Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette was more than she seemed. Two years before the appearance of Hawkmoth, she was a queen ruling over the school. She was fair and just to her subjects, providing for them and ensuring that no harm was done to them. She was respected by all and feared by those who tried to turn on her. The traitors, as she called them, had no place in her court and very few would actually take on the trials to earn back their place in the court. Marinette had her own prime court of people, those who she trusted to help manage her kingdom. Chloé was her right hand man, ensuring that bullies got punished and that things got done. Sabrina was there to gather information and organize and manage. Everything was perfectly fine. They ensured that the school was a bully free zone, and while everyone didn’t get along with everyone they learned how to co-exist and act professional with their peers.

Yes everything was fine until the questions started. Why there was no bullies. Why there seem to be unspoken rules. To not risk getting her role removed, Marinette hatched a plan. She would sink into the background, from the protector to the victim. Chloé would become a bully, using her dad as mayor to get things done and stop the principal from digging up the past. Everyone knew of this change, and they listened. Others stepped forward to volunteer for the blond to ‘bully’ them. Still, Marinette would be the main target. Even if the words were fake and if the actions were staged, she still had a duty to protect her people. In the two years that followed, the discussions of the past had stopped. Marinette successfully was hidden in the background and played the victim. Then Hawkmoth came.

Her class was sent home after that stone creature appeared. She dropped her smile once she made it to the safety of her room. Hiding her true self from her parents had been hard, but worth it. They might assume that it was bad behavior and have her change it. She sat in her desk chair and spun to face the desk. She figured with the extra time she might as well work on the dress that Chloé had commissioned from her. However, she noticed the black and red box laid out on the desk next to her. While Chloé was one for pranks, this didn’t seem like her style. It could be from an old enemy, but Marinette’s parents would have told her if someone had visited. Cautiously, she slowly opened the box. She was able to not drop it as a glowing ball of red light appeared. From the ball of light came a red, ladybug like, creature. She smiled and clapped her paws together.

“Hello! My name is Tikki and I’ll be your kwami.”

Marinette had to giggle as she saw Tikki’s sparkling eyes and heard her joyful voice. She also noticed how the kwami was looking around her room with curiosity.

“I would be more surprised, but considering the fact that a stone monster attacked my classes today, anything can happen.”

Those words seemed to snap Tikki back to face her.

“Oh right! The akuma. You can use the miraculous to transform into a superhero.”

Tikki pointed to the inside of the box, where a pair of earrings lay. Marinette put the box down and began to put the earrings in as Tikki continued her explanation.

“My powers allow you to summon an object, by saying the words ‘lucky charm.’ You use the object to help you fight the akumas that get sent out. You’ll only have five minutes before you detransform after calling on your charm though, so do it carefully. All akumas will have an object that has the butterfly in it. Those butterflies need to be purified to prevent it from turning someone into an akuma. Once you purify the akuma, you can cast a miraculous cure to repair all damage done. Transformation words are ‘spots on’ and detransformation words are ‘spots off’. Any questions?”

Marinette nodded, letting all the info sink in. She had at least ten questions, but considering the fact that there was an akuma loose in the streets causing havoc, they could wait. There was one question that she wanted answered though.

“Am I doing this alone?”

Tikki shook her head no, as she twirled in the air.

“You’ll be getting a partner! They’ll have the cat miraculous. Plagg should be explaining the same stuff to him so he might be out already.”

At least she would have someone. While she was used to taking on most of the work, having a companion in this would be nice.

“Well Tikki, spots on!”

The kwami laughed as she spun into the earrings. Marinette couldn’t help but let out a gasp as the feeling of power rushed over her. Once the light died down, she walked towards the mirror. She was decked out in red and black. She had on a black, cropped jacket, the illusion of black knee high boots, and black gloves. All the rest of her outfit was red with black spots. A dark red mask was across her face, and her eyes were a brighter blue than her normal ones and seemed to shine. Her hair was longer but remained in her twin tails. Her red ribbons seemed to move around as if there was a light breeze. At her hip was a red and black spotted yo-yo. She turned and made her way up to her balcony. She looked out, a smile on her lips as she grabbed and readied her yo-yo.

“Alright. Time to stop this villain.”

Adrien was more than he seemed. Ever since he was a child, he was sheltered and expected to behave like the perfect child his father wanted him to be. The only people who saw him for who he truly was were his mom, Chloé, and Félix. He was book smart, but also street smart. He could read people like an open book, although no matter how much he tried he couldn’t figure out what his father was hiding from him. The way his mom’s sickness didn’t seem to concern him, the way he brushes it off like everything was just in his head. It all was fishy. Then his mom disappeared. He had no idea why she left, she just did. He also noted how his father and his assistant, Nathalie, didn’t seem too concerned. Adrien was also rebellious. Since his father refused to treat him like a kid, he acted in the shadows as his worst enemy. Moving papers around, increasing his workers pay, writing in more benefits, anything that would benefit other people while spiting his dad.

He was working from the shadows, but all the staff knew the truth. That might have been the reason why they would work quicker on shoots to get the full take yet have a long break so that he could invite Chloé over to hang out with her. The workers knew when his birthday was, could tell when he was upset with his father, when the work he had was getting too much. They would give him gifts, cheer him up, and offer to help in any way they could. One of them jokingly gave him the suggestion to sneak out to go to school, thinking that most kids would be grateful to not have to attend classes and instead stay home. They never expected him to take it seriously.

Adrien got to work. Researching on schools that he could walk to, which would accept his admission with the least questions asked, and one that could help to keep him there when his father eventually finds out and tries to pull him out. Chloé was the one who suggested Dupont, the school that she attends. She promised that she could get him in, no questions asked. All he needed was a piece of signed paper. Slipping the paper into a stack of preapproved papers for his father to sign was easy, as was getting it back before Nathalie could discover it. Everything was set and approved. Adrien would be attending Dupont from now on, and he wouldn’t crave into his father’s wishes for this.

He thought that he had snuck out undetected. He acted normal, like nothing was amiss. He could tell that his father and Nathalie didn’t suspect anything. In fact, they seemed to be distracted by something. He ignored that, and carefully snuck out before running to his new school. He reached the steps and stopped, smiling at his victory. As he took a step forward, he heard a sharp voice behind him.

“Adrien! Get in the car now!”

He frowned and paused, but didn’t turn around. It would be now or never.

“No. I’m not gonna be stuck in that mansion all day and only come out to make dad money. If you don’t let me go to school, I’ll turn to ASE. Don't believe me? I’ll email you the proof I have. You can test me if you want, but you’ve been warned.”

Only after he finished his speech did he turn to look back at her. Nathalie looked shocked, clearly not expecting that. He turned fully around, adjusting his bag as he cocked his head to the side before speaking again.

“The only reason why I haven’t reported to the ASE before was because I was behaving like a good child like mom wanted me to. But she’s gone now, and I have nothing holding me back. Wanna try me?”

Adrien eyed his bodyguard warily. He expected him to try and capture him, but he only had a small smile on his face. He was waiting for this day. The day when Adrien would snapback. When it was clear that Nathalie had no more words, Adrien turned and walked into the school. Victory felt good. He failed to notice an old man, watching on with a knowing smile. Adrien walked up the stairs towards the classroom, remembering where it was from Chloé’s rambles. He looked inside and noticed that class had already started. He felt compelled to leak out a report to ASE anyways out of spite, but decided to refrain. He knocked on the door before walking in.

“Sorry I’m late. I got held up.”

He looked around, noticing very few familiar faces. At least Chloé and Sabrina were here. The teacher, Miss Bustier if he remembered correctly, merely smiled at him.

“It’s no problem Adrien. Please take a seat.”

He walked over and sat in front of Chloé and next to another kid. The kid looked over and smiled at him.

“My name’s Nino.” The blond smiled back and took his hand. Shaking it he replied.

“Adrien. It’s nice to meet you.”

Class continued on as normal. Well normal except for when a giant stone thing attacked them. He merely sighed, upset that he would have to face his dad so soon. Nino noticed something was off and patted his shoulder.

“It’s fine, my dude. The police will handle it.”

Oh right, he didn’t tell Nino about his home life yet. Well that could be a discussion for another time. He smiled back at his new friend and nodded.

“I’m sure they will. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He went into his locker to drop off his books when a black and red box came tumbling out. He checked the locker number, ensuring it was indeed his locker, before picking up the black box. It had some design on it that felt familiar. He ran his fingers over the design before flicking the top open. He fumbled with it as a glowing ball of green light floated out.

“What the…” He mumbled, but the weirdness didn’t stop there.

From the light came a black creature that looked like a cat. He stayed floating in the air and looked around.

“Huh, I thought Fu was gonna put me in your bedroom. Oh well.”

The being stretched and Adrien looked around, sure that Nathalie must have slipped something into his breakfast.

“What exactly are you?”

The creature bowed and gave a smirk. Adrien knew that look. Whatever this creature would do would be mischievous. He mentally prepared for the ride.

“The name’s Plagg. I am a kwami, more specifically the black cat kwami. God of destruction and chaos.”

Adrien perked up at that, and allowed his own smirk to cross his face.

“Chaos you say?”

Plagg let out a crackle before flying towards the opened box.

“Oh I’m gonna enjoy this. For now though, we got a villain to stop. That stone creature is actually a person who’s been akumatized. You will use this ring to transform and save them. You wield the powers of destruction. Your main power, and the one to focus on for now, is Cataclysm. With it, you can destroy an object. Try not to hit a person or an akuma directly with it, it can be lethal and the miraculous cure can only heal so much. There’s different ways to use it, but I’ll explain that later. Transformation words are ‘claws out’ and detransformation words are ‘claws in.’ Once you activate your powers, you’ll have five minutes before you force detransform. Any questions?”

Adrien shrugged and slipped the ring onto his finger. This seemed like something his dad would be against, so of course he’s all for it.

“Not really, besides from what the miraculous cure is.”

Plagg smiled and sighed lovingly.

“There’s another full time hero. She’ll have my other half, Tikki. She’ll be a ladybug themed hero. She’s waiting for you now.”

Another hero huh. Hopefully they get along. Adrien shook off any feelings of doubt before speaking.

“Alright then, let’s meet this lady bird. Plagg, claws out!”

The two heroes made their way out onto the streets of Paris. Both seemed to have a natural instinct towards their powers. They both followed the path of destruction, leading them to meet each other. The cat looked over his partner and nodded. He was a son of a fashion designer, and appreciated her taste.

“Hello lovely. What’s your name?”

The girl gave a smirk, nodding in approval of her partner. Here’s something important to remember, Tikki and Plagg forgot to explain the most important rule to their chosen ones before they transformed. And here they were about to break it.

“I’m Marinette, but for a superhero name… eh I’m not feeling it today. Let’s just go with Ladybug. How about you, kitty?”

He smiled back and took her hand. Going into a bow and giving her a hand kiss he answered.

“I’m Adrien. I actually go to the same school as you I believe. Françoise Dupont right? For me as a superhero I was thinking… Chat Noir.”

Marinette let out a snort.

“Black cat huh? Well I guess I can’t complain. Let’s go then, we got a villain to fight.”

It was only after the battle was done and that the akuma got purified that they discovered their mistake. They raced back to the school together, landing in the back before detrasnforming. The two looked at each other, and were about to speak when someone interrupted them.

“Oh kwami, we’re dead.”

They looked over to the black kwami, who had it’s head in his paws. The red kwami rushed over and patted his back.

“It’s fine! Master Fu won’t even notice.”

“But it’s literally the one rule they weren’t supposed to break and we didn’t even tell them.”

The two humans looked at each other and then back at their kwamis. The bluenette decided to take the lead on this.

“What rule?”

Plagg groaned and looked up to the girl. Sighing, he responded.

“You weren’t supposed to reveal to each other. Now we’re supposed to tell Master Fu and have him take back your miraculous.”

Oh, that would have been nice to know beforehand. However, no. They weren’t gonna do that. Tikki and Plagg were excited to be paired with these two humans. They complimented them nicely, and in case of an emergency, could handle each other’s miraculous just fine. Adrien and Marinette also didn’t want to just stop after one battle. They worked well together, being able to fight for the first time without even doing much communication. So the four looked at each other, and it was Adrien who let a smile crack.

“Well, what if we fake not knowing? This Master Fu knows who we are right? Well what if we just keep up appearances.”

Marinette smiled and nodded.

“I was thinking of incorporating a new crush into my persona. I’d be honored to crush on my partner’s regular form. Girl who fell head over heels in love with the new kid. A classic trope.”

The blond placed his hand on his chest.

“As for me, I fell in love with my absolutely stunning partner. How could I not? Smart, sassy, always knows what to do and has a heart of gold. It’s hard to not catch feelings.”

Tikki and Plagg looked between them before smiling. Yes, this would work out fine. Master Fu wouldn’t suspect a thing.

The next day as the rain poured down, Marinette stood outside the doors to Dupont. She looked around, as if judging if she should make a run out of the rain or wait it out. Walking towards her was Adrien, holding a closed umbrella. He looked over to his classmate and noticed her lack of said umbrella. With a smile, he opened it and held out his own before speaking.

“Here. My ride’s here anyways.”

The girl turned and faced him. Her eyes sparkled and she blushed, taking the umbrella from him.

"I’m new here and it’s my first time ever being at a real school before. I hope we can be good friends.”

Marinette’s fingers somehow found the button and closed the umbrella on herself. She fumbled around as he let out a polite giggle. With one last look at the girl, Adrien waved and walked away. Tikki peeked up at her chosen one as the bluenette hid her blush with her hand. Plagg popped up from the blonde's shirt pocket before speaking.

“First day of school and we already have two love birds.”

He shook his head as he smiled.

“No Plagg. She’s just a friend.”

He stepped into his car, and Marinette watched him drive off before walking back to her house. The old man stood off to the side with his own umbrella, watching as the scene unfolds.

“Those two are made for each other.”

Wayzz didn’t respond. He could tell what was up. They found each other out. As he looked up to his Master, he decided not to tell him. They could always use the Rabbit miraculous if something bad becomes of this. For now, he’ll let them have their fun.

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks, a lot happened. First was a lot of explaining and planning. When Adrien saw Chloé bullying Marinette, he was compelled to make his childhood friend stop. He soon discovered, though, that while his attempts were appreciated they weren’t needed. Chloé sat him down on her bed as she had Sabrina call someone.

“I know that you want to protect her, but trust me when I say it’s not needed.”

Adrien felt a surge to protect Marinette and defend her even more. Even if he didn’t know she was his partner, it felt wrong to let his new friend get bullied by his oldest friend. He just couldn’t understand why Chloé would bully. From what she told him of her past school years, she fought against bullies. However before he could refute, a familiar voice rang through the room.

“We can tell him.”

He turned to see Marinette walking in with Sabrina in tow. In the bluenette’s hand was a bag. She handed it to Chloé, who took out its contents. Inside was a bright yellow dress with black lace. Standing up and walking towards the bathroom, the blond spoke.

“You explain. I wanna try this on.”

Marinette took Chloé’s spot on the bed and relaxed. Sabrina pulled up a chair and sat down as well. His partner’s eyes shined with mischief, much like how his kwami’s eyes looked most of the time.

“So, I guess I should start from the beginning. So, at Françoise Dupont… I’m a queen. I ruled over the school and was well respected, but I was fair. If you didn’t bully people then you were fine. If you didn’t like someone then that was fine as long as you didn’t go out of your way to hurt them. Chloé and Sabrina were ruling with me, helping me manage and deal with everything.

“Everything was fine until the principal started to question it. He wanted to know why there were no problems, exactly what was causing the peace. In order to protect myself, it was decided that Chloé would become a bully. I would be her main target. That happened two years ago, and everything turned out fine. Mr. Damocles doesn’t question the students and there are no true bullies. It sucks that I can’t hang out with Chlo and Sabrina at school but we still have girls nights.”

Adrien watched as Marinette continued to explain her past. How her shyness and clumsiness were to hide her in the shadows, how she still has support from the school but won’t use it unless she needs to. He could only feel impressed. He knew how much energy it took to act as something you’re not. Once she was finished explaining everything, with Sabrina popping in a few times to add details, Chloé walked out from the bathroom. Marinette smiled and stood up, making her way to inspect the dress. She hummed and tugged at several spots.

“I don’t even have to change anything.” She mumbled and Chloé let out a laugh.

“You’re that good. It will make fittings with clients go a lot quicker. So Adrikins, are you confused by anything Mari said?”

He shook his head no, walking over to join the two.

“It makes sense.”

He considered asking if Marinette informed Chloé on their agreement, but thought better of it. The less that people know the truth the better. Marinette smiled. She was lucky that she chose to inform Tikki of her past school life before today, otherwise she would have been nervous on how the kwami would react.
It had started off simple, with Tikki listening in great interest as Marinette talked about her life. The kwami, being a literal creature of creation, loved seeing all of her projects.

“All my ladybugs in the past have been kind and helpful, however the ones who often surpass the rest are very creative. It’s especially helpful for using the lucky charm in a way that the enemy can’t detect.”

Marinette paused at those words. She watched as Tikki floated around the dress she was working on. As if sensing something was off, the kwami looked up with concern.

“What’s wrong Marinette?”

She debated if she should tell her companion the truth. About who she really was at school. Ladybug was supposed to be the hero, one who puts others before themselves and is humble. Not turning to force if they don’t have to. However, seeing the kwami’s bright eyes flare of concern melted her heart.

“Well, you know how at school I’m clumsy and shy?”

Tikki nodded, encouraging her to go on.

“Well… that’s me acting. In reality, I’m actually really popular. I was… a queen ruling over the school. I ensured that people didn’t bully, that everyone had at least someone to be their friend. However the school was starting to ask questions so I stepped down. Chloé and Sabrina were actually my closest companions. Since Chloé was the mayor’s daughter, we decided to have her become my bully. Most of the other students who she bullies agreed to it beforehand, but I wanted to ensure that no one gets hurt too much. The three of us will still hang out though, we just can’t risk being together in public. So that’s the truth.”

She looked over to the kwami, expecting some lecture or belittling. However Tikki only looked confused.

“Why is that worrying you?”

Did she really not care if her holder has a past like that? Marinette waved her hands around, trying to think of how to explain it.

“I mean, isn’t Ladybug supposed to be… good?”

Tikki nodded with understanding.

“Oh I get it. Honestly Marinette, your past doesn’t mean that the miraculous gets revoked. Besides, you helped people. You were a leader. If anything you’ll also be compatible with Pollen, but with your creativity and smart planning you make the perfect Ladybug. And if a time ever comes where you resume your role over the school, as long as you don’t abuse your Ladybug status or cause a bunch of akumas then you’re fine.”

That was great! With a relieved sigh, Marinette smiled as she got up to rummage in her fabric scraps bin.

“Well now that that’s settled, how about I make you something?”

Tikki squealed in delight and rushed over to look at her options. Marinette felt very fond of her kwami, as she happily picked through the fabric and giggled about the different patterns and textures.

Adrien was enjoying having this little cat god in his life. Ever since he rebelled openly by going to school, Nathalie has been keeping a closer eye on him. She didn’t tell his father about the threat, but did convince his father to let him go to school. Still, she was keeping a closer eye on any important documents, and had tried to search through his stuff.

However, now that he had a floating creature, who couldn’t be caught on film and loved to cause mischief, he could still do pranks. Nathalie tried to put cameras in his room? Plagg destroyed each and every one. When Nathalie confronted Adrien on how the cameras got destroyed, he played confused. For good measure, he threw in how putting cameras in his room where he gets change could be considered child porn. That quickly stopped her from putting up anymore.

