? Chloe was your friend!”

Of course she would help! Because who better than her own best friend to speak on her behalf?

The rest of the class broke into mutters as they realized the same.

But Sabrina...bit her lip and looked away. Refusing to even meet Adrien’s gaze.

“Sabrina?” Marinette tried, concerned about this reaction. Sabrina had been Chloe’s best friend—or at least the closest thing she could have to a friend. “Minion” or “Servant” would be more accurate. “Slave” would be more honest.

The girl had been Chloe’s only real fan and follower, and had assisted Chloe in some of her worst plots.

Marinette had briefly seen another side to her. A girl who was so desperate for friendship that she latched onto even the slightest bit of kindness and went to the greatest of extremes to appease the “friend” so they wouldn’t leave her. It was no wonder she had fallen in with Chloe—someone like that was perfect for the spoiled girl. Compared to her, Marinette’s anxieties and need to please were nothing.

And Chloe had pretty much been her world for years.

What must she be feeling now?

“Should we really be getting her opinion?” Ivan whispered. “You know how she and Chloe were…”

“Well, if anyone would have anything positive to tell the courts about Chloe, it would be her.” Mylene whispered back.

Sabrina took a breath and spoke quickly—almost shouting in her rush.

“I’m sorry but my therapist said I shouldn’t!”

That got a surprise. The rest of the classmates glanced to each other before looking back to the girl. Adrien in particular looked shell-shocked. Marinette couldn’t blame him. She felt the same.

Sabrina for her part seemed to tense up, as if ready to defend herself from the rest of the class.

Marinette stepped forward. “Sabrina? Are…you okay?”

The other girl shook her head, looking close to tears.

“After word got out what Chloe did, the police had to question me about Chloe. They were able to see that I wasn’t involved, but they…didn’t like what I told them about our relationship. Afterwards, my dad decided to have me see a counselor and she…has been telling me things that I hadn’t really considered.” She curled in on herself. “They all think I should stay away from Chloe and anything directly related to her…for my own health.”

Adrien frowned at that. “But don’t you want to help Chloe?”

Sabrina jumped. “Of course, I do!”

“Hold up, Adrien!” Nino stepped in. “She just said police took her in because of Chloe!”

“But they let her go…”

“It still happened!” Mylene argued. “It doesn’t matter how nice they are, how innocent you know you are, or if you’re released in the end, it’s still terrifying when it happens!”

"And it only happened to her because of Chloe." Alya added.

Rose, in her infinite sweetness, reached out to take Sabrina’s hand in support. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Sabrina sobbed and covered her face. Aside from Rose, no one else really attempted to comfort her. Most of them simply watched her, pitying her current state. But they also remembered how complicit she had been in Chloe’s schemes, so they were conflicted. While they did feel bad for her current situation, there was a part of most of them that noted how she had brought it upon herself by being Chloe‘s lackey for so long, so their sympathy was limited.

Perhaps it was out of awkwardness, or maybe an attempt to give some respect for Sabrina’s privacy that the classmates turned away from her and instead focused on the heart of the argument.

“Man...” Nino tried. “Maybe you should let it go?” Though it was clear from his tone that he knew it wasn’t likely.

Because Adrien had still not given up, it seemed.

He looked around between of the classmates, growing more desperate. But those that remained either looked at him straight on as if daring him to call on them or looked away. A few of them even closed ranks as if to block his view of certain others. It was clear none of them were willing to help him on this.

None of them except…

“Marinette.” He called out, drawing her gaze to him instantly. “You understand, don’t you?”

She bit her lip. “I…”

“Back off, Adrien.” Kim said, giving the other boy an angry frown as he stood in front of her to shield her from his gaze. “It’s not on Marinette to help Chloe.”

“Yeah! She suffered more than any of us!“ Ivan shouted.

“She has been Chloe’s main target for years.” Nathaniel agreed. “She is the last person who is obligated to help Chloe now.“

Adrien winced at the harshness of their words and in their tone. “I just thought that Marinette could help. Like before.”

“Just because she could doesn’t mean she should have had to.” Alya countered. “She’s a teenager. Dealing with Chloe should have been the job of adults. Her parents. Bustier. Damocles. Any one of them should have done something—and if they can’t, the courts will. It’s their job. Not ours.”

“And getting her to help you wouldn’t make a difference anyway even if you had convinced us.” Max said, shifting his glasses. “Chloe helped Hawk Moth. There is nothing we could say that could undo that. And even if we did try, we would either be guilty of committing perjury or aiding in a conspiracy.”

“What?” Adrien jerked in surprise.

“The best we can do is be character witnesses.” Mylene explained. “But this is a court and we can’t claim something that isn’t true! We can’t say anything nice about Chloe when she hasn’t done anything nice!”

Max nodded and shifted his glasses. “Furthermore, our testimonies—even if they were positive—would only serve to create a narrative about Chloe and the type of person she is. They can’t explain away the current evidence against her.”

He rubbed the back of his head. He knew there were issues, but he also knew Chloe. He knew what she could be like. He knew she was a good person deep down. “I know she’s made some mistakes—”

“No.” Alya stated sharply. “Calling them ‘Mistakes’ implies that her actions were unintentional. ‘Mistakes’ implies that people were harmed by accident. ‘Mistakes’ implies that she would have any point learned from them. They weren’t mistakes, Adrien. They were willful acts of cruelty every single time.”

Ivan shook his head, pityingly. “We can’t save Chloe from this. We have nothing to say in her defense. The kindest thing we can do for her is stay silent.”

“She’s better than you think she is. She threw that party once for everyone, remember? You all went.” Adrien reminded them.

“That only proved that she could throw a party and be a good host, not that she could be a good person. There is a difference.” Nathaniel pointed out.

“Not that Chloe could tell.“ Alix sniped.

Adrien ignored the barb. He had given up on getting any of them to listen and now only had eyes for her. His last hope.

“Marinette….come on…please.”

She hesitated.

Everything in her that was Ladybug and her crush on Adrien and her desire to make people happy and take the high road and give second-third-fourth chances wanted nothing more than to give it to him.

Except...

There was a long pause. No one spoke.

The other classmates have had their say. They were letting Marinette have hers. And she knew in that moment that if she spoke up…if she did as Adrien wished and tried to help Chloe…she knew they would go along with her. It may be more out of respect for Marinette than it would be out of any sort of forgiveness for anything Chloe had done, but it would still help Chloe and it would still make Adrien happy.

…and hadn’t Marinette already done that enough?

“Did you know?” Marinette started, not looking at anyone. “I would have been well within my rights to press charges against Chloe?”

Adrien balked at that.

“She’s stolen from me at least three times now.” She shrugged. “I mean, sure, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about my diary since she had Sabrina steal it for her, but she did steal my hat design for a competition and I had proof. I could have pressed charges against Chloe and let her face some consequences…but I didn’t.”

She looked up at Adrien. “I also could have pressed charges for what she did to my gift for Madame Bustier. Since she did break into my locker and vandalize my property while it was still technically mine…but I didn’t.

“Adrien.” She spoke almost in monotone, the only sign of her emotions being how she clenched her fists. “Did you know that after the fashion show, my parents and I took a train to get home?”

He furrowed his brows in confusion. What did that have to do with anything?

“It was the same train Chloe took control of and nearly caused to crash.”

Several gasps resounded around them. Apparently this had not been common knowledge.

“Even if Chloe could have bought her way out of any consequence for the other things, we all could certainly have had her face some major trouble for that one…” Marinette took a shuddering breath. “But we didn’t.”

Adrien frowned. “I…I see that—”

“No, I don’t think you do.” She cut him off. “Because instead of any of that…rather than hold Chloe accountable at any point, I catered to her. I tried to understand Chloe. I tried to make things nicer for Chloe. I tried to excuse Chloe. Time and again. Just like everyone else. Just like you wanted me to. Just like you’re asking me to now. And what did that get us?”

The more she talked, the more words filled out and she was unable to stop the torrent.

“I defended her from Alya after Madame Bustier was akumatized, and Chloe stole a Miraculous and nearly got my family killed. I helped Chloe bond with her Mom—costing myself any chance at a once in a lifetime opportunity in the process—and Chloe tried to get me banished from Paris just for saying she wasn’t a superhero. I threw Chloe a party to show her some appreciation, and she willingly worked with a supervillain to take over Paris. Just to fuel her ego and because she felt she was owed something that wasn’t hers.”

She tilted her head, considering.

“What is that American saying? Three strikes and you’re out?” Her eyes narrowed. “I have given Chloe more than three chances. I have done nothing BUT give her chances. And clean up after her. And just…try to help her. At no point has she been grateful. At no point did she ever apologize. Or show the slightest bit of remorse for anyone she hurt. Or just…try to do better.”

She stepped forward. Past her classmates. Past Alya, who looked ready to tear into Adrien herself.

“So tell me, Adrien. How much more am I supposed to do? What miracle am I supposed to achieve to help Chloe to be a better person that I haven’t already done?”

“You can just try.” Adrien begged. “Chloe’s alone. She has no one in her corner. You’ve given her chances before! Can’t you find it in your heart to give her another chance this time?”

“Why haven’t you?” Alya demanded.

Adrien drew back in surprise at that.

But the girl wasn’t letting him off. “If you’re so certain Chloe is the victim in all this, then why aren’t you stepping up to help her? Why are you pushing Marinette and the rest of us to do it?”

Alya wrapped an arm around Marinette in support. “If you truly believe Chloe has some sort of inner goodness that only needs the right person to bring it out, then it’s pretty clear Marinette is just not that person. She’s tried enough.”

Alix nodded. “I’m pretty sure she could’ve demolished a brick wall with how many time she’s banged her head against it by this point trying to drag a decent person out of Chloe.”

Others in the class also nodded and gave sounds of agreement to that.

Adrien frowned, lowering his head despondently. “I’m just one person. There’s only so much weight my word will have. I just...I just want to give her the best chance.”

“That’s nice for Chloe, I guess.” Kim muttered. “But not much for us.”

Adrien looked up in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Alya stepped forward, releasing Marinette in the process. “Adrien, why should we as Chloe’s victims have to help protect her? That’s the thing we’re not getting here. WE are the ones she hurt. WE are the ones she betrayed to Hawk Moth. So why are WE supposed to try and save her from her own consequences? Why are you wanting us to?”

Adrien hesitated.

“Can you even imagine what it was like? Being frozen in time. Unable to move or speak? Only able to hear her voice in your head? Feeling your body respond as she’s calling you and being unable to stop?” She clutched her arms, as if trying to hug herself. “Do you have any idea how terrified I was knowing what she was doing to us but being completely unable to stop it? How humiliating it was when she had us bowing to her and calling her our Queen? And then…” She took a breath. “She made us fight our heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir trusted us to help them and we used the Miraculous they entrusted to us to try and kill them.”

“We were just lucky that they were able to turn the tables on us.” Kim muttered. “I don’t even want to know what would have happened if we had won.”

“Luka still has nightmares.” Juleka whispered. “He won’t talk about it, but he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks.”

Marinette winced. She hadn’t even considered that everyone else could be suffering ramifications of Miracle Queen as well.

“We could have killed them.” Max stated. “Given the nature of the Snake Miraculous’s power, we very well could have more than once for all we know.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t have killed them?” Rose suggested, trying to be positive. “I mean, Chloe wanted all of the Miraculous, right? She probably wanted them as her servants as well.”

Max glared. “I’m pretty sure I attempted to send Chat Noir into space. Even a Miraculous can’t protect someone from that.”

Adrien tried not to wince at the memory. How he managed to even move enough to activate the Miraculous, he still wasn’t sure.

“We fought against them. We never wanted to, but we did.” Alya bit out. “Not even because of Hawk Moth this time, but because of Chloe. And now you are wanting us to just…overlook the trauma of the whole thing to help Chloe after what she did. For something she hasn’t shown even the slightest remorse for.”

She shook her head.

“I know you’re nice, Adrien. But this level of kindness is a cruelty.”

He winced. And it looked like he wanted to argue. But he just…wilted.

“I just…it feels harsh. What’s happening to her. The amount of hate she’s getting. That her entire life could be over.”

That was true. While they felt her current status was well deserved, it was a harsh sentence for anyone. Especially a teenager.

Nathaniel sighed. “Adrien, it is harsh. Maybe cruel. But fact is that she still brought on herself.”

“Isn’t that just victim-blaming though?” Adrien countered, frustrated now. “I mean, Hawk Moth manipulated her! How was that her fault? He’s the one who did it. She was…” He clenched his fists in anger. “Chloe is a victim.”

“No, we are the victims.” Alya insisted, gesturing to herself and the other revealed former heroes. “We were the ones used to fight our heroes. We were the ones who had our identities revealed to the world against our will. And now we are the ones having to live with the results of Chloe‘s choices, just like we always are.“

Adrien looked ready to argue. And maybe he would have, except...

Nino rested a hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“Adrien. Dude. Just stop. We have enough to deal with and this…this isn’t helping.”

Adrien frowned at that, concerned by his friend’s attitude. “Nino?”

Nino lowered his head. “I wasn’t going to say anything. Really, I was trying not to think about it. But my parents are currently talking with police about their options. Now that I’ve been exposed as one of the temporary heroes, they’re questioning if it’s not safe for us at home anymore. There is a chance of us having to go into protective custody.”

Alya winced at that, drawing attention to her. “My parents have been talking as well. My mom quit her job. She said she doesn’t want to work for someone who would let their daughter do such a thing and put me in danger. She’s looking at drawing me out of school since it was pretty much Chloe‘s base of operations. And since Chloe is the Mayor’s daughter…and Hawk Moth…and just…everything?” She looked away, clearly anxious.

“There’s a chance we may have to move out of Paris altogether.”

Marinette gasped.

Alya looked to the other girl, sad and guilty all in one. “I’m sorry, girl. I guess I’ve been hoping it wouldn’t be an issue. I’ve been trying to talk them out of it, but it’s hard given everything that happened. Currently, the only reason they’re willing to stay is to see through to the end of the trial. But after that…” She shrugged, shaking her head uncertainly. “Who can say?”

“No…” Adrien whispered in shock.

The others in class came closer around her, trying to offer some comfort and reassurances—what little they could give, at least. This was a situation that was clearly beyond them. Marinette herself hugged Alya tightly for all she was worth, and the other girl held her back just as much, neither wanting to be parted.

Adrien, however, remained on the outside looking in. Watching the people Chloe had tormented even before Miracle Queen and realizing just how badly they’ve been hurt by this. It hit him then—for what was perhaps the first time just how much pain Chloe had caused his friends. And how unfair he had been to expect them to simply deal with it.

He stayed the lone person outside of the circle. By this point, did he really deserve to join in the comfort? To try to be the one to give comfort? After what he had tried to push on them all?

After minutes passed, they were finally able to draw away from each other.

“I’m sorry for not saying anything sooner.” Alya told Marinette. “I guess I was just hoping…y’know…that it wasn’t real. Or that it would go away and things would work out on their own.”

Marinette smiled. “No, I understand.”

And she did. That’s exactly what she herself had been doing for the past few weeks as well. Trying to deal with things without really dealing with them. Working without acknowledging just what it all meant because she was scared she would break down and that would be just one more thing Hawk Moth would have won because of this whole mess.

“I was kind of the same way.” She admitted, and it felt like a slight relief to be able to say aloud to someone. “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you about it.”

She still couldn’t, unfortunately. Not about Ladybug and the kwamis and the Miracle Box.

But…she could talk about Fu. How she lost him. How she feels. She could help support Alya and her classmates and be there for them in the meantime.

She…hadn’t lost everything.

Not yet.

And that was the scary thing…

Adrien gaped at the group. He had thought the trauma was bad enough, and that at least could be worked through. But this...

“I’m sorry. I...I didn’t even realize...”

“Adrien, what Chloe did put a major target on our backs.” Alya explained. “Nobody knows how we became heroes, or that Ladybug was the one to specifically choose us and give us the miraculous to use. Nobody knows WHY we were chosen. It’s not just Hawk Moth, any regular criminal can come after us now in an attempt to get a hold of that power. And we can’t exactly protect ourselves.”

She shrugged helplessly.

“We kind of have enough to worry about with the fallout of Chloe‘s actions. And now you want us to try and protect Chloe on top of that?“

Seeing it now, in this light...it was cruel. It was cruel and unfair and hurtful, and Marinette felt horrible for considering letting herself be talked into it.

Adrien himself felt horrible for even suggesting it.

“We all have to live with the consequences of Chloe’s choices.” Alya stated. “So why shouldn’t she?”

Silence followed. It practically echoed throughout the entire hallway.

He said nothing in response. What could he possibly say? He’d known that Chloe was…difficult with other people, to say the least. He’d known the type of person she was. But she was his friend and friends forgive and support each other, right?

But they were right as well. It wasn’t fair to expect them to help Chloe after what she did. Especially once he knew of the level of harm she’d caused them. He felt the horror trickle in. The trauma everyone felt. The knowledge of what they’d been forced to do. The fact that…

He suddenly found it harder to breathe.

Nino could leave.

Adrien could lose his best friend because of this.

And who knew how many of the others would be forced to leave as well. Aside from Nino; Kim, Max, Alya, and Luka were other heroes as well. Juleka was Luka’s sister. And how many of the other classmates might be pulled out of this class and school because it’s unsafe? And Kagami—oh god, she was outted as well. He hadn’t heard from her in a while. Her mother is probably furious. She could move back to Japan because of this. And Marinette…she had been lucky to not be caught up in that fight since she was a hero only the one time, but that could have been just one more thing Chloe ruined for her…

…what about himself?

He paled.

He was longtime friends with Chloe. Went to school with Chloe. Was in class with Chloe. Chloe, who was currently getting a lot of heat from all of Paris. How was his Father going to react to that? The man was always focused on the company and appearances…what would he do now that Chloe had fallen from grace in such a way? Would he forbid Adrien from talking to Chloe again? Would he pull Adrien from school?

…would he ban Adrien from leaving the house altogether?

How was he only just now considering the impact? For himself or anyone else? Of course people would be hurt. Of course they would be upset. Of course people would respond. Somehow, he knew that, and yet he had only been focused on Chloe that it hadn’t actually hit home until now…

And in that light…

It had been selfish to ask. Honestly, he’d known that when he first tried to approach Marinette. But he felt he had to try. Honestly, part of him had known better than to ask in the first place. But at the same time…there was a part of him that still believed things could just go back to “normal”.

…how foolish. That was a “normal” that nobody else wanted. And even more, it was one that was now impossible…all because of Chloe herself.

“I just wanted to help.”

He deflated, losing all remaining fight.

“I’m sorry.”

The classmates glanced between each other. There was much they could have said, but really, anything they could have said already had been. And with him seeming resigned, it appeared there was no longer a need to defend themselves.

Marinette—ever the mediator, stepped up and hugged Adrien.

“Adrien, this isn’t something you can help with. None of us can. What happens in the trial is up to the courts. And what happens to Chloe is up to her.”

Slowly, he reached up and hugged her as well. The warmth and comfort brought some limited solace in this situation. He felt lost. Out of control. Like the world was moving around him and he didn’t know where he was standing much less where he was supposed to be.

They weren’t ready to forgive Chloe. And he couldn’t force them to be. Given the circumstances, he couldn’t blame them. And it was really unfair of him to try. Especially…

“I’m sorry, Marinette.” He whispered to her.

He had tried to use her. Looking back, he had a bit of a tendency to rely on Marinette to fix things when she shouldn’t have had to. Especially when it was for Chloe’s sake. He knew plenty of times Chloe had done things…but he always seemed to overlook how hurt Marinette was because of it, simply due to how well she always appeared afterwards. She was strong and confident, but also a good listener and willing to forgive. It was like nothing really brought her down.

It was due to this that Marinette was often the one he turned to whenever things happened. Because she would listen. She would understand. And she would always try to help, regardless of her position.

In this light…he may have over relied on her too much.

“I wasn’t fair to you.” He admitted. “I just saw Chloe hurting and only thought about how to fix things for her. I didn’t consider your feelings.” He hugged her more strongly. “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t speak. But she squeezed him back.

He felt another body press against him. A quick glance showed it to be Nino.

“I’m still super mad with her. And I don’t like how you tried to push us to defend her after what she did. But I get that she’s your friend and you care about her. I’d do the same if it were you in her place.” He gave a small laugh. “Not that I think you ever would, of course.”

Adrien smiled back. “Thanks.”

This…this felt much better.

Things weren’t okay right now. He still wanted to help Chloe. His classmates were still hurt. People were still angry. Hawk Moth was still out there.

But whatever happened...in this moment, he felt they could make it.

[tryingmydarndest]

Thank You (Luka Couffaine x Reader)

Summary (Part 1/probably 3): The author goes on a bit of a tangent about how Y/N goes on a bit of a tangent about Viperion. Who may just have a little, big ol' crush on them?

Tags: -not enough actual relationship -fluff -but like, a weird sprinkling of angst that I didn't plan on right at the end???

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: Inspired by this fic by @seriously-sirius-black <3. Luka? OOC? Idk, probably, I don’t write fanfic. But I am actually kinda proud of how well Alya turned out. Writing this made me realize how much of a mom friend I apparently headcanon her as. I wrote this gender-and-as-everything-else-neutral as I can make it (lemme know if you see ways I can improve, tho idk how much more fanfic I'll even be writing). Also, I freakin' RAMBLE and overuse italics, but ya get what ya get and ya don't gotta fret. Ooh, important note for future parts (if i write them) - this is a kinda!au where the miraculous users keep their miraculous. also if I had a nickel for every time I get awkwardly specific about the placement of both of a character’s hands I’d have TWO nickels. Happy reading!! <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Part I - Paris's Cutiest Heroes

The look currently on Marinette’s face as she sputtered out a response was priceless, “Cat Noir? Cat Noir!? What makes you think I’d find Cat Noir attractive at all? And- and- HIM- the cutest superhero! Ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous?”

“Nice one, Alya”

“Thank you so much, Y/N,” you gave Alya a high five on your way to your seat next to Juleka and Rose on the couch facing Marinette and Alya. A sunny Friday after school was the perfect place for Kitty Section and their entourage to hang out. Unfortunately without Ivan and Mylène, seeing as their anniversary called for a private celebration. After pushing a couple couches onto the deck of The Liberty, Alya had predictably started talking about Paris's resident hero team. Today, she chose to ask everyone who they deemed the cutest, and she made sure to jump on Marinette's... interesting response, “And girl, he has the same silky golden hair and dreamy emerald eyes as Adrien Agreste. What’s utterly ridiculous is you freaking out and dodging every time we bring up superheroes!”

The designated snack-boy, Luka, walked out precariously carrying three bowls of goodies for everyone, “Alright, I got more popcorn. Sorry, but looks like we’re out of cheese flavoring, Y/N”

“Oh... that’s fine. I honestly wasn’t expecting it since I forgot to ask,” your free hand not reaching for the bowl rubbed the back of your neck, “but thanks for remembering.”

“Oh, um yeah- Always," is it creepy to remember something so specific? Someone as nice as Y/N wouldn't be interested in some creep. Ugh. Luka took a seat with his own bowl after passing Alya and Marinette theirs. He ended up next to you on the floor, leaning against the arm of the couch, dangerously close to touching your legs.

Rose reached for the popcorn as she interjected, “You know, Alya does have a point. So Marinette, why don’t you just tell us who you think the cutest superhero is, if you don’t like us guessing?”

Somehow Marinette’s face went even paler as she spoke, “What- I mean, I don’t- I haven’t thought- Wha- what about Y/N? Why aren’t you interrogating them?”

Alya crossed her arms, “Because Y/N says the same thing about the same hero every day. Just watch. Ahem, Y/N, care to weigh in on the cuteness level of our lovely Parisian superheroes?”

You looked up from the bowl you had stolen back from Rose with wide eyes, "Hey! Okay, no, that is not fair! Besides, what is our criteria for 'cute'? I mean... Are we going just by physical characteristics? Is costume a factor? What about the animal they're representing, could our opinion of that make this whole thing unfair? And cuteness is so subjective anyway... Why are we even reducing these amazing and honorable superheroes to just their looks? I mean we could be talking about skill, or their powers or power lev-"

"-And your answer would be exactly the same. Seriously, are you done trying- and might I add, failing- to talk yourself out of this one yet? Or should I just read the article you wrote for the Ladyblog?"

"You said you deleted that!"

Luka had perked his head up at your initial fumbling response and turned to you when he spoke, "You wrote an article? That's pretty cool."

You rubbed your face to try and distract yourself from the burning embarrassment, "Umm, yeah. But it was terrible and extremely not. worth. publishing." You hoped the glare you sent the girl in question was enough to scare her into deleting it on the spot, or to at least lie about it, "So Alya kindly deleted it, right?"

Sitting up with a smug look and crossed arms severely lowered your faith that she'd keep quiet. "A good journalist archives everything. Especially something as juicy as one of her besties going on for five thousand words about how dreamy the great Viperion is," dramatically fake-fainting into Marinette's lap, Alya could barely finish before bursting out in laughter. Of course, quickly followed by the others joining in to varying degrees. Juleka and Rose happily giggled to themselves, Marinette looked more relieved that the heat was off her, and Luka seemed to be shocked, or maybe just holding back to see how you were taking this.

Horribly. Horribly embarrassed would describe how you were taking this conversation. You sat there stock-still as you hoped that none of the others could hear your heart's desperate attempts to pound its way out of your chest. That's certainly all you could hear, at least until Alya's voice brought you out of it, "Hey, it's fine," she made her way over to sit next to you as she continued, "We all have our little hero crushes. That's why I bring it up all the time, to show you that it's totally normal! I mean, we all know how I could go on about Carapace for days," Alya gestured for the others to continue, and used her other hand to try and comfort you.