Plagg would sneak into his father’s office and move around papers and documents, making Gabriel and Nathalie rush to correct things. He was tempted to make them think the house was haunted, but refrained. He could do that later on. Instead he focused on small things that could get him out of the house more.

Despite being unable to be detected by technology, Plagg could still use it. This resulted in unknown schedule changes to ensure that he wouldn’t miss school or so that he would have free time to meet with friends. Honestly he was surprised that Nathalie didn’t try to corner him down on why he was ordering so much cheese. His companion’s eating demands were easy enough to meet thanks to his high allowance, plus it was another way to spite his father. The only bad thing was all the akumas.

It seemed like Hawkmoth wanted to target his classmates, as Miss Bustier’s classroom turned into an akuma hotspot. Luckily traveling and dealing with the akumas didn’t take too long. Him and Ladybug were in sync, and he could read his partner enough that talking wasn’t even needed. It was worrying though just how many times Mr. Pigeon has happened. Marinette was working out ideas on how to help him not get akumatized, but school work had been increasing due to the sudden attacks. At least it was believable that he was hiding during attacks since most happened around him.

Although he had worried about the staff asking questions when he would run off during photoshoots, they've actually been covering for him. It also seemed like his dad has stepped further back from his already measly ‘father’ role, and even Nathalie’s been distracted. He’ll take it though. It’s way easy to get away with things without constant watch. Plus his bodyguard was fine if he ran off as long as he texted him where he was. The man has seen him practice fighting with Felix before, he knows that he’s capable of self defense if needed.

Besides the attacks, life was pretty good. He found out that Marinette and Chloé are actually friends and have been getting to spend more time with them, even if they have to do it in private to not expose themselves. When he first heard about Marinette ruling the school, he was not surprised. It would make sense for her to be a leader for justice. Although he didn’t know why they would bother to give that up. Even if the school was asking questions surely Chloé’s mayor card would stop that.

He had guessed that maybe some small part of Marinette just wanted out of the constant spotlight. Sinking into the shadows was something he craved for some days, even more since his dad thought it was a good idea to plaster his face all over Paris. He cringed just thinking about that ridiculous ad. And of course Plagg and Marinette refused to let it die.

When Marinette said that she was gonna have a crush on him, she wasn’t kidding. Her stuttering and clumsiness was upped by ten. The amount of photos she had of him seemed to increase with each visit, although she mentioned that it was mainly Alya’s doing. Plus turns out her friends started to hold meetings to get her to confess to him. She would tell him about the schemes after, and together they would laugh at how stupid they were.

Plagg enjoyed seeing both her creative and chaotic side coming through, especially when she stole his phone. Yeah that happened, and five times now if he was remembering correctly. Why Alya would encourage all this was beyond him. He would be more concerned if he didn’t already know all this, and even so it was scary how well Marinette could steal something and return it without him even knowing it. He would have to talk her into being his partner in crime for something big in the future.

They spent a lot of time together. Although they couldn’t really talk at school, they would sneak out and see each other. Most times they were their superhero personas, other times they would sneak out to the other’s house. Most times would be him visiting Marinette. She didn’t have to worry about someone barging in and he didn’t want his dad or Nathalie discovering that a hero of Paris visits him.

It was relaxing. They would talk about new schemes to keep up their performance, about the little things that bothered them, about their likes and dislikes. It was peaceful. Even Plagg and Tikki would talk to them and talk about their own pasts. Who they belonged to, about the events they saw, and about the Guardian.

“Usually the guardian would choose our holders by giving special tests. However we have the ability to sense who would be most compatible with us, which will make it easier for you to use us.”

Plagg explained this while sitting in front of them. Tikki was zipping around the room, twirling around in a mini dress Marinette had made her.

“Yes! And most times users would be allowed to know their partner or group member’s identity, but for some reason Master Fu was against it.”

Tikki plopped a bowler hat onto Plagg and giggled. He watched her lovingly. She used to be so stressed out with doing the righteous thing and being the responsible one, but once he stepped up she was allowed to step back. It was a lot more work than he was used to, but it was so worth it to see Tikki relaxed. Getting back to the matter at hand, Plagg looked between the two humans before continuing.

“It was mainly because Nooroo’s powers can allow for Hawkmoth to read your minds if you ever get caught by an akuma, both the butterfly or a villain that could mind control you. He figured that it would be better to have only one person exposed than both.”

That made some amount of sense. But Marinette was a skilled thinker. Whenever she saw a problem, she ran through twelve different ideas before determining the solution that would be the most beneficial and less likely to backfire. And Adrien and her were both smart enough to not just dive into a situation without taking into account the powers the akuma has.

“That sounds good on paper, but being able to comfort each other in both forms and covering for each other is better. We can make sure we don’t feel trapped and at risk for akumarization. Plus if an akuma targets one of us, then we can know if the other is not able to come.”

That has happened multiple times now, and each time it was nice to not have to worry about the other waiting for them before acting. As for mind control akumas, well they worked to protect each other so that neither would be hit. Unfortunately, there was some circumstances that didn’t allow for one of them not to be hit. Marinette would have to act worried as she visited Master Fu for a miraculous. It was simple enough to act though, and fueled by her protective nature those fights ended sooner.

She ensured that Adrien knew every miraculous holder, their miraculous’s powers, their kwami’s refuel food, etc. Anything Master Fu taught her would be immediately told to Adrien. When Tikki first expressed some worry about this, Marinette simply argued that if something bad happens to her that he would need to step up and take over. It sucked that Master Fu couldn’t just teach them both, but he was concerned about his location being exposed. Plus it kinda made sense since Adiren did have a bodyguard to worry about.

Time passed, and with that some major changes happened. They had a close call with Hawkmoth almost getting the miracle box by using the Feast amok, but after that Master Fu fell ill. He met up with the two of them one last time and handed over all his notes and other miraculous themed items to them. Then he gave over his guardianship to Ladybug. He got better after that, but he had erased his mind of all miraculous related things so as to not accidentally expose their identity.

Together Marinette and Adrien helped Fu reunite with his old lover and watched as the Startrain pulled out. It was decided to keep all the things in Marinette’s house, and Adrien helped supply her with security boxes until she had time to build a proper security defense system.

Despite losing Master Fu, the two were fine. Hawkmoth didn’t get his hands on Master Fu’s notes, meaning that he couldn’t fix the peacock miraculous so amoks were few and far between. The only bad thing was someone by the name of Lila Rossi. She showed up in the middle of the school year, supposedly due to her mother being transferred to Paris for an assignment.

Her arrival would have been nothing special if it wasn’t for the fact that she lied with every breath. Her lies were so stupid, that it was a wonder why their class didn’t discover the truth within the first five minutes of class. When Marinette heard about the pitiful excuse to sit in the front, she had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. If Alya really wanted to throw her in the back to get to sit with her boyfriend then whatever. Adrien, on the other hand, hated it. He tried to get himself to sit in the back with Marinette or even if him and Marinette switched seats, but he wasn’t listened to.

Marinette tried to point out the obvious holes in Lila’s stories, but got told that she was jealous. Yeah, maybe doing that nice girl with a major crush persona screwed her just a bit. When she went to the bathroom to refresh and rant to Tikki, Lila came in and made her threat.

For a few seconds, Marinette wondered what it would be like just to revert back to her old self. Throw a bigger threat to Lila and walk away. Would she even believe her? Probably not since she doesn’t seem all that smart. Oh how funny it would be to watch her realize what she had done too late. But Marinette was supposed to be Ladybug, a hero for justice and not pettiness, so she gave Lila a warning of her own.

“You don’t have to do this Lila. If you are honest with the class and don’t abuse their kindness, then everyone can be friends. However I don’t like bullies, and I don’t like that you’re lying for your own gain, so stop it.”

Marinette was surprised that Lila tried to frame her for several things. Cheating on a test? Yeah like she would ever do that. The answer sheet was nowhere in her bag, thank you Tikki for disposing of that, and for good measure she even said that she would redo the test with a different version under watch. Accused for stealing? Nope sorry Lila, turns out you had it in your bag all along. Lila did try to frame Marinette for pushing her down the stairs, but unfortunately for her Marinette was with Ms. Meendevili at that time to discuss homework. It would have been clear to a casual observer that Lila had it out for the bluenette. However the class was more than willing to believe the new girl over her, and often told Marinette off.

Marinette sketched at her desk at home, trying to ignore how stupid her class mates were. She had checked and it turns out only some students in her class actually believed Lie-la Rossi. The rest of the school knew she was lying and even offered Marinette support. After all, it would be the time for the queen to return soon with a new bully on the loose. She smiled as she heard Adrien dropping in through her skylight. He dropped his transformation and climbed down to see her.

“Okay. So I honestly do not care if you aren’t concerned with her, because I’m absolutely done with little miss liar and want her gone. If we don’t do something soon, then we’re gonna find out what my cataclysm does to a human.”

She couldn’t help herself. Marinette began to laugh uncontrollably. Tikki flew over to comfort the blond as he flopped over on her charise with a groan. Marinette spun in her chair and pointed her pencil out towards him.

“I’ve been planning but haven’t been able to do much without knowing your side of everything. What has the vixen done this time?”

The other kwamis gathered around the edging of the room to give them space but be able to jump in to offer comfort if needed. Wayzz and Barkk eyed the door and windows to make sure no akumas would sneak in.

“For some reason my dad has been insistent in having her on at photoshoots. All of the staff hate her! She’s not even good at modeling, she just clings to me the whole time.”

Marinette nearly snapped her pencil. She was clinging to him? That wouldn’t do.

“Didn’t you say you threatened Nathalie to be able to go to school? Why not try another threat?”

She was surprised that he would give his hand like that, and that Nathalie wouldn’t warn her boss. Adrien sat up and looked at her, working on calming his breathing.
“I tried something subtle but it’s not working, and the last thing I need is that brat trying to get Nino and them to turn on me. Or have her report to my dad and get them banned from seeing me.”

Oh right, she almost forgot about that. The whole reason why Lila even started to model was because Gabriel hired her to watch his son. Why he would let someone who stole from him, break into his house and office, and push herself onto his son watch over said son was beyond her. They had decided to gather more evidence of hidden workplace harassment and she asked Chloé to intervene when Lila tried to latch onto him at school.

Still, she was causing them problems. Adrien was becoming more and more stressed out by her very presence, and she doesn’t seem to understand any warnings that are given to her. Plus she has been trying to turn the class against Marinette, and while she doesn’t particularly care it was causing unnecessary work. Plus the school was waiting with baited breath to see when she’ll return. Perhaps Lila needed to be knocked down a peg by the school’s queen.

Marinette smiled as she made her way to sit next to Adrien. The blond leaned into her as she petted his hair. After a few moments of silence, she spoke.

“Okay, here’s the plan...”

Chapter Text

Adrien was happy to have Marinette on his side. No one could ever help him if he ever got on her bad side, but he was too smart to ever do something to piss her off so badly that she would want revenge on him. The plan was simple really. Marinette would push more for the class to realize the truth. If they did and apologized then things would return to normal. If they didn’t then she would return as a queen. The only thing they disagreed on was Adrien’s role in this.

“I refuse to let you fight alone.”

Marinette cupped his face and smiled gently.

“I know but your father can still pull you out of school. He could use both your behavior and the akuma attacks as an excuse. Plus I need to see who is truly loyal to me.”

It made sense. But stil, leaving her alone to fight against Lila felt so wrong. It wasn’t that Marinette couldn’t fight alone, it was just that he didn’t want to make her fight alone. He was her partner, and as such he should be able to help balance the work. She kissed his cheek gently, and he melted a bit.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be in my corner the whole time. But you built a persona for wanting peace without drama, and you need to fill that role. For me, I can switch because I’m not in the spotlight. For you though it could affect your public image. Especially since Lila is an employee at Gabriel's. Once we cut Lila down off her pedestal, then we can reveal your role in all of this. Plus no one will truly hurt you, but if it gets to the second part of my plan then you’ll be isolated with the rest of the class. Is that gonna be okay?”

It was Marinette’s only worry. Even if it was just for show, having to face it could be rough on him. Especially since his only other company would be with people who hated her. He nodded his head.

“Of course it’s fine. As long as I can still talk to you in secret, I’ll be alright.”

He was used to being alone, so a month or so of this facade would be fine. Marinette looked over to the kwamis who were gathered around. She especially eyed Trixx and Wayzz.

“We aren’t gonna be able to call back some of the old holders. I don’t know how I feel about them right now, and if Alya or someone else tries to keep the miraculous it could be bad.”

Choosing Alya was in the spur of the moment decision, fueled by trust, the want to help her friend become a hero, and the hope that she would understand the importance of secret identities. Still, despite becoming a hero, she continued to disregard Ladybug’s secret identity and continued to post whatever on her blog. As for the others, well she needed to see if they would be good people in their civilian forms. The kwamis nodded.

“Of course, they were told that they would be temporary heroes anyways. If you decide to permanently keep someone away from the miraculous, then you should search the grimoire closer. I believe that there is a potion to make a person forget things that directly connect them to a miraculous, which could be useful in case they get akumatized because of it.”

She smiled at Wayzz. He was their voice of reason and wisdom and was great at filling her in with what Master Fu told him. She still felt bad about getting them new holders, but it was necessary. At least their connection to the old holders was not that strong.

“We can still use Chloe with the bee, and Sabrina would be a good option too for the turtle or fox.”

Adrien stated, and Marinette shook her head.

“Actually I was thinking of switching up the miraculous Chloe gets. That or ask her to change her costume and name.” When Adrien gave her a confused look, she elaborated. “I was debating whether or not we tell them outright that they are not being heroes in their daily lives and can’t be heroes anymore or just saying that we have to switch out holders for a bigger reason. If we do the second then Chloe needs to at least change up her superhero form.”

Adrien gave her another look.

“I’d say tell them the truth, especially Alya. She has tried to expose your identity, posted information relating to the miraculous that almost caused the miracle box to be taken, and has posted false information about you on her blog. She deserves to be told the truth. Maybe even throw her own line back at her.”

Despite him not being transformed, Marinette could imagine his cat ears plasted down and back while his tail flicked around in anger. After she told him about what Alya said to her, he was seconds from running out and screaming some sense into her. It was only after her calming him down, and then ripping the ring off of him so that he wouldn’t transform and threaten her as Chat, that they could discuss a more sensible thing to do.

He accepted this, although a bit begrudgingly. Plagg did explain that since Adrien’s been more susceptible to developing cat-like traits with the use of the miraculous, he would also develop part of his personality. This meant that Adrien is more protective of her than he would usually be, since she is Ladybug. Luckily Marinette had developed part of Tikki’s ability to calm people, so Adrien won’t be at risk of getting akumatized at least.

“No. I’m not letting Hawkmoth try and use any of the old holders against us. Even if I find and use the potion to erase their memories of the miraculous information, they might still have a desire to get revenge on me for no longer using them as heroes. The more we make the transition seem like a strictly professional thing the better.” Marinette then gave a slight smirk. “Although I could throw in a line about her blog, but I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise now would I?”

Tikki, sensing the shift to mischievous and revengeful, flew over.

“I would start off with phase one first. If you are not going to bring Alya back at all, then decide when you want to share the news. If you’re doing it then you need to have a new holder for the fox picked or at the very least narrowed down in case there’s an akuma attack where it’s needed. But weren’t you going to test the other holders first before making any more decisions?”

Marinette shrugged.

“Alya, Nino, Alix, Kim, Chloe, and Max are the holders that are in our class. Kagami, Luka, and Chloe can stay on and just change up their hero forms and names. Alya is definitely no longer returning, along with Kim and Max.” Kim and Max were one time holders, done because they were the only choice. Neither would be upset if they were told that they couldn’t return. “Alix will be a future holder, so she is probably going to come around. Perhaps Bunnyx might even pop in and tell her the truth.”

That left only one. Adrien waited for her to continue, but Marinette stayed silent. Finally he decided to address the elephant in the room.

“What about Nino?”

Marinette sighed. She knew it would be best to just get rid of all holders that were in their class. They didn’t defend her against Lila and since Lila was against Ladybug, they were against her. Still, she didn’t like the idea of just abandoning Nino as a hero. He was a good person, just a bit too worried about staying on his girlfriend’s good side. Plus he was Adrien’s best friend and one of Marinette’s first friends so…

“I won’t decide until after phase one. If he realizes the truth and what he does with it will determine if I keep him on, even if it’s just an extended temporary hero.”

That was the best answer she could give right now. Plagg decided that he had enough of hearing about the plans and landed on Adrien’s head.

“This is great and all, but my kid has a photoshoot in twenty minutes that he might want to get to. Especially if you’re planning on keeping up your ‘good child’ image.”

Adrien checked his phone and nodded.

“Thanks Plagg. I can come over later tonight if we need to talk about anything else.”

“Nope. You need to rest. Most of the other stuff is just gonna be prep in case the class decides to not listen to me. Next week will certainly be interesting depending on what happens tomorrow through Friday.”

He nodded and left Marinette alone with the rest of the kwamis. She walked over to the notebook that she was writing in. She had a plan written out for Lila’s finale as she was calling it, but she also had prepared a few other things for revenge on her other classmates. She knew that most of them were just naive sheep, so she wasn’t planning anything too harsh for most. Alya, however, had done a lot. And considering her blog and the false information on it, she would be receiving a lot of backlash from that alone.

Tikki flew over to read the plan for Alya and frowned. Marinette sighed, and started to prepare to defend herself.

“I know you’re going to think that it’s harsh, but Alya has endangered the miracle box, my identity, posted-”

“I think it’s too merciful.”

“-false information- wait. What?”

Marinette looked over to the kwami, who continued to look at the notes.

“Aren’t you supposed to believe in second chances? Want people to receive justice but not revenge?”

Tikki merely gave her a shrug before finally turning to face her holder.

“Ladybugs are meant to keep order. All of my holders have kept the peace. Sometimes violence is needed to achieve peace, sometimes not. For Alya it’s definitely going to be the case of her having to hit rock bottom to actually realize that she was wrong. That being said, you should add something else to the plan. Not to get her akumatized or bashed for no longer being Rena Rouge, but maybe with having to do work or paying expenses or something. Just something extra to push her further.”

Marinette blinked at her kwami. She wanted to argue, but honestly there was nothing to go against. Technically she was giving Alya more than just a second chance to discover the truth and apologize. She had abused everything Marinette had handed her, and had shown no remorse or concern.

Perhaps, in part, Tikki was done with Alya since the girl pushed Marinette so much. Alya was the one who decided that they had to make those ridiculous plans to get Marinette to confess to Adrien. She pushed Marinette into uncomfortable and embarrassing situations without any thought. Not to mention the photos she posts on Instagram and the backhanded compliments she makes on Marinette’s posts.

Marinette decided to jot down Tikki’s suggestion before closing the notebook and hiding it in a locked box. She then started to get her stuff set for the rest of the week. School would be very interesting, and she couldn’t wait because she knew the truth. The whole class wouldn’t believe her at the end of the week, and that meant that she would become the queen again.

She was right about the class not realizing the truth. No matter how much she begged and pleaded for them to just google Lila’s name they didn’t listen. Alya kept throwing back about how a good reporter always checks their sources, and even when Marinette reminded her about making the glasses for Jagged the blogger refused to listen. When Nathaniel came up to her on Friday, clutching her sketchbook in his hands and telling her what Lila tried to get the class to do and apologize profusely, Marinette knew it was time. She took back her sketchbook, flipped through the pages before deeming it untouched, and smiled at the artist.