"Well, I find Ladybug to be just absolutely adorable and so kind.... oh it just makes me so happy knowing she's keeping all of Paris safe," Rose added softly.

Juleka brushed a strand of hair aside as she spoke, "Rena Rouge is super mysterious, pretty rad in my opinion."

Alya was rubbing your back like the mom friend she is to try and help encourage you, "See? Super normal, so go ahead and release all this pent up Viperion energy that I know you have. Maybe it'll encourage Marinette here to finally join in the fun!" Alya stuck her tongue out at her best friend, who responded promptly by smashing her face into a pillow.

You just sighed, "I mean- it’s- it can't just-'' were you supposed to just get over it all just like that? Well, at least the embarrassment was wearing off, maybe you could just entertain her for a bit, "Well- um, you see.... HisHairJustLooksReallySoftAnd- you know what. Nope. Can't do anymore of this. Yep- that's all you're getting out of me!" This time when everyone started giggling, you were able to comfortably join them. It was a nice feeling.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A nice evening chilling out with your friends was always welcome, especially with the rising number of akumatizations making that less possible. But the night had come to a close. Alya and Marinette went home, Juleka was walking Rose back herself, and Luka and you had volunteered to clean up. Luka stopped drying the cup in his hand for a minute as he looked at you, “Um, I know it might not be my place, but I want you to know that you don’t have to be embarrassed about the whole... Viperion thing.” God, how am I supposed to take the news that MY crush has a crush on.... Sort of me? Am I supposed to count it as me at all?

“Oh, um. Yeah, thanks. I think I’m over the embarrassment now that it’s out. I don’t know, it’s just that a lot of people think it’s weird since he’s kind of a new hero,” how are you supposed to explain this to him? That you kept such a non-issue secret from him, especially without getting suspiciously defensive about it. “And then people use that to try and say that I only like him for his looks..... And that’s not it! I don’t know, it’s kind of.... A lot? To explain, that is.” This was not going well.

“Oh... Well, what is it? That you like about him, I guess.”

This was so not going well. But he was waiting for a response so... “Uh, well I guess it did kinda start..... that way.... but then I started doing research. I learned about his power and saw videos of his fights. He’s really good! Especially for being so new, which kinda goes into why his power makes me like him so much.” Shit. Rambling, I’m just talking and talking and I need to stop. But how am I supposed to change the subject now? And now Luka’s sitting down, and he seems so invested. Why does this have to happen to me?

“What do you mean by that?”

Luka’s voice kindly shuts your little thought-spiral in its tracks. What were you saying? Oh, Viperion’s powers! You can talk about this, you know this. Just keep talking, at least he seems interested in it, “Well, you know how he can go back and redo the last couple of minutes?” Luka nodded, “Well, we always see the time that worked out. Us civilians get to keep going from the one time it all went right. Just imagine all the times he failed, all the times he couldn’t get it right. It could be dozens, maybe even hundreds of times! He must get so discouraged at some point, I mean I know I would.... I guess I didn’t really think about it at first, but.... but, I doubt I could keep that determination, and I’m so glad Paris has a hero who can, and does.”

Silence. Why was it so quiet? Oh no, he thinks I’m weird. He must think-

“All of this from ‘his hair looks soft’?”

“Hey! You can’t tell me not to be embarrassed, then make fun of me! That’s against the rules!”

Luka chuckled as he said, “Against what rules, exactly?”

“The Rules Of Best Friendship, duh!”

“And who exactly said you were my best friend?”

“Well... your loss, I guess. Now you won’t get an invitation when I plan Rose and Juleka’s wedding,” you brushed off his offended glare as you took the seat next to him.

“She’s my sister.”

“She’d take my side.”

I’d take your side, too. I will always take your side. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

A/N the sequel: I am super bad at finishing things, but I really wanna keep motivated to finish this (like I have a full, probably 3 part, plan for this). If you guys want to help, shoot me a message and I'll send you a link to the google doc I'm writing this on. Feel free to leave a little comment (pls be kind, obviously) and see my writing process! Idk, would any of you guys be interested in that? Would you just get annoyed at having already read the thing before I post it?

[boldlyanxious]

Detected

Marijon series

My masterlist

Prompt 1: Blue eyes | identity reveal

Marinette rushed to class after lunch in a frenzy. She had been planning for the special guest for weeks but somehow she still felt unprepared. She should have had Alya come back and help her carry all the things she needed for the presentation. She thought she had planned enough time but with the bulky box plus display boards it was slow going for the short trek back to school.

Everyone looked up from where they were already seated when Marinette opened the door. Nino must have heard her trying to turn the handle without dropping the box because he had turned the handle for her and was right there when Marinette fell through the door. He steadied her as Adrien jumped up to help her with the box.

"I'm so sorry Madame Bustier. I should have realized it would take longer to get back," Marinette said as she started setting up the display boards she had made.

"It's fine Marinette. You can take a minute to finish. I've invited Madame Mendeleiev's class to join us so they will arrive after she has taken attendance," Mme Bustier said.

By the time she had everything set up and the computer presentation loaded the students from the other class had already filed in and sat down. Marinette looked around realizing that all the seats were now filled. Alya waved her arms and made a pssst sound to get her attention. She had saved Marinette a spot. They were one row up from their usual spot, probably so Alya could get a good angle to record. She had been so excited to hear that Lois Lane and Clark Kent would be coming to their class to talk about journalism.

Marinette climbed over Alya to get in leaving Alya access to the aisle in case she needed to move around to get video. The workload to get everything organized had been a lot but it turned out to be well worth it. The journalist couple were very pleased with the set up and presentation she had made as an intro to their presentation. Marinette had realized that not everyone would have an interest in journalism specifically so she targeted the information for the things that made journalism bring everyone together. News and reporting is a universal concept and even if it is not in the media for all of the public most people would end up doing some version of reporting in their life or would need to evaluate reporting done by news or others.

---

“Who is that boy, Marinette?” Alya asked, not even bothering to be discreet with her pointing.

“I don’t know. He does look familiar though,” Marinette responded.

“He has been staring at you all day,” Alya said.

“Really, did Mme Mendeleiev get any new students recently?”

“Not that I remember. Wouldn’t you already know about that as class rep, even for new students in her class?”

“Yeah. I don’t know of anyone. Maybe he came from another school just for the presentation. They are pretty well known reporters. I think the school would allow that.”

They finished at their lockers and said bye on the steps. Marinette was very happy that Mme Bustier asked to leave the stuff available to set up for a while. She really did not want to have to carry that all back home again today.

Marinette went directly upstairs to put her things away before heading down to help her parents. If she had the time on Fridays they liked for her to help out for a few hours after school so they could get the fancier weekend pastries started. She smoothed out her hair and washed her hands before heading to the register as she tied on an apron. Her mother turned to greet her and finished up with the last customer before they talked for a minute and Sabine headed back to the kitchens. Marinette started by wiping down the tables and straightening like she knew would need to be done when it was time to close the shop. Her parents didn’t insist she do more than the basics of the register and keeping the place neat but usually she liked to try to make it a bit easier for closing down.

She looked over as the door dinged and was surprised to see the American couple as well as the blue eyed boy that Alya had said was staring at her. It was right when she looked at all of them together that she figured it out. The couple used different last names for their bylines but she had learned they had been married for a number of years. The boy had just enough features from each of his parents that Marinette quickly figured out why he had been in the classroom with them.

Marinette greeted them like she would anyone new to the bakery but she messaged Alya right off. She couldn't anger her for neglecting to mention one of her favorite journalists was there. Also the boy was still giving her a look and she might need help.

Marinette took care of their order when they were ready and then went back to doing anything she could to make it easier to close. Her mom would probably come back in 15 or 20 minutes and she hoped to have the cases cleared out so her mom would just need to count the register and wipe everything down. She was very focused when Alya snuck in behind her and grabbed her sides.

If the family hadn't been sitting there eating while sneaking looks at her, they would definitely be looking now as she squealed loud enough to bring her parents from the back to see what was happening. Unfortunately what her parents saw when they came out was Marinette slapping Alya on the arm in retaliation and they gave her a look for it. Alya laughed at her as she got the first pick of the leftover pastries for the abuse.

Her parents released her from duty as they had enough finished that it was manageable without her. She took a tartlet too and stuck her tongue out at Alya before following her out the bakery. Before she was able to follow her out the door the boy called out to stop her. She turned back to him. His parents were sharing a smile but he appeared to be trying to ignore them.

"Wait," he paused when Marinette turned, then quickly said, "would you want to go get a coffee with me tomorrow?"

She wasn't sure what it was about his face at that moment, but she had a sudden realization. She knew exactly why he looked familiar because they had met before.

"That would be super."

Marinette smiled broadly but his blue eyes widened and his face paled slightly even though his smile never changed.

Next

Taglist

@marijon-week | @fan-written | @jjmjjktth | @maskedpainter | @ira-sarain | @ladybug-182 | @purple-goo-writes | @kking13 | @theymakeupfairies | @emjrabbitwolf | @vixen-uchiha | @trythisagainlove | @trippingovermyfeet | @tbehartoo | @adrestar | @zynna

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH19

People weren’t happy with how things went down with Alya in the original MDCSP, so I hope this version suffices. ;)

Previous     First      Next     AO3

---------------------------

Chapter 19: Miss Missing You

Alya chewed her nails, pivoting back and forth in her desk chair as Lila settled on her bed. Her thoughts raced too fast for Alya to make sense of them, and Lila’s grave expression did little to calm her nerves. When Alya told her about Adrien and Chloe, she insisted on meeting up. Maybe this way they could both talk to Ladybug, but something was off about Lila. Her jaw was a little too tense, and those green eyes swirled with an intensity Alya couldn’t place. What was going on?

“Is Ladybug on her way too? We have to let her know what they’re plotting,” Alya said, but when Lila remained quiet, she asked, “What?”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Lila said. “This is going to be hard for me, but I trust you over anyone else.”

“What’s wrong?” Alya asked, and Lila shifted her weight, tucking a strand of long hair behind her ear.

“Well, Ladybug and I…we kind of had a falling out.” Lila lowered her gaze to her lap.

“What?”

“Remember when Chloe tried to impersonate her to make everyone hate me? Well, I told Ladybug about it, and that she shouldn’t trust Chloe anymore, but then last night she gave her back her Miraculous without consulting me.” Lila recounted. “I tried to talk to her and understand why she’d trust Chloe again after what she did to me, but Ladybug freaked out on me and told me not to question her judgment.”

“For real?” Alya gasped. “That’s not like her.”

“I know,” Lila said, “and after what you told me on the phone, I definitely think something weird is going on with her.”

“You don’t think Chloe is manipulating her, do you?” she asked.

Lila pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Not Chloe. I think that…well, I’m sorry, but I think Marinette is behind all of this.”

“Marinette?” Alya shot a glance at the Ladyblog pulled up on her computer, a sinking feeling in her gut.

She hadn’t posted about Queen Bee’s return—couldn’t bring herself to. Something was definitely off with Ladybug, but was it really all Marinette’s doing? Marinette wasn’t one for petty revenge, but maybe she had changed since she left. Or maybe Alya just never knew her like she thought she did.

Alya thought back to the night she was akumatized, the distant look in her bff’s eyes. She’d seemed tired, like all the fight had been drained from her. She didn’t even argue when Alya suggested they stop being friends, a fact that had haunted Alya ever since. Why had Marinette abandoned her so easily? Surely if her stories were to be believed, she would have fought harder, right? Wasn’t the truth worth fighting for?

“You said so yourself, Chloe and Adrien said they were going to get Ladybug to talk about me for Marinette. I think she’s manipulating all of them to get back at me because she can’t let go even after she’s been gone for a month now,” Lila said.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would Marinette do that? When I last spoke to her, she didn’t want anything to do with you or anyone here really,” Alya said. “Well, except Adrien, I guess, but she’s always been head-over-heels for him.”

“She’s obsessed! She’s never liked me, and I never understood why. The only thing I’ve been able to figure out is that she didn’t like me talking to Adrien, so now she’s lured him over to her side and fed him all kinds of lies about me. I don’t even like him that way, but she’s just so insecure and jealous that she thought Adrien would fall in love with me because of all of my accomplishments.” Lila hugged a pillow to her chest. “Now she’s taken one of my best friends away from me too!”

Alya crossed the room to sit beside her on the bed, draping an arm over her shoulders. “I’m sorry, girl. Maybe we can talk to Ladybug and convince her not to do that interview tomorrow.”

“I don’t think we can,” Lila whimpered. “She hasn’t responded to any of my calls ever since the Queen Bee thing. She’s on their side now.”

“Are you sure? I’ve met Ladybug a bunch of times, and she would totally pick up on it if something fishy was going on,” Alya said.

“Watch the interview tomorrow. If Ladybug says anything about me that sounds like them, then you’ll know I’m telling the truth,” Lila said.

Alya pursed her lips but didn’t argue. Lila’s story was just as probable as theirs at this point, and she was right. All they could do was watch the interview and see what happened. For their sake, she hoped that Chloe and Adrien’s plan failed, and Ladybug never mentioned Lila. But a heavy pit was already forming in Alya’s stomach, filling her with dread for the coming day. How had she gotten herself into the middle of all this drama? And how long would it be before the truth was finally revealed?

♪♫♪ Don’t Blame Me ♪♫♪

“How long before we give up?” Adrien asked the next afternoon. He leaned against the railing while Chloe manned the spotlight beside him.

“It’s hasn’t even been 20 minutes, Adrikins. I’ve sat up here for entire akuma battles before.” Chloe chided.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just nervous,” he said, letting a breath pass his lips.

Chloe spun on him with a scowl, jabbing her finger into his chest. “Oh no, you are not backing out this time. We’re doing this, so just think about Dupain-Cheng’s awful split-ends or whatever it is you need to keep you motivated.”

Adrien pursed his lips as Chloe turned back to her bee signal. She was right. No backing out this time. Lila was going down once and for all, then Marinette could finally be free. Marinette…

His heart fluttered, warming his cheeks. It would be obvious after today that he was helping Chloe take down Lila. Being intentionally cruel wasn’t in his nature, but he’d do anything to protect the people he loved. To protect the girl he loved.

It had taken him longer than it should have to realize his feelings for her, but now they burned so brightly, he had to wonder how he’d ever missed them. Marinette was a wonderful girl and a dear friend. If ever there was a person to fight for, it was her. She’d understand why he did all of this. It was all for her—always for her.

His heart ached with longing. Now that Marinette went to a different school, he couldn’t see her as often as he used to. Sometimes they went several days without seeing each other, and his heart grew heavier the longer they stayed apart. At least when he loved Ladybug, he got to see her every day when they fought akumas or patrolled the city, but even that wasn’t enough.

Adrien had spent too much of his life alone. Couldn’t the universe give him just one person to cure his loneliness? Missing Marinette was torture. What was she doing right now? Was she thinking about him?

He pulled out his phone and typed a simple message: what’s up?

Ugh, no, that was lame.

Hey cutie ;) what are you up to?

No, too forward.

I was just thinking about you

Too clingy. He backspaced over his message again, eyebrows knitting together in concentration. Why was flirting so much harder as Adrien? If he were Chat Noir, he’d just drop a few cat puns and tell her how pretty she was, but that might be a little abrasive coming from Adrien. The last thing he wanted was to scare her off. After all, she almost kissed him in the garden too. That meant she loved him back, right?

Pressing his lips into a determined line, he typed another message and hit send without overthinking it.

Hey, how’s your day been?

A minute passed before his phone buzzed with a reply: busy. I’m finalizing my designs for Clara. I present to her next week and im super nervous!

Aww don’t be clara is gonna love them.

I hope so! she replied. So what are you up to today?

Uhh im working on a school project with chloe. He lied. We have to interview someone we look up to, and shes demanding we interview ladybug so weve been standing on the roof with her bee signal for like 30 minutes.

Wow ladybug huh? I hope she shows up for you guys. Anyway these designs aren’t going to finish themselves so ill talk to you later! Bye!

good luck!

He smiled down at her messages. Marinette was always running a million miles an hour working on some project or another. She was so driven and passionate—something Adrien deeply admired. Clara would love her designs, and he and Chloe would definitely take down Lila this time. Then he and Marinette could be together without having to worry about anything. They could move to the suburbs and buy a cozy home for their three kids, a dog, and a hamster named-

“Looking for me?” Adrien and Chloe spun around, and Ladybug cocked a hip. “What’s the emergency?”

“Uhh,” Adrien stammered.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “We have to interview one of our personal heroes for a school project, so we picked you. Isn’t that right, Adrikins?” She nudged him with her elbow.

Think about Marinette. Everything was for Marinette. The tears she’d spilled, the pain she’d suffered… Adrien was going to take it all away. Lila would never hurt her again.

“Yeah. Do you have time?” Adrien asked.

Ladybug glanced between them and smiled. “I have a few minutes. Make it quick.”

“Excellent.” Chloe clapped her hands together and paced toward the stairs. “Everything is set up in my suite.”

Adrien took a deep breath as Ladybug fell into step beside him. A month ago being so close to her would have sent his heart into overdrive, but now his heart was pounding for a different reason. Ladybug hated liars. Deceiving her was a direct betrayal of her trust. Even if his feelings for her had changed, he was still her partner, and manipulating her like this didn’t feel right.

“Wait.” He stopped abruptly and caught Ladybug’s wrist. Chloe was already through the doorway to the stairs, and he sent her a silent apology just in case his next words ruined everything. “Chloe and I lied to you. This isn’t for a school project.”

“Then what’s all this about?” Ladybug asked.

“It’s…” Adrien took a deep breath and continued. “You remember Lila, right? She lied about you saving her and how you two are bffs?”

Ladybug sobered. “Yeah?”

“Well, her lies have gotten out of hand, and she hurt someone important to me. Chloe and I planned to trick you into admitting you two were never friends, so that everyone can finally see the truth about her. The interview was just a coverup,” Adrien explained, hanging his head low. “We shouldn’t have lied to you. I’m sorry.”

Ladybug eyed him with pursed lips, those blue eyes working out a solution like he were one of her lucky charms. She seemed to come to a conclusion, her face softening. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

“If you don’t want to help us, I won’t blame you. I know it’s wrong to seek revenge,” Adrien said.

A knowing smile spread across her lips. “That friend of yours must be really special to you.”

“What?”

“For you to resort to something like this, you must care about your friend—the one Lila hurt—a lot,” she said, then with a sigh added, “I don’t normally condone revenge, but I know how dangerous Lila can be. I’ve almost lost my Miraculous because of her several times, so I think you’re right. It’s time everyone learned the truth about Lila Rossi.”

Adrien blinked. “So, wait… You’re going to help us?”

“I made a promise to keep Paris safe, and if we continue to let Lila go unchecked, she’s only going to put more people in danger,” Ladybug said. “It’s time someone put her in her place.”

“Hurry up, you two! I have a hair appointment this evening, and I do not want to be late!” Chloe shouted from the doorway.

Adrien held Ladybug’s gaze, and she gave him an encouraging nod. “Uh, coming!” he called.

He gestured Ladybug ahead, following close behind her, cheeks hot. This was really happening. Ladybug was going to help them stop Lila. After today, everyone would know the truth, and Marinette would be free. They all would.

“Ladybug, you sit on this side.” Chloe directed. “Adrikins and I will sit on this side.”

“Okay,” Ladybug said, sliding onto the couch smoothly.

Adrien took the seat across from her, wiping his palms on his jeans while Chloe barked orders at her butler. Satisfied with the camera angle, Chloe sat beside him and fixed her hair in her compact before calling “action.”

Chloe’s butler—Adrien couldn’t remember his name—started the Instagram live, broadcasting to all of Chloe’s followers. There was no turning back now.

“Hello out there, my little worker bees. Your queen is here with some very special guests today,” Chloe cooed in her token attention-seeking voice. “My favorite people in the whole world besides myself, obviously—Adrien and Ladybug!”

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Adrien waved.

“As you all know, I helped Ladybug defeat another akuma last weekend. Being Queen Bee again was such an honor, and I admit, even I have people I look up to,” she said, flipping her ponytail. “So, Ladybug, thank you for allowing me to become a superheroine. Queen Bee is truly an inspiration.”

“Uh, sure.” Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Chat Noir and I always appreciate help from our allies.”

“You heard it here, everyone! Ladybug values my help,” Chloe said, and Adrien cleared his throat. “Now, onto the topic of today’s livestream. People everywhere are inspired by superheroes like me and Ladybug, so today we are going to give you all the inside scoop on what it takes to be a hero.”

“That’s right, Chloe,” Adrien piped up. “I don’t have superpowers, so I have to ask: what’s it like being a superhero, Ladybug?”

“Well, everyone thinks that having superpowers is all fun and games, but in reality, Chat Noir and I have a huge responsibility. Defending Paris every day requires sacrifice, and we know the whole city is counting on us to succeed. It’s a lot of pressure,” Ladybug said.

“Of course, I know what it’s like being a superhero myself, but can you tell everyone how overwhelming it is to save the day all the time?” Chloe prompted.

“Yeah, totally. It’s a lot of work fighting akumas. Sometimes Hawkmoth makes supervillains at the worst times, and I have to drop everything to go save the city. Leading a double life is challenging, and sometimes it even impacts my day-to-day life. School, friends, family—I’m always rushing all over the place juggling two lives.” Ladybug admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. “But I’m happy to do it. Paris is my home, and it’s an honor to defend it. Besides, when the going gets tough, I know I can count on my partners to have my back.”

“So, when you pick a new partner, what qualities do you look for in a person that makes them a good fit to work with you?” Adrien asked.

“I look for people with courage and good intentions. Often times, the people I pick are ones who have stepped up to do the right thing, even if it’s hard. They’re people I know I can trust,” Ladybug said.

“Would you say you consider your allies close personal friends?” Chloe beamed, flashing the camera a wink.

“Well, I don’t know all of them in real life like you, Chloe,” Ladybug said with a cautious glance at the camera. “Sometimes they are people I meet during a battle that impress me, and who prove themselves to be trustworthy.”

“And how do you know if you can trust someone?” Adrien asked. “Do you consult anyone for recommendations, or do you operate on the fly?”

“Most of the time when I give someone a Miraculous, it’s because they’ve demonstrated their character to me. Every person I give a Miraculous to has earned their right to wear it either by helping me or showing that they’re willing to sacrifice to save others. The decision about who gets to wear one and who doesn’t is deeply personal to me,” Ladybug answered. “Not even Chat Noir knows the identities of our allies. It’s something I don’t share with anyone.” She shot Chloe a stern look. “Under normal circumstances.”

“So, you pick the allies by yourself?” Adrien followed up.

“Yes. In the middle of a battle, I wouldn’t even have time to consult anyone if I wanted to.”

“In other words, if anyone were to—I don’t know—claim that they help you choose your partners, they’d be a liar, right?” Chloe added.

“Yeah, I don’t talk to anyone about who I pick.” Ladybug shook her head.

“Ya know, Ladybug, there are some people out there that claim to be your best friend. How do you feel about people lying about knowing you to make themselves more popular?” Chloe asked.

Ladybug locked eyes with Adrien, the weight of their mission heavy on both of their shoulders. She clasped her hands together in her lap and said, “As I’m sure both of you are aware, there will always be people who use your name for their own selfish gain, but I want everyone out there to know that I take my job very seriously. Protecting all of you is my number one priority.”

She took a deep breath. “Being a superhero is dangerous, and that’s why, with the exception of Chat Noir and my trusted allies, Ladybug doesn’t have friends.”

“So, anyone who says they’re your friend is a liar, right?” Adrien asked.

“Yes, and they’re putting themselves in danger. Hawkmoth will stop at nothing to get my Miraculous, so please, if you’re out there… Do the right thing, and tell the truth.” Ladybug pleaded to the camera.

“It’s utterly pathetic when people lie about who they know just to get attention,” Chloe sighed in disgust. “You heard it here, my little bees! Chat Noir and I are Ladybug’s only friends.”

“Well, I’d consider you more of an ally than a frie-”

“And as one of Ladybug’s bffs, I want all of the losers out there to buzz off! Ladybug has much more important things to do, like spending time with me,” Chloe said.

“Right.” Ladybug’s yoyo beeped, and she glanced down at it briefly. “I should really get going. A hero’s work is never done.”

“Of course. Thank you for your time, Ladybug,” Adrien said, shaking her hand.

“No problem. It’s important to me that everyone in Paris knows I’m doing everything I can to keep you all safe, and the people I choose to fight beside me are people I truly trust. We’ll all keep fighting hard to protect this city,” she said, waving two fingers. “Bug out!”

“Well, that does it for this livestream, little bees. Your queen will see you all again next time. Bye-bye!”

♪♫♪ Impossible Year ♪♫♪

“So, anyone who says they’re your friend is a liar, right?”

“Yes.”

Lila was right. They really had gotten to Ladybug. Alya had done her best not to think about Marinette since their falling out. Remembering her old bff was too painful and confusing. Everything Alya thought she knew changed the moment Lila came to their school. The person she trusted became a stranger overnight. Alya wanted to believe that Marinette would never align herself with Chloe or orchestrate a hostile takedown just because she was jealous, but Alya had seen her do crazier things to win Adrien.

“I’m doing everything I can to keep you all safe, and the people I choose to fight beside me are people I truly trust.”

How was Chloe more trustworthy than Alya? All that was necessary for the triumph of evil was that good people do nothing. She’d known from day one that Chloe was evil, so why couldn’t Ladybug see it?  Why would Ladybug align herself with the queen of all evil over someone who dedicated herself to doing the right thing? Was this really all Marinette’s doing? And why?