“Thank you Natheniel. You’ll be spared. The queen comes back on Monday.”

She walked away, confident that he wouldn’t warn the class. She tucked the book back into her bag before pulling her hair out of her pigtails. The people in the halls noticed, and smiled. She smiled back at them. Marinette had her work cut out for her, and she didn’t feel like finishing school for the day so she went to the nurses to get excused. Chloe spotted her on the way out.

“I’ll see you tonight at my place.” The blond smirked before walking back to class, already aware of Marinette’s response.

Marinette got back to her room and put the sketchbook in her desk drawer. Then she took out her revenge notebook and jotted down some new plans before sighing. It was then that she noticed that Tikki was nowhere to be seen. She looked around her room, worrily.

“Tikki?”

Barkk flew up to hover next to her and shook their head.

“Tikki went inside the box. She’s really upset that they tried to destroy your sketchbook. Fluff told her to go rant in the miracle box.”

Marinette’s worry for her kwami increased. If Fluff had to step in and get Tikki to do something, it meant that whatever would have happened would be disastrous. Even if she and Adrien know for the most part what will happen to them, will the kwamis be able to handle it? Will Plagg get so frustrated or upset that he wants to do something rash?

It wasn’t for another two hours that Tikki came flying out of the miracle box. She immediately crashed into Marinette’s face and hugged her. Marinette gently held Tikki and brought her back a bit so that she could see her. It was clear that the kwami was still frustrated and sad.

“Tikki, I knew that something like this would probably happen. That’s why I made sure the sketchbook I had at school was just for practice.”

Tikki started to hover so that the blunette could pull out the sketchbook. Sure enough, there were only doodles and practice sketches inside. Marinette reached out to pet her kwami’s head.

“I’m sorry that it upset you so much, but even when I become queen again Adrien’s going to have to suffer for a bit. Do you think you and Plagg will be able to handle Adrien being isolated for a month or so?”

It would be bad to change their plans, but if the kwamis would react so strongly that they could destroy the world then it would have to be done. Tikki took a deep breath before responding.

“No. We’ll be fine. I just wasn’t expecting your frie- classmates to do something like that. I took it personally since they were trying to destroy creation. I will warn you though, if they actually destroy something you’ve made, I will destroy them in return.”

Marinette laughed, but it quickly died down once she realized that the being was serious.

“Tikki you can’t kill people.”

“My sweet Marinette, I am a goddess. I can do what I please.”

Marinette decided to just keep her stuff locked up and protected. Maybe she could talk to Plagg later. She was mostly confident that he wouldn’t kill people, otherwise Gabriel wouldn’t be alive right now, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t do something if he saw it fit. She flipped open her real design book and started to sketch some protection ideas.

After dinner, the bluentte changed into a black t-shirt, black leather jacket, black jeans, and black sneakers before grabbing a larger tote bag with some notes and other things.

“Come on Tikki. We have to go meet with Chloe.”

The kwami was in a much better mood as she flew into Marinette’s jacket pocket. When she walked out of the house, her parents didn’t even realize that anything was amiss. She hated how distant they could be sometimes, with how busy the bakery is, but after becoming Ladybug it was a blessing. Plus that distance would be needed more than ever to ensure that she could fully pull off her plans.

The doorman recognized her and opened the door, giving her a smile. She nodded as thanks and made her way to Chloe’s room. When she walked inside, she saw Chloe sitting alone at a table with some coffee, cookies, and a large manila envelope. Marinette slipped her bag off her shoulder as she sat across from the blond. Then she grabbed the coffee and took a sip, waiting for Chloe to begin.

“Sabrina has made a list of everyone in our class who have apologized and do not believe Lila.”

She pulled out the first sheet of paper and placed it in front of her. Marinette read down the listen. Nathaniel was a yes for sure and so was Alix since she tried to help defend Marinette and get people to see the truth. Juleka and Rose were listed, and Marinette bit her lip. Juleka had apologized to her and had tried to get Miss Bustier to see the truth, but the teacher gave her “example student” talk.

Rose was almost akumatized when she found out the truth through Prince Ali. Marinette had transformed to purify the akuma before detransforming and approaching Rose. She had cried and apologized profusely. Seeing how broken the truth made the always preppy girl made Marinette plot some more revenge ideas. There was only one name that she didn’t understand being there.

“This list is mostly good, but why is Nino on it?”

Chloe pulled out her phone and started to scroll, pullin up something and showing it to her.

“Adrien texted me earlier today. Turns out that Nino discovered that Alya was trying to destroy your sketchbook. They fought and Nino had looked up Lila’s name on Google. He tried to tell Alya the truth but she refused to listen, so they broke up. Nino was trying to tell the truth to Adrien and talking about trying to get the rest of the class to listen. He was also planning an apology for you.”

That surprised her. She still didn’t know if she could fully trust Nino with a miraculous again, but at least he could earn back some of her trust.

“Okay. But that brings us to Adrien’s role in all of this.”

She grabbed her notebook and flipped it open to the page needed, before turning it to face Chloe.

“Since Adrien’s dad can take him out of school if he misbehaves, and since Lila is acting as a spy for his dad, we decided to keep Adrien as a spy of our own. He will stick with his “high road” advice and feed us any insider information. Once we ruin Gabriel or get him to fire Rossi, then he can openly join us.”

Chloe leaned back in her chair.

“That’s great all, but we’re probably going to have to tell Nino the truth so that he doesn’t go crazy trying to get Adrien to see the light.”

“I’ll tell him when I deliver his bracelet. I will personally be delivering the bracelets to the people in our class who are safe. I want you to make sure everyone in the school knows to ignore Adrien but not to harm him. Also have a few people keep an eye out for him. I don’t want Lila trying to do anything to him.”

That would be the most dangerous part of all of this. Adrien would have to play nice with Lila, and she could take it as an excuse to cling onto him more. She might even try getting him to date her. While Adrien would be relaying any information back to her, Marinette didn’t want the blond to suffer through any of that.
“Got it. I can instruct them to do interference if she tries to do something drastic. Or if they can’t do it themself, get a teacher or adult to interfere.”

Marinette nodded. Everything would be okay. She stood up and handed Chloe a stack of papers.

“That’s some other information on what to prepare for the finale. Tomorrow I’ll deliver the bracelets and meet up with you here on Sunday.”

Chloe smirked.

“Then Monday it will be time for the games to begin.”

Marinette mirrored the blond’s expression before nodding. She could hardly wait.

Chapter Text

Juleka was worried. She had noticed the whispers from the rest of the school about when the queen would return. Lila heard the whispers too and talked about how the Queen of England was coming to Paris to help discuss charity plans, but Juleka knew the truth. She knew that Marinette could never become a bully, and not because she was bullied so she knew what it was like. No. Marinette was a queen for justice. She struck fear into people who harmed others while helping the weak. The school was a safe place. Then for some reason Marinette stepped down and Chloe stepped up to “bully” her.

She never asked Marinette why she did that, but when the bluenette became one among her subjects and befriended her, Juleka knew not to say no. Even if she wasn’t afraid of what Marinette could do, she would still want to be friends with her. She was always so thoughtful and caring, and she didn’t push her to be outgoing and social to the point of her having an anxiety attack. Marinette was able to help her walk that delicate balance so that she could still experience things that she has always wanted to do but just never was brave enough to try them.

So yes, when Lila came in and started claiming all these connections while slipping in insults about Marinette, Juleka did what Marinette asked the class to do and googled Lila. None of her claims were true, but the goth couldn’t confront her. She turned to Miss Bustier but the teacher refused to listen. She was able to convince Rose to check with Prince Ali to see if he knew Lila, and then Rose told her later that night that he didn’t know any Lila Rossi.

Rose talked about trying to expose the truth to the class, but Juleka told her to wait. Yesterday she heard the whispers from the rest of the school. Marinette was coming back as queen. She told Rose to wait and that the truth would be revealed soon. She had expected Marinette to see them on Monday, for maybe she would offer the class one last chance to side with her which they would take. She didn’t expect her to seek them out sooner.

Luka must have been told what was happening. He was the one who suggested taking Rose out to lunch. He did have the decency to let them know that someone was waiting for them before taking off. Still, Juleka was shocked and worried to see Marinette sitting on Luka’s bed. She was dressed in all black, and was holding a box in her hands. She offered them a smile before speaking.

“Please sit down. I have a lot I need to get done today.”

The two girls did as they were told, exchanging a quick glance before Marinette continued.

“I first off would like to thank you two for listening to me, and I apologize that you had to deal with the truth. I understand that trying to convince the class is too much of a task to handle normally, so just relax while I handle it. What I mean by this is that you two will be spared and protected.”

Rose noticed Juleka immediately relaxed. It made sense that Rose would be confused. Marinette had no reason to target or help her, since she naturally wanted to be friendly and help people without any reward. Juleka had received help from Marinette while she was queen, so she knew at least part of what the bluenette could really do.

“That being said, you two will need to follow some ground rules.”

The bluenette opened the box and pulled something out. She handed them a red ribbon with a black pearl knotted in place. Juleka quickly understood the message and tied Rose’s on her wrist before doing her own.

“Make sure to wear these. People will know who is protected or not, but wearing these symbolizes that you are with me. Do not give them to anyone. If anyone steals them from you, report it back to me. You will also not be allowed to talk to anyone in the class who is against me. I’ll let you know who all is safe by next week. And even though Adrien is going to be acting against me, he is really on my side. Be sure to ignore him but do not harm him in any way. If you notice anyone trying to harm him, report that to me. Any questions?”

The two slowly shook their heads, and Marinette stood up and walked off. Rose turned to the goth.

“What was that?”

Juleka took a deep breath. She had a lot of explaining to do. She shifted to get comfortable and looked down at the bracelet. She took a deep breath before starting.
“Back before Chloe was bullying everyone, Marinette was a queen ruling the school. She never bullied or hurt people, only using her power to ensure that people did not get hurt and that the school stayed fair. But for some reason she stepped back and allowed Chloe to step up and bully people.”

“But what does that have to do with the bracelets and what Marinette said?”

“The queen is returning, and luckily she won’t be out for our blood.”

Rose probably thought that she was exaggerating a bit, but Juleka wasn’t. The fact that Marinette had visited them, warned them, and given them a symbol to show their protection was enough to show how much Lila’s lies must have pushed the bluenette. Plus with what she said about Adrien made Juleka realize that school would be crazy for a while.

Nino was stressed out. So much had changed and he was still trying to understand how it all happened. It felt like only a matter of a few days, but over the course of weeks most of his class hated their class president. The same girl who supported all of them and sacrificed her time to help them with whatever they needed. All because of the claims of one new classmate.

Nino felt ashamed that he had first refused to look up Lila’s claims like Marinette had asked, no, begged them to do. He didn’t think that all of Lila’s stories were true, but surely she wouldn’t lie with something anyone could easily disprove. It was only after he discovered Alya’s plan to destroy Marinette’s sketchbook did he do something.

He looked up every claim that Lila ever said, showing that only the Ladybug had any mention of the girl. He pleaded with Alya to look at his proof, but she was so headstrong that she instead broke up with him, claiming that he didn’t trust her. It was for the best really. He realized just how much he was getting changed into a new person once he didn’t have to entertain Alya anymore.

Nino had reached out to Adrien the same day and told him about his breakup and how they had to get the class to see the truth. The blond didn’t respond to him until several hours later, and his message only gave more questions.

‘The queen will explain.’

Nino had asked what Adrien meant, but he got no other messages. It wasn’t until the next day, when his mom informed him of a visitor, did he begin to see what the message meant.

Marinette walked into his room. Her hair was back in a low ponytail, clothing all black. In her hands was a small box. She opened her mouth to speak but the boy had already started.

“Marinette! I’m so sorry! You were right, Lila’s been lying about everything. I was trying to get Adrien to help me so that we can expose her to the rest of the class and I feel so stupid that I didn’t trust you and-”

“Nino.”

Her voice was soft, but crisp, making Nino stop.

“Thank you for apologizing. Even if you didn’t do what I had asked when I first did, it was better late than never. I’m here to explain things. Please sit down.”

They both sat down on his bed, and Marinette opened the box and pulled out a red ribbon with a black pearl knotted in place. Nino held out an open palm to accept it, but Marinette tied it around his wrist.

“First off. I would like to apologize that you and Alya broke up over this. I was hoping that she would see the truth, but if you couldn’t do it then she will probably have to reach rock bottom before realizing her mistakes. The bracelet I gave you shows everyone that you are protected. By wearing it, you show that you are loyal to me. Do not give it to anyone.”

Nino had dozens of questions swirling around his mind.

“What do you mean protected?”

“Didn’t Adrien tell you that the queen would explain? Well, I’m the queen. Remember back in elementary school how that group of boys were bullying you and I helped you?”

The memory felt so pronounced now, and Nino’s guilt only grew. Marinette had always been so kind. How could anyone ever think that she was a bully?

“I was able to get them to stop so easily because I was becoming a well known defender. Some people jokingly called me a queen, and soon the title became true. I stepped down once the school began to question the lack of bullies, and Chloe stepped up to the role to help curve the adult’s focus. But with Lila and how the class has been acting, I will be returning.”

She looked him dead in the eyes as she continued.

“You are protected. You will not speak to any of our classmates who are against me. Who is loyal to me will be announced by the end of next week, and everyone in the class who is safe will be wearing a bracelet. All except Adrien. He is with me, but we had discovered that Lila is spying on him for his father. Since I don’t want him to be taken out of school, we are pretending that he is against me. Do not talk to him at school. You can still text if you want, I’ll get you a burner phone for that, but ignore him otherwise. I’ve already talked to him about all of this and he is on for the plan.”

Nino’s emotions soon shifted to anger.

“Lila’s been spying on him?!”

“Yes. That’s most likely why she got a job modeling with him. Once Lila gets exposed or we get Gabriel to cut Lila from both modeling and her role as a spy, then Adrien can step forward as the loyal knight that he is. For now though, he is going to be acting as my spy. Do you have any questions?”

“Just one final one for now. How soon can you get me that burner phone?”

Marinette let out a small laugh and smiled.

“Of course. I’ll have someone deliver it to you tomorrow with Adrien’s burner phone number and mine programmed in. Make sure no one finds it. For now I need to be heading off. I still need to give Alix her bracelet and run some other errands.”

Marinette was about to walk out of the room before pausing.

“The games begin on Monday. Feel free to tell the class what they need to do to receive mercy if you want, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’ll see you then.”

Alix didn’t know what to do. Right now, she felt like her entire class were idiots. She never really cared for gossip and celebrity talk, so when the new girl came in and started to tell her stories about her connections, Alix tuned her out. It would be cool to meet some professional athletes, but Alix knew that one day she could see them for herself if she worked hard enough.

It was thanks to her ignoring the gossip that she missed the change in the class. The last two weeks, she had discovered that her classmates thought that Marinette was bullying Lila. Yeah, right. Marinette, the girl who had made glasses and an album cover for Jagged Stone, declined being a lead dancer in Clara Nightingale’s music video to be with her friends, had her work in a Gabriel Agreste fashion show after winning one of his contests, and was praised and offered an internship with the Style Queen, was bullying Lila because she was jealous of all of the girl’s connections.

When she mentioned all of Marinette’s accomplishments to her classmates, they argued that she was jealous that Lila got to model with Adrien. And yeah, it could have been a good argument, if not for the fact that Marinette had helped Adrien arrange a date with Kagami and had become friends with the fencer, who made it clear that she still likes Adrien and would date him by the way. The class’s arguments were weak, and were completely destroyed once Alix looked up Lila Rossi’s name online and only found her interviews on the Ladyblog.

Even with more proof, her classmates didn’t listen, well most of them anyways. Nathaniel made it clear that he didn’t really believe Lila’s stories, and after he told her about Alya’s attempts at destroying Marinette’s sketchbook, the artist had to hold Alix back before she could go off and destroy the blogger.

She wanted to do something, but her future self had visited her personally and explained how she just had to wait. She seemed to be hiding a smile, and Alix would soon realize exactly why that was. She was skating around the museum when she heard a voice cry out.

“Alix Kubdel. This is the miraculous of the rabbit, which will grant you the power of time travel. You will use it for the greater good, and help ensure that the world will not end. Can I trust you for the task?”

She turned, and gasped. She had expected Ladybug to be standing behind her. Instead, Marinette and Adrien stood side by side with grins on their faces. Their kwamis floated on their shoulders, showing her that they were really Ladybug and Chat Noir. Alix shook herself from her shock before nodding. Adrien stepped forward and handed her a small black box with a red engraving. She opened it, showing the pocket watch and pulled it out, causing Fluff to appear. It was then that she remembered where they were.

“Um, cameras?”

The cat kwami flew forward.

“Don’t worry, cotton tail, everything is covered. Your future self cleared this visit. Now you better not do anything to break pigtail and blondie’s trust in you, otherwise I’ll-”

The ladybug kwami swooped in and stopped him.

“Plagg. Trust me, she’s fine. Fluff would have prevented Alix ever becoming a holder if she would turn on them. Now let our holders explain the situation so that Adrien can get back to the mansion sooner. We can’t risk his abstinence becoming known.”

Marinette took that as a cue to step forward, revealing another black box.

“Okay, so basically I used to be a queen ruling over the school. I ensured that no one was bullied and that no corrupted teachers remained in the school. I had to step down once adults started asking too many questions about the lack of bullies. Chloe stepped up to fake bully people, with me being her main victim, and that stopped them from looking at the school too closely. With Lila and her schemes, I am returning.”

She opened the box and pulled out a red ribbon with a black pearl knotted in place.

“This bracelet will show everyone that you are protected. Wear it all ways, and do not give it to anyone. You cannot speak to anyone in the class who is against me.”
Adrien lifted his hand and spoke.

“I’ll have to pretend to be against Marinette since Lila is spying on me for my dad and we can’t risk me getting locked up and not being able to fight, so you’ll have to ignore me during school.”

“We will be holding a meeting tomorrow night over at my place to discuss team Miraculous stuff. Ten pm sharp. You will get to know who the other holders are, but for now we aren’t revealing everyone else to each other. Once things get more situated we might, but we figured since you might discover them anyways that we might as well tell you. Plus it will be nice to get a different outlook on things. Any questions?”

Alix shook her head. She felt like an idiot herself for not realizing sooner that these two were Ladybug and Chat Noir, but with magic involved it made sense that she wouldn’t realize it. The two nodded before saying goodbye and walking off. She couldn’t help the excitement that built as she realized what just happened.

“This is so cool!”

Fluff bounced around her head.

“Yes! And all you have to do is make sure that the world doesn’t end.”

Alix paused before shaking her head and grinning. It didn’t matter. It would be a simple task to do, and a small price to pay in order to help protect Paris.

Later that evening, Marinette was trying to plan out the miraculous situation while Adrien sat on her chaise.

“I thought we were going to wait on Alix to finalize this. Plus didn’t we have it mostly figured out?”

“Yeah, but Bunnyx told us that we need to figure out a new fox sooner rather than later, so I was thinking of telling Alya tomorrow before our meeting. I can’t think of a decent fox though.”

Adrien sighed as he stood up and walked over to inspect his partner’s notes. She had some names of other people in their school written down, along with the pros and cons of them all. Plagg had explained to him how ladybugs tended to overthink things. They had to have complex plans in order to keep their enemies unaware of what they were aiming for. Cats were able to easily figure out the plan with little to no explaining needed and help execute it with ease. While he knew that Marinette didn’t want to risk anything, there was one very clear answer that she hadn’t thought about doing.