Was Marinette really that desperate to win Adrien? Did she hate Lila so much that she’d willingly team up with her worst enemy to get back at her for stealing attention away from the boy she liked? From where Alya was sitting, it looked like Marinette already had him, and Lila had always been clear that she wasn’t interested in him that way. Why go through all that trouble to get Ladybug to denounce Lila just to win a boy? But if Marinette was involved with Ladybug…

It all made sense now. The reason Ladybug had picked someone else to wield her Miraculous. How long had they been plotting all of this? And how could Ladybug trust Marinette’s word over Alya’s without even trying to hear her side of the story? Or Lila’s? How could Ladybug not see that she was being manipulated? She was a hero, and one of the best Alya had ever seen. So why was she fighting for the wrong side?

Her head spun, and she gripped the side of her desk for support. Someone needed to tell Ladybug the truth.

“You want to save Ladybug from those you deem evil. Let me help you, Ladyblogger.”

Alya jumped at the sinister voice in her head. She smoothed her thumb over her phone screen, now glowing with dark energy. A cold feeling washed over her, all of her pain and confusion bubbling to the surface. In the center of it all stood her determined resolve, driving her to give in.

Someone needed to tell Ladybug the truth. Someone like her.

[multi-fandom-freak0221]

If Your Done With Embarrassing Me On Your Own Won't You Go Ahead and Tell Them

Oh my god y'all have just blown me away. I was not expect so much positive feed back. I was screaming so much I could not Believe how much you guys liked that. And so many people are asking to be tagged in the next part thank you guys so much. Also can I just say moving from Google Docs to Tumblr was a bitch to do and I hated it. But y'all inspired me so much that I decided to just go ahead and type it up on tumblr and move it to Google Docs afterwards.

This part's title is from "Impossible" by Shontelle. The song in this part is "Young Volcanoes" by Fall Out Boy

This is Part 2 of my fic based on @misashabunbun 's Love of Three.

Part 1

Tagging List (I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I NEED ONE.):

@thestressmademedoit @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @lizziejay @indecisive-mess-named-me @captainmac6 @luveverything12 @kris-pines04 @brokenwordsarehard2

To say Marinette was busy would be an understatement. Between working with Luka and Uncle Jagged producing her album as Neon Titanium and her friends insisting that they help heal her brokenheart she felt like she was caught in a whirl wind. But it was nice she had fun. Luka and Uncle Jagged knew how to turn the hard work of producing music into a fun experience while still being efficient. And her friends they had her laughing harder than she laughed in while and smiling brighter than their resident sunshine child. They did everything they could think off.

She went shopping with Chloe and Kagami. She watched horror movies with Alix, Nathaniel, and Adrien. Marc and Luka let her rant to them which turned into a crying session which then turned into a meditation session. And on top of that her and Peter hung out as well. Whether they just worked in silence together on their respective projects or they were pranking Uncle Tony, kwami did she have fun renaming the protocols on the Iron Man suit. Soon Peter easily fit his way into her group of friends abd he fit in perfectly. Everyone got along with him.

But he wasn't the last to join their ragtag group. Everyone was shocked when Felix Graham De Vanily came to their group offering Marinette condolences on her lost engagement. He was sincere and courteous so of course no one was surprised when Marinette invited him to join in the currently planned game of dodgeball, except maybe Felix himself. But nonetheless he joined in the competition and found himself hanging out with the rest of the group as well. Soon his cold off-standish demeanor was traded for sly smirks and slick humor that nobody caught at first except Marinette and Peter who would laugh openly at his responses.

Soon enough Felix was a part of the group and felt comfortable letting his guard down. It help that they didn't treat him as the Graham De Vanily heir or Adrien's asshole cousin. They treat him like Felix, the boy who while very proper cried watching Big Hero 6. Also the boy who slam dunked on Adrien without breaking a sweat. Yet he still is the master of backhanded compliments and insulting people with a smile and having them thank him. He could truly be himself and he was thankful.

And while he easily was getting along with everyone, anyone with easy could see he had a soft spot for Peter and Marinette in general. It was in the way his face would soften when looking at them. Or the way he would smile when Marinette would get excited over something. Or the way he always paid attention to Peter when he was geeking out. It was the way he softly teased them over their height, Marinette being the shortest of the group and Peter only being taller than Marinette and Alix. And everyone knew Marinette's heart was still healing, so it came no surprise when Felix and Peter started dating. And while everyone was happy for them no one, but Marinette herself missed the looks of longing both boys would send towards her.

Believe it or not Felix was not the most surprising addition to their friend group. No the last addition came soon after Marinette formally did an interview after too much press took notice of Damian Wayne's fiancee being seen for the first time in almost a year, in New York of all places.

She remembered Uncle Tony setting up the interview with someone he trusted. She was glad that this was only an interview as Damian Wayne's (ex) fiancee and not MDC or Neon Titanium. She can only imagine how big a deal it will be when she reveals. But that was future Marinette's problem. Present Marinette had to focus on what to say without giving too much details because no matter how much he deserved it, she didn't want to throw Damian to wolves like that. She settled on saying that she was going through some things and no longer was content in Gotham. She claimed that she decided it was in her best interest to leave, but she didn't want to make a big deal about which is why nothing had been said until now.

The interview went well and everyone accepted her answers. It was released about a month after she left Damian and two weeks since Peter and Felix started dating. She still got news alerts for Gotham so she was waiting with baited breath for her interview to reach the Gotham, but it never seemed to. No announcements from WE or the Wayne family in general. She couldn't say it didn't hurt that no one even realized she was gone yet. But what hurt more was when 2 weeks after her interview she got an alert from Gotham Gazette saying the Damian claimed they set a date for their wedding. She cried that day. How could he not even notice she was gone? Was he so used to lying about her and their relationship that he didn't even give a second thought to what he was saying any more? And while she despaired, she relished in the fact that her friends did not let her be alone. Her face was buried in Peter's neck, she was sat on Felix's lap, Chole was threading her fingers through her hair, her feet laid over Peter legs and settled on Marc's, Adrien sat on the floor in front of Felix a hand rest on her back and everyone gathered around as close as possible trying to physically reassure her. Luka was even humming softly. She appreciated all the love amd support she had and soon she was feeling much better. Eventually it turned into a puppy pile napping session and if she ended up curled up between Peter and Felix? Eh, nobody said anything.

It was these series of events that led to their newest and by far strangest addition to their friend group. Here it was, two days after Damian's announcement and here in front of her stands no other than Jonathan Kent, Damian's best friend.

"Hey, Mari. It's been a while, huh?" She could admit Jon looked nervous. The way he wouldn't meet her eyes and how his hand was rubbing his neck. But him bring nervous did nothing to calm her nerves about why he was even here.

Marinette took a deep breath and drew as much of her inner Ladybug as she could. "Why are you here, Jonathan?"

Jon flinched at how she used his full name. "I'm so sorry, Nette. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I didn't push harder. You were my friend too. I should have checked on you. Damian was such a good liar, I never knew. I should have known but I didn't and that doesn't excuse the fact that I wasn't there for you." Jon took a deep breath and finally met her eyes before speaking again. "But I'm going to do better, Nette. Whatever you need just say the word. Even if it means leaving. When we saw your interview Dad told Uncle Bruce to make sure his family was in order especially his youngest. He didn't give any details and Uncle Bruce got offended. I guess he did end up talking to Damian, but Damian doubled down on his lies and his family is believing him. But I know better because I saw what you said and I know even that wasn't the whole truth. So I want you to know I'm on your side."

Marinette was silent for a minute she study him and his words. The way she was looking at him made Jon feel like his whole soul was being judged, but he didn't dare look away. He needed her to know he meant it and that he was truly sorry for not being for. After a minute that felt like hours Marinette smiled softly at him. "I could always appreciate a hug from a friend." She held her arm open and Jon surged forward and hugged her tightly lifting her off the ground.

Marinette giggled a bit before he set her down. "Thanks, Jon for being here for me. I know Damian is you best friend-"

"He lost that right when he decided to lie to me repeatedly for his own benefit." Jon looked uncharacteristically upset at the fact.

"Well if you're in need of some more good friends, I know a group you should meet. Come on, we're about to have a pool day. I'm sure I have some swim trunks I've designed that you could probably fit. "

After they changed intl their respective swimwear, Mari led Jon to her Uncle Tony's pool where the rest of her friends were already waiting. "Hey guys! I'd like you to meet my friend Jon. He's in need of some good company."

Those who recognized Jon looked up surprised before see his nervous fidgeting and hearing Marinette's last sentence before nodding in understand. It was Peter who spoke up first. "Well any friend of Mari's is welcome with us. Come on we were about to play chicken fight!" And just like that their pool party was in swing. The played a couple pool games and had some snacks before Marinette decided to play some music. Soon a familiar tune was playing over the speakers.

When Rome's in ruins

It was Chole who started singing along first sitting laying on one of the pool chairs. In between Alix and Kagami.

We are the lions

Free of the colosseum.

In fields of poison

We're anitvenom

We're the beginning of the end.

Soon Alix was singing the next part as Chloe finished the first part.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

It's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Luka was quick to pick up the chorus while trying to get everyone to join in with him.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

While everyone was distracted with singing Luka had Adrien and Jon sneak with him behind the girls in the pool chair. Each of them grabbed one and threw them in the water. Luka grabbed Kagami, Adrien grabbed Chloe and Jon grabbed Alix.

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As everyone else's singing tapered off into laughing, Marinette picked up the next part solo as she walked to the diving board and climbed up.

Come on, make it easy, say I never mattered

Run it up the flag pole,

She ended her singing with a cannonball into the pool. Peter picked it up from his place in Felix's arms.

We will teach you how to make boys next door out of assholes

He sung his verse looking at Felix the whole time, who scoffed jokingly when Peter winked at him, but gave a him a kiss after he was done singing. Marc and Nathaniel picked up where he left off dueting together.

Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds

And it's all over now

Before it has begun

We've already won

Soon everyone was singing along again to the chorus playing around splashing each other.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

Soon everybody had calmed down slightly singing a little quieter. Marinette her self was floating on her back towards the center of the pool. Smiling at all her support around her.

We are wild

We are like young volcanoes

We are wild

Americana, exotica

Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby?

As the song ended Jon was the first to speak. "What the fuck is in the water in Paris that makes y'all so talented?"

Peter laughed as he easily agreed, "That's what I said!"

Adrien chuckled at the Americans in their group antics. "To be fair, Felix is from London and Kagami is from Japan."

"Still! That is crazy. And Marinette I never knew you could sing like that!" Jon looked over towards the bluenette, his eyes softening at her.

Marinette giggled. "Neither did the rest of the world until Neon Titanium featured in Luka's last single."

"What?!" Jon exclaimed. "You're Neon Titanium?! I loved that song! Nette you're even more amazing than I thought."

Luka threw his hand up saying "Here, here." Making Marinette blush as all her friends joined in on complimenting her.

About a 3 weeks later, Marinette found herself working on a dress for her debut as Neon Titanium which uncle Tony insisted she do at a gala he's throwing. Which she suspects he's throwing just for her to debut because there was absolutely no gala planned before.

That was what she was doing when Jon, Felix, and Peter found her. It didn't take long for Jon to fit in with group. And with how often he stayed with them in New York instead of going back to Metropolis, no one was surprised when he started dating Peter and Felix. Marinette was happy for them even though it seemed like everyone was in happy relationships but her. But she knew she still had some things to work out before returning to the dating scene.

As they approached Marinette paused her sketching to look at her friends. "What's up guys? You needed something?"

The 3 boys looked at each other before Peter spoke up. "Yeah, actually. We wanted to tell you something." He rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a sigh. "We like you Marinette. A lot. And we would love for you to date us."

Marinette could feel the rejection on her tongue, but before she could say a word Jon cut her off.

"Let us finish first Nette. Please. After we're done you can tell us to never bother you again, but just let us get this out." Jon pleaded at her. Marinette just nodded and let them continue.

"We all like you a lot," Felix started his words very sincere. "But we all know that your still healing. We only told you because we thought it would be fair for you to know."

It almost seemed as they had planned and rehearsed for this because Peter effortlessly picked up after Felix. "We're not trying to guilt you into dating us because at the end of the day it is still you decision. And we know it may be some time before your ready to even consider dating us, but we're willing to wait."

Jon grabbed her hands as he prepared to finish them out. "We just want you to know how amazing we think you are. We'll be beyond lucky if you decide to date us when you're ready to make that choice. And until you are we're still your friends and we'll continue helping you heal and be better how ever you want us to. And if you decide you don't see us that way we'll still be some of your closest friends because having you in our lives is a blessing Nette."

Soon they all seemed to be holding one of her hands as they finished what they had to say. Marinette had silent tears streaming down her face, but the big smile she had eased away their worries. She pulled them into a tight hug for a moment before pulling back.

"You guys are the absolute best friends a girl can have." She smiled at them gratefully. "You're right that I'm not ready yet, but when I am, you guys will be the first people I consider dating. Promise. Now do you guys wanna see the designs I'm considering for my reveal?"

As the boys gathered around Marinette for her to show them her sketchbook she thought to herself with a smile.

I might not be quite okay yet, but with all the great people I have on my side, I know I will be soon.

[ao3bronte]

when chaos reigns [the sirens come to play]

A Merman AU. (Rated T with some suggestive language.) Now on AO3! READ PROLOGUE - PART 2 HERE!

[Part 3]

Covid-19 forced a lot of people to stay stuck in their homes until they inevitably went mad and uploaded cringe videos of themselves dancing to Blinding Lights on TikTok. But Adrien Agreste, having been unable to leave his underwater ivory tower since the mysterious disappearance of his mother, really doesn’t know any different. 

“Final question. Who was the fifth king of the Sea of Okhotsk?”

Slumped against his seagrass cushion, Adrien sighs into his palm. “The Sea of Okhotsk doesn’t have a king. They have clans and elders.”

“Excellent,” Nathalie Sancoeur responds, wordlessly motioning for him to stop slouching. “I think that concludes political history for this evening. Onto diplomacy—”

“Can you give me a minute?” Adrien tries not to give away his intentions as he glances through a porthole. “I think Father is home and I’d like to greet him.”

Nathalie raises a brow. “He won’t change his mind, you know.”

“Didn't we just talk about erosion?” With a firm flick of his tail, Adrien makes his way towards his usually barred bedroom door. “It works on rocks, so why can’t it work on him?”

“Your father is not a rock, Adrien.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Adrien murmurs under his breath, leaving anyway. He snakes his way through the narrow halls of his palatial home towards Father’s atelier and hopes he doesn’t miss him; he rarely sees Father at all these days...sometimes it feels like Adrien hardly knows him at all.

Especially when he’d announced that Adrien was going to mate with his betrothed, whether he liked it or not!

“Good afternoon, Father.” Adrien straightens and bows his head in greeting, swallowing painfully as his father peers down at him from his pedestal. “I’m thankful that you made it back home safely.”

His father sighs. “If you’re here to argue with me once again—”

“But Father!”

“You are NOT getting out of this arrangement! I already told you!”

“Please, Father. Hear me out—”

“I have no intention of letting you leave this kingdom,” his father rages, slashing his hand through the water with enough force to shake the entire structure around them. “Everything you need is right here where I can keep an eye on you. I will not have you outside in this dangerous world.”

“It's not dangerous, Father. I'm always stuck in here by myself. Why can't I leave our home? Why can’t I explore the Ligurian Kingdom and make friends just like everyone else?”

“Because you’re not like everyone else! You are my son! You are the heir to my—” his father stops himself and pauses to gather his composure, his eyes ablaze with discontent. “Adrien, the kingdom of the Tyrrhenian Sea is relying on me to unite our families. You don’t want to disappoint an entire kingdom, do you?”

Adrien’s shoulders cave. “No.”

“Then don’t continue to disappoint me. Return to your studies immediately and do not trouble me with this matter again.” His father turns and ushers him away with a shoo of his webbed fingers. “Nathalie, where is the sentimonster you promised for the administrator? M. Damoclès has wronged me for the last time.”

“It will be finished this evening,” Nathalie responds, her fingers gently toying with the enamel brooch hanging from her neck. 

“When I hired you as my assistant, you assured me that you could complete tasks on time.”

“I did.” Nathalie flicks her crimson tail in irritation. “And I will continue to serve your interests in a timely fashion. Is there anything else I can do for you at this time, sir?”

The imposing interim leader of the Ligurian Kingdom simply pinches the bridge of his nose. “That is all. Ensure Adrien’s bedroom is secured immediately. And get on land as soon as possible to finish your spellcasting; I didn’t hire a sea witch for her to rest on her laurels.”

“Of course, your Regency.”

~

“You’re not going to tell on me, are you?”

Nathalie tries not to smirk as her sheepish charge continues to wriggle his way through the barred porthole in his bedroom. “That depends entirely on what you plan on doing with your freedom, providing you can get your dorsal fin uncaught.”

“I’m—” Adrien grunts, desperately trying to shimmy his backside through the stone barricade. “—I want to go back to where you took me before!”

Nathalie quirks an eyebrow as he finally manages to free his dorsal fins and slither outside his bedroom relatively unscathed. “Humans are not to be trifled with.” 

“Says the sea witch who can transform into one!”

“My Miraculous doesn’t exactly work underwater.” Nathalie explains, raising a sculpted brow. “I don’t suppose you plan on visiting the grotto?”

Adrien nods in earnest. “The flowers are out and I wanted to see them again! And there aren’t any humans there, so I’ll be fine!”

Flower pollen, of course, is like catnip to merpeople. One whiff of the stuff and it’s Boogie Nights for anyone with a tail and a propensity for caterwauling sea shanties. 

“Be back by nightfall.” Nathalie tells him, having orchestrated this escape since the very beginning. She watches him swim away as fast as his tail will take him none the wiser, and grazes her nails down the curved edges of her Peacock Miraculous, the likes of which holds the immeasurable magic of a mermaid on a mission that will surely bring the Mediterranean to its knees.

[Part 4]

For all of Marinette’s near compulsive need to prepare for things ahead of time, it can be assumed that she is most definitely not prepared to find a merman scooching his body up on shore like a sea lion and shoving his face into an oleander bush. 

And her screams of shock and horror most certainly confirm it.

“Aaaaaauuugh!!!!!” Marinette, having just crawled through a small cavern to a grotto to investigate the golden gleam, falls flat on her face yet again. “Oh my god! Oh my god!”

The merman, equally as frightened, shrieks and rolls backwards as ungainly as one can when you’ve just been caught shoving your face into an oleander bush. She catches a brief glimpse of his face — speckled and smeared with golden pollen — before he promptly flings himself back into the sea.

Marinette is horrified. Astounded. Dumbfounded! Merpeople are impossible to find and even more impossible to survive! And she just—it was right in front of her! Green and gold and—she saw it! With her very own eyeballs! It was there! Huffing flowers! 

For the second time in almost as many minutes, Marinette sits down and stares dumbly at the waves.

Merpeople kill humans for fun...and she just survived! Holy crap!

Marinette keeps one eye on the watery mouth of the grotto and the other on her surroundings. She never would have spotted the grotto had she not performed the act of becoming a human pancake back out on the main beach; the entrance to this cave is so small and so hidden that Marinette wonders if anyone has ever discovered it before. It’s about the size of a lorry and covered in moss and spindly vines that meander up towards the small window of sunlight at the top. The limestone walls are strangely warm here, radiating heat and spurring the growth of the plants that are blooming as if it were summertime. Even the sand is different here; startlingly white with speckles of black and grey, the tiny shoreline creeps down into a cerulean underground cavern alight with bioluminescence.

It’s magnificent, but she’s not safe here. “Are you still there?”

Marinette nearly enters cardiac arrest when a mop of golden hair suddenly pops up from the vibrant depths. He heard her? Can he understand her?

The merman blinks. “Uhhh… I…”

“Are you waiting for me to leave? Because I can leave,” Marinette says, pointing towards the tiny crevice she’d just crawled through, “But then I’d have to take my eyes off of you and then you could drag me into the ocean and drown me and then my grandmother would be looking all over for me and then the police would have to come here and try to find my dead body and my parents, they’re stuck in Paris because of the coronavirus and—”

“—No, no! I was just trying to—” The merman disappears under the water for a moment, only to emerge at the edge of the beach. “—I didn’t mean to scare you! You scared me!”

Marinette screeches and scurries backwards to create some more distance between them. “How do you know how to speak French?!”

“How do you know how to speak Nereid?”

“I asked you first!”

“Well, I don’t speak French. I speak Nereid!”

“What’s that, merman language?”

“Yeah.” The merman cocks his head. “What’s French? Human language?”

“Well, for some humans, yes.” Marinette crosses her arms across her chest and narrows her eyes. “Wait a minute...are you making fun of me?”

The merman flashes his gleaming set of triangular teeth just long enough for Marinette to notice that he has not just one row of razor-sharp teeth in his mouth, but two. “I wouldn’t dream of causing a commocean.”

Marinette’s nose wrinkles at the pun. “Now you really are making fun of me.”

“I mean, maybe.” The merman winks. “It’s kind of fun seeing you turn pink. Is that a human thing too?”

“I’m not turning pink.” Marinette harrumphs, turning her shoulder away from him. “And humans turn pink because...because they’re warm. I’m just warm, that’s all.”

“It’s probably because of your...” The merman gestures to her raincoat and jeans. “Do you need help getting out of them?”

With all of the poise of a particularly erratic squirrel, Marinette simply splutters. “What?!” 

“Well, you must be trapped in them or you would have taken them off already. We get stuck in your human garbage all the time, it’s awful.” The merman opens his mouth and taps against one of his larger teeth with his fingernail. “Here, I can cut them off for you if you want—”

“You’re not coming anywhere near me with those things!” Marinette recoils, scooching towards the oleander bushes on her bottom. “You could rip me apart!”

“I’m not going to kill you!” The merman exclaims with a huff. “Besides, if I was hungry, I’d have eaten you already!”

Marinette’s eyes nearly bulge out of her skull. “You eat people?!”

“Sometimes.” The merman shrugs as if it’s no big deal, “Haven’t you ever had human fingers before? Crunchy, yet satisfying.”

“No! That’s disgusting!”

The merman’s straight face dissolves into laughter at Marinette’s expression of utter horror. “Now, I’m actually making fun of you!”

“Well, it’s not funny!” Marinette grabs a handful of sand and hurls it at him, dusting his face and hair. He continues to giggle at her expense and Marinette has had just about enough of him. “Stop it!”

“Sorry!” The merman grapples to get himself together. “I just wanted to show you that I’m funny, I swear! I've never really been out on my own before and I've never had friends. It's all sort of new to me.”

“Joking about eating people is not how you make friends,” Marinette grumbles, still keeping a wary eye on the merman before her until the implications of his words catch up with her ears. “Wait, you don’t have any friends? How come?”

“Father doesn’t let me out of my home...ever.” The merman rubs the back of his head nervously. “I kind of escaped to come see the flowers, which is how I met you!”

“Is...is that normal for merpeople?” 

“To come see the flowers? Yeah, we love flowers!”

Marinette shakes her head. “No, I meant the ‘being stuck in your house’ thing. Why don’t you...you know, swim around and, uh...talk to people?”

“It doesn’t matter.” The merman waves her off, looking a little uncomfortable before turning his attention back to her. “What does matter is that we can be friends! Would you like to be friends?” The merman shimmies forwards with excitement and thrusts his hand right under her nose. “I’m Adrien! Pleased to make your aquantance.”

Marinette looks at his outstretched hand and hesitates. “You’re not going to pull me into the water and drown me, are you?”

“I’m not a dolphin, you know, I have manners.” Adrien huffs, hoisting himself further up onto the sand bank. “See? Only my tail fins are in the water now, I couldn’t pull you in even if I tried.”

Marinette carefully reaches out and gently clasps his hand, revelling in the strange texture of his skin. He cups his other hand over hers and she mimics the gesture, smiling a little as he squeezes his fingers and then shakes once before letting go. “There. Now we’re friends!”

“I don’t know about that,” Marinette says, still keeping a wary eye on the merman in front of her. He settles back down on his elbows and Marinette’s eyes are drawn to his chest as he brushes the granules of ivory sand from his sides, his muscles clenching at the movement. “You’re a merman and I’m a human. We aren’t supposed to be friends.”

[NEXT PART]

[onomonopetabread]

Declawing the Cat- Chapter 2

“ Can you believe that nerve of that jerk?”

Marinette was absolutely furious. Tikki watched her from the bed as she paced from wall to wall. It was really getting concerning; she’s been ranting for the past three hours. School ended about five hours ago, but Marinette’s little encounter with Felix never left her mind.

“What, did he think that a few thoughtless compliments would get me to trust him? Who does he think he is, the MaYOR?”

That last part was a particularly loud shriek, and if Tikki had eardrums, they would be completely shattered by now. It was time to stop this madness.

“Mari, I know that you’re upset, and trust me, I am too. But… don’t you think that you should calm down? You’ve been at this for a really long time.”

Marinette hardly heard her. “I really tried. I tried to just leave it alone. But nooo, he just had to go and rock the boat! Can’t the guy take a hint? I mean, if someone didn’t talk to ME after giving the third fakest apology given ever, I would know that they hated MY guts.”

“Why should we trust anything he has to say? He hasn’t exactly given us any reason to like him.”

“Yeah, how can you expect us to just become friends with us after what he did? He’s a liar!”

The group gathered around Felix. He’d just been introduced to the class by Adrien, and it didn’t seem as though they were very happy to see him. They were making so much noise that no one had noticed the lack of a certain blue-eyed class president. Unbeknownst to them, Marinette was crouched behind a pillar near the courtyard, watching and listening to the entire thing.

She had been uncharacteristically early to school and was chatting with Tikki in the locker room when she heard Adrien’s voice outside. Naturally, she'd begun to walk outside to greet him. The fact that she had decided to try to get over him out of respect for Kagami doesn’t make it illegal for her to talk to him; he is her friend.

When Marinette first stepped out of the room, her first thought was that there were somehow two Adriens. Then she realized that one Adrien looked like...Adrien, and the other looked like a sad old man somehow ended up in a teen’s body. In about 0.2 seconds, she was absolutely seething. What was he doing here? Why wasn’t he at his comfortable home in the ninth circle of hell?

“Guys, this is my cousin Felix. He’s going to be attending school with us for now on. I know you guys will take him in with open arms.”

Open arms? This clown? Marinette scoffed. She’d sooner swallow a cup of tacks than let that prick into her life. Her classmates however, aren’t as strong-minded as she was. It’d probably be better if she stayed silent and invisible for this and let them make up their own minds about this, just to see what they would do.

“Why should we trust anything he has to say? He hasn’t exactly given us any reason to like him.”

“Yeah, how can you expect us to just become friends with us after what he did? He’s a liar!”

Okay, so far so good. Maybe this time around, she wouldn’t be (almost) the only person that didn’t trust a liar. Oh, how great it will be to openly loathe for once! One by one, more and more voices were protesting letting the rat into their friend group. The entirety of the class was hanging Formally-Dressed Draco to dry, and Marinette was in ecstasy.

‘Yes,’ she thought. ‘Tear him to pieces!’

Just when things were really starting to escalate, the sound of someone clearing their throats cut through the noise.

“Hello, everyone. As Adrien just told you, my name is Felix Graham de Vanily. To answer your question, Mr. Le Chein, yes, I’m the cousin of Adrien’s that impersonated him and sent you a cruel response to your heartfelt videos. For that, I am deeply sorry. I have no excuse for wha-”

What. In. The. World. If Marinette was furious before, she was positively incandescent now. He really was another Lila! Not to mention the fact that he didn’t even have the decency to make the apology seem even slightly convincing. Anyone with an EQ of 3 could see that those puppy-eyes were rehearsed and don’t even get Mari STARTED on that pout. There was no way that her class would buy this, but by the looks on their faces…

“If you’re really sorry...”

…Of course. Of-freaking-course they would believe him. Marinette sighed and walked into the classroom. Once again, she was left to hold the class’ single brain cell, by herself this time since there was no chance in Adrien distrusting his own cousin. Now how was she going to go about this was the question. If he really is Lila 2.0, then her initial plan to outright hate him will boomerang her right in the eye. No, it’s better to just avoid him at all costs; you can’t hate what you never come into contact with.

“Are you really sure that’s going to work, Marinette?” Tikki asked once they were safe inside the room. “You can’t stay away from him forever, you know. He may be a nuthead, but he’s smart enough to notice when you aren’t fawning over him like the others.”

“I know Tikki, but I think I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I’m going to go above and beyond to make sure our paths never cross.”

“That’s a relief. I thought for a moment there that you were going to do the rational thing for once.”

“Really, Tikki? Sarcasm? That’s beneath you.”

“If you’re looking for a finger to point, blame Plagg. You pick it up after being with him for a few thousand years.”

Marinette stayed true to her word and made it her mission to never be in the same room as the Great Disturbance unless it was class time. Even then, she kept a compact with her so that she could see if he was coming up behind her. Whenever someone began to bring him up into a conversation, she would quickly but subtly change the subject.

After a few days of this, she seemed to really be getting the hang of it. Avoiding him was becoming second nature to Mari. It actually would have been way easier for her if the demon hadn’t kept trying to collect her soul. Like always, Tikki had been right. The little son-of-a caught on to her really quickly and didn’t hesitate to try to reach out to her. In fact, the other classmates would often tell her that he had been looking for her, and she’d had to act as though she didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. That part hadn’t been so easy.

“So, what are you going to make for the big competition, Mari? A dress maybe?” asked Alya.

“Actually, I was thinking about sewing up a pair of suits. I’m not sure what they’ll look like yet, but I really want to try something new this time.”

“Well, I know whatever you’ll make will blow their socks off, girl. Speaking of designers, Felix told me to ask you to meet him after school . He said he wants to talk to you.”

“Is that so?” Marinette asked, feigning surprise (see bane-of-existence, you’re not the only person who can act here).

“Yeah, he really seemed to have taken an interest in you. All he ever asks us is what you're up to. It’s almost an obsession. Do I sense a little romance here? Another blond-haired green-eyed love interest?”

“Not very likely, Alya. Anyways, I guess I’ll have to talk to him later. So, are you going to tell me about your new reporting piece or what?”

What? Don’t give me that face, it’s technically not a lie; Mari did end up talking to him later, didn’t she? Though, to be fair, she wasn’t planning on actually interacting with him until they both passed. No, not passing class. The other pass.

One thing that she had learned about the knock-off Five Hargreeves was that she had greatly overestimated him. For the love, the kid wasn’t fit to kiss Lila’s feet. At least her schemes were clever and thought-through; this amaetur just existed and everything was handed to him on a silver platter. The rest of the class has spoiled him into thinking that it would be easy to capture her attention with a tense grimace of a smile and two ounces of ‘charm’. Unfortunately for him, Marinette Dupain-Cheng wasn’t so easily bought.

So, that’s the way it went for a few weeks; a classic game of cat and mouse. He would try to catch her, and she would slip out of reach at the last minute. If she had to admit it, it was very fun, especially sneaking peeks at the frustrated faces the devil makes when he thinks no one is looking; the coward can’t be emotionally vulnerable for a second.

That’s why she felt so sure that he wouldn’t follow her to the park; the place was way too open for a stand-offish guy like him. She was very safe in the great outdoors with nothing but her sketchpad, a sharpened pencil, and a sleeping Tikki in her purse. She had been working on that design that she was talking about with Alya. Marinette really needed this design to be perfect. Perhaps a double-breasted suit would work? How many buttons would she have to buy? If she was any deeper into her work, she might not have noticed the distinct smell of leather and the tears of the innocents approaching her. She just barely retained her composure.

‘What is he doing here? Whatever, perhaps if I just stay completely still, he’ll go away.”

“Ah, Ms. Dupain-Cheng! How lovely it is to see you. We never seem to talk, do we? It is quite a shame really.”

‘It would also be a shame if you were to get punched where the sun doesn’t shine, Mr. Pied Piper’, Marinette thought. Alas, no matter how much she wanted to move her hand like so, she couldn’t let him win this fight. No, just silent-treatment it out and pray he either leaves or gets struck with a lightning bolt.

“I must say, that is a lovely suit you’re designing there. I love the use of gold thread on the pants. If I may make a few suggestions-”

Him? Give fashion advice? Marinette would rather NOT learn how to dress like an off-brand Crowly, thank you very much. Good grief, he really wasn’t going to stop trying, was he? Alright, no more Nice Marinette.

That’s when she finally snapped and, well, you know how that went. Had it been ANYbody else, she probably would feel guilty for talking to someone so blatantly, but it turns out that she left that situation with zero regrets. If she didn’t put a stop to this whole ordeal, she’ll probably have to carry around a tiny halberd with her for the rest of her life, and as much as she would like to use it, he really wasn’t worth the trouble. Ugh, he makes her absolutely Sick. He’s so slimy, terrible, arrogant, deceitful-

“MARINETTE JOSEPHINE DUPAIN-CHENG BE QUIET!!!!”

Marinette was so startled she tripped over her chaise and fell onto her bed.

“Geez, Tikki! Couldn’t give a girl a warning before you scream like that?”

“You’re one to talk, Ms. The Mayor. And for the record, I did give you a warning; I’ve been calling your name since for the past hour. Are you really going to get all worked up over this, Mari? You said it yourself, he’s just another Lila.”

“I know Tikki, and I’m sorry I’ve been rambling on for so long. It’s just- yeah, he’s a liar, a fake, and way too stoic to be real, but he’s different from Lila. I don't know what it is about him, but I can’t help but wholeheartedly loathe him. Just the thought of him makes a shiver run down my spine.”

“Loathing. Right. That’s it, totally. Is that why you haven’t said his name this entire time.”

“As a matter of fact, yes. I’m very happy you noticed, Tikki. I spent a lot of time thinking up all of those insult names.”

“I’m sure you did, Marinette,” Tikki sighed. “You really don’t like this kid, do you?”

“No, I definitely do not, and not a fiber of my being will ever so much as be happy in his presence for as long as I live.”

@ceres-zephyr here u go!

Chapter 3’s up!

https://qualityladybread.tumblr.com/post/632447827994411008/declawing-the-cat-chapter-3

[iamdunn]

Miraculous Flash Forward part 2: Hei Mao

A Miraculous Fan-fic

Written By

AJ Dunn

Adrien went about his day grocery shopping and stocking his new home with personalized essentials. Something to make it more him and not as much Amelie, bless her heart fro trying. It had been nice having a mother even if it wasn’t his mother. Emelie remained in a coma in London. He had visited her everyday. It felt like he had finally healed from her loss only to have the wound ripped open again. The ache still seeped from his being as a dark shadow hung over him. Not only did he have to hide from the identity his father created for him, but also the bad publicity his father created as well. 

With groceries put away, and Plagg fed, Adrien set about finally unpacking his bags. He could hear the television turn on as Plagg scrolled through channels. News reports still talking about the capture of Hawk Moth even though it’s been two years. A report came on their air and he recognied Feliz’s voice. He hung his shirt and went downstairs to see. 

“I have been given full authority over the former Agreste Brand and we will be revitalizing this brand starting…” he stopped talking to the microphone at the podium to turn around. He was standing in front of the Agrest Building that Gabriel had built. Felix raised his hand as the blind covering the company name was removed and exposed the new name. 

“Graham De Vanily” 

“In honor of our beloved Emelie Graham De Vanily who was so terribly stolen away from us by the heinous villain Hawk Moth.” Felix’s fist clenched near his chest as he closed his eyes for a moment. Adrien was hurt hearing the words but Felix’s scheme was working. The crowd cheered. No one really knew exactly what happened to Adrien’s mother, but making her the face of this company’s new facelift, making her the victim in all of it, took the public's eye off of Adrien and showed the company’s sympathy for the victims rather than the villain. 

Camera flashed as Felix reopened his eyes. Reporters pushing forward with their demanding questions and microphones ready to accept his answers. 

“What about Adrien Agreste?”

“I’m sorry there is no Adrien Agreste.” Felix said sharply. It was what Adrien had asked him to do. 

“Then who was the model Gabriel used?” This was the part that Adrien knew Felix could handle. He watched as Felix threw on his best Adrien smile and scruffed his hair into the shaggy mane that was Adrien’s trade hair style. He was good. Adrien missed the antics of their childhood with his twin of a cousin. Adrien snorted a laugh then shook his head returning to his chores. 

“Is it dinner time yet?” Plagg complained. Adrien returned to the seating area. Plagg was still seated on his favorite armchair with a lump of cheese. It wasn’t Camembert but it seemed to satiate him enough. 

“You're right.” he smiled realizing how quickly the day went by. “Let’s go.” Adrien walked to the front door. Looking back at Plagg wondering why the little guy wasn’t moving. Plagg stared at him stupidly.

“You're not planning on taking the metro again,” Plagg complained. “When we can take the quicker route.”

“It’s still light outside, I can’t risk Cat Noir being seen by the public.” 

“He was seen last night by those guys?” 

“But who is going to believe a bunch of criminals?” Adrien realized he would have to think of something to maintain his own cover of darkness.

“But you're not even Cat Noir anymore.” Plagg reminded him. “Just change the appearance of your suit.”

“Wait,” Adrien walked back into the seating area. “I can do that?” 

“Kind of,” Plagg explained. “You will still be dressed in black, but you could… add a hoodie to cover your sunshine blond hair.” Plagg flew up and looked Adrien over. His tiny hand on his chin. “Maybe you could check out Marinettes’ website for some thoughts.” 

“But when I transform it automatically puts this design on me.” Adrien was confused. 

“It’s too basic,” Plagg complained. “Shadow Moth never wore a dress I can assure you but Mayura did. Polymouse looked nothing like Multimouse, and let’s face it, Luka was a way better holder for Sass than you.” Plagg was still sore about that one. Adrien thought about it. Sure a hoodie would help, but he didn’t want people to know there was A BLACK CAT superhero in Shanghai. 

“I’ll think about it. For now, we take the Metro.” He grabbed his coat and key then opened the door. 

Adrien got off the bus at the same stop as last night and went into the same store. This time he would grab something at random then head to the restaurant. He could smell something amazing coming from the restaurant down the street and it made him think of a seafood dish he had the last time they visited. Adrien found the seafood tanks in the back of the market and picked out 4 hairy crabs. 

“Cheng Sifu, I am here,” Adrien said as he entered the kitchen. He handed the bag with the four live crabs in it to Cheng. His eyes widened in excitement as if he had hoped for this.

“This is a very fortunate fateful food, Adrien.” He dropped the four crabs into the already boiling pot. “I started this broth earlier for another crab dish but these are much fatter and tastier.” Cheng proceeded to show Adrien how to prepare the broth and they worked quickly as the crab's shells turned bright red before they used a wire scoop to lift them from the pot. Cheng strained the broth from the pot setting it aside as they rinsed the crab in ice-cold water so they could deshell them. Cheng flung droplets of water from his fingers as he worked so quickly. Splattering Adrien on the face. Adrien laughed like a little kid seeing the playful grin on Sifu's face. 

“I give you Adrien Soup.” Cheng set a bowl down in front of Adrien. 

“De Vanily Soup.” Adrien corrected him. The steam rolled off the bowl as chunks of crab bobbed in the bowl. The red broth with vegetables floating sent an aroma into Adrien's face. He was proud to be able to know how to make this. Cheng played the accordion as Adrien scooped the soup into his mouth. He lost himself somewhere in the memory as he looked to his side smiling expecting to see Marinette laughing at her uncle. She wasn’t there. The smile drained from Adrien’s face as he looked back at Cheng. 

“We could call her.” Cheng set the accordion down then took a seat across from Adrien. He let his face fall back to his bowl as he continued to eat trying to regain his composure. He felt the burning in his eyes as the tears tried to well up but he swallowed them down with another bite of soup. 

“Best not.” He said then looked at his watch. “You know, the time difference.” He shrugged then lifted his empty bowl. They returned to the kitchen to clean up but the kitchen staff took his bowl and there was nothing more to do. “See you tomorrow Cheng Sifu.” Adrien gave him a quick wave then headed for the alleyway. It was very dark now as clouds were rolling in. Adrien thought about what Plagg had said earlier and imagined what his suit would look like with a hood. 

“Plagg claws out.” He said. Sure enough, as his suit covered his body from toe to head, a leather hood sprouted off the neck covering his head, his cat ears protruded from the top. It came down far enough over his eyes that while he could still see, it would make seeing his face that much harder. It was much different from the suit he wore as Aspik which completely covered his head, this one instead felt more modern and airy. He made his way back to Chao. 

“It will rain tonight, Xuesheng,” Chao said as Mao landed on the ground before him. “We will start with a few small lessons, but you will need to rest your Kwami.” Mao had to take a minute to take in what Chao had said.

“Rest my…” his breath caught in his lungs. “Kwami?” 

“You think me a fool? That I do not know what powers your ability.” Chao turned and headed into a side room of the temple. Mao followed him. There were many drawings on the walls, various characters that depicted magical beings. “Many believe them to be folklore. And to those who are not trained, they are.” Adrien sees a black cat adorned character from an ancient Chinese battle. “Many are taught here and sent to the guardian temple to become guardians. I was one of them.” Chao said.  

“You were a guardian?” Mao asked. 

“I was there when the temple was gobbled up by a sentimonster.” Chao turned to look at him. “It was you, and your partner that defeated it, and restored the temple.” 

Mao was shocked as he stood before his Sifu. Chao turned and walked deeper into the temple down a flight of stone stairs to a large room filled with various weaponry, sparring dummies and in the middle of the room a large sparring mat. Mirror lined the four walls surrounding the mat. The torch-style electric lighting illuminated the room in an orange glow. There was a small table in the corner with a plate of cheese and crackers.

“I assume Plagg still eats human-sized portions of cheese?” Chao asked. Mao chuckled. He was still nervous at the prospect of exposing his identity to anyone but Master Fu. “I assure you, it is safe here.” 

“Claws in.” He whispered. Plagg zipped out. His eyes exposing his shock as he found himself in a strange place. Until his eyes fell on the Sifu.

“Chao Sifu?” Plagg asked in surprise. He flew up to the old man gripping his face in his tiny hands. Chao chuckled at the action, bringing his hands to cup the Kwami.

“You seem… friendly.” Adrien felt a bit jealous as he watched his best friend warm up to a stranger.

“Plagg and I encountered much mischief.” He stared at the Kwami now sitting in his hands. “I was but a child when I went to the temple. I felt caged in. I did not want to be there.” he set Plagg down by the plate then brought his hands back together in front of himself. “Sometimes at night, Plagg and I would escape the temple and bound free through the mountains.” Adrien's jaw dropped as he heard the Sifu talk about his rebellious side. 

“Sounds like someone I know,” Adrien said acting innocent. 

“Cat Noir had plenty of freedom, while Adrien was locked in the best bedroom any teenage boy could want.” Plagg scoffed as he gobbled some cheese. 

“Oh, is that so?” Chao asked. 

“It’s a long story.” Adrien swung his arms in anticipation of his first lesson. 

“We shall start with some basic steps.” Chao led him to the center of the sparring mat after they kicked off their shoes. 

Adrien hurt so bad as he rolled out of bed the next morning. Not sure if he would be able to move. In the bathroom, he stripped out of his pajamas tossing them on the floor. He caught sight of his body in the ever-present mirrors that encircled the room. The main thing he hated about the bathroom. He was his own constant reminder of his father. 

“Hmm…” he mused in the mirror. “At least now I know what father would have looked like after taking a beating.” he chuckled. Plagg droned on something about being awake so early and not having anywhere to go. 

After soaking in the steaming hot jet stream tub Adrien sat on the couch with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He had to lower the eclectic blinds on the windows to prevent possible sighting of the mysterious floating creature even though they were up high enough that it was most likely not a concern. 

He opened his laptop and began searching through design pages looking for ideas for his Hei Mao suit. 

“Nothing,” Adrien said frustrated after a while. 

“What about Marinette. She could design something for you.” Plagg offered. Adrien shook his head, he wanted nothing more than to wear a Marinette design again. 

“I can’t talk to her Plagg.” Adrien groaned. 

“But Felix can, and if I remember right he is the CEO of a fashion company am I right?” Plagg was on to something. He picked up his cell phone and dialed up his cousin.

“Adrien to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” He sounded upset. 

“What is it, Felix?” Adrien’s question could wait. 

“I just got out of a meeting with public relations and they’re screaming for something to boost the community morale.” Adrien smiled. This was purrfect he thought.

“I think I can solve your problem and you can solve mine.” Adrien started. “Initiate a community-wide design competition. The theme is aged-up versions of Ladybug and Cat Noir in more… fitting attire.”

“It’s a competition?” Felix asked. “What would the reward be?” 

“How about the winner gets to spend an entire day or week as a Graham De Vanily designer and their design is featured in the catalog, as say a costume.” Adrien grinned. “I’ll be the final judge, a silent Judge.”

“How,” Felix started, his voice sounding confused. “Does this benefit you?” 

“Remember that girl, Marinette?” Adrien asked him. 

“How could I forget,” Felix remember the beautiful girl from the video sent to Adrien.

“She’s a designer and well, I really want a costume designed by her.” Adrien wasn’t entirely lying. 

“Let me guess, you want the Ladybug costume.” Felix scoffed. 

“Exactly, well one of each. But the winner will be the one who designs the best of each costume, it’s a two for the win.” Adrien’s face beamed and he was glad that Plagg was the only one who could see it. 

“I’ll put the word out,” Felix said coldly before hanging up the phone. 

It had been nearly a month since the announcement for the costume design went out. He watched Marinette’s webpage and even found Alya’s blog. They definitely knew about it and even commented that Marinette would be entering her designs in as well. Adrien was so excited. His body was getting more accustomed to the beatings dished out by Chao Sifu, and his cooking skills got better with Cheng Sifu. During the day he often went past the temple to watch Chao Sifu teaching classes to groups of younger kids. They seemed to be far too young to learn martial arts but he was also forced to participate in far more activities by the time he was their age. 

He spoke a number of different languages and played the piano. Adrien hadn’t touched one since he left his in his old bedroom. Felix said he wanted to move into the Agreste manor but felt uncomfortable with that idea given the current state of the public opinion regarding it. So he agreed to ensure the mansion was being maintained for when Adrien was ready to return to it. 

Adrien felt a little stalkerish as he checked Marinette’s social media accounts daily, followed Alya’s blog, and even yes. The Lady blog. Marinette got more beautiful as she grew up. He had been watching his friends from afar. Nino seemed to be doing good. He even found Luka’s page. He wondered why Marinette hadn’t mentioned anything on her pages about her boyfriend or husband. Luka seemed happily married as he bragged about various things his twins were doing, never posting pictures of them though, or his wife. 

Something tugged at Adrien’s heart as he scrolled through her pages. Juleka now served as her primary female model for her designs and even Luka joined in on occasion. He used to be Marinette’s model. As the contest date closed in, Adrien had to fight the urge to return to Paris for it. He wanted to be there, to witness Marinette winning. He knew her designs were going to be the winners. The days dredged by as Adrien maintained his covert agenda. His evening meals with Cheng Sifu, and his training with Chao Sifu. Two people that maintained his secrets. Even the grocery clerk aided him in his endeavors as she would help him pick out his fateful food items each day. 

“So, are you planning on being here for the judging?” Felix asked. 

“You know I can’t.” Adrien felt like his father, he had always had Nathalie walk around with the tablet showing him each of the designs. He didn’t even want to be that present. 

“I have an idea,” Felix said. “I’ll call you right back.” A few minutes passed when Adrien’s phone chimed on his duo to pick up a video call. He saw Felix standing in a mirror wearing a pair of clear lens glasses. The image was coming from a micro camera in the frames. “This way, You can hear and see everything and no one will be the wiser.” 

“How, can you hear me?” he asked. Felix reached up to the earpieces over both ears. 

“The speakers are her like with earbuds only they don’t go in the ear. I can’t see you though unless I look at my phone.”

“This is purrfect.” Adrien beamed. He saw his cousin groan dropping his shoulders.

“Did you just make a cat pun?”

“Yep.”

“Are you blushing?”

“Pawsibly.” 

“You’re encourageable.” Felix turned away from the mirror. He was in his suit at the Bourgeois Hotel. It was just like the one Chloe used to live in. 

“I know.” Adrien fought back the urge to say something cattish. 

“Goodbye, Adrien.” Despite his cold tone, Felix really did seem to enjoy their dynamics. He was the straight-laced one and Adrien, fun and playful. 

“Could you imagine Plagg?” Adrien slumped back in his chair. “If Felix was given this miraculous,” he said holding up his hand. A look of terror crossed Plagg’s face as if he was threatened to never be given cheese again. Adrien laughed. 

It was the day of the competition and Adrien watched as Felix straightened his tie. A chill running down his spine as he recalled how his father used to do it. Felix really was the younger version of his father. Sometimes he forgot that they had different fathers. Even though he looked nothing like his father, rather they both looked like Gabriel and Amelie. 

Adrien shook the feeling off his shoulders as he watched his cousin leave the bathroom. The venue was set up at the Graham De Vanily building in the showroom. There were tons of people scattered about the room with various changing stalls set up using temporary wall structures. Felix walked through the halls slowly inspecting each station. Two models to each one in a Cat Noir suit, the other in a Ladybug suit. The gender specification had been an explicit requirement for the event. 

Felix stopped by each inspecting the details and scoffed moving on to the next. Most of them were near replicas of the original suits. 

“Is there just one person here who didn’t copy the original design?” Felix fumed. 

“There,” Adrien said through the screen. He had to mirror his phone to the TV so he could get a better look at everything. His heart dropped when he recognized the old familiar midnight hair. It was no longer pulled into two down ponytails, instead, it was long and flowing. There was a bit of curl to it as it swayed back and forth with her movements. She was preparing her model already in costume. “I hope she’s not married,” he said before he realized his cousin could hear everything. 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Felix said stepping up behind her. “What have you got for us this time.” He at least sounded pleasant. She spun around to face him. Adrien watched her face as it lit up in a bright red hue. 

“A..A... Adrien?” Adrien could feel heat welling up in her heart even though she was, once again mistaking Felix for him. The fact that she was still thinking about him and tripping over her words at the thought she was in his presence made him wish he had gone. 

“Felix, actually.” he took both of her hands in his looking down at them as he placed a kiss on each knuckle. “Adrien was a fool for letting a gem such as yourself slip through his fingers. Adrien fumed as his cousins’ obvious attempt to annoy him. Marinette’s cheeks returned to their normal hue as her face melted into sadness. Adrien’s heart broke for a minute. 

“Do you need a tissue, Adrien?” Plagg asked. Adrien ignored him so as to not expose him to Felix who could hear everything except the Kwami. 

“Show us what you have made for us.” Felix said. No one knew he was televising this for Adrien. Marinette explained in detail the design of this new Lady Noir Suit. It wasn’t all red as Ladybugs had been instead there was more black around the waist with a light red tulle skirting around the waist allowing for movement while offering a bit more coverage to the more sensitive areas. Another Tulle adornment lay over the breasts. 