“Make Nino take over with the fox miraculous. Sabrina can have the turtle. Chloe the bee. Kagami the dragon. Luka the snake. The monkey and the horse haven’t come into play besides those first times so we can wait to find a new holder for them. We could even ask one of the other permanent holders to temporarily use a different miraculous if we haven’t assigned them out and need it for a fight.”

Adrien didn’t voice it, but he felt like this would be good enough punishment for Nino too. He loved his friend, don’t get him wrong, but the fact that he didn’t listen to Marinette until after most of the class had turned on her made Adrien upset. Mad was too strong of a word. While the dj didn’t deserve to suffer like Alya does, he felt like something should be done. The fact that Nino would be wearing his ex’s miraculous would be good enough for him. Not like either one would ever know, unless Alya says that she used to be Rena Rouge, but it would certainly make Adrien feel satisfied.

Marinette nodded before gathering up and hiding her notes.

“That sounds good. Plus that makes it look like we actually changed up holders to new people. Not that it matters much, since no one knows that you can change up the costume anyways. I found the potion that Wayzz mentioned. I can have it done and slip it to Alya tomorrow night. It will take effect after I finish talking to her so she can’t post any secrets on her blog. It will even prevent her from mentioning that she used to use a miraculous, so Hawkmoth will never discover that she was an old holder. I’ll go and speak to Max and Kim about them being dropped this week too.”

Adrien nodded, relieved that at least they had one less thing to worry about.

“Well now that this is settled, I believe a certain someone promised me some anime and chill. After all, I’ll be very lonely for the next couple weeks and need my Vitamin U.”

Marinette gave a laugh and slapped his shoulder before dropping the marker and heading to her bedroom door.

“Yeah, yeah you dumb cat. Get situated and I’ll grab the snacks.”

Adrien climbed up to her loft bed with her laptop in hand and pulled up Netflix before clicking on the episode that they left off on. After she came back up, a bowl of popcorn with some cookies in hand, and crawled up to curl next to him, Adrien let out a content purr. He knew that the next month or so of his life would be crazy. He would be shunned, pushed to the outskirts of the school, have to deal with Lila’s clinginess and a group of people who would badmouth his princess. However he trusted her. It was them against the world, and he knew without a doubt that they would come out on top.

Chapter Text

There was a soft breeze rolling over the rooftops and Ladybug paused to appreciate it. She had successfully gone to Kim and Max to officially drop them as miraculous holders and slip them the potion. While they were slightly disappointed, they weren’t angry at her which was good. She knew those two wouldn’t feel as attached. Max had even pointed out how someone could trace back his identity rather easily and it made sense not to risk it.

Yet, those two were of none of her concern. Alya was. While the blogger sees Ladybug as someone to admire, she had been trusting Lila on her claims and never even bothered getting anything checked. As Marinette thought about it, she had given Alya ample opportunities to simply ask if Lila truly was her best friend. But Alya never brought up that question, instead always pushing for if Ladynoir was official.

While she had nothing against dating Chat, the fact that a ship was Alya’s only concern was frustrating. In fact, Adrien said that Ladynoir cannot become official because Alya would use her blog to push for them to do all this couple stuff for the public. He argued that Ladybug said how they were only partners, and that they had to keep that professional relationship up.

Marinette shook herself out of her thoughts. She needed to get this done, and fast. Alix would be transforming and meeting them in an hour at her house, and she didn’t want to be late for that. She threw her yoyo and swung the final few blocks before landing on Alya’s balcony.

She didn’t have to wait long. Alya was inside her room on her computer and heard the noise. She turned, noticed her, grabbed her phone, and ran out. She opened the doors and immediately started.

“Ladybug! Are you here for an interview? Or is there an akuma?”

“I’m here to discuss something important. Please turn off your phone and be quiet until I finish.”

Alya was confused, but turned off her phone. Ladybug left her yoyo in her hand, ready to use in case Alya tried something.

“Chat and I have been discussing, and we have concerns about Hawkmoth starting to track down the current miraculous users. As such, we came to a difficult decision.”

Ladybug took a deep breath, and acted like she was the one who was hurt by this choice.

“We need to pick out new holders. I’m sorry Alya, but I can’t use you again.”

Alya looked upset.

“But I haven’t done anything wrong."

“This isn’t to punish you.” Ladybug put her one hand out in a peaceful gesture. “This is for your safety. We got lucky that Hawkmoth hasn’t discovered anyone’s identity yet, especially since you’ve been akumatized after being Rena Rouge and have been mind controlled as a civilian. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if Hawkmoth hurts you or your family because I continued to call you on as a hero.”

The words were having the desired effect. Alya looked hurt, but seemed to be understanding. Earlier that day, she was able to intercept Luka as Ladybug and requested a potion to be put on the pizza. He allowed it after she explained the situation to him. Even if after she left Alya decides to retaliate, the potion should fully take effect and prevent her from being able to recall and say anything.

“Again, I’m sorry Alya. I still need to inform the rest of the heroes of my decision so I need to be off. Take care. Continue working hard on your blog and remember to always check your sources.”

She didn’t let Alya say anything else before she swung away. She prayed that Alya would maybe, just this once, listen to her. It wouldn’t save her from her punishment, but at least it would prevent her from getting sued. But as she had that hope, she crushed it down. Even if she had gone as Ladybug in the beginning to tell Alya the truth, Lila could easily twist it and say that she was doing it to protect her. Or Lila might have even made up some sob story about how mean the heroine was and how Lila was trying to be nice.

She landed on her balcony and dropped in, spotting Adrien already sitting on her chaise.

“A bit early, are we?” She teased as she detransformed and climbed down from her bed.

“I needed to get out of that mansion. How did things go?”

“Eh, about as I expected. Kim was slightly disappointed, Max pointed out how his identity could be traced if Hawkmoth tried, and Alya was upset. I did remind her to check her sources before leaving, but it’s doubtful if she’ll listen.”

She sat down next to him and he rubbed her back.

“Well I dropped in to Chloè and Kagami to tell them about the costume change. You said that you talked to Luka already?”

“Yeah. Alya’s family ordered pizza so I went to him to slip the potion in it. I told him that Alya was a miraculous holder that was being removed and how the next time he transforms he’ll have to change his name and suit.”

She was hoping to avoid more people knowing about past holders, but Alix and Luka’s miraculous held a risk that they could discover their identities. The chances with Luka were smaller, but Marinette knew that he could be trusted.

“As long as the potion won’t affect Alya’s family and it does its job, that’s fine. If Luka’s a concern then Alix can warn us ahead of time.”

Having the rabbit miraculous out in circulation made Marinette feel better about the plan. If anything went wrong, they had a reset button ready. Not that she expected things to get to ‘end of the world’ serious or try to abuse the powers to get things exactly how she wanted them to be. Time was a delicate thing, and the less they messed with it the better. Still, it was handy to have ready.

Alix had always been a level headed person, ready to rise to the challenge and being able to act quick when needed but slow down and think just as easily. Alix was always the one in the friend group trying to not push Marinette straight into confessing and instead just talk to Adrien like a normal human being. She’s the perfect choice for the rabbit.

“It won’t hurt Alya’s family. It only erases memories relating to details of the miraculous, so unless Alya told them something then they shouldn’t be affected at all.”

A quiet thump on her balcony made the two of them look up. Marinette waved Alix in and she climbed down to the floor next to them before detransforming.

“So, team miraculous huh?”

Adrien grinned.

“We figured it would be a good name to go with. Wanna guess who the old holders were?”

“Given exactly who the two of you are, it has to be people in our class. Alya was definitely one of them, although I sincerely hope we are dropping her after the stunt she tried to pull with your sketchbook.”

Adrien’s grin dropped and he wiped around to look at Marinette. His glare was feral and the designer consciously let off some energy to calm him.

“What did Alya do to your sketchbook?”

“I figured that Nino told you whenever he texted about the break up. Some of the kids from our class thought about stealing my sketchbook and destroying it. Luckily I only had a practice sketchbook at school and Nathaniel saved it before anyone could touch it. But you’re right about Alya, Alix. Rena Rouge is permanently retired.”

Adrien looked over the bluenette before tugging her closer, wrapping both arms around her.

“Remind me to get Nath some new art supplies.”

Ignoring the blond for now, Marinette turned back to Alix.

“The original holders were Alya, Nino, Kim, Max, Chloe, Kagami, and Luka. Alya, Kim, and Max are all officially dropped from the team as of today. The other four are staying on the team. Nino is taking over the fox, Luka is the snake, Chloe is the bee, and Kagami is the dragon. Everyone else besides Nino will be changing up their suits from what they originally had them to make it look like we got completely new holders.”

Alix nodded, thoughtfully.

“What’s gonna happen with the turtle, monkey, and horse then? New holders?”

“Yep. Sabrina will be fully taking over the turtle, since that’s one of the miraculouses that we defeitnly need in rerserve. I suggested just having the monkey and horse be temporarily used by one of the other holders until we can decide on a permanent holder for them.”

Adrien let go of Marinette and stood up as he spoke, grabbing the bundle of papers hidden underneath some notebooks. He held them out for Alix to read.

“Marinette has a habit of overthinking everything, so she practically made essays for every potential holder she could think of.”

The pigtailed girl scoffed in fake offense.

“My overthinking is what keeps us from getting killed every akuma fight, you alley cat.”

Alix looked between the two and sighed.

“You two are gonna be flirting like this all the time once we finally expose Lila, aren’t you?”

“Hey, it could be worse. They could also flirt during akuma fights. Lucky for you they’ll only be flirting during patrols while transformed.”

Alix jumped at the new, yet familiar voice. Plagg seemed to have materialized from nowhere. Tikki was right behind him.

“They’re kids Plagg, let them have fun.”

“We could have Ladynoir become official after exposing Lila.” Adrien started, holding an innocent look on his face despite his plans being anything but.

“No, we are not having Ladynoir take off just to spite Alya.” Marinette deadpanned. “I don’t want to deal with more love and shipper akumas than we already have to.”

Alix decided that she needed to put this conversation back on track.

“Our biggest for miraculous stuff right now should be making sure that we have people chosen for holders for when we need them, maybe training up anyone new so that their first battle won’t be the first them they wear a miraculous, and after all of the Lila stuff is done we should start to plan on ways to track Hawkmoth. As cool as my future self is, I really don’t want to be fighting while I’m in Uni.”

Marinette nodded thoughtfully.

“I agree with the holder part, but tracking down Hawkmoth is easier said than done. The akumas, the butterflies, have some sort of magical spell on them that prevents people from being able to fully track them. They appear in and out of focus, all travel in different directions, and all fly at different speeds. I tried to track them before and none of my data was matching up.

“If we can’t go to where Hawkmoth is, then we’ll have to bring him to us. That’s definitely gonna be later on once we get our lives together and everyone has some proper training. For now though I want to handle Lila. I’ll see if anyone outside of our class, or even outside of the school, would be a good choice for not only the monkey and the horse, but for any of the other miraculous. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone in mind before we need them for a battle.”

“I’ll keep an eye out as well, and maybe you could even ask Kagami and Luka to look for people at their schools. That way everyone on our team isn’t at Dupont.”

It was a smart move, and something Marinette had been trying to do before. Having miraculous holders all be a part of not only the same school, but the same class was an issue. Especially given how their homeroom class was nicknamed “the akuma class.” Still, Marinette had been working on her initial training, then her plans to try and track Hawkmoth, and all of the other work she got piled onto her that trying to go to different places and figure out if she could trust the person before giving them a magical artifact was pushed to the back burner.

“That would be a good idea.” Adrien stated. “And honestly, we could look for people in other age ranges too. If we can trust them enough, it would be handy to have holders who don’t detransform after five minutes once they use their powers.”

“Oh! About that, you guys should be able to get past that time limit soon.” All eyes turned to Tikki. “Younger miraculous holders are confined to the time limit, and older holders are not. But as you use the miraculous, along with the more mature you become, the time limit slowly fades away. You’ll get a couple minutes extra and then it will completely be gone.”

“The timers are still in effect though, and you also can’t use your powers multiple times until you are adults, so I would just always go in assuming that you have the time limit until we know for certain that it’s gone.”

Plagged stated, looking like the serious kwami Adrien had seen him to be. It surprised him at first to see how easily Plagg could switch between being serious and carefree, but Adrien was the same so it shouldn’t have been as much of a shock. Adrien shook his head to clear his thoughts, and brought up one potential issue.

“Noted. Also side note, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lila gets akumatized after we expose her so maybe we should plan something to keep her from getting akumatized.”

Marinette looked at him, and Adrien felt ice growing in his veins. She had the same determined and fear bringing look that he hoped would never be directed at him.

“I am not softening the blow.”

“I don’t mean it like that. I mean that I’m pretty sure Lila is working for Hawkmoth, and that means that she’ll be more in control as an akuma. If she gets akumatized when we expose her, she could get transformed and just go on a killing spree or something.”

Marinette calmed her glare as she realized his point. While it was still not confirmed if Lila was working with Hawkmoth, there was a strong possibility that she was. Akumas were forced upon people, and as such they weren’t as strong as they could be since the person underneath still didn’t want to do harm. Lila seemed to be prideful as an akuma, having full awareness of everything before, during, and afterwards. If Lila did turn violent, that would be putting a lot of people at risk. Even if the damage got reversed by her cure, mental pains and trauma could still remain.

“I don’t want to pull myself from a future period, because that would definitely be abusing the miraculous when we don’t need to. But having some plan to try and prevent Lila from going on an akuma killing spree would be good.”

“So our three main focuses should be the plan to expose Lila, finding new holders, and figuring out how to prevent murder. Got it. If that’s everything, I’m gonna head back home.”

The two waved goodbye to Alix as she transformed again and climbed back out through the balcony door. Marinette put her head in her hands and sighed. She knew that this would be a lot of work, but didn’t expect it to be this much trouble. She felt Adrien move to sit right next to her, pulling her head into his lap.

“Don’t worry, bugaboo, we got this. If you are worried about Lila getting akumatized, then maybe there’s something in the grimoire. You got that spell to erase miraculous memories from there, maybe there’s something to temporarily block out magic.”

Marinette hummed as she leaned into him, turning to face upwards.

“It all starts tomorrow. Are you ready for this?”

He smirked down at her.

“I was born ready.”

He laced their fingers together, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing it. She giggled and sighed, this time happier. She could do this. She wasn’t relying only on herself. She had a team backing her up, and she felt more powerful than ever. Tomorrow marks the start of a liar’s downfall.

Chapter Text

Lila felt like she was on top of the world. She always knew that she would win against Marinette, but she didn’t expect the girl to fail this badly. She figured that the bluenette would have enough commonsense to either give in or just back away. Instead she insisted on trying to call her out over her lies over and over again. The italian barely needed to do anything, simply fake cry and make people feel pity for her while Marinette made herself look like the bad guy. It was too easy.

And this week will be even better. Alya was firmly on Team Lila, and already was making her own plans to receive revenge on her behalf. Last Lila heard, Alya and some other people in the class were planning to take Marinette’s sketchbook and destroy it (all because Lila said how Marinette stole some designs from one of her designer friends). She didn’t get to see the outcome of that yet since she had a photoshoot that day and skipped school, but surely the bluenette would still be in tears about the loss of her designs.

Lila practically skipped up the steps of Françoise Dupont without a care in the world, not realizing how tense the mood was. It wasn’t until she made it into the courtyard did she realize that something was up.

Everyone was talking in hushed tones, and were they giving her the side eye? Maybe Marinette had done something to try and blame her like Lila did to her. Surely she could twist whatever happened in her favor.

Lila walked over towards Alya, making herself appear meeker.

“Hey Alya, do you know why everyone feels… off?”

Alya looked up from her phone and smiled, but she seemed distracted.

“I don’t know. I tried asking Aurora but she blew me off. She muttered something about a queen before walking off.”

Oh right, Lila had heard people talking about a queen coming on Monday last week. She had taken the opportunity to make up a lie about the Queen of England and some new charity plans. Before she could expand on the lie, the mood grew tenser still and everyone in the courtyard stopped talking and looked up. Lila followed their gaze.

There, on the walkway of the second level, was Marinette. Except she looked different. Her hair was down and pulled back slightly in a half and half style. Her outfit was deep red, completely opposite of her pastel pinks and grays. Even her stance was different.

The bluenette had always been meek and kind hearted, perfect to walk all over. Now though, she looked like a lioness, waiting to strike upon her enemies. If someone asked Lila if Marinette scared her at that moment, she would deny it. But truthfully, the look and demeanor that the girl had made Lila a little afraid.

The bluenette didn’t speak for several moments, simply standing there looking down on everyone with a knowing smirk. Chloé was on her right and Sabrina was on her left. Their clothes seemed more professional, fancier and they expressed the same knowing and powerful look as the bluenette.

Then, after the tension and suspense fully built up, Marinette spoke.

“The queen has returned.”

With that she turned and walked away, with Chloé and Sabrina in her wake, leaving a rise of excited whispers. Lila glared at where Marinette once was, before quickly wiping off the expression and turning to Alya with a look of confusion.

“What was that about?” She asked Alya, internally wincing when her tone sounded too laced with annoyance. Lucky for her the redhead didn’t seem to notice.

“No idea, but I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Alya kept her gaze on the direction of the classroom, speeding off and making Lila dashed after her. The two were so focused on heading to their class, that they didn’t notice the eyes turning towards them. And they certainly didn’t notice the glares piercing into them, as everyone came to realize exactly who was the queen’s newest target.

Alya practically busted through the classroom, the demand to know what the hell that was on her lips, but she stopped as she quickly realized something. The seats were different. Marinette was sitting in the back like she has been ever since Lila came to school, but everyone had moved.

Nathaniel was next to Marinette on her left. Sabrina and Chloé had taken Juleka’s and Rosé’s seats, causing those two girls to be pushed up a row. In front of those two were Ivan and Myléne. Directly across from Myléne was Max and Kim. Then behind those two were Alix and… Nino.

Alya was glaring at her now ex boyfriend. She had to break up with him after he yelled at her and accused Lila of lying. He was becoming as bad as Marinette, so she was thankful that he wouldn’t be sitting by her but why was Max in her seat?

Lila, for her part, was concerned. Marinette’s sudden announcement of “the queen returning,” the knowing whispers from before, and this sudden seat change meant that something major was up. She kept her confused expression as she silently fumed.

Of course Mari-brat would do something just as she was about to claim victory. Oh well, Lila thought to herself, she would just have to strike harder now. Surely with the hold she has on the class, she could get Marinette expelled again. She could make Alya give her an alibi, so that Adrien wouldn’t suspect her and threaten their ‘friendship’ again.

While lost in her thoughts, Lila barely noticed Alya turning towards Miss Bustier.

“What is going on?” She demanded, and Miss Bustier nervously smiled.

“Well, the class decided that they wanted to change seats. You, Lila, and Adrien can decide where to go from the remaining seats.”

Lila quickly snapped out of her thoughts at that. There’s no way she could let Adrien get away from her, not if she wanted to fully get him under her thumb. There was a concern of Alya getting mad at her, but Lila had gotten most of what she needed from the blogger anyways.

“I’ll sit next to Adrien. He’s been helping me with all the work I need to make up, what with the work for my charities and my arthritis. You understand, don’t you Alya?”

Lila upped her pity look, making the redhead cave before she could argue. The blogger nodded and Lila gave her a bright smile.

“Thank you so much for understanding Alya! I’ll take Adrien’s old seat, that way I can still be close to you. And maybe once I get more caught up I can switch seats for a day to sit with you!”