“Exquisite Marinette,” Felix said.

“Ask about the signature stitching.” Adrien chimed in quickly. He was nearly biting at the bit as he watched his cousin explore every detail of the suit.

“Ah-hem. Um, show me your signature stitching.” He looked up at Marinette who suddenly blushed.

“How do you know about that?” Marinette shrieked. 

“Tell her Gabriel had made reference to it after other designs she had done.” Adrien threw in.

“I am the CEO of a fashion company, it is my job to know about that,” Felix smirked. Marinette pulled out another suit, it was designed for a man but she held up the collar piece showing the distinct gold embossed threading signing her name through the stitch. 

“You did that with each of these designs?” he mused then moved on to the Cat Noir suit. Adrien swallowed hard when he saw Luka wearing the Cat Noir Suit. He almost didn’t recognize him with the hood pulled nearly over his face. The Ears protruding through the hood even seemed to have a little fluff to them. The hood flowed down the back with fine red lines detailing the changes in the material. The extra padding around the soft spots was highly more with the deep red. Felix walked around Luka slowly inspecting every detain including the attached belt that held a baton. The extra-long belt that also served as Cat’s tail dangled down to the floor. Adrien wondered if his belt was actually longer now than it was when he was a teenager, he was much taller now. “Why is this red and not Neon green as his ring?” 

“This design is meant more for stealth. The red.” Marinette blushed. 

“Ah, she’s so cute.” Adrien didn’t mean to say that out loud. Felix snorted. 

“Who is Cat Noir without his Ladybug?” she finished. “I added more black to her’s to signify him on her so I thought I’d give him a piece of her.” Adrien felt warm at the thought. “As for the hood, Cat Noir has such bright hair, so this would provide him more stealth.” She scooped up the tail belt holding the end out for Felix to inspect. In fine detail along the edge of the belt was the customary Marinette signature. 

“Very good Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Felix again took her hands. He flipped them over and even rubbed his fingers along the back of her hands. “Lovely, sure you didn’t make these by hands these hands are far too nice to have labored so.” Ooh, that smooth talker. Adrien was standing now anger fumed on his face. Felix turned away and began walking to another stall. 

“Wait.” Marinette’s voice was small through the receiver. Felix turned around. Luka was holding her shoulders as she stood in front of him face Felix. She nearly shook as Adrien swore he saw a teardrop from her chin. “Can you tell him, if you see him…”

“What that you love him? I saw that video message you sent him. Was that your attempt to confess your feelings or just console a friend.” Felix seemed a bit harsh but Adrien bit back his words wondering what it was Marinette had said in the video.

“Tell him we miss him.” Ah there it was the fire in her eyes she was angry. “We miss our friend.” She turned away from Felix in a huff. Felix laughed.

“What are you doing Felix?” Adrien barked.

“Congratulations Marinette, I think you might just be our winner.” He scoffed then turned around. 

“I just had to see her fire up, oh Adrien,” Felix whispered. “I can see why she means so much to you.” Felix tapped a button on his phone and disconnected the call. Adrien had recorded the entire video call. He replayed the video showing Cat Noir’s suit. He memorized every detail. Mulling it over in his head before setting his phone down and calling on his transformation. 

He ran to the bathroom to examine his new suit. Every detail mimicked Marinette’s design. He suddenly realized and reached for his belt tail. It was longer. He studied the red stitching design and found it. Her signature was embedded into the magic suit he now wore. 

[alyasgf]

Startrain Adrinette April Day 12 -Seatmates

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Summary- Alya and Nino conspire to get Adrien and Marinette to sit next to each other on the entire Startrain ride. Friendship ensues. (Startrain rewrite)

Excerpt- “What did you think of the storyline that they know each other outside of the mask?” He asked her, intrigued to see what else she thought of Paris’ heroes.

“Extremely far fetched.” She replied, crossing her arms and turning towards him slightly. “Of all the teens in Paris, the chances that they’d know each other and not recognize the other is insanely small.”

Word Count: 1509

Notes- catching up on Adrinette April, Day 12 seat mates! I just love an Adrinette friends fic were Adrien fails to realize his feelings toward Marinette are 100% not platonic,,, enjoy

AO3

Begin

It was Adrien’s first trip far away from his home and he was shaking with anticipation. They were taking a class trip to London.

He had been there before, but it had always been for work and under his father’s strict eye. This time he could actually enjoy some time with his friends and he could hardly wait.

As they all gathered near the train he couldn’t help but notice Marinette was missing. Not that he was paying any extra attention to her of course. He would notice if any of his friends were missing.

Just as they were boarding the train Adrien noticed Marinette slip in out of breathe. He smiled fondly as he saw her pose to take a picture with Alya.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Nino asked, elbowing him.

Adrien jumped slightly. “No, was it important?” He rubbed his arm where Nino’s blow had hit.

“I said I wanted to sit with Alya during the ride. She didn’t want to leave Marinette alone so she suggested you ride with her. Is that okay?”

Adrien thought about it. Nearly two and a half hours beside Marinette? That was more than enough time for them to finally bond!

“Sounds great!” Adrien replied, clasping his hands excitedly.

Nino smirked knowingly, and Adrien gave him a confused look.

“What? I just want to get to know her more. You know how she acts around me. Maybe a little talking could change that.” Adrien said defensively.

“Well it could definitely change a few things.” Nino teased raising his eyebrows up and down.

Adrien shouldered him playfully.

Just then the girls walked up.

“Hey Adrien!” Alya said with an excited buzz in her voice.

“H-hi Adrien.” Marinette squeaked out quietly.

“Hi Nino.” Nino mocked. “Nino’s here too.”

Alya took a quick look at him before laughing.

“Sorry Nino guess pretty boy outshined you.” She said playfully before hugging the boy.

“Hey guys.” Adrien blushed, as he often did when people complimented him.

“So Marinette, did Alya tell you about the new seating arrangements?” Adrien asked, addressing the unusually quiet girl.

“What new seating arrangements?” She jumped and shot Alya a look.

“Well I figured I could use some time with Nino and you could use some time with Adrien. Y’know, go get to know each other.” The brunette smirked.

Marinette went red. “I think me and Adrien know each other well enough.”

Adrien’s mood dampened a little. Did she not want to spend time with him?

Marinette noticed the change in his demeanor and straighten immediately.

“But I’d love to get to know you more!” She added. “I-if that’s alright with you?”

She asked that last part unsure of herself and a little quieter.

“I already agreed.” Adrien said, a smile now returning to his face.

“Good, now that everyone’s okay with the seats let’s get on before we miss the ride!”

Alya dragged Nino in behind her, leaving them alone on the platform.

“After you, Princess.” Adrien said with an exaggerated bow.

Marinette blushed as she was walking forward and tripped on the doorway.

Adrien’s reflexes kicked in and he grabbed her by her waist from behind. He pulled her steady and removed his arm.

“You okay Mari?” He asked, adopting a concerned look.

Bright red she answered, “Better than ever!” before entering the train. Adrien followed curiously behind her.

———————————

They spent the first 10 minutes of the ride in silence. Not to say they didn’t try, it’s just every time they spoke they ended up speaking at the same time.

Marinette seemed uncomfortable at first, but once they settled into the silence she relaxed. Adrien swore he could even hear her begin to hum.

“Oooh is that the theme song to the new Miraculous movie? I loved it!” He said as soon as he recognized the tune.

Marinette jumped a bit, and then she giggled. It seemed genuine, unlike her usual nervous giggle.

“Didn’t you voice act in the movie? You’d think you’d get sick of hearing it.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry! Was that rude?” Her nervous nature returned.

Adrien laughed a laugh he swore only Marinette could bring out of him. “No you’re right, I should be. Its just so catchy you can’t help but love it.”

Marinette sighed in relief before agreeing. “Yeah, I didn’t really like how Ladybug and Chat Noir were portrayed in the movie but I couldn’t help liking the song.”

Adrien smiled. Finally he broke the ice and found some common ground!

“I totally agree!” He gushed. “Ladybug isn’t nearly as helpless as they made her out to be. She’s the brains of the operation while Chat Noir goofs around.”

Marinette took on a certain look in her eye. “Chat Noir does so much more than that!” She exclaimed. “Ladybug would never be able to defeat any akuma without him, he’s the reason why she can figure out her plans anyway, he buys her time.”

Adrien blushed. “I guess you’re kinda right Marinette.” Who would’ve pegged her out to be a Chat Noir fan?

“What did you think of the storyline that they know each other outside of the mask?” He asked her, intrigued to see what else she thought of Paris’ heroes.

“Extremely far fetched.” She replied, crossing her arms and turning towards him slightly. “Of all the teens in Paris, the chances that they’d know each other and not recognize the other is insanely small.”

Adrien gasped. “I disagree. Maybe it’s not true but it made the movie so interesting! The idea they’re right under each other’s noses. Although I have to say, if I was in their shoes I think I’d definitely recognize the other. They see each other nearly every day! How wouldn’t they know?” He ranted.

“Agreed! If they hadn’t spent the entire movie dancing around each other maybe they would have defeated Hawkmoth sooner.” Marinette laughed as she said this. “Unfortunately movies aren’t real life, no matter how fun they are.”

They settled into another silence, this one far more comfortable.

“So you’re a Chat Noir fan, huh?” Adrien brought up, noticing how she blushed. Absolutely adorable.

“I, uh, yeah you could say that.” Marinette stuttered.

“What’s your favorite thing about him?” Adrien knew it was wrong to prod, but he was curious and it was nice to hear his friend unknowingly talk about him.

“Definitely his humor.” Marinette froze for a second. “At least from what I hear in the interviews and akuma video!” She added hastily.

Adrien laughed again and this time he noticed how Marinette softened. The closer he got to her the more familiar she felt.

“Well my favorite thing about Ladybug is her determination to help people. You can just really tell there’s good in her y’know?” Adrien said with a sigh.

Marinette blushed. “So you’re a Ladybug fan?”

“I thought everyone knew? I’m an insanely huge fan. That’s one of the reasons I agreed to do the movie.”

Marinette nodded and they went back to their peaceful quiet. Adrien could hear all their classmates around them, and strangely enough all he could think about was how nice it was to be with Marinette.

Then a new sound was added to the mix. Marinette let out a loud yawn. There was a pause in the surrounding noise before everyone let out lighthearted laughs.

“Girl you need to remember to sleep.” Alya said from across the aisle before turning back to Nino.

Adrien smiled fondly as Marinette turned to him with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, late night studying.” She said sheepishly.

“It’s okay I didn’t sleep much either last night.” He said in response. Truthfully there had been an akuma late last night and he couldn’t sleep due to anticipation of this trip.

When it was clear their conversation was over Adrien put in an earbud and turned on his Mandarin lesson. He put in the earbud opposite of Marinette and at a low enough volume that he’d hear her if she spoke.

A couple of minutes later he noticed a soft snoring. He turned to see Marinette asleep against her seatbelt. She was leaned forward at an odd angle and Adrien could tell she’d be sore if she slept like that for too long.

He brought his hand up to softly pull her to rest on his shoulder. She seemed to sigh in content. Adrien smiled before closing his eyes and falling asleep as well.

He didn’t fully fall asleep, instead he listened to Marinette’s little intakes of air and felt the way her shoulders rose and fell with each one.

As he was drifting off he felt her stir and hoped she hadn’t woken up. Truthfully he hadn’t felt this comfortable in a long time, despite being sat in a slightly stiff chair. Thankfully she seemed to fall back asleep and Adrien followed her shortly after.

When they awoke, Alya and Nino wouldn’t stop showing the pictures of them cozied up together.

Adrien had to admit, they did kind of look nice together.

End notes- hopefully I’ll be back later today with another one but let me know what you think in the replies and dont forget to reblog and like if you enjoyed :)

@adrinetteapril

[normal-piece-of-shit]

Congrats on the 500! Could you do a Daminette 2 were they’ve been rivals but that just how Damian dealt with his crush. Now worried if you don’t want to! Thank you have a good day!

Thanks! ╰(*´︶`*)╯

Also, how dare you. How dare you make me like this prompt so much that I end up writing almost 2000 words.

Oh, and I may have changed the dialogue a bit to fit the story? And I also may have lost inspiration towards the end? Sorry!

Hope you enjoy!

Whispers flew around the school gym grounds. Even more so than the usual. Something about a certain cinnamon roll that could light up a whole room? Apparently that cinnamon roll would be with their class for a whole day?

Damian was sure that the Gothamites had finally reached the borders of insanity. Who knew how they survived this far with maniacs on the run every other month?

A cinnamon roll attending their class? And it lighting a room? Within Gotham of all places? Pah! He would have laughed if he hadn't been opposed to the idea of laughing!

His thoughts came to a halt as he heard a small, yet intriguing whisper.

“It's the cinnamon roll.” The person had whispered.

In an instant, hushed silence fell upon his class and heads turned to find the ‘cinnamon roll’. Damian would deny that he had been a part of them in this activity.

There. At the entrance. The sight of the famous ‘cinnamon roll’ left him baffled.

It-It was a person?! And cinnamon roll was used in a metaphorical sense?! The Gothamites still hadn't bordered insanity?! She really did light up a room?!

“DODGEBALL! WE'RE PLAYING DODGEBALL!”

We were what?

He'd spaced out?! He, Damian Wayne, had spaced out?! What had Gotham come to?

“DAMIAN’S THE LEADER OF TEAM 1!”

What?! Just how long had he spaced out?!

He didn't get to learn who the second team's leader was- he wouldn't have cared either way. Soon, he'd been pushed forward to select his teammates.

This could do. His eyes surveyed the crowd, looking for the best. His contemplative gaze rested on the ‘Cinnamon Roll’. She held his gaze fiercely. Hm. The Roll had guts, he’d admit. But no, she wouldn't do well. Too small and fragile.

He gave a small, dismissive shake of the head. The Roll’s eyes narrowed and burned with silent rage, as though she could read his thoughts.

He ignored her, of course.

A few minutes was all they needed. The teams had been formed. Team B were merely puny bugs compared to Team A. All of them seemed to realise that as well.

Well, all but one. The Roll’s glare pierced him no matter where he went. She seemed to be confident in her team's success.

He held back a smirk. The Roll had no idea just what she was getting herself in.

**

Marinette's teammates shuffled around, uneasy. Uneasy. Almost as if they had already been defeated. That wouldn't do!

No!

She fully intended to destroy that green-eyed, heartless, monster's whole career! And enjoy it at that!

“Listen up, you good for everything folks!” They turned to her. “Don't you despise feeling weak? Don't you want to feel the triumph that comes along when you defeat those that look down on you?!”

Her team looked at each other uncertainly. But not all! Some had contemplative looks. She was getting somewhere with this!

“Do you forget how Royalty should carry themselves?! Rise! I shall lead you to victory! The war shall end with their beheading!”

There was a pause.

“I-” Marinette looked at them nervously. “I was just kidding, of course.” Suspicious glances were thrown her way.

Ignoring the glances, she pointed at one of her teammates.

“You. Felix, Adrien’s cousin who's here for some reason.” She said with narrowed eyes. He grumbled under his breath. “I know you've got some tricks up your sleeve, use them!”

She turned to her other two teammates, one a blonde, long braided female and the other a brunette Male.

“You two, Allegra and Claude.” They stood straight. “You've got charm, distract them with it!” They gave a salute, hiding mischievous smiles.

“Allan! We need your music, make it epic, it'll catch them off guard! Felix will help you do it without getting caught.”

And just like that, she’d finished planning their victory. They wouldn't mind if she laughed an evil laugh would they?

**

One.

There was only one player left in both teams. Within one minute. AND THAT EPIC BACKGROUND MUSIC KEPT PLAYING.

Damian looked at the tiny Roll. The tiny Roll that had used her teammates unrelated to sports characteristics to defeat almost all of his team.

This was no longer about losing. He knew now. It was war. He'd set off the bomb and now he'd have to turn it off.

The gym grounds were dealt silent. Damian moved. The Roll moved.

The bell rang.

Groans flew from all directions. The Roll came up to him and held out a hand, a pleasant smile that hid silent threats on her face.

“Good game.” She said. “Never think of me as tiny ever again.” She whispered, her threat being loud and clear. He hesitantly shook her hand before giving her a glare.

“Good game.” He grit out. “Your hand is just as tiny as you.” He took his leave.

And as he did so, he'd established one certain thing. They were now, official rivals in all things.

**

Rivals for a week. That's how long the rivalry lasted.

Yes, Damian did notice their rivalry dissolving gradually. The two of them were seeing less of each other by the day and the dates and sharp jabs thrown were rare. The only thing that caught him off guard, were the new...emotions that came with.

He...He missed their old rivalry. And her sharp jabs. And her smug smirks. And how her tiny nose scrunched when she'd lose. And how her eyes would just shine- so bright when she'd win. And-

He really had to get rid of this new feeling.

Soon.

“-And Marinette will be paired with Damian-” He slammed his head against the desk. The world really was out to get him.

**

Paired with the demon. Paired with the demon. Paired with the demon. The kind of cute demon. Pairedwiththekindofcutedemon

Wait. No.

Not cute.

Evil.

Get your morals together, Marinette! He is not cute! He called you tiny! He's evil incarnate!

Well, on the bright side, she did miss his intolerable company. With no one to challenge and bring shame upon for losing, her days seemed...boring .

She even missed his remarks of her height! That said a lot.

Now that she thought about it, she even missed his annoying scowl! And how his eyes would twinkle with triumph and his adorable glare!

“We’re going to your place for this project, Tiny Roll.”

She'd even started hallucinating his presence!

The illusion Damian brought up his hand and-

Hit her head lightly.

Oh. It was real.

**

Damian stood outside the apartment that Tiny Roll had told him to come to.

His hands hovered above the door bell. Why was hesitating? Why wasn't he ringing the bell?

The door opened, revealing a sleepy Marinette.

“Did it have to be at this time of the hour?” She asked the stunned Damian.

“Its 1 pm.” He stated, eyes narrowing. “How did you know I was out here?”

“1 pm is too early during weekends.” She yawned. “Also, I could sense your hate for me from a mile away. You've been talking out loud.” She gestured for him to enter. He moved inside, not a tiny bit ready for what he saw.

Pink.

The whole place was pink. Ok, maybe not entirely. There were white and black too, but so much pink.

“Eh, your eyes will get used to it.”

He turned towards her, for a moment forgetting her presence while he had been lost in the pink.

“I’m making coffee, want some?” She didn't stay for an answer, leaving immediately.

He sat on the sofa. Surrounded with the pink walls. He shuddered at the pink sight.

**

“You've been quiet.” Marinette said, sounding accusing. “What are you planning?”

He stared at her, contemplating how to explain what he was secretly planning, probably. She raised an eyebrow.

“...I don't hate you.”

Wait, what?

“I think.”

There it was!

She rolled her eyes. Why had that given her momentary relief? “You hesitated. For about 10 minutes too!” She patted his head, “Of course you hate me!”

“I don't hate you!”

“You do!”

“No, I don't!”

They held each others gaze, both too stubborn to back down.

“Prove it.” She said softly. “Prove you don't hate me.”

He stiffened. A contemplative silence fell upon them.

What was taking him so long? He'd been so sure just a second ago! She wanted him to say something! She didn't want to be left alone with her thoughts. Not now. Not when the answer was so obvious. Not when it...hurt so much.

“There's no way I’d hate you.” He said, stepping closer. “No. If I'd hated you, I'd have hated the sight of your smile.” He stopped right in front of her.

Why was her heart beating so fast?

“I'd have hated how your eyes would always shine.”

When did he notice such things? Why did he notice such things?

“I’d have hated seeing you every day.”

And just why did his words make her happy?

“Prove it, you said?” He leaned closer, their faces inches apart, as he brushed aside stray strands of her hair. “I never did back down from your challenges.” He murmured before kissing her-

Cheek.

Oh god. He kissed her cheek. And she let him!

She pushed him away, desperately trying to hide her blush.

“JUST WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DO THAT?” And who gave you the right to enjoy what he did?

“Well,” He started, having the decency to sound embarrassed. “You did tell me to ‘Prove it’?”

His eyes narrowed.

“Wait. Are you blush-” She didn't let him complete his sentence. She pulled him closer and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“THERE! NOW WE'RE EVEN!”

Both of them blushed so red, you could basically call them tomatoes.

“We...still have to do our project.” She said, her voice tiny.

“Oh. ThE pRojeCt. YeS.” He responded, his voice changing tones every letter. He coughed. “Let's get back to that.”

She nodded, unconsciously noticing that he was relatively small in height.

She hid a grin. Maybe him proving her wrong did have perks other than making her melt into a puddle.

[leda-x]

Ladybug has five minutes left with Chat Noir, and she isn't ready to give them up.

Ladybug woke in the cooking section of a library with the word “chance” tumbling from her lips. It was the ancient atrium of a newly modernized building. Like always, she was crouched down behind a bookshelf with Chat Noir at her side.

Far, far above her head, thin marble columns rose upwards, curving into graceful arches to meet in the middle. Early morning light shone through the enormous circular skylight positioned at the center of the atrium’s domed ceiling. It illuminated little specks of golden dust that had been disturbed by them seconds before. The room was empty, sound hushed.

Meeting her gaze, Chat tapped the screen on his baton and the numbers 04:58 began to flash. 04:57… 04:56... He reached down, flipping through a cookbook at his side, stopping at a random page. “Lobster tails meunière,” he read aloud to mark the attempt, green gaze flicking back up for her lead.

There were 2,000 recipes in The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery. That one was new. Ladybug took it as a good omen.

There was nothing but seriousness in Chat’s face right now. Seriousness and a rosy glow of determination and confidence.

Ladybug’s fingers drifted off her bracelet to cradle Chat’s cheek. Her gloved thumb followed the line along the bottom edge of his mask, right at the exposed part of his cheek. She watched the depth and vibrancy in his eyes. Could see a ring of eyelashes through the colored glass. Could feel the heat from his skin. He had a freckle on his upper lip. Not for the first time Ladybug realized her partner was beautiful. The first few times she had stopped to really notice she had cried. An ache started in her throat and grew until her entire chest was sore, until she was breathless with grief.

A blush colored his cheeks and his neck. She watched, with some fascination, the steady beat of his heart through the vein in his neck. It was throbbing quick. He was searching her face for answers now, lip pursing into worry.  “Uh oh… It’s that bad?” Chat joked.

She wasn’t ready. It wasn’t the right time around. Ladybug got up from her crouch and held out her hand.

Chat took it without question and allowed her to lead them both out of the atrium into a modernized foyer, then into an elevator. She pressed floor four. 

“What’s the plan?” he asked as the elevator doors shut. Ladybug could detect a thread of nervousness behind his grin. He was probably wondering why they were going up when the akuma was last spotted below.

Such faith. It cracked her heart a little further every time. Ladybug squeezed his hand, watching the elevator numbers tick so she didn’t have to look him in the eye as she admitted, “No plan.”

The doors opened to an art gallery absent of people.

She let go of Chat’s hand, even though she never really wanted to, and began walking through the exhibit. She could hear the soft sound of his footsteps following her. Extremely large images of sand flicked by in succession. Ladybug didn’t stop to marvel at them.

Chat always did. “Whoah,” he said and she glanced back, catching him craning his neck. “This isn’t a photo. Someone drew this.”

Ladybug used up a few of her seconds to watch her partner, feeling a wash of fondness as Chat placed his hands on his hips and tilted forward, nose scrunched, face inches from the canvas. “LB how long do you think this took to make?”

Years, Ladybug thought. Aloud, she said, “This way.”

Chat let out a low whistle as they passed by a total of ten drawings. Each one looked alike. There were slight variations, however, upon closer inspection. It was the variations in Chat Noir that Ladybug kept discovering that made it impossible for her to stop doing this. They had been here over a thousand times before. Each time was a little different, but always ended the same.

They wound a corner and ended up in a smaller room. Ladybug headed towards the back where a replica of the interior of an old-style french house had been built. There was a bed and a little TV where you could learn all about Château de Blois.

It was the best place she had found for this. She had tried a lot of places. She had already dragged Chat around the entire city of Paris looking for a solution. Not that this Chat Noir remembered any of that.

She gestured at the bed, ignoring the documentary that was playing softly behind her, “I have a lot to tell you and no time to do it. How are we, by the way?”

Chat Noir obeyed, sitting on the bed, cat ears perked straight up, eyes bright now and curious. His knee bounced with pent-up energy. He glanced at his baton. “Three minutes, forty-seven seconds. Why? What’s going to happen?”

“I need you to pretend that everything I’m about to say is true,” Ladybug began.

Chat Noir gave her a funny look like, ‘why wouldn't I?’

Ladybug couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. She crouched down in front of him, placing a palm atop each bouncing knee. “You are going to die in three minutes,” Ladybug said.

Chat froze.

“Your heart. It stops. An arrhythmia,” Ladybug continued, keeping her eyes locked with his, making sure he was following along. They never had time to go over it again. “We’ve been here a lot. Anything you are about to say I’ve tried.” She had tried every hospital, every ER, every doctor; had tried Lucky charm-ing a solution countless times. 

Chat’s eyebrows drew together. His eyes were still present in the room with her, though. They hadn’t glazed off or flicked away in fear. “What?” he breathed. He searched her for a long moment for the joke. 

Ladybug knew better than to so much as flinch or blink right now while he was looking for a way out. Chat’s denial came in different severities every time, but it was never helped by her saying or doing anything until he did first.

A stormy look passed across his face as he took that in. “So... I’m dead and there’s nothing anyone can do about it?” he summarized, grinning.