Lila threw in that last line purposely to make Alya more accepting of the change. Luckily she didn’t argue as Miss Bustier asked them to be seated. Just as she sat down, Adrien came through the doors. He looked around the room, surprised to see the changes.

“Oh Adrien!” Lila sang. “You’re sitting next to me.”

The blond didn’t argue, merely sliding into Nino’s old seat. Perfect! Maybe he was starting to fall for her if he didn’t even see it fit to argue. Then a thought came to Lila’s mind. Of course! She knew exactly what to do to fully get the model under her control once and for all.

Surely the blond would believe any tale she spun about the bluenette with the display Marinette is doing. If she keeps it up, Lila could convince Adrien that his dear sweet everyday ladybug (ugh) was becoming vile and a bully. Maybe she could get Alya to tell him that she and Nino broke up because of Marinette. That would certainly get him to believe her story more. Plus she could get him away from the dj, something that Mr. Agreste has been asking her to do for quite a while now.

With the plan in mind, Lila had to work to keep the smirk off her face. She didn’t really care what Marinette was actually planning. All she cared about was making it work in her favor. By the end of the month (no, this week!) she would crush Marinette Dupain-Cheng once and for all.

Lila waited patiently until fourth period, their study hall. She told Alya that she had to talk to Adrien privately for a few minutes and to go ahead without her. She looped her arm through Adrien’s, clinging tight enough to keep him from escaping, before pulling him off towards the locker room.

“Lila, what are you doing?” The blond questioned as they walked, but Lila didn’t speak until they were inside and alone. She turned to him, playing up her innocent and nervous front.

“It’s about Marinette. You notice how the whole seating arrangement was redone right? She forced everyone to do it. And she decided to put Alya all alone just to be mean! I tried sitting next to her and Miss Bustier said I wasn’t allowed to.”

Adrien frowned.

“Are you sure it’s Marinette who did that? She doesn’t seem like the type of person to force a change like that.”

Lila covered her face like she was trying to control tears.

“It’s true! She’s changed. This morning before homeroom she announced that the queen had returned. I don’t know why she said that, but everyone has been scared ever since. Plus she changed her look and is starting to hang out with Chloé and Sabrina.” Lila winced, like she was apologetic before looking up to him. “I know that Chloé is your friend, but she’s a bully. I think Marinette’s also becoming a bully.”

It was a risky move to throw Chloé under the bus, but necessary. Luckily Adrien didn’t seem too upset about her insult on the blond heiress.

“I’ll talk to Marinette and see what’s going on.” Without waiting for a response, he ran off.

Lila slowly changed her expression from sad to sinister. Maybe Adrien belittling Marinette for her behavior would be enough for the two of them to break off their own friendship. She quickly changed her expression back before walking off to study hall.

Alya was sitting at a table in the far off corner. Perfect. Smiling, Lila sat down next to her.

“Sorry for making you late. I needed to talk to Adrien about our next modeling session.”

“It’s all good.”

Alya said and smiled back, but it wasn’t as big as her normal one. Either Alya was just irritated about Marinette’s sudden announcement, the seat change, or something else happened.

“Is everything alright?” Lila asked with fake concern.

Alya’s eyes glanced over to a table at the upper level and Lila followed her glaze. There was Nino, Sabrina, and Chloé grouped together. Lila guessed that Alya was upset about her breakup.

“Yeah. Adrien came in a few minutes ago and took Marinette somewhere.”

Lila bit her lip and looked away, nervously playing with her fingers.

“I asked him to. I- I really didn’t want to say it, but Marinette was the one who got Nino to break up with you.”

Alya turned her head towards her, but she didn’t look surprised. More like she got the final piece of a puzzle. The blogger scoffed and leaned back in her chair.
“I figured as much. Nino was claiming that you were a liar, and I knew that Marinette had to be a part of it.”'

Oh, perfect! Alya was too encased with believing Lila that not even her boyfriend, or rather ex, could convince her otherwise. Lila smiled sadly and nodded.
“After talking to Adrien about our next photoshoot, I mentioned your break up and how Marinette was causing a lot of tension. He promised to talk to her. Maybe he can help her to go… back to normal.”

Alya nodded.

“I knew that Marinette was jealous, but I didn’t think she would stoop so low.”

Lila knew exactly what Alya was talking about, but framed innocence.

“I know that I’ve met a lot of celebrities, but I would have been more than happy to introduce her to some of them. I just wanted to be friends with her.”

Alya looked at her with a bit of pity and held her shoulder reassuringly.

“She wasn’t jealous about that, at least that wasn’t the only thing she was jealous of. Marinette likes Adrien, obsessively so even. She’s jealous because you get to model with him.”

Lila faked a gasp of disbelief.

“Really? But I don’t even like Adrien in that way.”

“I know, but it doesn’t matter to her. You were closer to him so she hates you in return.”

Lila looked down and curled up slightly to appear smaller.

“I just wish that we could have been friends. It sucks that all of this jealousy came from just one boy.”

“It’s probably for the best that you two didn’t become friends, with how Marinette’s been acting. I just wished that I knew her true colors sooner.”

Before anything else could be said, the doors to the library slammed open and silenced all conversations. Marinette came bursting through, she held her head up high as she marched back to the table in the upper level and sat down. Then whispers picked up again.

A few minutes later the doors opened again, this time much calmer than before. Adrien staggering in like he was shell shocked and slowly sat down across from Lila. Alya was the first to speak.

“Adrien, what happened?”

“Marinette, I- I don’t know why she’s so… why did she change?”

Alya reached out and patted his hand.

“I think this is how she’s always been. It will be okay.”

Lila nodded and kept her pity expression while she felt the sweetness of victory. Oh how she wished she could have been there for their conversation.

“Hey, Marinette? I can speak to you for a second?” Adrien kept his nervous smile on his lips as the bluenette looked at him with utter disinterest before curtly nodding.

He led her out of the room, and he could only guess at her current expression once his back was turned.

It was only once they were in the locker room and made sure that they were alone that they dropped the act. Adrien opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

“Where’s your ring?”

His eyes widened in surprise but he quickly smiled, sliding his fingers into a hidden pocket of his pants and pulling it out.

“Don’t worry, I got it right here. I figured that I should keep it out of sight since I’ll have to be spending so much time with Lila. She stole my dad’s book, I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to steal this too.”

Marinette instantly relaxed and smiled.

“Thank kwami. It’s been bugging me all morning. Sorry about the seating arrangement by the way. Miss Bustier let Alya and Lila pick their seats and Lila insisted on sitting next to you.”

He shrugged and slipped his ring back into the hidden pocket.

“It’s fine. I can deal with it for a month or so. Want me to fill you in with what lies she said this time?”

“I can guess. She probably blamed me for the seating arrangement, which is actually true. And I wouldn't be surprised if she mentioned my announcement to the school.”

Ah yes, her one sentence that caused a whirlwind of joy and fear simultaneously throughout the school. Adrien was hiding out while it happened, since he wasn’t supposed to know about that yet.

“She also called you and Chloé bullies and blamed you for Nino and Alya’s break up.”

“Why am I not surprised?” She muttered to herself as she shook her head slightly before sighing. “Okay, well this is gonna be the last time we get to speak at school for a while. Any final words before everyone assumes I verbally tore you to shreds?”

Adrien couldn’t help but laugh and quickly covered his mouth to try and muffle the sound.

“Nope. We’re still up for tonight, right?”

The plan they had was to bring the “new,” and actually new, holders out one by one for a patrol to get them used to their miraculous. And as an added bonus show off the new holders outside of an attack so Hawkmoth wouldn’t assume that the person he akumatizes is one of the old holders. Marinette smiled softly.

“Of course. And remember that I love you mon minou. I wish there was another way to get this done but…”

His heart melted slightly at her concern. He gently grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss.

“It’s okay. I love you too, princess.”

He squeezed her hand once and let go. She looked at him one last time before turning and walking away. He watched her progression from calm to furious. He counted down to thirty, waiting for enough time to properly space this out. Just as he hit twenty, a voice popped up behind him.

“You know, there’re bets going around for if you’ll realize your mistake and beg her for forgiveness.”

He whipped around to find Aurora leaning against the lockers. Adrien knew she was safe, since Marinette had assigned her as one of the people to get him away from Lila or any other traitor if things got dicey. Still, he had to ask…

“How long were you here for?”

“Relax, I waited until she walked out before coming in. I don’t have a death wish. I figured I would let you know that I’ll be watching during study hall and lunch if you ever get to eat in the cafeteria, and ask if you guys need me to stop the bets.”

Adrien wasn’t surprised about the bets happening for this. In fact, he and Marinette were a part of so many bets. Who asks who out was one of them. As well as which one would get akumatized first. He shrugged.

“Ask Marinette or Chloé. I sort of figured that there would be more bets involving us anyways, but Marinette’s word is final.”

Aurora nodded and smiled before walking away. Adrien sighed and got into character (thank you acting lessons) before slowly walking out of the room, a look of shock clearly displayed on his face. He opened the doors to the library, spotting Alya and Lila at a table before making his way over to them. Alya looked at him with concern.

“Adrien, what happened?”

“Marinette, I- I don’t know why she’s so… why did she change?”

The redhead reached out and patted his hand.

“I think this is how she’s always been. It will be okay.”

Adrien nodded slowly, not missing the hidden expression of glee under Lila’s mask of concern. She probably thought that everything was going her way. Well, Adrien couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when her life gets ripped out from under her.

Chapter Text

Everything was going according to plan. Those who knew about her past role knew what to do, others who might not have known were quickly told the basic rules. From what Marinette has heard, no one has taken her reclaim of her throne badly. In fact, many people seemed eager for Lila to be taken down.

Marinette hadn’t been told before today, but apparently Lila didn’t only threaten her. Several people, once they found out about her being queen and her reasons, admitted that they had tried asking Lila about her lies and were threatened as well. They kept quiet out of fear, and Marinette could tell that they were being honest. She promised them that Lila would be unable to harm them ever again.

Guilt pooled in her stomach. She should have expected that other people would try and call Lila out and get hurt in the process. She really should have ended all of this sooner, but she wanted to give the liar a chance to repent and come clean on her own.

Marinette was not going to show any mercy.

For now, the bluenette was happily laughing and gossiping with Chloé while Sabrina talked to Nino about his newest remix. She missed being able to just be carefree like this and not have to be a sweet, meek victim all the time. She still needed to keep up her regal appearances, but this role was more relaxed than her previous. She didn’t have to rely solely on herself anymore. She had a whole team of people at the ready to help her.

All thoughts of relief and peace were ripped away as Chloé’s words shook her from her thoughts.

“I want to get everything done by the end of the week.”

Marinette looked at the blond in surprise.

“You think we can get everything done that soon?”

“Please, we could have already done it by now if we wanted to.”

Marinette bit her lip, uncertain. They definitely could have come in today guns a blazin’. Marinette had half the contacts of the celebrities Lila claimed to know and could easily have gotten the rest. Plus they already had a whole stack of evidence of all her lies being debunked waiting in Chloé’s hotel. Still, there was the concern about Lila becoming an akuma to think about.

As much as she hated to admit it, Lila getting akumatized would be a big concern. She and Adrien had suspected that Lila’s akumatizations might be willing, and if they were then she would be more powerful than other akumas by default, which could lead to not all the horrific memories that people got from being attacked getting erased, as well as possibly some injuries remaining. Marinette didn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt and mentally scarred for life by what Lila might do as an akuma. But Marinette couldn’t voice these concerns to Chloé, not as her civilian self anyways, so she chose her next few words carefully.

“We need to focus on this one piece at a time. Doing it all at once would be too quick and anticlimactic. I want her life destroyed one piece at a time.”

Nino’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I never thought that I would hear you say something like that.”

Chloé snickered and Sabrina shrugged.

“Marinette’s very protective of her friends. She’ll stop at nothing to destroy anyone who is a threat. I suggest you just get used to it.”

Nino looked over to the bluenette who merely smiled, perhaps a bit more mischievously than needed. Even though Nino had apologized and wasn’t on her list of traitors, it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t mess with him just a bit. Call it petty, but Marinette still felt some hurt over his dismissal of everything happening to her until it got to the extreme.

“At any case, we do need to get Lila out of Gabriel’s pocket.”

The last thing Marinette needed was for Lila’s connection to the Agreste brand to be the reason that Adrien got pulled out of school. If that happened, then the bluenette would march over to the mansion and kidnap Adrien herself. No miraculous would even be needed.

“Aurora is already on it. Things on that end should start to pick up by tomorrow. But in the meanwhile, maybe we should focus on destroying a few other people’s lives.”

Marinette glared at the blond, but she was unaffected.

“Again, the only person we are doing anything else to is Alya. Unless, of course, the others do something major.”

The three girls didn’t miss Nino’s contemplated expression. Marinette understood it. She had always been against anything that would harm the blogger. But with her bad behavior only being amped up by Lila and had no sign of stopping. Tikki was right, Alya needed to face the harsh reality of her mistakes before she could begin to fix herself. She turned to Nino directly and spoke.

“It’s nothing major, despite so many of my people wanting me to leave Alya under a pile of lawsuits and to ruin her blog, I am not for doing that, at all.”

Marinette didn’t add how The Finale™ would definitely result in some public humiliation as well as the possibility of her blog getting a lot of criticism for a while. She didn’t need Nino to feel guilty and try to warn Alya.

“In any case, Alya’s stuff has to be at the end. I was talking more about the stuff involving Mr. Agreste himself.”

Taking down Gabriel Agreste would be more challenging than Lila. Even though Lila supposedly has immunity, rich people tend to get off scot free. Gabriel Agreste has been doing these crimes for years now and not once have people been able to get him in trouble. The only thing the staff at Gabriel's is able to do is support Adrien in any way they could.

They had a boatload of physical proof, testimonies, etc yet it wouldn’t do much legally. At the most they could get some money from a lawsuit, but with how rich Gabriel is it wouldn’t be much of a dent to his profits. Still, there are other ways to destroy him. His online presence was a good place to start. Which was where Nino came in.

“Suing Gabriel will result in just a slap on the wrist at best. What we need to do is ruin him online. Nino, I am trusting you to help with this.”

Before the dj could speak, Marinette pressed on.

“Anything done will be anonymous, trust me on this. We already have a group behind the scenes getting most of the prep work finished, you’ll just need to help post a few tweets.”

Even before Nino nodded, Marinette knew she had him hook line and sinker. It was no secret that he didn’t like the CEO, but he didn’t have the means to try and take him face on before. Nino’s efforts to point out the obvious abuse that man was doing to Adrien went over the blond’s head, not because he was clueless but because he was playing a role. So the chance to take Gabriel on and win? That was something that Nino would be willing to do no matter what. Once he did nodded, the bluenette smiled.

“I’ll have some people contact you about that later. Tomorrow, probably.”

Nino would need time to draft up the tweets and properly set up the timer to post them, which he wouldn’t have time to do tonight. It was unanimously decided that the first “new” superhero that would join them on their patrol would be him. Not just because future Bunnyx said that a new fox would be required sooner, but also because Marinette wanted to move away from Rena Rouge as soon as possible.

The rest of the day happened without a hitch, and Marinette waved goodbye to Chloé and Sabrina. Before making her way to the locker room. She was doing it under the pretense of getting something from her locker, but really she was hoping that…

“Marinette.”

Ah, speak of the devil.

Without having to uphold her old image, Marinette smirked and turned to face the liar head on.

“That’s my name. I would appreciate it if you kept it out of your mouth.”

Lila scowled and glared at her. Still, the bluenette was unaffected.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but you’re going down. The class is against you and Adrien is mine.”

“Correction, some of the class is against me. And if they truly do not care enough to see the difference between a diamond and some fools gold, then so be it.”
Marinette’s smirk grew into a grin as she slammed her locker door shut, taking a step towards Lila. The girl stood strong, but the bluenette could tell that she was irritated.

“And if you think I’m going down, you’re delusional. I gave you a chance to confess, to make up a lie about wanting to fit in even, but you never took the chance. I know you heard my announcement this morning. Don’t take it lightly. You might just regret it.”

Before the liar could say her own threat, Marinette spun on her heel and walked out. The school was basically empty so Tikki cautiously peeked out from her bag.

“Um, Marinette?”

“Yes?” She whispered, turning to walk down the back stairs to have less of a chance of someone following her.

“Lila’s probably been irritated all day, and with you turning the threat on her…”

Marinette’s steps paused in realization. She turned and muttered out her transformation words as she booked it back towards the locker room. Right outside the doors was the fluttering of a dark purple butterfly. She threw her yoyo out and caught it before running and making her way to the rooftops before she released it.
She peeked down into the school, and saw Lila looking around expectantly. Before she could be spotted, Ladybug swung away and towards the bakery, landing in the side alley and detransforming. She handed Tikki a cookie before sighing.

“Just because I caught that akuma doesn’t mean that she won’t get akumatized when I’m not watching her.”

“She probably will, but Nooroo can only send out one akuma a day, so at least then you can get some training in with Nino. He’ll probably be needed for that fight.”

Marinette nodded and patiently waited for Tikki to finish and fly back into her bag before turning the corner and walking into the front doors. Her mom was helping a customer, and greeted her without really looking. She took the opportunity to rush upstairs before either her mom or dad could ask about her outfit choice. She was planning to say that she just wanted to try something different, but the longer they were blind to the changes in her life the better.

Once in her room, Marinette flopped onto her chaise and pulled out her phone. Messages were sent out to the people who would need to contact Nino, as well as one to Chloé reminding her not to take action without informing her first.

Marinette loved the blond like a sister, but she had a tendency to act first and think later. She was lucky that Chloé didn’t do that while transformed, probably due to Pollen’s influence on her. Once finished, the bluenette dropped her phone gently onto the floor and plopped an arm over her head.

Why did there have to be a magical terrorist in Paris? Lila could have been finished today, but with akumas getting more strength from willing akuamtizations she had to act smart about this. If only there was a way to make it so Lila couldn’t get akumatized, even if she wanted to.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open as she sat up.

“Tikki?”

She looked over and saw her with some of the other kwamis.

“Is there anything in the grimoire that could make it so Lila couldn’t get akumatized? Even if it’s just a temporary thing.”

Tikki opened her mouth and closed it, clearly going into thought.

“Maybe,” she said finally . “But I don’t really know. Kwamis can understand every language except the writing in the grimoire. It’s a safety measure the guardians put in to make sure if a miraculous got lost and some spells were found by someone intending to us the miraculous for evil, that the person couldn’t get any information out.”

With newfound determination, Marinette walked over towards her closet and dug around until she opened the hidden compartment, bringing out the spellbook. She sat down in her desk chair and opened it.

“If there’s some type of spell that can hold off Lila getting akumatized, even for just an hour or so, then I can do the finale and then transform before helping escort her out of Paris.”

Getting Lila out of France in general would be a good idea. Even if there was a way to make it so that she never would get akumatized, other people are likely to get akumatized because of her. They probably still will get akumatized, but at least Marinette and Adrien wouldn’t have to try to protect Lila in those cases.

About an hour into her careful searching and back and forth between the coded text and her notes, Marinette found it. A spell that could be cast on a place, temporarily making it so magic could not be used in the area. After double checking and triple checking the words, it wouldn’t hurt Tikki and Plagg at all, it just would negate smaller forms of magic, aka miraculous holder’s powers.

“I’ll work on getting this spell set. Maybe if I can get it done, we can end this all by Friday.” Marinette muttered to herself, mentally making a list of everything that would have to be sped up.

First thing would be breaking off Lila’s connection to Gabriel, as well as putting the spotlight on him so that he couldn’t take Adrien out of school without people asking questions. That meant that Nino would have to get ready tonight, which meant that patrol would have to be pushed up sooner.

The bluenette grabbed her phone off the floor and opened up her secret textline to Adrien regarding miraculous stuff.

‘Small change in plans. Some stuff has to be put into plan tonight that requires Nino. I figured since we’ll need a new fox sooner that we can do patrol in thirty. Thoughts?’

It only took a few minutes for him to respond.

‘I have to finish piano practice and then I have a break to work on homework. Feel free to get Nino and head out sooner and I can just meet you.’

Marinette frowned at that. Ever since she first got her earrings and became Ladybug, everyone around her had been saying how it was Ladybug and her sidekick. Adrien always said how he was fine with people’s opinions of it, since it wasn’t painting him as being dangerous, but it bugged her that people didn’t see him for who he was: her partner, equal to her in every way.

She was hoping that with the switch up in holders, and possibly some new semi-temporary hand offs of the miraculous for the holders to keep on their person for a few days, that she could also change the tide of opinions. That required it being clear to the public that Chat Noir was a part of the planning process.

‘I want you to be there for this if possible. Let me know when you can go and then we can meet on Nino’s roof and do this together.’

She tossed her phone onto her desk and went to put the grimoire away. Once done, she turned back around. She caught something from the corner of her vision, and looked up. Chat was laying on her bed. Marinette hated how he could be so silent sometimes.

“What happened to piano practice?”

“Father has a meeting that he actually has to attend in person and Natalie is going with him. They should be gone for a couple hours, and my bodyguard is easy enough to convince to let me sneak out. Especially since he’s the one who told me about the meeting in the first place. I just need to meet him at the library at six.”

Marinette smiled fondly. Adrien’s bodyguard was the only person in that house who cared about him. She would need to make him some pastries as a thank you after all of this.

“Well let’s get going then. Tikki, spots on.”

Once transformed the two headed up to her balcony and headed off towards the Lahiffe residence. It was time to shake things up a bit.

Chapter Text

Nino didn’t think that he could have been surprised anymore. The last week he had been on a rollercoaster, with figuring out the truth about Lila and breaking up with Alya to the events of today he was exhausted. Marinette had assured him that she didn’t need him to do anything until tomorrow, so he was hoping to distract himself by working on his music or finishing up some assignments. He certainly didn’t expect there to be a knock coming from his window.

He turned, eyes widening in surprise before he quickly rushed over to greet the two heroes. If they were here, then that must mean that an akuma was out and either after him or Carapace was needed. Given how, as far as Nino knew, Chat Noir didn’t know his identity, he was assuming it was a case of the first.

A chill ran down his spine, as he realized that it would mean that Alya got akumatized. His fear vanished, though, upon opening the window and the two heroes stepped in with smiles, showing no concern about there being an akuma on the loose.

“Nino Lahiffe. We have some important information for you, as well as a very special request.” Ladybug turned to Chat and he picked up where she left off.

“Due to some circumstances, we are switching out some of the old holders. That means that you will no longer be Carapace. However, we both agreed that you do make a good hero, so we figured that you could receive a different miraculous if you would like to continue being a hero.”

Nino’s eyes widened. He felt a little sad about not getting to be Carapace or see Wayzz again, but getting a different miraculous?

“Why am I getting a different miraculous if I can still be a hero?”

The two holders exchange a look before Ladybug answered.

“I made some bad choices with a couple of the past holders. It didn’t result in anything too bad happening, but there was a possibility of something bad happening if I had continued to keep them as heroes. I wanted to ensure that no past hero would feel victimized for no longer being a holder, so we are making any remaining holders switch miraculous. If you want to continue being a hero, you would be getting the fox.”

Her serious expression changed as she offered a sly smile.

“I remember you directing a movie project with your classmates a while back. Being able to direct what happens in an illusion is key. You can be as imaginative as you want with creating the illusion, but if there’s no direction in it then it all falls apart. Do you want to do this?”

Does he want to do this? He actually had time to think about it, what with no akuma attacking and no pressing motivation. Nino enjoyed his time as Carapace, not for being known as a hero but just being able to help save Paris. Plus for some reason the two heroes decided to keep him on, instead of just telling him about whatever excuse they told the other holders they let go. He was important enough to be wanted. He nodded, mind decided.

“I’d be honored.”

The two heroes smiled and Ladybug opened her yo-yo, pulling out a foxtail necklace.

“Well then, welcome to the team again.”

Nino eyed the miraculous. Why was she handing it to him now? There wasn’t actually an akuma right?

“You’re not giving me it to keep, right?”

Chat was quick to shake his head.

“No. We figured it might be a good idea to take out the new holders on patrol. Maybe let them test their powers if it’s safe enough to use outside of an attack.”

Nino sighed in relief. He didn’t want to say it, but he was worried about Alya sneaking into his room or bag and stealing it from him. It was only after he broke up with her that he realized how invasive she could be. If she would look and find a miraculous… well he was pretty sure that she would want to take it.

Once he slipped on the necklace, an orange ball of light formed. Then appeared a small fox kwami. It had a mischievous look on its face.

“The name’s Trixx, it’s nice to meet you. All you have to do is say ‘Trixx, let’s pounce.’”

Nino nodded.

“Trixx, let’s pounce!”

Ladybug and Chat Noir watched as he transformed, not bothered by the flash of light. Nino looked down at himself. His suit was more of a brownish orange than Rena Rouge’s, and he could feel that he had a cape.

“So, foxy, got a hero name figured out?”

He thought for a minute before responding.

“Let’s go with Fennec.”

“Well, Fennec, let’s get going on patrol. We can show you our main route before maybe letting you test your powers.”

With a nod, the three were out of his room and off towards the rooftops. During his previous times as Carapace, he had experienced the feeling of being transformed and running along the rooftops. However it was always during an akuma, and he was too focused on the battle to think of anything else.

Now, being transformed and not having to worry about being hit by an akuma, Nino could appreciate the feeling more. The power coursing through himself and the energy it gave him, not to mention how cool the city looked while he was above it. He understood why the two heroes did patrols.

Nino followed their pathing, zipping across buildings just slow enough for them to point some things out.

“We usually split patrols fifty fifty between looking for trouble on the rooftops and going on the ground to talk to civilians. It helps people feel safer, not to mention that the kids love it. Today we won’t be going on the streets unless there’s an akuma, but be prepared for it on later patrols.” Chat explained.

“I’m patrolling again?”

Ladybug laughed at the excitement in his voice.

“Yes. With the switch off of heroes, we figured it would be the easiest way to get people used to the new faces. Even after all the hype has died down, having more people to help, as well as letting the holders get more used to being transformed, would be beneficial.”

Nino grinned. He couldn’t wait to get to go out like this again. They continued to go around and say different things about their usual route before they stopped.
“Okay. I think that should be good enough. Now we should go somewhere so that you can try out your powers.”

Nino nodded and Ladybug led the way towards an outer part of the city that he hadn’t been to before. It was void of all people, which he supposed was important since he would be using his powers.

“Since you’ve worked with Rena Rouge before I know you know the general power of the fox miraculous but I can explain it further. In order to cast a mirage you have to focus on what you want the illusion to be like. Once you have a clear image, you cast your magic by playing your flute and saying the word ‘mirage.’

“If you want to get rid of the illusion then you say the word ‘reality.’ You can either cast an illusion at a general place or you could even cast an illusion on yourself to make yourself look different. If anything touches the illusion then it will disappear. Do you want to give it a go?”

Nino grabbed the flute and looked at it. He had seen Rena Rouge cast her illusions before so he did know, at least slightly, what he was doing. However he didn’t have any goal to focus his illusion on now. Sensing the unsaid issue, Chat prompted him.

“Try casting an illusion on yourself. Maybe into someone you can easily recall?”

Nino’s eyes lit up and he was already focusing on someone. He brought the flute to his lips and played a few notes before holding the weapon out and saying “mirage!” In a flash his image changed.

Once the mirage was fully casted, he looked at the two heroes to see how well he did. Ladybug smiled, but it seemed to be more of a smirk. Chat blinked before shrugging.

“I guess the guy whose face is plastered all around Paris is easy enough to recall.”

“I’d say you look spot on Nino.” Chat glanced over to Ladybug and smirked at the pun she made.

Nino felt like there was something else going on in their interaction, but quickly brushed the feeling off. It wasn’t important.

“Well he is in my class, and is my friend so- hey… wait my voice is different!”

Ladybug let out a giggle at that.

“Yeah, that comes with your powers. It wouldn’t be too effective if you could look like someone or cast an illusion of someone but didn’t sound like them.”

Nino guessed it made sense. That had actually worked similarly for while he was Carapace. He heard his voice in some video clips and he sounded different. Before he could speak again, a distinct beeping was heard.

“Well I guess this will be all for now. Dispel the illusion and we’ll take you back home.”

“Actually, my lady,” Chat interrupted as Nino said the word ‘reality’, “you’ll have to do it. I need to get to my thing before I’m late.”

Ladybug frowned and checked her yoyo.

“It’s almost six already? I didn’t even realize how much time had passed. Well I’ll see you tomorrow Chat.”

He gave one final wave before he bonded off the rooftops. Ladybug swung her weapon in a lazy loop as she smiled at him.

“Let’s head back. If you reach a minute before we get close, we can just land on a roof and I can carry you back.”

Before he could respond, she threw her yoyo and swung off, prompting him to follow her. Luckily the trip back was quick enough that he was able to land inside his room before the final beeps were heard and his transformation came undone. As he took off the necklace and began to hand it to her, Ladybug held out a hand.

“Actually, you should keep it for now.”

He frowned.

“I thought that I wasn’t keeping it.”

Thoughts of Alya discovering the miraculous came to his mind. Even though she was currently avoiding him that didn’t mean that she couldn’t notice the necklace. But even if Alya wasn’t a concern, he didn’t know how he felt about keeping a miraculous with him.

“It wouldn’t be permanent. It’s a special circumstance. I’m sure you’ve heard about the drama happening at Françoise Dupont by now. Well, there is almost no uncertainty that someone will be akumatized over it.”

“I understand that, but what’s that have to do with me keeping the miraculous even temporarily.”

Ladybug looked out the window before sighing.

“I unfortunately cannot give all the details, but Chat and I were informed that we would need the fox miraculous soon for an akuma. We are going to be getting all the new holders out for patrol for the rest of the week, but we started with you first because of that. Chat and I agreed that it would be best for you to keep your miraculous until that battle happens, just in case we cannot get the miraculous to you while the akuma is out. The next akuma attack there is, just transform and meet us.”

Nino nodded, deciding to just trust the heroine.

“Is there anything else that I need to know?”

“Yes. It’s most likely that Lila will be akumatized and will get some form that allows her to look like us or other people. If you want to know if it’s Chat or I, press the button at the base of your flute. It will cause our weapons to beep. No beeping means that the person you’re seeing is the fake. Also if we see Adrien Agreste or Marinette Dupain-Cheng while Lila is an akuma, we are going to assume that they are fakes as well.”

The dj’s mind flashed to a video he saw when Lila first got akumatized, and the idea of the real Adrien being dangled over the top of the Eiffel Tower before being dropped made his stomach turn.

“But what if they are actually real?”

“They should know to go and hide during akuma attacks. Besides, Lila likes to use fakes of people more since it makes the situation easier to control. And in the off case that they are real, the cure will save them. They’ll be okay, Nino. I promise. Now are you okay for keeping the miraculous until then?”

Nino paused before nodding.

“Trixx will explain some other things to you about your power and also what they eat. If you need to reach out to me then you can shoot an emergency message while transformed. My kwami will feel the magic and then I can transform and read it. Any questions or worries that I can answer while I’m here?”

He shook his head and she offered a smile.

“Well I’ll be off then. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

As Ladybug swung out and away from view, he turned to his companion. The kwami’s eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief.

“Well kit, if you could get me some grapes so that I can recharge then I can begin to explain some more things about your powers. I think you’ll find them a lot more powerful than you first thought.”

Chapter Text

When Marinette woke up the next day, it was to Chloé sending a mass wall of texts. Marinette squinted at the screen, debating if she wanted to deal with it right now. As the texts continued, the bluenette eventually let out a groan of annoyment and opened up the chat line. Upon reading all of the texts, Marinette called the blond. She didn’t even give Chloé the chance to say hello before starting.

“You woke me up, fifteen minutes before my alarm, just to pat yourself on the back?”

“Come on! This is huge. Agreste stocks are actually starting to decrease. Do you know how big of a deal that is?”

Marinette pulled herself out of bed and climbed down to her floor carefully to not slip while only using one hand.

“I mean, considering how much of the Agreste brand is marketed around Adrien it’s no surprise that people would be pulling out because of this.”

Truly, Marinette was surprised that it was happening already. She hadn’t really expected the bigger people supporting Agreste’s Industries to back out just yet. Especially since the situation currently on hand could be salvaged by Gabriel. A conference, some money donated, and Lila getting fired and a restraining order placed could save face.

“I’m just excited to see how Gabriel is going to handle this. I mean, from what I’ve heard from Adrien, his father has just ignored anything bad that happens to him. He could try to just bury everything and ignore it.”

Marinette switched the phone to speaker mode so that she could at least get ready. She pulled out a bright red ruffled top and some high rise leggings and started to get dressed as she spoke.

“I mean, he could try to save Lila but if there’s one thing I’m sure about, it’s that Gabriel will put himself before anyone else. If saving Lila will cause more problems than it will help him, then he’ll drop her. Probably with as little fanfare as possible if I were to guess.”

Once she was dressed, she began brushing out her hair before pulling it back into a braid.

“Anyways, I’m guessing that everything is going according to plan then.”

She could practically hear Chloé’s smirk as she answered.

“Yep. And I still think that we should finish this by Friday. Especially in the case that Mr. Agreste decides to try and save Lila. I mean, with Adrien still in school he still has a use for Lila. And unless he pulls Adrien out of school, which we don’t want, he’ll still have a use for her. Plus she could easily tell Mr. Agreste that she got Adrien away from Nino. He hates him, so that might motivate him to keep her.”

Remembering what she found in the grimoire, Marinette hummed and gathered up her stuff for the day.

“Honestly, with Nino and Adrien no longer on speaking terms he might find no use for her anymore. But we really do need to worry about if Mr. Agreste discovers what is happening in the school with us, which he can find out through Lila.

“Even if he isn’t worried about Adrien getting physically hurt, he might pull Adrien out if he thinks that this could negatively affect his brand. Us getting Lila out of his pocket sooner will probably make it so that he doesn’t discover what’s happening at school. So ending this all sooner rather than later would be a good idea.”

“Wait, so you mean we can actually finish this Friday?”

“Yep. But with everything happening so fast it’s probably gonna cause a lot of attention on us. And as much as your ‘daddy card’ worked on Principal Damocles and Miss Bustier, if the school board finds out we were the cause of all this, we might face some consequences.”

It was another reason why their rule was kept as under the radar as possible. They were doing things for the greater good, but they were still just kids. They are still kids. Marinette had already been worried about Chloé getting in trouble for the things she’s done and gotten away with. Especially since anyone who gets in trouble for this can try and take Chloé down with them.

It was just how some people acted when they got backed into a corner, and was one of the reasons why Marinette had been trying to get the class to realize what Lila was like before resorting to retaking her rule. Chloé, of course, didn’t care to think of these possibilities.

“Don’t worry. I think the school will be much more focused on trying to save the reputation of Françoise Dupont to focus on us. We haven’t done anything wrong, and certainly not at the school. Anything we’ve done can be marked up to the staff allowing us to get away with it.” Chloé got quiet for a minute before continuing, this time less smug. “We might have to disband permanently, but I think that’s a small price to pay to ensure that everyone is safe.”

Marinette froze, as a realization washed over her. She must have zoned out for a little bit because the next thing she heard was Chloé’s concern, “Mari?”

That snapped her out of it.

“That’s fine. Anyways, we need to get Nino the information so that he can send out some of those tweets later today. We definitely want to make that a slower transition to make it seem more natural. I’ll meet you at the school in ten.”

“But I’m not even dressed!”

“Then you probably should have done that before spamming me.”

“Just stay at the bakery and I’ll meet you there. We can walk to school together.”

Marinette wanted to agree, it would be nice to go in together, but couldn’t.

“No. My parents would question it. Just get to the school by eight will you.”

Once she hung up with Chloé, she stared at her phone. Tikki, who had heard the whole conversation and noticed her holder’s distress, flew up to her.

“Marinette, what’s wrong?”

The bluenette slowly backed up and sat down on her chaise.

“It’s just that I never thought that there was a possibility that I could lose… this.”

Even when she had to slip into the background, she knew that she could always return. And even if she wasn’t handling everything outright she still had that control, just on a more looser term. She was seen as a leader, as someone to go to if they needed help. The idea of never being able to return, to have that position where she was admired and that people turned to for help… well, it scared her a bit.

“I like being seen as an important role, as someone people can look up to. The thought of all that disappearing because of this scares me more than it should.”

“Oh my bug, it will be okay. A title is a meaningless thing in the long run. People still looked up to you, even when you weren’t officially ruling. The fact that it would be you helping take control of this problematic system to cause you to lose your role wouldn’t ruin anyone’s thoughts about you. In fact, they might admire you more because of it. Besides, you don’t need a title to help people.”

Marinette took a deep breath. Tikki was right. The whole reason why she did all of this in the first place was to help people. Just because she lost a title, didn’t mean that she lost that ability to help others.

“You’re right, Tikki. Thank you. Come on, we should get to school.”

Tikki smiled and nodded, slipping into Marinette’s purse without another word. As she headed downstairs to grab a quick pastry before breakfast, she mentally ran over the list of things she needed to do still.

Nino still needs to get the information for the tweets and post them. She also has to ensure that Lila or anyone else in the class doesn’t catch on and try to stop their plans. On top of that she had to be prepared for either Lila or Alya getting akumatized at some point this week, or maybe even both of them. There was no way that Bunnyx would take a trip back to the past to give her that tidbit of information if it wasn’t important.

The major issue that could happen is if it is Alya who gets akumatized. Despite Nino knowing everything, he might be hesitant to fight her. He can be loyal to a fault and pretty non confrontational, which is why the turtle was the best choice for him. He had some offense but was more defensive. But Marinette trusted Adrien with giving Nino the fox. He did have the ability to create complex plots, and it was more of a sidelines miraculous than front lines as well.

Once she finished off her scone, she swallowed down a glass of water before grabbing her lunch. She would return home for lunch, but it was expected of her now to be at the school if anyone needed her. She was almost out of the bakery when she got stopped.

“That’s a pretty outfit, Marinette.”

She turned to face her mama and smiled, trying to not cringe at the thoughtful look on the woman’s face.

“Thanks. I wanted to try something different.”

Just sound innocent. There should be nothing suspicious about wearing red and black.

“Oh, and it’s the shirt that your Nonna got you! She’ll be happy to hear that you wore it.”

Marinette nodded, relaxing a bit as she remembered that information.

“Yeah. I haven’t had a chance to wear it yet, but figured that I should just go ahead and wear it. I think I might try designing something with a ruffle soon.”

She traced the edge of the ruffle and although she had said it on the spot, a few outfit designs popped into her mind. Oh well, she’ll just do a quick rough sketch once she gets to school. It will have to be on some notebook paper since she’s not bringing her sketchbooks to school after the class’s last stunt, but it will be fine to mark down her ideas.

“That will be fun.” Her mama opened her mouth to say more, but a couple customers walked in.