Ladybug nodded, relaxing a touch. In her experience him grinning was usually the best outcome, even though it did seem a bit deranged. She took her hands from his knees, giving him a bit of space despite every bone in her body aching to hold him close. Even though she had held him so many times, it was always new for him. Too much of her affection too fast could scare him off.

“Wait. What about the cure?” he asked.

“You know Ladybug can’t bring people back to life.”

Chat leaned back a touch. A clawed palm drew up to rest over his heart, expression a bit dazed. Ladybug watched as her partner’s brain spun, processing. Then he glanced back at her, eyes startled. “How… How many times have we done this?”

“Many,” Ladybug admitted. “Each time is a little different. Sometimes you don’t believe me. Sometimes you call your dad. Sometimes you call Nino. Sometimes we just sit together.”

“Nino?” Chat caught.

“I know you are Adrien Agreste,” Ladybug said and then waited to see how he would react.

Sometimes this revelation hit hardest. It was more real, more believable. Often the fact that she knew his name at all was taken as proof she was telling the truth about everything else. That realization typically followed with denial. Sometimes terror.

Ladybug watched closely as Chat’s chest heaved in panic.

A humming noise suddenly kicked off. It was only after it stopped that Ladybug realized the air conditioning had been on. The change shocked Chat back out of whatever place he had gone. “Do I know you?” he whispered.

“Do you want to?”

Suddenly he recoiled, gaze suspicious. “You’re not Ladybug,” he stated, as if the thought had just dawned on him. “This isn’t real.”

Ladybug’s heart sank.

He was standing now, stumbling backwards. His shoulder hit one of the wood beams of the replica, causing him to twist.

With a sigh she reached down and twisted the bracelet back into position.

. .

Ladybug woke again in the cooking section of the library.

Chat tapped the screen on his baton and flipped through the cookbook. “Eggs benedict,” he read aloud.

Ladybug was still reeling from last time. They had almost parted ways on terms she could (maybe) accept. But no— Chat had to get paranoid. Not for the first time she cursed all the replicas of herself that her partner had faced. Maybe if he hadn’t been tricked previously they would have a better chance at this.

“Ladybug?” Chat’s voice broke her out of her thoughts, worried. “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you wake up in the morning?” Ladybug asked, eyes locked down at the book in his hands. At the long pause she got out of her crouch and into a cross-legged position, chancing a look at his face. Sometimes his living face in all it’s animated glory really hurt to look at when seconds before it had been dead.

Chat was staring at her in uncertainty. After a beat he mirrored her, settling down at her side and putting down the book. “That’s a weird question. Why? Something to do with the akuma?”

“Yes,” Ladybug lied. “I need to know.” She needed a break. Even though she never grew physically tired, emotionally she was exhausted. She used up rounds getting to know him better, plucking up the courage to try again to say goodbye again.

He had a grin on his face now. “Usually because of my alarm clock.”

 . .

She was back in the library.

“Grammont pullet,” said Chat Noir, to her right. He set down the cookbook and tapped his baton.

Ladybug laughed. She laughed and then she cried. She wasn’t sure when she stopped doing the first and started doing the second. They sort of happened together, just like all of these second chances and all of these subtle striations.

Chat’s hands hovered beside her arms like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to comfort her. His ears flattened, green eyes distraught. However, when Ladybug leaned in his arms looped around her in an easy embrace, chin resting atop her head.

Eventually emotions passed and Ladybug went quiet, listening to the sound of Chat’s heartbeat and the rumble of his voice as he asked, “What’s the joke?”

“You started the timer after you read the recipe this time,” Ladybug said.

Chat’s grip shifted. He fell silent, as if weighing something, before he admitted, “I don’t get it.”

Ladybug reached up and patted his back. She hadn’t expected him to.

. .

This time around was coq-au-vin.

They had made it to the elevator. This time, Ladybug pressed ‘Floor 4’ right as Chat pressed ‘Basement’. The elevator suddenly had a choice, and it chose to go down, and instead of twisting the bracelet to start over, Ladybug decided to take out some of her own anger on the akuma.

The fight was over before it barely begun.

The umbrella Ladybug tossed to Chat skidded across the floor. Chat stumbled. Ladybug reached down and spun the bracelet before she had a chance to watch him fall.

. .

The last recipe was profiteroles. And it was only the last one, because Chat— like always— surprised her. Ladybug supposed it was only a matter of when, not if. She could only do this so many times before Chat turned it back around on her.

He was glaring at her now, green eyes bright and vivid, unobstructed by goggles. Ladybug internally cursed whenever Chat decided to transform back because it meant there was no more baton— no more timer— and she always felt a bit lost within these three minutes without it.

“How many times have you put yourself through this?” he was asking her, again, since she couldn’t give him a straight answer. Suddenly, and swiftly, he got up from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed and took two steps forward into her personal space before Ladybug had a chance to stumble back. “How many?” he repeated.

“I-I don’t know!” Ladybug answered truthfully, suddenly flustered beyond belief. This was the first time Adrien Agreste had had the audacity to step this close to her, to get this mad at her.

“Marinette,” Adrien realized, sounding a bit punched in the gut. “You’re Marinette. This whole time...”

Not trusting herself to speak, Marinette nodded, eyes wide. The amount of times they had both come to know each other’s identities were slim. Rarely did it ever get this far. From this point on was uncharted territory for Ladybug. This Chat Noir suddenly became very real, no longer this strange version of himself that repeated the same phrases and did the same things over and over. No, all the sudden this profiteroles version of Chat was wholly unique.

“If I die in three minutes—” he began.

“Any second now, actually,” Marinette corrected.

“—you’ll do what, exactly?” he finished.

Marinette knew how bad it sounded, but she said it anyway, “I’ll go back to when you’re not dead.”

Adrien’s eyes flicked to the Miraculous around her wrist for a second, brows scrunching. “And then what?”

Ladybug only had to meet his eyes for a brief second to answer that question.

Suddenly Chat had a strong grip on her arm, yanking it towards him.

It took Ladybug a full three seconds to realize what he was trying to do. “Chat. Stop. Chat, stop,” she hissed, veins icy, mouth dry. If he took the bracelet it was over. She twisted and ripped her arm out of his grip, stumbling back and away. A quick glance down confirmed the bracelet was still there and still activated. She kept it pressed tightly to her polka dotted chest, holding it with her other hand.

Adrien was shaking his head, bits of blond hair falling in and out of his eyes. “You can’t keep doing this,” he said, a little out of breath.

Marinette wondered if his heart had stopped and her fingers rested down upon the bracelet, but after a few seconds passed and he remained standing she let them drift away.

If Adrien noticed, he didn’t mention it. “Other people need you,” he accused. “Paris needs you.”

“Paris can figure it out,” she hissed.

Chat blinked, surprised. His face slowly morphed, surprise bleeding into understanding. “It’s ok, Bug. It will be ok.”

Her throat clenched and it felt like he had cleaved her entire body into two pieces straight down the middle. How? How would it ever be ok? When she thought of her future now she only saw darkness. There was nothing left.

“I know I can’t keep doing this,” she gasped, the words ripping out of her. “I know other people love me, need me. But you’re not the one that has to walk out of here alone." The word 'alone' made her own heart swell ten times too big until it felt like it would burst. She hoped it would. That would be a whole lot easier. She had wished a whole lot of things recently that would have appalled her younger self. “I’m not ready.”

“When will you be?” Adrien asked softly.

A hot surge of anger raced through her and she felt the insane urge to shove him or hurt him or do something because how dare he ask her that. How dare he! How dare he die in the first place! Ladybug was tempted to twist the bracelet just to get away from this Chat and go back to an earlier version who was still malleable and innocent. Just erase this attempt all together from his memory so she would never have to answer.

All she had to do was twist it. But then he’d be right. And if she didn’t twist it, he’d still be right. Because… he was right, regardless. And no matter how many times she could make him forget it, she would never forget it.

Adrien wobbled, taking a few quick steps back until he was slumping back on the bed, face pale. Time’s up.

Her anger evaporated and she was there, tugging him close into her chest, because this was the closest to Chat she had ever gotten in all her attempts. The crown of his head tucked underneath her chin, gloved fingers running through his hair, as she felt all the movement and life drain out of him. It was like this every time. Quick, quiet, sneaky. As quick as a switch. One minute the lights were on, the next they were off.

She had no idea how much time she had before her five minutes were up. If she had to guess it was down to seconds. Her fingers detangled out of blond hair and dragged along her side, along her arm, until they met her wrist and bumped against the bracelet. 

Was she? When would she be? Ready, that is.

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life Sequel (10/10) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 2033 Summary: In the finale, Adrien confronts his father and Marinette and Adrien have a date they deserve. Author's Note: Well, here we are, the last chapter! I've been writing this story for over 2 years now and I'm so happy people have enjoyed it so much. Thank you all for reading and sticking with me! I hope you like the finale :) <3

Prev / Masterlist

Breaking News

---

Adrien waited in the cold room that he had not dared to visit in years. He thought for a long time, and finally made the difficult decision to make the trip. He'd been haunted with trauma and nightmares since he was a teenager by this man, but it was high time he went to see his father again, especially if he intended not to see him for many more years.

The doors opened, and Adrien shot up to straighten his posture when he saw his father entering the room with a guard by his side. His hair was flat, which always caught Adrien by surprise, and Gabriel's scowl was deeper than Adrien ever knew. Gabriel wouldn't admit it, but he was surprised that Adrien came to see him. Last time, their conversation did not end well, and Adrien promised he would not come to see Gabriel unless it was serious.

But after many meetings with his therapist, Adrien decided that this was important enough to see Gabriel. It was a few weeks after the fashion show, but he was sure Gabriel was going to criticize it as much as he could.

"Hello, Adrien," Gabriel said as he sat down across from his son.

"Father," Adrien replied. Though Adrien was older now, and doing much better, he was still scared to talk to Gabriel and did everything in his mind to calm himself down.

They stared at each other for a moment in silence, neither one sure how to converse. Finally, Gabriel took a breath and spoke. "I watched some of the fashion show you and Miss Dupain-Cheng hosted."

"I wasn't sure if you would be able to. It was a nice day," Adrien said, not asking for his opinion, but sure he was going to get it.

"I would have done it differently. The timing was off, and you could have had better music. You had your designers redesign some of my work?" Gabriel criticized.

"Well, all of our reviews praised the music and said the models were amazing. And yes, I did. To fit our rebrand and new mission and values. No one wants to wear something that Hawkmoth designed anymore," Adrien said, holding back every muscle in his body to not roll his eyes.

Gabriel shook his head condescendingly. "You're being dramatic."

Adrien took a deep breath to calm himself down before answering. "Maybe. But all of my reviews recently have been better than they were when you were in charge. They like seeing me so active in the company, and our lines launched in stores recently, and business is booming. So I must be doing something right," Adrien said, confidently. Gabriel's jaw dropped, but Adrien continued to talk before Gabriel could interject. "I only came here to tell you one thing, father, but it turns out I actually have more."

"Go on," Gabriel said after composing himself.

"My time in therapy has helped me deal with everything you have thrown at me, and I know you don't approve of it, but Marinette and I are happiest together. We are running The Fashion House together, and we are sure it will be better than you could have ever dreamed. I hope you learn from your time locked away that what you did was harmful, but I know you won't," Adrien spit out, not thinking twice. "And I am going to continue to be happy with Marinette and my friends for the rest of my life, running Emilie's together and keeping Paris safe."

Gabriel shook his head again, not wanting to hear it. "I will be out of here eventually, Adrien, and I will take back what is mine."

"The Fashion House is mine now, and you're going to be stuck in here for the rest of your life. You're delusional if you think you, Paris' Supervillain, is ever going to get out of here," Adrien said. "It's a shame you turned your grief for my mother to evil and will miss out on the rest of my life, but I don't care anymore. It's clear you don't." Adrien didn't wait for a reaction from Gabriel, grabbed his coat, and stood up to walk out of the room. He was scanned out as Gabriel was brought back to his cell, still a bit shocked by what Adrien said to him.

---

It was a warm summer day in Paris, and Marinette and Adrien finally made time for themselves to have a nice date. They had spent so much time working day in and day out, that they decided they could be a little selfish and take the day for a date. No Kwamis, no cameras,  and no one around. It was a nice, well-deserved break for both of them.

They decided the best date to celebrate all they've been through the last few years was to get out of the busy part of the city, and back to the park near the Bakery and the school where they met. The park they spent many days fighting Akumas and filming videos with their friends. Maybe they could even catch a ride on the carousel.

They set up the picnic blanket and started laying out the food. Sandwiches, chips, crackers, and the dessert they got from Tom and Sabine when they stopped by for a quick chat before the date. Marinette's parents were the exception to the no people rule.

They started eating as they relaxed. Every time they came back here, they were always flushed with memories, more memories than what usually came back when they would only visit the bakery. "I'm glad we finally have some time to ourselves. Don't get me wrong, the past few weeks with all the lines coming out has been amazing," Marinette started. "But it's nice to have a few minutes to breathe fresh air."

"I agree, and not have the endless amount of questions ten hours a day," Adrien laughed. "I love what we're doing, but man, it's been tough. Hopefully, now that the rebrand is completed, it will calm down just a bit."

"I bet," Marinette nodded. "Now we just have to worry about new meetings for our fall and winter lines!" She said.

Adrien nodded with her as he took a bite of his sandwich. "I'm happy we chose to come back here; it's been a while since we've been to the park."

"Oh yeah, and it's really nice to not have our date interrupted by Akumas. It's been years, but I still worry," She admitted.

"I know. Nooroo may be living in the box happily, but it's still a valid fear. But you're such a great guardian I know there's nothing to worry about," He complimented.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Flattering only gets you so far, Agreste," She told him.

Adrien shrugged and looked around the park, remembering how much has changed. Photoshoots, videos created with his friends, projects from school, and now dates. "I saw my father yesterday,"  Adrien said.

"Is that where you got off to?" Marinette raised her eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't planning on it; I just kind of ended up there," He said. "Well, I was planning on seeing him, just didn't think it would be yesterday. He didn't approve of our show or how we're running the Fashion House, but I told him I don't care. I was going back and forth on asking him some things, but then I saw how he is, still planning revenge and hoping to get out of prison, and I realized I don't care what he thinks. I haven't for years, and I don't need to tell him when I'm going to do something or need his permission. Then I stopped by the bakery to reward myself with talking to your parents, who actually enjoy having me around," He said, not aware that he was rambling about the whole experience.

Marinette put her hand on Adrien's shoulder to catch his attention. "Well, it sounds like you made some good self-discovery and figured you don't need your dad. I'm happy to hear that, because your dad really sucks," She said, with a slight smirk on her face. "What were you going to ask him?"

Adrien shook his head to brush it off. "I ended up bringing it up to your parents, because it's much more important to me that they approved of my ideas. They're good people, Mari."

"So you've said. Is everything okay?" She asked, a little worried he was beating around the answer.

Adrien took a deep breath and nodded slowly. He took another bite of his sandwich, and the meat inside fell out the other end and onto his pants. Adrien started to sift through the basket for the extra napkins as Marinette watched him closely. He slowed his searching as he began to talk. "Yeah, I think I'm better than ever, actually. You mentioned the Akumas earlier, and my dad and Hawkmoth were horrible. And though endless amounts of bad things came from him, there were some good things that came from it that I wouldn't want to change," Adrien said.

Marinette cocked her head, waiting for him to elaborate. "Us becoming superheroes, working with our friends closer than ever giving my mom her proper burial. Us finally becoming a couple; that one I wouldn't ever want to change," He said and looked back at her with a small smile. He pulled the extra napkins out and removed some off the top, revealing a black box underneath. Adrien opened the lid as Marinette was putting together what he was saying and saw the sparkle from the sun once it was opened. "Marinette, will you marry me?" He asked.

Marinette's jaw was dropped as she looked at Adrien. "Was this what you were going to ask Gabriel? If he was okay with us getting married?" She asked.

"Yes, but like I said, I don't care what he thinks. Then I asked your parents, and they said they've been waiting for it for years, so of course they thought it was a good idea," Adrien said.

Marinette giggled and nodded. "Of course, I would love to marry you, Adrien."

Adrien's smile grew wide, and he leaned forward to kiss Marinette. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

---

BREAKING NEWS: ADRIEN AGRESTE AND MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG ENGAGED!  By: Alya Césaire <link>

oh my god oh my god oh my god

ITS HAPPENING PEOPLE THE ADRIENETTE WEDDING WILL BE HAPPENING

first alya and nino, now adrien and mari, how will i ever cope seeing them grow up like this

took them long enough! happy for you guys

i remember when adrien first appeared in one of marinette's videos and people shipped them from the start, look where we are now

how it started, how it's going

this is going to be the biggest wedding EVER

will they have the wedding in the backyard of the mansion like they said in the "if we were dating" video from before they were dating

this is the best news of the year

Marinette laughed as she read the Tweets in their trending section, happy to see how excited everyone was. Fans from when she first started her channel following her for years and years, to now watching her get engaged and eventually married. Her parents and friends were beyond excited for the two of them, already ready for the parties and the big wedding (if they decided to go big, that is), and couldn't wait for all to come. Gabriel obviously did not approve, but no one cared, as Marinette and Adrien were going to be happy together without room for negativity.

The Kwamis were excited to shower the wedding with magic, and Marinette couldn't wait to document her road to the wedding. They had to plan, she wanted to make her dress, and she was planning on having a cake tasting session with her parents. Even if they decide not to go big, the celebration with their friends would still have all the fun aspects of a big wedding.

It had been a long few years of battling Akumas and Adrien's father; Marinette and Adrien deserved to be unapologetically happy.

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries @toodaloo-kangaroo

[artisticflutter]

Winter

It’s the faaabulous time of year again where we post for @mlsecretsanta~ And this year, my giftee is @coffeegrindsandautumnbreezes who wanted something sweet and Juleka-centric. Please enjoy~

Rating: General Audiences Genre: Friendship, Family Bonding, Slice of life Pairing(s): None Summary: Juleka has some introspective while filling in on a re-shoot for Gabriel. Warning: Minor mentions of “Reflekdoll”, beta’d by PocketNoivern

“Are you sure about this Juleka? I’d understand if you’re not comfortable.”

“No, it’s alright. I offered to do this.”

A nod, but her mouth thinned all the same. Peridot eyes twinkled however, and he smiled so easily.

“Okay, but tell me if you ever start feeling overwhelmed at all?”

“Mmm… thanks Adrien.”

He really was too kind; Juleka was grateful for his friendship and she could see why Marinette’s infatuation with him remained after so long. Of course, she was - in general - grateful to both of them for this opportunity at all. It had been Marinette’s suggestion that he ask her about modeling again (she wondered if it was to make up for last time, but really, that hadn’t been Marinette’s fault). It’s possible Marinette knew she had needed the extra euro and what’s more, it would be experience for her resumé. She intended on thanking them both properly when she could and the opportunity to hang out with a friend that could probably do with the change of pace himself.

Well, if helping her again was a change for him. Considering the circumstance, it probably wasn’t. After all, someone as patient as Adrien should’ve been able to work with someone as flexible as Lila, but therein was the reason for the winter re-shoot and Juleka getting this break at all. 

She’d think about the details later, and instead, try to focus on posing.

Her usual make-up? Removed and replaced with natural tones. She herself provided enough contrast to the neutral, but brighter and warmer tones of the winter attire she had to wear. There was also a matter of the location - the Pont Alexandre III blocked off just for this. The purpose today was to accentuate warmth in the cold, first a series of solo shots and then a few couple poses - the idealistic and romantic comfort when the temperature dropped. She’d done similar shoots with him before - maybe that’s why Marinette suggested her first? No, part of her tone had still sounded apologetic.

So far, it was going well; or at least, she was satisfying Vincent’s demands, but then everyone seemed to tense when Vincent called for Adrien to join her.

“Are they expecting an akuma?” she asked when he stood next to her.

He shot her a sheepish look. “Ah… yes and no? These days, they’re always worried about an akuma delaying us, but… er, Lila wasn’t following directions when we got to this part. I’d say that’s pretty standard considering how often I have to work with her now.”

“Oh… that’s weird.”

Lila being unprofessional? That didn’t sound right, but if Adrien was saying that… Then perhaps her perception wasn’t as off as she thought.

“Yes! Warm couple, show me winter love! That… cold hot passion! Close, but no! Shy, waiting to bloom! Perfetto!”

“I think I get it…” Juleka mumbled, taking hold of Adrien’s hand, but looking down.

“Really? Most people don’t.”

She heard the shutter going off.

“When you take a walk in winter with someone, you’re close, but not too close,” Juleka started, pausing as they changed poses. “You’re enjoying the cold and the quiet with company instead of talking in the sun and warmth. You think about the return home together, sitting by a fire, or wrapping up in a blanket and don’t linger...”

“Yeah, that’s right…!” Adrien paused as they stood close together, huddled with her shoulder to his arm as they both ducked their heads and pretended to be caught in a sudden snowfall. “It’s definitely a more restrained display of love outside during winter that’s not just limited to romantic couples. You think about things like this a lot, don’t you Juleka?”

“... Maybe.”

She wasn’t asked about her opinions or thoughts all that often, and she knew it had much to do with the way she dressed and musical tastes. Not that she’d ever say it out loud, but she was a bit of a romantic and had her interests that seemed counter to her rock lifestyle. For example, she would rather write poetry than music lyrics, and this too, she wanted to model instead of play music. There was plenty still that she didn’t grasp, but to try understanding more complex feelings she didn’t fully comprehend, she observed people, thought plenty about moments in time, and the experience they must have in that instant. As well, she could look at couples and visualize their connections almost. Perhaps it wasn’t the same as how her brother could hear people’s heart songs, but she’d like to think she had enough sense. 

Like in this moment, Adrien came off to her as ‘ease’ and ‘comfortable’, contrasting how stressed he’d been growing at school - or perhaps, it was better to say he was becoming stressed at life. It was unfortunate; she didn’t think she was the person to ask him about it. Hopefully Nino or Marinette would notice.

“Now, Juleka, you are winter blossom. I need… yes! Smile, just like that! Yes, yes!”

It was just a subtle expression she was giving the camera, but she did wonder how it did look on his end. She couldn’t see Adrien’s expression either, but it still felt like he was enjoying himself. Good; she was happy to know he didn’t mind her company.

A few more shots and a few more poses (the closest to uncomfortable was a small cheek kiss, but it was only one shot) had Vincent snapping up to a straight spine stand and lowering his camera.

“That! Was magnifico! I need her for more shoots, Adrien! You bring her again!”

“If that’s alright with her. She’s not officially contracted, but if you tell my father…”

“Ah, yes! I will have a word with Nathalie!”

Vincent was off in a shot while Juleka remained standing, watching the crew begin to remove the extra lighting that had been set up in assumption they’d continue longer. She accepted Adrien’s hand when extended her way and his escort back to the dressing tent. He looked, and felt, so elated that Juleka couldn’t keep herself from smiling back as he spoke, “That was great, Juleka! One of the best shoots we’ve had! I wish we could’ve talked more, but I hope Luka likes his gift.”

“Thank you, Adrien. And I know he will.”

Even if he managed to get a new one already, but that would just mean having two instead of none. “I had fun too. If you need me to fill in again, or if Vincent insists on that next shoot, just ask.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Letting go of her hand, he waved as he retreated to his own dressing tent. Meanwhile, she stood and stared, considering many things about the energy now exuding from him and how it proceeded to dim. How curious, but again, she wasn’t close enough to ask for details. She wouldn’t mind getting close in the future, especially if working together might become common; he seemed like the person who’d appreciate more friends and she rather liked having brighter personalities around. 

Turning, she was in and out of her tent in moments, taking particular care to make sure the designer clothes were hung properly before stepping back out. There, the make-up artist handed her the agreed pay for the late-minute fill-in - there was more than originally negotiated. However, glancing up, there she saw Adrien peering around Nathalie as she spoke to Vincent. He grinned, waving slightly again, and mouthed ‘Joyeux Noel’. Of course she mouthed ‘Joyeux Noel’ back before heading on her way.

Down the ways towards Champs-Élysées, Luka was waiting for her to arrive having stayed to watch her and walk with her home. He could’ve at least gone and waited inside a cafe to keep warm, but no. Hopefully his fingers weren’t cold considering his fingerless gloves, but knowing him, he’d probably lost track of time strumming his guitar. Stopping as she approached and raising his head, he beamed brightly. “Hey Jules… Sounds like you had fun. Did Adrien treat you well?”

“Mmm, he made sure I was comfortable, and if I had any issues, he was ready to help,” she answered, knowing that her brother already knew.

“His heart is still suppressing its true ballad. I’m glad things went well,” he said, packing his guitar back into its case. Standing up, he slung it over his shoulder and nodded. “Ready to head home, or do you have any other stops to make?”

“... Not right now. Let’s walk home, it looks like it will really snow soon.”

“Yeah, that’s true… Ah, wait.”

He turned to the railing and picked up two to-go mugs, turning back to her with a grin as he held one out. “Mom will likely have something bigger, but cheers to a successful shoot. One step closer to the dream.”

“Thanks, Luka…”

Accepting her cup, it was still warm between both hands. Then, he had gone to a cafe moments before - ah, he’d called when they would be wrapping up. One day, she’d like to be that intuitive and thoughtful. For now, she walked alongside him in comfortable silence, enjoying the wafted aroma of vanilla and chai, and making plans on getting him that pedal tuner she spotted in the music store. After that… the best Merry Christmas thank yous she could think of.

[bard-of-worlds]

Chapter 2

“He did what?” Gabriel asked as Nathalie looked at him from the other side of his desk.