“I’ll see you after school.” Marinette said as she turned around, knowing that her mama only half acknowledged her.

The bakery kept both of her parents busy, but it was a blessing for her. They paid just enough attention to her to ensure that she was fed, check up on her, and do family dinners along with game and movie nights while being busy enough to help hide her vigilant side of her life. Before she became Ladybug, they were actually busier. They were still working on getting a staff settled in, figuring out how to make their bakery special, it was part of the reason why they had never noticed her friendship with Chloé and thus why they never questioned why the blonde suddenly became hostile to her.

Maybe at some point, if Chloé is up for it, then the blonde could fake an apology and the two could ‘become friends.’ That way they could actually hang out. She spent a large amount of her childhood at Chloé’s hotel, and she knew the blonde well enough to know that her parents didn’t focus on her. Her dad was busy, her mom had another husband and lived in New York, and despite the staff acting as family to her, Marinette knew that she would always enjoy more parent figures caring about her.

Speaking of dysfunctional families, she also needed to figure out what to do about Adrien. His father could take him out of school, yes, but something she only just considered the possibility of other people getting involved in the Agreste household. There was already some pull back from people based on some comments posted online, and when the articles and other news comes out there will be even more lights pointed on that mansion. It could make Adrien sneaking out as Chat Noir harder, yes, but depending on how bad things get Adrien could even get taken out of that house.

Marinette had never thought of that as a possibility, but with Chloé mentioning how they would probably get more eyes on them, it is possible that actual adults with brains and knowledge of laws could investigate what is happening in that mansion. A couple of testimonies from his bodyguard and some current and ex Agreste employees would be enough to bring Gabriel’s ‘parenting’ into light.

The bluenette stopped in her tracks as realization washed over her. Gabriel could lose custody over Adrien. Depending on how things turned out, this could either be the cause for it or the starting point. She needed to talk to Adrien and voice her concern for that, and also Sabrina. She had been helping mainly with the laws and regulations side of things since her dad is an officer, so she should be able to figure out how to help protect Adrien.

Marinette quickly continued her walk into the school, holding her head up high as she smiled to the people she passed. She couldn’t let anyone think that something was wrong. It would cause unnecessary worry. She should be coming to the school with Chloé in a couple minutes. She can ask her then. That thought crossed her mind as Sabrina walked up to her with urgency in her eyes.

“Hey ‘Brina. What’s up?”

The redhead grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her towards the locker room. The bluenette reached into her pocket and tapped a button on her phone. Once Sabrina glanced around to ensure that no one else was around, she answered the question.

“Stuff about Lila has already been posted. It was only a few things, but turns out that she had made a lot of enemies. I’m pretty sure that Lila got akumatized.”

“Really?” Marinette said, tilting her head in confusion. “Why?”

A sinister smirk resided on Sabrina’s face, or rather, Lila’s face.

“Oh sorry. Did I say Lila made a lot of enemies? I meant you. Prepare to meet your fate, Marinette.”

The bluenette’s eyes widened in shock, not by the illusion turning into an akumatized Lila, but by the sword that she tried to pierce into her stomach. As soon as the image flashed into her mind, she was back in her room, and standing right in front of her was a younger Bunnyx.

“Pro tip, Lila’s newest akuma form has a sword. It can kill you, both as yourself and when you’re transformed. Do not get hit. Do not let Adrien get hit. Got it?”

Marinette nodded, and Alix climbed up onto her bed and out on her balcony to get back to her home undetected.

“Well. It looks like Fennec gets to experience his first akuma fight.”

Marinette commented as she shot a text to Adrien.

“Come on, Tikki. I’ll have to transform in the alleyway so that Mama doesn’t get suspicious.”

Tikki nodded and flew into her bag, and Marinette prepared herself to relive the past how many minutes she had already done. Well, almost. This time though, Lila will be the one off guard.

Chapter Text

Intercepting Nino before he could make it to the school was easy. Ladybug allowed Chat to swoop down and grab the dj, since he blended into the shadows better. Once Nino was assured that he was not being kidnapped and that they were the real Ladybug and Chat Noir, he got transformed and was ready for the plan.

“I have no idea what her new name is, but from what I could tell it was like Volpina with more offensive abilities. She has a sword that can pierce our suits, so do not get hit under any circumstances, Chat.”

One quick look made Chat realize that, unlike other times, there would possibly be injuries that cannot be healed by the cure.

“We need to be smart about this and quick. I don’t want her hurting anyone. Fennec, Trixx informed you about how your powers work, right?”

He nodded.

“I had no idea that the powers could do so much more.”

“We have been keeping that a secret for a while now.” Chat explained with a shrug. “Kwamis are entitled to tell their holders anything, except what the guardians forbid them from saying. The basic powers of the miraculous? All kwamis have to tell that to their holders if ordered. Other powers and abilities? Well, they will only answer if their holder commands them to.”

“You cannot tell anyone about it.” Ladybug instructed. “Stay hidden if you can. That way, everyone will think that you had to detransform and retransform.”

Fennec nodded, and both heroes could tell that he was nervous.

“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. We do have a sort of reset button if needed.”

Ladybug could practically hear the ‘even though using it too much can cause mass destruction’ part that Chat was thinking. However, Fennec couldn’t read Chat as well as she could and missed that.

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

All three heroes pulled out the ear pieces from their weapons and put them on. Fennec grabbed his flute and took a second to ready himself before casting his mirage. Once he nodded, the other two heroes were off.

Marinette could hear the one sided conversation that Nino had going between an illusion of herself and Lila. Luckily Nino had been the one to make the suggestion of going somewhere private, so Lila didn’t reach out to pull her along. That would have ruined things. The two got settled in position just as Lila edged into dangerous territory. Marinette was close enough to hear the full conversation.

“Stuff about Lila has already been posted. It was only a few things, but turns out that she had made a lot of enemies. I’m pretty sure that Lila got akumatized.”

“What? No way.” There was a giggle from illusionette. “Actually, yeah. I can totally see it. In fact, I’m seeing it right now.”

Before Lila could question what was going on, the illusion puffed into dark orange smoke. This akuma form must have had enhanced speed as well, since Lila quickly spun around to where a fake Ladybug and Chat Noir popped out while the real two got ready to act.

Lila cried out in triumph, and her illusion disappeared as she went to pierce Ladybug. However, the only thing that happened was the image of Ladybug disappearing into a puff of smoke along with the untouched Chat Noir. Before Lila could get over her new confusion, Ladybug roped her yoyo around the sword and yanked it out of her hands before she could react.

The next sound Lila made was a screech as she watched as Chat catasylm the sword. Ladybug caught the akuma before it could escape before grabbing her lucky charm from around her waist. A simple sword keychain to let her know what the akumatized object was. She threw it up and casted her cure before smiling and looking at a newly transformed Lila. And, yep, if her suspicion wasn’t already strong enough, the fact that Lila looked angry and not disoriented at all showed that her transformation had been willing.

No matter the person or the akumatized form, everyone had no idea what had happened while they were transformed. Any time they got deakumatized, they were confused as to what had happened. Sure, after a couple moments they realized it but none got over it that fast. Marinette mentally filed that for later, and gave a quick fistbump to her partner.

“Don’t worry about whatever reason it is that you got akumatized. I’m sure everything will turn out fine in the end. Bug out!”

The two were quick to sneak out of the school and back to the rooftop where they had left Nino. Once they landed, Marinette immediately spotted the two remaining segments in the miraculous.

“Thank you so much for your help, Fennec. We can go back to the ground and I’ll take the miraculous back for now.”

Nino didn’t put up any fight, as he followed her down to the alleyway before detransforming and handing over the necklace. She smiled and relaxed a bit as she took it and tucked it inside her yoyo.

“We’ll get you again if we need you for another fight or for patrol. You can head off so that you can get back to class.”

He nodded before leaving, and Marinette was now aware of the beeping from her earrings. She had a minute to head out before she would detransform. But she had time for one quick thing.

“So we can both agree that Lila was definitely willingly akumatized, right?”

“Oh absolutely she was. She was probably hoping to kill you and try and twist all the rumors about her.”

Marinette nodded, deciding to save the other thing for later.

“I’ll need to go before I transform back. Please be careful at school today.”

Once he nodded, she sprinted out of the alley way and into another hidden nook as her transformation wore off. Tikki slipped into her purse, helping herself to a cookie. Marinette calmed her breathing before slowly walking out and into the doors of the school. As she walked in, she heard her phone chime. She grabbed it, scanning the latest message, and smiled. It was predictable, she had expected this, and yet she couldn’t help but be surprised that they lasted a full day.

Marinette regained a bounce in her step as she walked into the classroom. Immediately she notices the smug look on Alya’s face, the same look except poorly hidden on Lila, and a slightly nervous Miss Bustier. The bluenette ignored the looks and made her way towards the back, waiting until the other shoe drops. It didn’t take long, since as soon as she sat down Miss Bustier cleared her throat.

“Before we begin class, there is an announcement that I have to make.” The teacher glanced over to her, only to notice the intense stare and look away. “Due to some… tension and issues, Marinette will no longer be allowed to be class rep.”

The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. She didn’t even need to look to know that Lila was smirking victoriously, as if she had won.

“Sounds good to me. Getting kicked off certainly saved me a lot of paperwork and time. For whoever takes the role next, I wish you luck.”

And, yeah, after she said those words Marinette did sneak a glance over to the troublesome duo. Alya seemed confused, hints of anger lurking under the surface. Lila looked straight up pissed, and even once she schooled her face to look neutral the anger was evident. Miss Bustier looked a little shocked, but ever the pushover, she was willing to move on “for the sake of classroom hamory,” aka whatever caused her to do her job the least.

“Well, with that settled, is there anyone who would like to volunteer for the role?”

“I think Lila would be perfect for class rep.” Alya immediately stated, not so subtly looking back to Marinette. The bluenette merely raised her eyebrow at the redhead, only partly tuning in to hear the liar’s response.

“I’ll be happy to do it. I’m sure I can do an amazing job at it.”

Lila looked proud, and back to her normal self. That satisfied look disappeared once Mylene’s voice popped in.

“Yeah. And imagine the kind of things we can do with all the connections Lila has.”

Her back stiffening made it clear that Lila hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“A lot of my celebrity friends are busy most of the time, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Oh man, if Marinette was anymore vicious she would allow this to drag on for weeks. Lila could bury herself in her hole of lies on her own. There would be no way that she could both pawn off all of the class rep work onto Alya (because Marinette didn’t doubt that Lila would try to avoid doing as much work as possible) and have all of her contacts back out. Her classmates were overly understanding, and a bit naive, but even they have their limits. Of course she couldn't do that.

Even if Adrien wasn’t someone who she was looking out for, there was also the concern of Lila hurting more and more people. She has threatened people as herself, sure, but she is also working with Hawkmoth in some way. And only akumas themselves don’t keep the memory of what happens. Anyone that Lila harms as an akuma would remember whatever was done to them.

So Marinette couldn’t afford to let this drag out. Perhaps in another life. Probably in the same life where she actually hates Adrien and he didn’t care about her feelings or wellbeing. However, she could let Lila brag about all of her plans for the rest of the short week she had left as “queen” of the class. That would distract her enough, since she feels like she’s earned a victory. But the lack of reaction from her would definitely make Lila be on guard, more so than before, which is why Marinette had planned for this moment.

“If you wish, Miss Bustier, I can bring in the things that I was working for when I was still class rep. Lila could use them to help herself with this new role.”

As expected, Alya scoffed.

“Please. She doesn’t need that. She can do better than you ever could.”

Marinette looked right at Alya and tilted her head.

“Are you sure? Class reps are supposed to show off their fundraising plans and initial class trip plans by the end of the month. Do you really think that Lila could handle doing all of that with such a tight deadline? I’ve been working on this stuff since the beginning of the school year.”

From the corner of her vision, she could see Lila preparing herself. She wouldn’t want to accept Marinette’s help any other time, this was certain, but if she had the plans then she could either be successful or claim that none of the plans were working and say that she was being sabotaged. Lila would probably do the latter, or claim that the plans she was given were messed up and use them secretly while claiming them as her own. Of course, once Alya had a train of thought she stuck to it. Even if it would cause more problems.

“Lila doesn’t need an entire school year to do this work. Unlike some people.”

Some murmurs started up from the other students, and Marinette merely shrugged.

“Have it your way. I’ll be sure to get rid of my plans then. Also since you feel like Lila will be able to do a much better job at this than me, you can go ahead and ask for any of my already submitted plans to be discarded.”

Before Lila could speak up, Alya shot back a “Done” which sealed the deal. After a few moments to get over what had happened, Bustier quickly forced the class’s attention towards the board. Marinette only partly paid attention, periodically looking around to see her classmates' expressions. Those who wore her ribbon bracelets were paying attention, having trust in her that things would be fine.

Those who didn’t seemed surprised, and snapped back to face the front when she caught them staring at her. A couple seemed nervous, and Marinette couldn’t tell whenever it was because they were worried about Lila not doing a good job (after all, any time she had promised to bring them to meet some of her celebrity friends something had came up and they couldn’t make it) or because they thought that the bluenette would act out later about losing her role. Still, their worries didn’t change the facts.

Once Lila gets exposed someone would have to fill in the role, and that probably would have to be her. It was way too far into the year for any one of her classmates to fill in the role and have any amount of success. When Marinette won the vote, she had to go through a lot of meetings and prep sessions before she could even begin to plan stuff. But if she was even allowed to take back the position depended on what happens after Friday.

Truth be told, Marinette wouldn’t exactly miss not having to be class rep. It was a lot of work, and not having to handle that on top of her work as Ladybug would help a lot. It could help her start figuring out ways to track down Hawkmoth. Marinette smirked. Yes, after she finished off the liar then she could begin the bigger task.

For now, she would give this everything she’s got and make sure that Lila could not get out of this. She gave the girl a chance and she didn’t take it, and for making that mistake Marinette will make sure she regrets it.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day went along without any more fanfare. Marinette’s old class rep plans were destroyed, confirmed by Alya’s not too subtle comment on it after lunch. Marinette had been avoiding looking at the two, mainly because she had to stop herself from outright attacking the liar when she was borderline molesting Adrien.

Yes, they expected that Lila would be more touchy after ‘Adrien’s betrayal’ but the bluenette didn’t expect it to be so hard to ignore. And with Chloé being on Marinette’s side, she can’t pull him away either. The only good thing was that they could end this all in a few days. That didn’t mean that Marinette didn’t want to clober Lila on the back of her head with her yoyo, but it was enough to restrain her… for now.

Nino was set up with all the information that he needed to help set off more fires for Gabriel to take care of, and after school she left with Chloé to the hotel. Marinette did know that there was a risk of leaving her room unattended during the day, after all people had snuck in before, but she had prepared her room for a break in as soon as she became the guardian. Even if Alya or someone goes into the bakery and claims something about her… well her parents would believe her if she didn’t go in hot headed. Marinette didn’t let herself relax until the door’s to Chloé’s room were shut behind her.

“Well I guess we can pick up from where we left off this morning.” Chloé began, opening a laptop that she had left on a table. Scattered in mini stacks were different papers and a few folders. “We only just started to post the negative reviews and tweets and there was already a slight drop in Agreste Industries' stocks.”

“That doesn’t mean a whole lot. People might have just been selling to make a profit.”

With a few clicks, Chloé turned her laptop to face both of them.

“Yes, but there would have been no other reason to sell now. Besides, we only posted a few dozen posts on social media but the numbers of other people who have begun to post negative comments have tripled. And that number is gonna increase even more once more hard evidence is leaked. Sabrina even found a Twitter chain of people commenting on who Lila was and why someone as inexperienced as her would become a Gabriel model.”

Sure enough, onscreen was a chain of about twenty comments with seven people talking about it. It didn’t have a lot of retweets, but it also didn’t have any of the official Agreste brand tags. Whoever made the first post didn’t necessarily want to attract the attention of the brand.

“Speaking of Gabriel, I was wondering what you think the possibilities are with Gabriel’s parenting being pulled into question?”

“Oh please,” she scoffed. “It is absolutely gonna get pulled into question. I tried for so long to model for my mom’s brand, and the reasons why I could never do more than a shoot or two was because of the child labor and protection laws. She didn’t want any more bad press about family life than she already gets.”

“Okay. And what do you think are the chances that he might be forced to give up custody of Adrien? Even temporarily.”

Chloé paused, closing her laptop and placing it on the table before turning to look at her head on.

“Say that again.”

“Think about it. Us bringing Mr. Agreste’s bad side into light includes everything. His treatment of employees and shady business actions are only part of the equation. Didn’t I tell you how much of the Agreste brand is marketed by Adrien? He is quite literally the face of the brand. If Paris’s precious sunshine is hurt in any way, people will riot. And with enough attention on them, his family situation will definitely be looked at more closely.”

Chloé was deep in thought before sighing.

“Isn’t that a good thing though? Living in that house is not good for him. Having Gabriel get forced to become a parent would be a good thing.”

“I just want to have a backup plan for where Adrien can go and live in case he loses custody. I was gonna ask Sabrina today, but it slipped my mind since I almost got killed by Lila’s new akuma form.”

There was a pause. Then. “Wait... what?” Chloé sat straight up with wide eyes. “When was Lila an akuma?”

Oh, right. The fight was contained in the locker room. Unless someone noticed the heroes there then that fight went undetected. It would probably be a good idea to remember that.

“This morning. I saw Sabrina this morning and she brought me to the locker room to talk, except it was Lila in disguise. She tried to stab me with a sword but some bunny hero saved me. I was told to just hide until they said that it was safe.”

Chloé looked at her for another moment before nodding.

“Well, that happened a lot sooner than expected. She’ll probably get akumatized again once her reputation is wrecked. I can ask Sabrina to look into it. She’s working on finishing up the research on Lila’s past and getting the last bits of evidence together, but I’m sure she’ll be able to ask her dad about it at some point.”

The blonde typed something on her phone before laying it down next to her.

“In any case, Adrien can definitely stay here if that does happen. I do know that he has an aunt but I’m sure that after some swaying she’ll let him stay in Paris.”

Marinette remembered that. Adrien also has a cousin that apparently looks similar to him, but she had never met him before. His aunt and him had visited Paris but she never got to see either of them. Last time she asked Adrien about his cousin, he talked about him as if he was a business partner. She didn’t bother asking him for more details after that.

“Well, let’s just ask Sabrina to make sure that we don’t need to prep anything for that then. So I’m guessing all these papers aren’t just about Mr. Agreste right?”

Chloé flipped her hair as she reached for a stack.

“Nope. A lot of this is on Lila and her past. This is the main piece of evidence which we should focus on though.”

Upon opening the folder, Marinette saw what looked to be school incident reports. The words were all in Italian, and unfortunately Marinette never learned more than the basics from her Nona. Luckily Chloé had thought ahead and had a translated sheet underneath the pile. Marinette raised an eyebrow at exactly what the sheets were saying.

“I can’t even say that I’m surprised.” She muttered, her voice drifting off as she heard another line. “Wait. Did Lila…”

“She almost did, but luckily people got involved before it could escalate. Unfortunately, Lila’s father covered that incident up. As far as my sources can tell, Mrs. Rossi doesn’t know anything about this. He was trying to keep it a secret from her, and apparently was part of the reason for their divocre. He doesn’t have full custody of Lila, and he hasn’t attempted to gain custody either.”

Marinette nodded, glancing through the rest of the stack as Chloé grabbed another folder.

“This is debunking all of her lies that she has told at school. Well, the most common lies anyways. I didn’t think that it would be worth doing all the tiny lies that she only told once, since our classmates have long forgotten about those by now.”