 “He threw Lila into the river, walked off and turned his cell off afterwards.  I have no idea where he went and already called his friends and Chloe isn’t being helpful, she said something about a movie and she’ll talk to Adrien latter and her phone was off.”  Nathalie said as she looked at Gabriel. Gabriel just look back out he tried to understand what he had just heard, Nooroo was hovering above him and looked on and shot Nathalie a wince as he felt the confusion change to rage.

 “Find him now!  When he gets back here I’m going to…..I can’t even! Clearly he’s been around the degenerates at that school of his too much, I want you to pull him now, if he’s not at a shoot I want him in here!”  Gabriel snarled as he pounded the desk.  What is wrong with that boy, I’ve tried to raise him right but he does this, what is the matter with him!? He thought as he looked at Nathalie with an angry look in his eyes and as Nooroo hovered above him. “Did Lila say anything about why he did it or did he just snap or lose all sense of pride from being around those children in his class?”

 “Lila told him about how you talked to her about getting Marinette Dupain-Cheng away from him, how you rewarded her with the contract.” Nathalie said as Gabriel stared at her.

 “Didn’t you mention that she wasn’t to speak about that at all Nathalie?” Gabriel asked as Nathalie nodded and Gabriel face palmed in response and groaned.

 “Yes, but I guess she just decided to gloat to get him on board.” Nathalie said as Gabriel kneed his noise, understanding finally why Adrien had done what he had.

 “I never should have made a plan like this; I should have never started to even talk to her after she broke into the mansion.” Gabriel said as Nooroo looked down at him with anger in his eyes.  Nooroo had tried to caution him against using Lila, something about her made even him feel dirty just hearing her speak.  She helped me set up the attack on Heroe’s day and I suppose she had her uses.  Still with the lies she’s told about Dupain-Cheng, that should have clued me in, I knew Adrien wouldn’t like Lila but for her to actually say she did it for me is something I wasn’t expecting.  Of course when I talk to Adrien I can pass it off as believe her that this Marinette sexually harassed him and was trying to use him.  That I acted is because he never told me otherwise, my thoughts that he didn’t because he didn’t want to be pulled from school, yes fatherly conern might work here.  Gabriel thought as he tried to figure out where Adrein could be.  Looking up he frowned as he saw Nathalie holding her tablet tight against her body and the look in her eyes told him there was something else.  “What else happened Nathalie, what did you leave out?”

 Nathalie looked at him and released a breath.  “Gabriel, I…… he said something before he walked off….. it shocked me enough that I lost him.”

 “What could he have said that would let him get away?” Gabriel asked with a scowl.

 “He said that he was glad she’s gone.” Nathalie said as she tried to keep calm as Gabriel turned to her with a scowl.

 “What are you talking about, glad who’s gone?” Gabriel demanded as he looked at her.  Nathalie looked away before turning and swallowing.

 “Emilie.” Nathalie said as he went still and turned to look at her, not sure he had heard her right.

 “What did you say?” Gabriel asked, aghast that Adrien had said something like that.  “He said what about Emilie?”

 “He said that he’s glad she’s gone, that he has memories of a good person and not someone who could love a monster like you’ve become.” Nathalie said.  “Gabriel, I think….. I think he’s going to do something.”

 “Master, perhaps you went too far.” Nooroo said soflty as he floated and Gabriel spared him a glance before shaking his head.

 “No, the plan was perfect and each step was planned perfectly.  As my other persona I talked to Lila and helped her plan every step of it, all in all a mass Akuma attack was supposed to happen.  It was perfect; Lila didn’t know that there were two ways it to go down, one where Dupain-Cheng was the trigger and the other where she was.” Gabriel said as Nathalie looked at him

 “Two ways, what are you talking about Gabriel?” Nathalie asked as Nooroo floated there and felt horror as he realized just what Gabriel had planned.

 “Both girls of course, each one was a potential trigger for a mass attack.  The first was for the feelings of doubt and shock of Miss Dupain-Cheng being suspended; of course I never thought that the principle would have expelled her.” Gabriel admitted as he looked at Nathalie and she was shocked to see a hint of guilt in his eyes.  “I thought that at least that man would be professional about his job, it seems that I thought more of him and that homeroom teacher then they deserve.”

 “Then the second was Lila, but how…..wait you WANTED HER TO FAIL?” Nathalie exclaimed as Gabriel grinned back at her.

 “Yes, if that idiot in charge had looked at the CCTV camera’s that record the school hallways let alone the courtyard, which there are four of them and one of them was right above the principal’s office by the way, then Lila’s lies would have been exposed at once.” Gabriel explained what Lila didn’t know about the plan. Nathalie looked at her boss with an impressed look and Nooroo stared aghast at the betrayal Gabriel had planned.

 “So if she was found to have been behind it all, then Lila’s lies would have all been revealed, and that would have been the second way, brilliant!” Nathalie said with a chuckle. “But what about Miss Dupain-Cheng, how does she factor in?”

 “She was to be the ace in the plan; she got away from me enough times that I’m sure I could finally craft a champion of such power she would have finally gotten me my prize.” Gabriel said as he looked at her and frowned.  “But I have to admit that I never planned for Miss Dunpain-Chang to be a victim to this extent.”

 “And by what you said about the teachers there, you expected them to actually do their jobs properly?” Nathalie asked with a deadpan look.

 “Yes, I have to say that this has destroyed any faith I have in the public school system. I plan to send a special email to the school board with an unaltered copy of the CT footage, say that I’m a hacker who looked into Lila because of something I read online and saw her true colors.  She was stupid enough to even get caught on camera taking the answer sheet.”  Gabriel said and Nathalie laughed a little at her stupidity.

 “So then what about this Miss…… Dupain-Chang master, what will happen to her?”  Nooroo asked as he looked down at Gabriel with a hint of hope in his eyes as he looked at his wielder.

 “Dunpain-Chang Nooroo, and I expect that her record will be cleared, an investigation will be launched against that school that might end with it closing or a few people black listed and that this will be a perfect chance to bring Adrien back to homeschool, but I think I’ll let him keep his social life as it is, maybe let up his extracurricular activities.”  Gabriel said as he looked at Nathalie who looked up and started to type away at her tablet. “Perhaps a program with group projects, yes if I share them with some of the parents of Adrien’s friends that might earn some forgiveness from him about this, and if I explain that Lila tricked me, he might forgive me.”

 Nathaile looked at him and bit her lip as she looked away, something was telling her that this wouldn’t be as easy as he thought it would, a beeping from her tablet caused her to look down and frown as she saw someone knocking on the mansion’s doors, she frowned when she noticed he was wearing a suit.  “There’s someone here Gabriel, did I forget to pencil in an appointment?”

 “No, I can’t think of anything that would be handled with a face to face.” Gabriel said as he looked at Nathalie who looked back for a few moments before she sighed and looked down at her tablet and typed a few keys

 “Who are you and why are you here?” Nathalie said through her tablet and the man looked up at the camera that came out of the gate and frowned.

 “I have to speak with Gabriel Agreste in person, I’m sorry but I can’t talk anything more and I won’t leave.”  He said and Nathalie looked at Gabriel who shrugged and frowned back at her.

 “Please wait there, I will get back to you in five.” Nathalie said as she muted her tablet and turned to Gabriel.  “Well now what, any idea what this could be?”

 “None at all.” Gabriel looked at the camera’s image and looked at Nathalie.  “A reporter after a scoop, a new customer that wanted a personal meeting, remember how that person came to the mansion last year?”

 Nathalie looked down at the screen and looked back at Gabriel.  “He doesn’t seem to be a reporter, I have a……..feeling that this is important.”

 “Very well.” Gabriel said as he got up from his desk and walked towards the door out, Nathalie following behind him and Nooroo hiding in is clothing.  “Let him in, we’ll see what he has to say.”

 A few moments later the man walked into the mansion and meet Gabriel and Nathalie in the foyer.

  “Gabriel Agreste?”  The man said as he went to Nathalie’s desk and opened his briefcase.

 “I don’t know who you all but I assure you I don’t want anything that you have.  I will give you a few minutes of my time but I want you gone.” Gabriel said as the man smiled at him.

 “This will only take a moment, Gabriel Agreste you have been served.” The man said as he put a stack of papers and dropped them onto the desk. “You are cordially informed that you are now under investigation by the Child Protection Agency of France for violating the Child Labor Laws, and you are being sued by one Adrien Agreste for work without pay.  Have a nice day.”  The man said as he dropped a few forms on the desk before he nodded at them and he turned and walked out the mansion, a spring in his step.   As he walked out of the mansion’s grounds he hummed as he turned towards his home, a smirk on his face as he remembered the look Gabriel had when he heard why he was there.  “I just love to deliver to those people; I just love this part of my job.”

  Nathalie looked at Gabriel as he stood there and stared down at the papers on his desk and sighed.  “I knew he would do something, I just knew it. And I knew that one day you would push him too far!”

 Gabriel looked at Nathalie with a scowl on his face. “I don’t need that from you now Nathalie.”

 “Well you’re going to get it Gabriel!” Nathalie said as she looked at him with a frown on her face as Nooroo floated back in from where he had hidden.  “I’m here to help you but I’ve said it before that all the modeling work will come back and bite you one day.”

 “He is my son. I have the right to have him work for me!” Gabriel said as he looked at her and she shook his head.  “And I can’t think of anything that he had done that violated any of the laws, he’s working for the family business!”

 “The keyword there is work Gabriel, work!  I’m not a law specialist so I don’t know ,but maybe if could be how long he does it is and how you pull him from school; people could make a problem about them and there are laws about child labor which Adrien’s work qualifies as!  And what are we to do, Hawkmoth attacked today and failed, if you make one to find Adrien then people will talk!” Nathalie said as Gabriel looked at her and nodded.

 “Contact my lawyer, I want him to investigate who’s behind this!  And go check out the hotel, he has to be there!” Gabriel said as Nathalie walked away.  “Oh, and the video’s with Lila actions, use one of the throwaway accounts, the videos are in file EM02 password 3, and send it to Miss Dunpain-Chang.”

 “What, after all this you want to….” Nathalie said turning her head but trailed of as Gabriel looked at her.

 “It’s imperative that my crusade doesn’t destroy a life, if Emile finds out about this and that I didn’t try and fix it……..then I’ll be the one needing the wish.” Gabriel said as Nathalie chuckled and nodded.   “And it might make any meetings with Adrien easier if I’m surprised by anything he says about Lila, I might be able to make him believe I was tricked by her.”

 “Throwing her under the bus then?”  Nathalie asked dryly.

 “I always planned to one day.” Gabirl said as he looked at his wife’s painting.  “Nooroo didn’t like her, and my feelings about him aside, that’s saying something.”

 “Respectfully Master,” Nooroo piped up.  “I’ve felt people who were insane or psychotic that were less slimy then she is.”

 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 The caseworker looked at the doors to the apartment portion of the bakery and swallowed.   Okay, keep it together Sophia, you’ve done cases like this before, but it’s your first time in the city since Hawkmoth but you can do it.  She thought as she slapped her checks and put a smile on and walked towards the door and knocked and a large strong looking man with a mustache opened it, causing her to swallow and look up at him.  “Hello, I’m Sophia from the Child Welfare Origination; I’m supposed to be meeting Adrien here?”

 “Yes, come in quick.” The large man said as he ushered her in. “I’m Tom Dupain-Chang, Adrien is upstairs in the living room up those stairs, my wife Sabine and my Daughter Marinette is there providing support, I ‘d love to stay but I need to get back to work, the dinner rush should be soon and I have to make sure everything is working right.”  Tom said as he head back towards the front of the store as the woman swallowed and walked up the stairs, psyching herself up as she went.

Walking into the kitchen she saw Adrien sitting down at a table with a glass of water in his hands and Marinette looking at him as he talked as Louise and Sabine talked quietly by the window.

 “….really, I don’t know why I thought he would have taken the time to make it, I was grasping at straws to save our relationship.  I must be the most idiotic person on the planet.  I should have reported him months ago.” Adrien said as Marinette reached over and squeezed his arm.

 “You wanted to think there was a way to salvage something from your relationship with him, I mean I get that.  I’m just sorry I never told you that I made it.”  Marinette said as she looked at his eyes and he smiled back and squeezed her hand back as Sabine giggled and Louise grinned before looking up as Sophia walked into the room.

 “So you made it, you’re the agent the Child welfare Agency sent?”  Louise asked as the other three looked up at Sophia who grinned shakily back.

 “Yes, hello.  I’m Sophia, I was sent to do a preliminary interview.  I understand who the two woman are but who are you sir?” Sophia asked casuing Louise to smile and hold out his hand for her to shake.

 “Sorry, I’m Louise, Louse Artoga, Adrien’s attorney.  I believe that Tom told you who these ladies are of course.” Louise said as he gestured towards Sabine and Marinette who nodded at her as Adrien looked up.

 “Yes, I met Tom before he directed me here.  Now normally I prefer to have my meetings private affairs with only the person and an adult who’s on their side, but in this case.”  Sophia said as she looked at Sabine and Marinette and Adrien looked up for a few seconds before speaking up.

 “I’d like them to stay, at least for moral support.” Adrien said as he looked down.

 “That’s perfectly fine, but if you mind walking me through a normal day, a normal day as your father would have you do.”  Sophia asked as she sat down at the table and opened her briefcase and brought a few piece of blank paper out a pencil and her phone that she put down after activating a recording app.

 “I get up around six in the morning and do stretches and exercises until around six thirty, after that I shower until around seven when I practice the piano until around seven thirty when I have free time until eight when I have breakfast and am driven to school at eight fifteen.” Adrien said as Sophia started to take notes.  

 “What about your father, do you see him in the morning?” Sophia asked and Adrien shook his head as she took notes.

 “No, the only person I see is Nathalie most days…oh, she’s my dad’s assistant and then there’s my bodyguard/driver the Gorilla.  Oh, the Gorilla’s name is Damien.” Adrien said as he looked down and missed the look of rage that went through Sophia’s eyes as Marinette squeezed her hands as Sabine growled under her breath as Louise watched with a blank face. “Sometimes I get to school for afternoon class if there’s a photo shoot in the morning, sometimes I don’t even make it to school at all and then if I get back around five I have supper alone again and practice the piano for an hour or my Chinese tutor comes for the same time, if there’s a photo shoot in the afternoon I work and grab supper between shots until I’m taken back to the mansion ussualy around nine or ten.”

 “What about when you do make it to school?” Sophia asked as she wrote down what Adrien said and tried to keep calm.  “What are your days like then?”

 “I have ordinary classes and at lunch I’m drive home where I eat and stay in my room before I return to school.  When classes end I go to fencing practice when it’s scheduled, I have Mandarin lessons or piano practice if a photo shoot isn’t scheduled and I have an ordinary evening, I have dinner alone and have a few hours of free time in my room before I go to sleep.” Adrien explained.  Sophia looked at him and tried to keep her cool, the shear amount of time he had working was bothering her, and the way he spoke raised a few flags that only increased her concern.

 “How much time do you think you spend with your father, regularly?” Sophia asked and Adrien looked at her and started to think for a few more moments then Sophia was comfortable with.

 “Every few days he checks on my progress at the piano and Mandarin, and maybe I’ll have dinner with him maybe once a month or so…….��� Adrien said as he shrugged.

 “A day.” Sophia interrupted him and he looked at her.  “How much time do you spend with him a day, in person?”

 “Normally none in his presence, he’ll check on me through Nathalie’s tablet and I don’t know if he watches me on the cameras but I know there aren’t any in my room so that’s out.” Adrien said as he tried to think.  “So maybe I see if in person about an hour a month, total?  There was the time we watch that movie mom stared in once but that’s not normal.”

 “Thank you, but there’s something else.”  Sophia said as she looked at him and softened her gaze.  “I’m sorry to pick at wounds but you said something when I came in, could you explain it please?”

Adrien looked at her before looking around and when Louise nodded he sighed.  “Okay, my last birthday I thought dad made me a scarf by hand, but I was told an hour ago that Marinette made and he just, stole it from her and took credit for it.”

 Sophia looked at him and hung her head.  Okay, that plus how little time he spends with him that’s emotional abuse.  And the way he does his modeling, that violates the Child Labor laws right there and I haven’t even gotten to the weekends yet.  She thought as s he looked at her notes.

 “Okay I think that’s everything for now, I would say that you should stay away from your school for the next two days since it’s almost the weekend, by then we’ll have gone over the case and I think we’ll be moving to have your father’s people served with a restraining order.”  Sophia said as she put her papers away.  “Miss Marinette I have to ask that you don’t tell anyone

 “That’s going to be easy since I was expelled today.”  Marinette said and Sophia turned and stared at her in shock.

 “I’m sorry that whatever happened caused the hearing to decided that was best, I…..” Sophia trailed off as Sabine growled and Marinette gained a bitter look.

 “I didn’t have a hearing, I was just expelled because Lila said I pushed her down the courtyard stairs to the next floor, I stole the answer key to the test after the test was over and that I stole her grandmother’s necklace the day before and kept it in my locker overnight.” Marinette said as Sophia looked at her before turning to the others and stared aghast at them.

 “That all happened today?! What the hell kind of school is it, the Idiot School for Total Inaptitude?!  Don’t they have CT camera’s there?!”  Sophia demanded in shock that gave way to rage.  “And you have to have to have a hearing, what did they decided not to do their jobs or something?!”

 Adrien stared at Sophia and swallowed as she glared at the room. She’s gonna be Akumatized, how can I get her to calm down?! Adrien thought as Sabine had flashbacks to what happened to her husband and Louise looked ill as he realized what was happening before him.  but before they could do more than react Marinette did first.

 Marinette got up and slapped Sophia’s face.  Sophia just looked at Marinette shocked, her anger dissipated and tried to speak but Marinette spoke over her. “Look at me, Look at me!  Deep breaths, in and out, in and out.  We don’t want to summon an Akuma don’t we?”

 Sophia looked at her and did as she was told, slowly getting herself back under control.  “Thank you, I….needed that but please don’t do that again. But how’d you know how to do that?”

 “Max thought that once maybe a shock could stop someone from feeling what call them.  Smart guy, great programmer but he didn’t catch an obvious lie.” Marinette said as she looked at Sophia who raised an eyebrow.

 “What kind of lie was it?” Sophia asked as she looked between the two teens, hoping that something was

 “A thrown school napkin could have gorged his eye out, and he wears glasses.” Adrien said flatly.

 “Really?” Sophia asked as she looked around and Marinette nodded.  “And this Max, he’s…..smart?”

 “Nobody seems to be where Lila’s concerned.  The school believed her enough to have me expelled right away and didn’t even let me say anything in my defense.”   Marinette said as she shook her head.

 “And she threatened Marinette when she got ‘back’ a week after Hero’s day.”  Adrien said as he glared into space.

 “Got back from where?” Sophia asked and felt something, a feeling of disappointment that she couldn’t explain.

 “She said that she was traveling with her mother, and she says she’s a diplomat.”  Marinette said as she looked at Sophia.  “Of course the first day that she appeared in Paris she became an Akuma that could do illusions and then the fake Chat Noir and Ladybug, well.”

 “How do you know that?” Adrien said suddenly as he looked at her and saw her jolt and realize he was there and winced before she sighed.

 “I saw her take the book you had in the library that day and followed her, I saw her throw it away after she bought something.” Marinette said as she looked down at the table.

 “She took father’s book? Then you’re the one who brought it back to him!” Adrien said as she nodded.  “You’re the reason I’m back in school!  Wait why didn’t you give it back to me then?”

 “When I got it out of the trash it had opened and the pictures were amazing so I lost you guys. I  thought I try and find you and if I couldn’t I’d give it back at school, saying you forgot it in the Library but then when I found you again Ladybug confronted her about lying that she was a friend of hers, smart I mean if Hawkmoth heard about it and attacked her family!” Marinette said as Adrien looked at her and his eyes became pin prints as he realized what she was saying as the three adults all paled and Sophia held a hand to her forehead as the chaos that could have happened because of Lila’s lie.  

 “What do you mean, ‘back in school’?” Sophia demanded as she suddenly realized what he had just said.

 “I found this book in a hidden safe one day while I was looking around my father’s office after Hero’s Day; I wanted to see if he was free to talk about a school trip next month. He wasn’t there but I found this book I took to school, I ‘lost it’ or Lila took it and father pulled me from school to punish me.” Adrien said and Sophia stared.

 Sophia looked into space as she tried to understand just what she had heard.  Okay, that’s a strange punishment and maybe it could be argued a ‘legal’ one.  But it was…..wait when did he say the trip is?! Sophia thoughts died and she looked at Adrien.

 “Wait, just wait!” Sophia said as she held up a hand. “This was after Hero’s Day, but that was months ago…..you had to talk to your father months before a school trip so you could go?”

 “Well he prioritizes the company image over everything else, and he pulled me from school for loosing it.” Adrien said as he blushed.  “He said it was important, that mom and he had found it years ago, not that he ever told me about it.  all my father said when he let me go back to school was a friend had found it and returned it to him, that was you Marinette?”

 “Yeah, but that meteor appeared before I could work up my courage to tell you about what Lila did.” Marinette explained as she looked away with a blush on her face. “So I figured I’d give it back to you in the morning and when you were pulled from school I went to your house and told your father it dropped out of your bag and I had seen you with it earlier so I figured it was his.”

 “Wait, wait a second we’ve gone off tangent here, what was the threat?” Sophia asked as she mentally decided to look into this Lila.

 “That she would take away all my friends and ruin my life, and she got me expelled.”  Marinette said softly as she looked down, trying not to let her face show her emotions about what had happened earlier today.

 “She admitted that she did it too, all so my father would give her a modeling contract as a bonus.” Adrien said as he looked at Marinette and felt something at the back of his mind, something was bothering his subconscious, he didn’t know what but something was there.  “I knew she was a liar but I didn’t want to expose her, I thought she was just a liar who would get tangled up in her lies or was just lonely from traveling with her mother and wanted people to like her.”

 “Well if you didn’t know about the threat kid, then I doubt anyone could blame you for hoping she was just nervous, I’ve seen kids do strange things to get people to like them. Still she just gave that one threat once right?” Louise said as everyone looked at Marinette and she looked down as Sabine gasped and Adrien looked horrified as Sophia broke her pencil. “Marinette, what else did she do.”

 “That day she came back, at the end of the day….. She went up to me at the stairs and said we were at war, that she would ruin me and that Adrien would be….hers.” Marinette said as she as looked down, Sabine stared and started to curse in Mandarin and Adrien tried not to show that he knew what she was saying, but he noticed that Marinette’s blush deepened and wondered if she knew what her mother was saying.

 A beeping from Marinette’s phone caused everyone to look at her as she blushed and took her phone out and paled.  Marinette stared at the screen and tried to figure out what this meant and who could have sent this.  Max, Markov did you two send this…..no that’s not their style.  Who knew to look and why……Hawkmoth but why would he…..nothing about this makes sense, I have more questions than answers and I don’t like this one bit!   I need to talk to Master Fu about this. Marinette thought and looked up as she felt someone touch her shoulder and saw her mother look at her with concern on her face.

 “What’s wrong darling, what’s on your phone?” Sabine asked as she took it and looked down before scowling. “What!?  ‘Lila stealing and framing Marinette?!”

 “What’d you say?!” Louise demanded as he rushed towards Sabine and Marinette as Adrien and Sophia shot to their feet.  Louise looked around and saw the TV in the room and looked at Sabine.  “That’s a smart TV, you can cast the video to it right?”

 Sabine nodded and they all turned to the TV and Sabine played the video.  The first thing was a blank screen that said ‘This is from the school CT cameras’ and then Miss Buister class leaving the room with a small timestamp in the right corner showing that it happened the day before at the last class of the day and Adrien went still.

 “That’s when the fire alarm went off.” Adrien said as everyone on screen left the class room through the courtyard door and then Lila came in from the other doorway and grabbed a paper from Miss Buister’s desk and dash to Marinette’s bag and put the paper in it before she ran after the class.

 “Well there’s the answer about how it got into my backpack.”  Marinette said dumbly as the video continued and it showed Lila walking down the stairs with Marinette staying by Mr. Damocles door before Lila sat down at the bottom and starting to scream.  “And then she led the way to my locker where she opened it and there was her necklace.”

 “Why was it unlocked?” Sophia asked as Sabine went over and squeezed Marinette’s hand and she looked at her mother with a smile before replying.

 “The lockers don’t have locks, something about something that happened a few years back when I asked about it.” Adrien said and Sophia only face palmed and Louise looked murderous. A chocking gasp came from Sabine and they turned to the mother and daughter to see Marinette raise a shaking finger and they saw the TV had showed Lila dropping something into Marinette’s locker, the image being enhanced to show the fox tailed necklace.  “Well, I didn’t know there were camera’s in the locker room, did you Marinette?”

 “No I didn’t, and I was class president.” Marinette said dumbly as she looked at the screen.  “And the time stamp showed it was from before 1st period when she said I had the answer key in my backpack.”

 “Wait I’m not following this, she said you pushed her down the stairs?  And the nurse backed her?” Sophia asked and Sabine scowled as Marinette looked down.

 “They never even had the nurse examine Lila.”  Adrien said dryly causing Sophia to look at her before she face palmed.

 “I think that the lawsuit against the school for malpractice is open and shut, don’t you?” Louise said as Sophia banged her head against the table as she realized just what she had seen and cursed under her breath, knowing that the school system was the thing that would be affected the most before the end, and that she might want to start setting up a the paperwork for homeschooling for a whole school.

  Moments later Sophia looked at Louis and Sabine as the three of them stood at the doorway to the alley. “That was a very good meeting in my opinion.  I have to be honest….a lot of red flags were raised by the office when his mother disappeared and this just adds to them.  I guess that you have the legal paperwork and evidence against his father?”

 “Yeah, a lot but I became Adrien’s lawyer because of something his mother did so he will know what I’m doing once he’s served. Sabine would your family mind putting him up for a few days?  I can rush the paperwork that would make you his temporary guardian in a court outside of Paris tomorrow.” Louis said as he looked at Sabine who nodded back at him.

 “Ahhhh, that scenario then.” Sophia said with a wince.

 “Yes, I’m sorry but that protocol, his situation is exactly what it was set up for.”  Louise said as Sabine looked between them and he noticed it and looked a little….embarrassed.  “It’s a law that was set up after a rich abusive parent bribe the location out of a clerk who fell for their lies and the result was that they attacked the foster home while drunk.”

 “Oh my.”  Sabine said as she looked between Sophia and Louise as Sophia blushed.

 “Thankfully no one beside the drunk idiot was hurt.”  Louise said with a smirk and a laugh.  “And he was hurt by driving his car into a wall!”

 “Oh my.  I guess he lost custady after all then?” Sabine asked as Sophia blushed and Louis laughed before he started to look just disappointed.

 “Yeah, but that’s not the most funny story about my work I have to share.   Why the number of idiotic things people will do, I can’t even say that I’m surprised by anything anymore.”  Louis saide with a sigh as he shook his head.

“That’s nither here or there.  As an agent of the Child Protection Services of France I give my leave to allow Adrien Agrest to stay here overnight legally. We’ll look over the case and come to a decision but I will be putting together the paperwork to remove him from his father’s guidance tomorrow at the earliest.”

 As both Louis and Sophia left through the back alley entrance Sabine looked upwards and sighed as she moved towards the apartment’s kitchen, hoping that Adrien wasn’t allergic to anything that she made that night.

  “Come on Adrien, you can sleep in the guest room tonight.”  Marinette said as she lead him through the house towards the guest room. “It’s on the opposite side of my room from my parents so if you want to scream into the pillow don’t hold back.”

 As they entered the room and Marinette turned on the lights Adrien looked around, noticing that the windows were facing the alley and kept a smile off his face.  Perfect, I can use that to get out and talk to Ladybug on patrol tonight, if I close the door and lock it then that’s easy to keep my secret.  He thought as he looked at Marinette with a bitter smile. “Thanks Marinette, I don’t deserve a friend like you.”

 “Is this about the advice Adrien?” Marinette asked as she looked at him as he sat down on the bed. “Adrien you didn’t know about it. Listen, my grandmother told me once that you can only give advice on what you know, you didn’t and you could only give what you knew at the time.”

 “I was thought she was just a social climber or trying to get people to like her because she was scared.” Adrien admitted as he put his head down. “Chloe was like that, trying to act like the person she wanted to like her.”

 “Chloe…….?” Marinette asked as she looked at him before gasping and covering her mouth.  “Her mom right?   She was like that all those years so her mother would like her?!”  

 “Yeah, she’s always had this idolized view of her for a while; I think what happened when her mom was Akumatized might have broken that.”  Adrien said as he looked at her with a bitter smile.  “She actually came to talk to me about getting justice for you, trying to figure out how to get your expulsion overturned.”

 Marinette stared at Adrien with her mouth open in total shock, only managing to mutter half formed words before she was able to speak clearly. “Chloe did, I thought she hated me!”  

 “No, Chloe’s been hard to understand.  If she hated you then she’ll ignore you, and well I think she liked how you would insult her back.” Adrien said as Marinette looked at him and Adrien continued speaking. “Her grandmother on her mom’s side was a weird person when she was alive, always talking about getting people back based on her own sense of justice.”

 “And she copied her sense of humor from her mother right?” Marinette asked dryly and Adrien only laughed lightly.  “I have some stuff to finish that I was taking a break from when this all happened, we usually eat in about an hour so I’ll see you later.”

 Adrien nodded and Marinette walked and closed the door, Adrein sighing as she did, noticing the door had a lock and he nodded.  “I’m hoping you won’t mind if I don’t feed you that kind of cheese for a while Plagg.”

 “Don’t be too bad kid, just grab me a slice of this places cheese bread every once in a while, hell a piece of bread would do in a hurry.” Plagg said as he floated out of Adrien’s jacket.  “Don’t be overthinking it; I just love cheese like my sugerclub loves sugar.”

 “I thought so for a while now, I’ll make sure that I grab a few piece of emergency cheese the next time I can slip into a continuance store.” Adrien said with a smirk as he looked at the window.  “Think we’ll be able to use that to get out on patrol?”

 “I’ll check, give me a few minutes to look around, take a nap kid, I’ll wake you when I’m back.” Plagg said as he shot through the window and Adrien sighed and leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes.

  “I can’t believe this; Chloe’s actually trying to help me?” Marinette said as she closed the door to her room.  Tikki floated up and looked at her with a smile.  

 “She bonded with Pollen, I wouldn’t expect something else and her jabs against you were like someone hoping for someone to strike back.”  Tikki said causing Marinette to look at her.

 “So all this time Chloe’s been looking for someone to verbally spar with, but what about Ms. Buister’s present, no that was more against her then me.”  Marinette said as she sat down and started to mutter to herself. Tikki grinned and looked at Marinette and before turning sharply and saw Plagg floating by the exit to the terraince and frowned.

 “I’m going to check the alley Marinette, I want to make sure we can slip by Adrien the next time we go on patrol.” Tikki said and Marinette put her head down.

 “Stay out of sight okay? I really need to think about everything Chloe could have done or didn’t.  Now there’s Alix’s watch, but she could have just dropped it by accident, and there’s the design she stole from me, but how couldn’t she have seen the fact that I signed it…..”  As Marinette went over her interactions with Chloe Tikki giggled and flew out of the room, hugging Plagg as soon as she saw him.

 “Hey sugerclub, how should we deal with this?” Plagg asked as Tikki smiled at him.

 “I’m just happy he’s finally standing up for himself after everything you told me about their relationship.  When I saw all that his father had him doing the first time I really hoped he wanted to do a least one of them.”  Tikki said and Plagg scowled

 “No, that kitten’s always trying to please him and he never would say anything, not that he would have listened to him.”  Plagg said with a snort.  “If his mom hadn’t set up his early modeling work’s pay and invested it so he had a modest income from them I don’t think he would have been half as confident to have started to do this.”

 “How bad is it, really?” Tikki asked as she floated and looked at him.

 “I….. I don’t know. Gabriel is short with everyone, not just Adrien.  Maybe he’s like Tom’s dad was, but he’s as proud and over protective as Jonah’s was.” Plagg said as Tikki frowned.  “And then there this, do you think we should push for a reveal?  I mean tomorrow’s patrol alone….”

 “It might be time; they trust each other and Marinette could talk to him about the butterfly.” Tikki said before going silent as Plagg looked at her.

 “What butterfly?” Plagg asked flatly and Tikki looked back and sighed.

 “When Lila threatened her, an Akuma was summoned…… I helped talk her to get it away but then Lila was turned.”  Tikki said and Plagg looked at her and hung his head.

 “And the kitten thinks that Lila was turned because of him calling her out, another reason he said if they knew the truth it doesn’t matter if she lies.”  Plagg said as he looked down at the alley between the buildings. “What’s over there anyway?”

 “I think it was originally an apartment before the owner died and it was taken by the city, I think they were talking about making it a low budget housing but the school raised a stink and it went to court and died there according to Marinette.”  Tikki said as she shrugged.  “And then Hawkmoth appeared and well…..”

 “Might have to teach the kids a few tricks sugerclub, they might be ready for them.”  Plagg said as he looked around and scowled at the school.   “I wonder how Lila tricked Gabriel into giving her that contract; it had to have been on her end you know?”

 “He wouldn’t have reached out to her?”  Tikki asked and Plagg floated there for a few moments before he shook his head.

 “He only remembers Kagami’s name because he wants a contract with her mother’s company, I don’t know how he would have even talked to her.” Plagg said flatly.  “Let’s have the kids transform and call each other, that way they can talk and hopefully postpone the patrol until the day after, we just have to hope that after what happened today Hawkmoth and Mayura will stay down for a day.”

 “Yeah…….” Tikki said as she frowned.  “Hey Plagg, when you were in your Miraculous, did you feel something from Duusu?”

 “You mean did Mayura feel wrong to me, yeah.” Plagg said with a frown.   “I’m thinking there’s a lot about why he’s doing this that we don’t know yet.”

 Tikki floated there and let what Plagg said stew and she tried to think of anything, something was telling her she had all the pieces but she couldn’t set them together right. “I’ll tell Marinette to do that and we’ll let them call each other and hope for the best, for today our choosen are more important.”

 Plagg nodded before he shot back towards Adrien, promising himself he’d let the kid sleep for a bit more and Tikki floated back down towards Marinette and hoped for the best, that this situation might be weathered by all involved.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 Alya looked around the room, trying not to look at the empty seat where Marinette…..normally sat and tried to keep it off her mind.   Nothing about yesterday makes sense, I mean I know Marinette and she wouldn’t cheat or push anyone down the stairs!  I mean I can’t even understand how that happened, or how Hawkmoth did what he did again.  Ayla thought as she looked into space, trying to figure out what had happened yesterday that she never noticed Nino come and put his hand on her shoulder.

 “You okay babe?” Nino asked as he reached her and looked around the room.  That’s strange, Adrien is usually here before me most days, it’s not like him to be late………is there an emergency photo shoot or something his dad pulled him for, he usually texts me to ask to for a copy of my notes?  Nino thought as he sat down behind Alya.

 “No, nothing about yesterday makes sense; I mean I can’t even think of an explanation that explains everything.” Alya said as she hung her head.

 “How about half of it, we can work from the rest Alya.” Nino said as Alya hung lower and he grew worried. “Babe, what is it?”

 “Marinette thinks Lila did it on purpose to get her expelled, but I can’t figure out why. Marinette said that Lila did it and that she’s a liar, I thought it was jealousy that they don’t like each other but I don’t know anymore.” Alya whispered softly as she looked down at her desk. “I mean I get that if you think that Lila was behind it, most of it all lines up but I can’t think of a motive or how to prove it, everything I have is telling me that I’m missing something that I can’t see it, some piece of this puzzle that explains the missing portion.”

 “We’ll figure out what we can do babe, we just need some time.” Nino said as he looked down and frowned, his own mind going place he didn’t like.  He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Alix and Max until Alix slammed her hand down on Alya’s desk causing them both to look at her.

 “How are we going to help Marinette Alya?!”  Alix demanded as she looked at Alya.   “You’re the reporter, you have to know something we can use to get her back and find out the truth, cause there is no way what happened yesterday was real!”

 “I don’t know I mean the evidence is shaky at best, I mean with the fact someone pulled the fire alarm the other day I guess that was could be how the answer sheet could have gotten in her backpack, but to prove that’s what happened is imposible.”  Alya said as she looked down.”  But then their’s Lila necklace, she said she saw Marinette take it but I never even heard about it before and how would Marinette have even known about?  But to prove it is imposable.”

 “The necklace being in the locker wasn’t enough proof.” Max’s voice startled them and they turned to look at him.  “I had Markov do a simulation and it is 100% possible to drop it through the locker’s grill and a chain long enough would let someone put it through the grill and end up where it did, and then there’s the fact that none of the lockers even have locks.”

 “I’ve always felt something scary about that, that’s why I just use it to hold projects and my coat in the winter; I think Marinette does it too.” Rose chimed in and they looked to see her and Juleka nod.

 “There is no way in hell that Marinette hurt someone on purpose even if they did deserve it, and to cheat on a test that didn’t matter, no way.”  Juleka said as she looked down, a hard look in her visible eye.

 “At least once the investigation is done then maybe we can learn what happened right?” Kim spoke up from behind them, causing them all to turn and look at him.

 “What investigation?” Alix asked as she turned and looked at Kim who shrugged before answering.

 “The investigation that they have to do, that’s required for an expulsion to be legal?” Kim asked as he looked down at them in confusion.  “I mean you can’t be expelled like that, you’ve got the right to defend yourself before a panel of judges.”

 Alix looked up at him and frowned as Nino got out his phone and started to type away.

 “Why do you know that muscles?” Alix asked as Kim looked away and blushed.

 “One of my dares before I started to come here, I had to look over the school’s expulsion rules and then argue against a student being expelled.  Not a real student of course, and the darer was my civics teacher and wanted to get my grade up.” Kim said as he grinned.  “It worked, I got a B on that extra-credit work and he dare me to do better, if I got in the top ten students that year he would help me set up a sports festival over the summer, I was in the top five that year but I discovered competitive swimming and well.”

 “Oh, that makes sense.” Alix said as she looked at him and frowned.  “Wait a second, it that in your file…..wait.  Is that why Madame Mendeleiev always challenges you when she hands out the study guides?”

 “What can I say, she knows my old teacher.” Kim said as Nino looked up with a smile from his phone.

 “And he’s right dudes, its solid law, she gets a hearing.” Nino said with a smirk on his face.

 “Once they check out the camera’s I’m sure Marinette will be back!” Rose said with a grin. “Lila has to have been wrong; Marinette wouldn’t push anyone down the stairs. She probably slipped and Marinette tried to grab her!”

 “If she fell.”  Alix said with a scowl as she crossed her arms.

 Alya looked at her and felt hers heart beat faster as she paled.  “What do you mean?”

 “I’ve taken injuries before with my stunts and stuff, if she had fallen she shouldn’t have been able to move that well.” Alix said and looked conflicted.  “And the last time somebody fell down them two years ago they had to take them to the hospital, they were knocked out unconscious!”

 “Why would Lila have been lying about being hurt, I mean why?”  Rose asked as she and Juleka joined the others.  Alya looked around the room and noticed that Ivan and Mylene were in the back talking quietly with each other, but from the frown Ivan had she could guess what they were talking about.

 “I don’t know, but we can agree that Mari wouldn’t do anything like that right, I mean we know her!” Alya said with a scowl as the others nodded and looked at each other. “I mean sure she didn’t like Lila, but I always it was because she thought Lila was after Adrien.”

 “And we know that Marinette wouldn’t do that, but how did the answer sheet get in her bag and the necklace into her locker?”  Juleka asked and the others looked around, none of them making the logical leap that would explain everything.

 Above them Chloe scoffed and looked down at them.  This is why I wear a ‘mask’ all the time, it doesn’t pay to show who you are all the time.  I’m sorry that you’re learning it from interacting with Lila Mari, you were the only person who actually was fun to bitch at, besides Adrien and Sabrina, I think you’re the only person in this class I like.  She thought before she leaned closer to Sabrina.  “How’s your dad feel about what you talked to him about.”

 “He was out all night, didn’t get to talk to him yet.”  Sabrina whispered back to her.  “I’ll talk to him at dinner about it; think we should tell the others?”

 “I don’t know, I mean she’s got most of them wrapped around her finger, if something doesn’t change we might have to.”  Chloe said quietly as she looked around the room, her eyes lingering on Alya and she frowned.  Still it looks like she might be breaking it, if so after a little humble pie I think their releationship will survive this. Still I wonder if I can get in on the bet about when those two get together.  Chloe thought as she looked around the classroom.

 “Still, I was surprised with how many students actually do homeschool since Hawkmoth came out, aren’t you?”  Sabrina whispered and thought of how many different homeschool options there were in Paris alone.

 “Trust me I know parents who are……..overprotective and that’s pretty normal, but I’m more surprised with how many students are here after all.” Chloe said as she remembered the total list of students that actually attended the school was a lot smaller then she originally thought.

 “This place always seemed small to me, I don’t know why but it always did.”  Sabrina said as she shrugged her shoulders.  “And knowing our classmates, I was always surprised how many of us have the same general interests and goals, you know?”

 Chloe nodded was going to say something when she went still and Sabrina turned and saw Lila coming into the room talking with Nathaniel as she walked in.  There’s the bitch in question, I hope Adrien stays away, the research we did last night showed us a lot of options to choose from, a good program with group projects is just what we need. Chloe thought as she looked down at Lila and it took everything she had learned as a Mayor’s daughter to keep the disgust she had for her off her face.

 Alix looked over Lila and frowned.  If she really fell then she’s recovered faster than anyone could…… I so don’t like this, any of it.  And if muscles if right and this place did something illegal yesterday then I might have to rethink my scholastic future here. Alix thought as she looked at Lila as she moved towards the gathering around Ayla’s desk.

 “Hey Lila, you know your walking a lot for someone who fell down the stairs.” Alix said before Lila could say anything.  The others looked at her and she smiled the same way she had before she told one of her stories Alix realized with a jolt as Lila started to speak.

 “I’ve always had a high pain threshold really; I remember once when I broke my leg in a football game and still help make the winning goal!” Lila said as the others only looked at her in disbelief.  

 “American or European football?” Juleka asked and Lila looked at her inconfusion.

 “What’s the difference?” Lila asked and Rose only face palmed and Juleka looked at her with a hard eye.

 “European Football is called soccer in America.”  Juleka said as the others looked from her to Lila and noticed Lila kept smiling the way she had when she began her story. Before anyone could say anything Miss Bustier came into the room.

 “Students I’m sorry but could you all please take your seats, we have a lot to do today.” Miss Bustier said as the students all sat down at their seats before she continued.  “First thing first I’m sorry to say that we have to pick a new president, anyone who wants the job please tell me when class ends. So I thought we would start today with…..”  

 “Why do we need to pick a new class president, that’s Marinette’s job!”  Ivan inturpted as he stared down at their teacher as the others with the exception of Lila nodded.

 “You were all there when she was expelled Ivan, how we feel about it is immaterial we have to move on. There are things that the class president has to do that allows our school to function as it does and every class needs one.”  Miss Bustier said as she looked at Ivan before Kim spoke up.  

 “Yeah but he couldn’t have expelled her like that, it wasn’t right or lawful.”  Kim said stubbornly as he crossed his arms and looked at Miss Bustier and who opened her mouth before Lila cut in.

 “Kim how could you!  After Marinette assaulted me how could you want her back?!” Lila cried as she covered her face and started to sniffle as she covered her eyes with her hands. Juleka frowned as she looked at this and looked down as Rose grabbed her arm, seeing a fierce look in her eyes.

 Alix frowned as she looked at Lila and didn’t see any tears going down her face and wondered if this was all Lila was, a fraud who knew how to manipulate people.  If she took us for a ride then I’ll beat her myself, no I’ll testify against her! Alix thought as Kim looked at Lila with a frown on his face.

 “That doesn’t matter Lila.” Kim said sternly.  “Its Marinette right to tell her side of the story, something that no one gave her a chance to yesterday.”

 Miss Bustier could only look on as the class descended into chaos as they realized that yes, no one had listened or even let Marinette talk about what had happened.  Kim kept his eyes on Lila and what he didn’t see told him more then what he did.

 “That’s enough everyone! Clearly you all feel strongly about this so I will compromise, the post will be opened until enough of you decide we need a new one, is that all right? Now lets begin class.”  Miss Bustier said as she turned around.  Alya sent a text to Nino and Rose and when her phone buzzed she smiled as she looked down at it and grinned.  Hang on Mari we’ll going to clear your name, I promise.  But I think I might have to apologize about not believing you about Lila, I might have been wrong about her.  She thought as she half listened to Miss. Bustier’s leason, not noticing Lila watching her from the corner of her eyes and frowning that Adrien wasn’t here.

  Lila looked around the room and scowled.  They all should have forgotten about Mari-Trash by now, and why’d that Alix bring up my ‘fall’.  Maybe I should find her alone and tell her the truth, I’m sure she’d be smarter then Mari-trash was. Lila thought and looked up as the lunch bell rang. Before she could do more then stand up and looked at Alix Rose was there looking at her.  

 “Lila, I was wondering if I could talk to you about a charity a friend of mine was thinking about starting and I figured with your expertise you’d be the perfect person to talk to about how to structure it the right way!” Rose said as Lila turned her head and saw Alix as she left the room and bit down a curse before turning back to Rose and smiled.

 “Of course I’d be happy to help you Rose!  Why I remember when I was named the treasure for the save the spotted birds once when Mama was stationed in Mexico……” As Lila walked away Kim looked at her before going to Alya.

 “Your idea?” Kim asked and Alya nodded as she got up.

 “Yeah, Rose will give you some time to go and talk to Mr. Damacolis, me I’m going to talk to Marinette and hope she forgives me for being taken in by Lila.” Alya said as Kim winced.

 “Sure she’s lying now?” Kim said as Alya looked down and nodded after a moment.

 “I went over everything that she said and most of them were she said he said things, but the napkin is pretty damming.” Alya said and he remembered what Lila had said how it had almost taken Max’s eye out and winced as Nino came up to them. “Want to come with Nino?”

 “Yeah, I’ll buy something from them and see if Adrien is at an emergency photoshoot or something, he usually text’s me if he won’t be here so he can copy my notes.” Nino said as he joined Ayla.

 “Good luck.”  Kim said as Alya nodded back at him.  He turned and walked towards the courtyard entrance to the classroom and stopped when he saw Ivan waiting for him.

 “Going to talk to Damacolis about how Marinette is due a hearing by a third party?”  Ivan asked and Kim nodded.

 “Yeah, how to do you know about that big guy?”  Kim asked and Ivan shrugged and looked away.

 “I’ve always been tall for my age, but once or twice people tried to get me expelled for what I might do, a hearing was always held and it was shot down.”  Ivan said as Km looked at him before wincing himself.

 “Oh….” Kim said and looked down and started to feel terable.  “Dude, I’m sorry I gave you a hard time before Stoneheart man, I really am.”

 Ivan put a hand on Kim’s hand and looked down at him and smiled.  “A lot of people did over the years; you at least apologized about it afterwards and you mean it.”

 Kim looked at Ivan and nodded as the two were silent as they walked towards Mr. Damacolis office and both of them hoped he would believe them.  But as they reached the office they stopped when they heard Mr. Damacolis’s voice from within.

 “This is my school and what I say goes!”  Mr. Damacolis voice thundered from the office’s closed door and Ivan and Kim looked at each other.

 “Wonder who he talking to?” Ivan asked before a voice, Aurora’s voice came back.

 “Sir, that doesn’t matter, they are rules about this!  You aren’t allowed to do that without a hearing!”  Aurora’s voice shot back and Ivan and Kim looked at each other.

 “Hey isn’t Aurora the class president for Ms. Mendeleiev class?”  Ivan asked and Kim nodded and winced as he heard someone slam a fist onto a desk.

 “OUT NOW!  Any more and I’ll suspend you for talking against the authority of the principle!”  Mr. Damacolis thundered before he opened the door and saw Kim and Ivan standing there.

 “And what do you two want?”    he growled as he saw Kim and Ivan as they stood there and watched as Aurora and Mirelle came out of the office and Aurora had a scowl on her face as Mirelle only looked ahead blank faced.

 “We….” Kim began and only looked at the angry look on Damacolis’s face and the scowl on Aurora’s and tried to think of anything to say when Ivan spoke up.

 “We were passing by on the way to the upstairs boy’s room sir, a dare that Kim could spend a day only using that one.”  Ivan cut in and Kim nodded after a minute.

 “Well lunch is almost over, so good day!” Mr. Damacolis said before he closed the door to his office and Aurora looked back and was about to explode when Mirelle put a hand on her arm and shook her head.  Ivan put a hand on her other shoulder and gestured towards the side passage and he and Kim walked away with the girls following them.

 “Was that about Marinette?” Kim asked once they had moved far enough so the principle couldn’t hear them and the two girls nodded their heads.

 “I heard what happened over the school chat and well I couldn’t believe it, when I heard from Myele what happened I told Aurora and she was so mad.” Mirelle said as Aurora nodded as she scowled.

 “The legality about it, right?” Ivan asked and Aurora nodded, looking so mad Kim looked around for a butterfly.

 “We did a group project about the expulsion process a few months ago for Civics, comparing it to the adult court system and I knew as soon as I heard about it that nothing was done correctly, I mean it was a travesty!” Aurora said with a scowl as spat as she looked back at the office.  Stupid owl!  He’s on a power trip and doesn’t think anything through and if he thinks he’ll get away with that.  She thought as Mirelle nodded.

`

“Yeah, if Ms. Mendeleiev hadn’t taken our class to that field trip I’m sure she would have brought up a lot of things to stop that before it went that far!”  Mirelle said.

 “She feels that bad and out of sorts about it?”  Kim asked shocked at the fact the strictest teacher in school was reacting this way.

 “Yeah, when Ms. Mendeleiev heard what happened this morning she put a video on and it took us a few minutes to stop and ask her what was wrong.  She couldn’t believe that Miss Bustier just sat back and did nothing!” Mirelle said as she looked towards Miss Bustier’s classroom.

 “I’ve worked with Marinette on the school council, she wouldn’t do that!  And we’ve been talking about getting locks for weaks before this happened.” Aurora piped up and Kim and Ivan looked at each other with a smile on their faces.

 Ivan looked at Kim and they smirked at each other.  So we have other allies and maybe a teacher too, this is perfect I can’t wait to talk to the others about it.  and having a teacher on our side might help get her back! Ivan thought excitedly.

 “Come on girls, let’s go and talk with a few friends of ours, I think we’re all on the same side here.” Kim said as he grinned at the girls and as they walked away.

 “You two should come and talk to Miss. Mendeleiev with us.”  Aurora said as she pulled her phone out and turned off the recording app and grinned darkly as she moved.  Everything you just said is going to come home to roost and its hunting season, target owl.  She thought as she followed Kim and Ivan.