“This is a lot of work for only a couple days.” Marinette commented, switching the stacks to do a quick flip through.

“Well I’ve been working on this ever since she showed up to our class and left after a few days. I figured it would be a good idea to have dirt on her just in case, and it’s certainly saved me time now. Some of the past articles that I have printed got taken down. Probably Mr. Agreste’s lawyers covered the top layers of proof that could easily ruin the image of his brand.”

“Of course he would know about Lila’s past and still keep her on as a model and a spy.”

Marinette couldn’t believe that she had once admired that man. Any sort of respect for him had turned into pure hate as more and more truths to himself came to light. She shifted through the rest of the evidence that Chloé had pulled together before she noticed the time. She had been there for almost two hours now. She wanted to stay for longer, but if she was gonna be patrolling tonight then she needed to be home for at least a little bit. Plus she still needed to prepare the spell for Friday.

“I should get going.” Marinette started, slowly standing up. “This looks all good, and I can help post too. Just send me the details and the account info.”

“No need. Things are going smoothly enough.” Chloé waved her off, straightened out the last stack of papers that she had been looking at. “Besides, I don’t want Lila or Alya stealing your phone or breaking into your house and finding the information. Has Alya tried to talk to your parents yet?”

“No. Neither of them have any proof of anything happening. If anyone comes to the bakery and tries to tell them something, then I can come up with some lie.”

She hated being unable to tell her parents the truth, but they could never understand why she was like this. They had always had such high standards for her that any action she took that they didn’t like resulted in them trying to guilt trip her. It was the same thing that Miss Bustier had started doing, and it honestly made her blood boil a bit but she knew better than to take on that battle.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Clo.”

On the way down and out of the hotel, Marinette straightened out her outfit as she smiled to herself. Once she got the spell prepared, she didn’t need to do much else for the week besides keep an eye on Lila while at school and take their new semi-permanent heroes on patrols during the evenings.

Once she walked in the bakery, her mom seemed surprised to see her.

“Oh, Marinette, I thought you were home already.”

“I stayed at school to study.” She lied easily. “I have a physics test next week and Ms. Mendeleiev offered to stay after school to answer any questions we might have.”

Her mom smiled at her.

“That’s great sweetheart! I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m gonna be studying more for it later tonight if that’s alright.”

“Of course, dear. I’ll make sure your father knows so that he won’t accidentally bug you while studying.”

“I can tell him during dinner. Unless you guys are busy.”

To be fair, her mom did have a slightly guilty look on her face.

“We got invited out at the last second. Will you be okay by yourself? If you want, you could invite Alya down to stay with you. Or I could call her mother and ask if you could stay there.”

“I’ll be fine by myself.” The bluenette quickly assured. “Besides, I’m pretty sure that Alya is going on a date tonight and I wouldn’t want to be third wheeling.”

“Okay. Well if you need something, both of us will have our phones on hand.”

“Got it mama.”

Once she bounded up the stairs and into her bedroom, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was a miracle that neither of her parents knew what was happening at school, otherwise they would definitely try and force her to apologize and make up with Alya. After the way the blogger not only dropped her but started to bully her, Marinette didn’t think that she could be friends with her again.

Still, the issue was gonna come when her parents discovers the mess after Friday. There was no way that they wouldn’t find out, since part of the plan was to put a restraining order on Lila to keep her away from them and she needed her parents to sign that. She would have to figure out how to tell them an edited version of the truth later. For now, though, she really did need to work on that spell from the grimore.

Chapter Text

“Why do you have to use such weird ingredients to cast spells?”

“I could lie and talk about nature and the being of the universe, but honestly I have no idea.”

Both humans turned towards Plagg. He was sitting on Marinette’s bed with a platter of cheese pastries and sweets sitting between him and Tikki.

“There’s probably undiscovered spells that can use modern ingredients, but these things are just what was around when people were experimenting with magic. Not to mention that it isn’t confined to just one area of the world.”

Marinette shrugged before turning back to her work.

“Either way, I’m not gonna complain. What I am going to complain about is the Order of the Guardian’s insistence of using silly riddles and codes when the entire text needs to be translated anyways.”

“It’s because they don’t want kwamis knowing the spells. We do have to answer any questions asked to whoever holds our miraculous, after all.” Plagg explained, floating off the bed and towards his holder. “Having the ingredients hidden with riddles describing things that kwamis don’t understand helps with that.”

Adrien held out his hand for the kwami to land on before scratching his head.

“Then should you two really be here right now?”

“Plagg and I are more powerful than the other kwamis, so we can defy our holders for certain cases. Which means that it will probably be fine.”

Marinette didn’t look up from her notes before speaking.

“I’m not forcing either of them to hide. Besides, them going inside the miracle box now would be kind of pointless. They’ve already seen the ingredients and steps being done. And I really don’t want to go through the hassle of trying to get them out of the box if an akuma appears.”

She almost had her parents discover the kwamis once before, with them all shooting out of the miracle box at once. She really didn’t need it happening again. The bluenette carefully dropped the final ingredient in before protecting her face. Once the poof of smoke was gone, she looked into the bowl.

“So how exactly does this work? It just looks like powder.”

Marinette nodded and motioned for him to grab the molds on the floor next to him.

“It will hardened after a day. We pack it down flat and then once it dries we engrave it with those symbols. The book mentions having the block in the middle of the room being protected, since the magic goes from that outwards, but us doing a couple smaller ones means that we can hide them along the school easier so that they won’t be discovered. Plus I was hoping that we could find a way to sneak one into Lila’s bag or pocket.”

Adrien picked up the one mold. It was a tiny disk with a spot in it to form a hole.

“Is that what this is for? How are you gonna get it on her and not have anyone find out? Or are you okay with people finding out?”

Marinette grabbed the mold and carefully began putting the powder inside, pressing it down as she spoke.

“They won’t find out. I was thinking of making a necklace for her. I can carve out a design with the symbol incorporated in it. That way if people look at it, it’s just a detailed picture. I was thinking that maybe you could give it to her.” She paused and looked at the blonde before adding, “If you’re okay with it. She might take it to mean something else.”

“You look ready to murder.”

Marinette took a deep breath before continuing her task. She grabbed the other four molds, each one having two small rectangles , and began packing the rest of the powder in.

“I hate that you have to be anywhere near Lila period. She invades your personal space on the just of being friendly. If you show her any special attention then she might decide to tell people that you two are dating.”

Adrien sighed before walking the last few steps over and hugging her from behind.

“The finale is happening this Friday. I can wait to give her the necklace on Thursday, since it will need the time to harden and be carved anyways. If I do it later in the day, then she’ll have less time to spread rumors. And even then all of those rumors would be exposed.”

From the corner of her vision, Marinette saw him smirk.

“Besides, if you do a certain design then it could be a nice final topping on all of this. No one else might really understand it, but it could be like we gave her a final warning before the main event.”

Soon she mimicked his look, dusting off her hands before gently twisting out of his hold and moved to grab something out from behind her photo cluster she had added to the wall behind her desk. She unfolded the paper and smoothed it out for him to see.

“Well, since she wanted to pass herself off as a fox hero, I thought that I might as well use a fox in the design.”

It was a simple enough animal to translate easily on a smaller scale while allowing her to add enough detail on it to hide the symbol needed. Plus it fed into the idea of being outfoxed, a pun that Marinette could imagine her Chaton using while fighting Volpina. She had taken the time to sketch out a couple of designs to figure out exactly how she wanted everything to go. She only had one attempt at the real thing after all.

“It’s beautiful. Too bad it’s getting wasted on her.”

“It will be worth it. Besides, if it looks more expensive then she’ll be more likely to wear it.”

Before she could add anything else, Adrien’s phone beeped. He checked it and frowned.

“I’m gonna have to head back to the mansion. I need to make sure that I’m not missing. Especially since we’re doing patrol tonight.”

“If you can’t make it, let me know and I’ll take Luka for patrol instead.”

Chloé, despite how often Marinette tries to discourage her, still sees Chat as a sidekick sometimes. And while that was mainly because she idolizes Ladybug so much, it still hurt Marinette to hear. Luka already knew who both of them were, so he would easily understand why Chat Noir couldn’t make it.

“Sounds good. Plagg, claws out.”

Once transformed, Chat crawled out of the trapdoor and out of sight. Marinette turned back to her work and put things away. Her parents had long since left for their night out so she didn’t have to worry about any surprise visits, but she couldn’t just leave things out. She made sure to lock up all of her notes and started to pull out her physics book and notes. She might have lied about studying after school, but she wasn’t lying about the exam. And given how crazy school has been for her, getting in some study time wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Just as she started to read her notes, her phone dinged. Marinette wanted to just ignore it. It was probably just Chloé giving an update about something in the plan. Or her parents making sure that she didn’t need anything. But then another ding sounded. And then another.

“Marinette? Maybe you should check your phone.”

“It’s probably just my parents checking on me.”

She sighed, but walked over to grab her phone off the charger so that Tikki’s curiosity could be quelled. She had gotten used to the kwami’s very adamant nature about discovering things. She smiled slightly when she saw her mom’s name on the screen.

“See, I told you-”

Suddenly she froze.

“Marinette? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Tikki fretted, flying over and hovering near her holder. The being looked up to her human, but didn’t notice a look of fear or shock on her face. Instead, she looked angry. No, furious.

“Gabriel Agreste is going to die.”

Tikki turned to the screen as another ding sounded. There was one from her mom asking how she was doing. But the other ones? Those had Adrien’s name attached to them but were clearly Plagg typing as the message made clear.

‘Gabriel was throwing a fit about the messages about him on social media.’

‘He was throwing things and a piece of glass cut Adrien’s cheek.’

‘My kid is currently with Natalie as she patches it up and instructs him to not tell anyone about it.’

Tikki felt a surge of anger herself, and was frankly impressed that Plagg was reaching out to them instead of attacking those two. Of course, with his powers he would hurt Adrien as well. That might be the one thing that is keeping him from outting himself.

“Text back that we’ll swing by as back up, in case he tries something else.”

“But Tikki, I need to see him! I have to get him out of there!”

“You know that they’ll question why Ladybug showed up. Plus you ‘don’t like’ Adrien right now because of Lila. If word gets out that you showed up at his house as Marinette, then Lila would be suspicious.”

Marinette made to argue, but could tell that Tikki wasn’t happy about this either. She didn’t want Adrien to have to be in that house at all, but unfortunately there wasn’t much that they could do about it. She looked at the spot where the miraculous was hiding before looking back at Tikki.

“Could I get Luka to transform and use Second Chance so that I can kill him and undo it?”

Tikki sighed.

“Not tonight. Just get over there.”

Marinette nodded and transformed, sprinting out of her house and swinging as fast as she could towards the mansion. There were two thoughts ringing in her mind. The first was her hoping that nothing worse had happened to Adrien. The second, well Tikki never said that she couldn’t transform with Sass.

“I’ve been plotting murder.” Ladybug admitted, carefully tilting Adrien’s face to see the damage. Once she had arrived, Plagg had phased out of the window to give her the clear to enter. She had sat down next to Adrien on the couch, a spot that would allow her to easily hide behind the furniture if someone came in. Luckily on close examining the cut wasn’t that big or deep so it shouldn’t scar, but that didn’t stop the anger that she felt.

“So has Plagg. But honestly it could have been worse.”

“Kid, he hurt you. And he didn’t apologize. I’m still debating having your lady take you to her house so that you won’t be in the blast range when I nuke them.”

Before Ladybug could agree to Plagg’s plan, Adrien cut in.

“He could have done it on purpose. At least he looked slightly shocked when I was bleeding. Natalie was the one who pulled me out of there and started to train me on what to say.” Adrien rolled his eyes, as if it was silly. “I’m surprised that she isn’t gonna try and lock me down until it heals. Of course, father might get enough of a clear mind to decide that.”

That would be bad. Forget their whole plan, Adrien being locked inside for even a day might make Mr. Agreste decide that it would be best to keep Adrien out of the public eye while he’s getting criticized so much. It could get Adrien locked up once more.

“I was waiting for Sabrina to get back to me on the details, but I did think about what might happen if… that man was decided unfit to be your parent. I know that it might mess with some stuff, but I think we could manage if we got the police and ASE involved. I know you said that he didn’t mean to hurt you, but he might do it again.”

Adrien looked down.

“I know.” He admitted. “I’ve honestly been thinking about what if he tried to hit me ever since he got akuamtized. He was throwing vases around and trashing the whole mansion. And that was over a book being gone.”

Ladybug couldn’t help it. She pulled Adrien into a hug. He was basically in her lap.

“I won’t let him. If you ever feel like you’re in danger, transform and get out of there. I don’t care if people see it, I just want you to be safe. Okay, minou?”

He nodded, and she continued to hug him tightly. Plagg flew over and landed on the top of the couch near their heads. After a few minutes of silence, Adrien spoke.

“What’s gonna happen if I can’t live here anymore?”

“Well you couldn’t live on your own, obviously. I talked to Chloé about it and she mentioned you living at the hotel. I know you have an aunt, but Chloé thought that she might let you stay in Paris. Unless you would want to go to London.”

“No!” Adrien almost yelled, before quitting his voice. “I wouldn’t want to leave, even if I didn’t need to stay because of Hawkmoth. I like Paris. I want to stay near you.”
She nodded.

“Then I’m sure that Chloé will be able to ensure that you stay with her. Do you want to head out for patrol now, kitty? We can do Chloé or Luka tonight. It doesn’t matter who.”

Adrien nodded, and Ladybug allowed him to move out of her grasp.

“We can do Luka since you already have the snake miraculous on you.”

Ladybug froze slightly in guilt.

“What do you mean? I can get any miraculous using my yoyo.”

Adrien pointed at her wrist.

“I can understand wanting to murder someone to get out your feelings, but you didn’t exactly try and hide the evidence.”

Ladybug pouted.

“I didn’t kill him. I just crashed through the window and yelled at him… then slapped him, but I needed to use Second Chance before the timer ran out.” It was then that she registered his words. “You are not allowed to murder anyone. No matter how much they deserve it.”

“I would never kill someone. I’m just saying that I understand the urge to do something drastic like that. Come on, Plagg mentioned that the transformation would hide the cut and the band aid but I want to make sure before there’s an akuma.”

Marinette nodded, watching him transform and double checking that no marks or band aids were able to be seen before following him out the window. If Gabriel thinks that this incident would just be swept under the rug then he was wrong.

Chapter Text

Turns out that the cover story Natalie gave Adrien was enough for him to still show up to school the next day. Not that it mattered much, since the makeup applied over the protective aid camouflaged the mark so that it wasn’t even noticeable. Marinette didn’t know if Natalie did it herself or if a makeup artist was paid off.

The bluenette wasn’t able to convince the blond to “accidentally” leak an image onto his social media, but he did take a photo and sent it to her for proof in case they needed it. Marinette didn’t want to think that it was necessary, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility. Especially given what Adrien said last night. He had thought about whether his father would hurt him. That was a genuine fear that he had before last night ever happened.

No one should have to think about that, and it took all of Marinette’s self control not to do something worse to that man. It was easy to avoid looking at Adrien, since even glancing in his direction would fuel her with rage.

Chloé eventually did ask her if something was wrong, but Marinette brushed her off. Adrien deserved to be the one to tell people about that, or at least give her permission to tell people. She had said as much last night before patrol ended. Plagg hadn’t snuck out to tell Tikki anything, so she could only assume that nothing else had happened in the hours between that and school.

If they could just get through the rest of the week, then Adrien would be out of that house soon enough. Perhaps the police getting involved would convince Gabriel to be a slightly better person. That or he wouldn’t have custody of Adrien anymore, either works.

Lila hadn’t gotten akumatized again as of yet, so hopefully she wouldn’t be. Right now she seemed plenty content to leech off Adrien’s arm and the remaining classmates that were still blind to the truth. Marinette… to be honest, she hadn’t given much thought as to what would happen with the rest of the class who were still on Lila’s side. It wasn’t as if they did anything awful to her, but they didn’t exactly stand up for her or believe her. Even just giving her concern some thoughts, or questioning Alya on her “be mean back” approach would have been appreciated.

She had been with those kids since l'école primaire, but mainly because of her plan with Chloé than anything else. Maybe if things still felt weird after Lila was exposed she could switch classes. Changing schools was also an option, but her being at Dupont was honestly the best place she could be right now. She didn’t have to give an excuse half of the time there was an akuma attack, because most times it happened to someone at the school. Switching schools would mean that there would be less of an ability to escape, as well as not letting her to try and prevent akumas when she could.

Switching classes would be her best option, if it came to that. Even if things with her classmates weren’t weird, not having Miss Bustier as her homeroom teacher would be a welcomed change. She was known as the nicest teacher at Dupont, but that didn’t mean that she was the best. Her methods never stopped akumas from happening, and class would often be disrupted by someone speaking out of turn on things not relating to the lesson.

Chloé never even had to use her “daddy card” on her. Miss Bustier never questioned a child on demanding things to go her way. It was scary in a way. If Chloé wasn’t holding back and actually wanted full power, she could get it and so much more. Honestly Marinette wouldn’t be surprised if the teacher got in trouble with the school board. The bluenette had stress research yesterday after her discussion with Chloé and found out a lot of things.

Miss Bustier had been doing favoritism for almost the whole time she had been a teacher at the school, not to mention her pushing work onto a student that students should not be doing. As for Principal Damocles, he didn’t do any of the required procedures when he tried to expel her. Even if she did cheat on a test she would have been failed and get suspended for a few days. If Lila was actually injured, then her parents or a guardian would have had to be present and there would of have to be a hearing.

The fact that none of that happened meant that Principal Damocles was also abusing his power, not even considering all the things that Chloé was able to get the man to do. And Marinette highly doubted that her records were fully cleared, given how her classmates weren’t told the truth about Lila’s “lying disease,” so that’s another thing that hopefully can be fixed once the school board realizes what’s been happening behind closed doors.

It was only when she was eating lunch with Chloé and Sabrina at the hotel and discussing her thoughts did Marinette have another realization.

“Honestly, you might not have to switch classes. With how Bustier has been keeping her classroom, she’ll probably get fired.”

“Wait, really?”

Marinette nearly dropped her juice, but saved it.

“Yeah. I looked into the procedures regarding expelling and giving expectations based on medical conditions when Lila first showed up and then tried getting you expelled. There was a whole ordeal that never got addressed, and Miss Bustier and Mr. Damocles both have been allowing Lila to get special exceptions based on medical conditions she claims to have while not giving them any of the required paperwork.”

Sabrina rummaged around her book bag before pulling out a folder stuffed with papers. She pulled out a couple and laid them on the table.

“If they had allowed her to be accommodated her first few days without the medical papers, then that would be okay since there could be a delay in her other school transferring them over or her mom needing some time to get those together if they were newer, but there’s no excuse for still letting her get accommodations now. Especially since she’s been on a world trip. Honestly someone should have called Mrs. Rossi by now.”

Marinette grabbed the papers and flipped through them. Sabrina had highlighted a few sections of the text mentioning important rules to follow for suspension, expelling, as well as the medical accommodations. Before she could comment on any of it, the blonde took over.

“Even if they tried reaching out and she never answered, they should have reported Rossi’s mom to ASE or something. The fact that the woman took her daughter on a “world trip” and never had time to take her to the doctors for her many ailments could be classified as child abuse and neglect.”

“I think you guys are missing the bigger thing here. Miss Bustier and Principal Damocles could be fired.”

“Will be fired, or they will be forced to attend classes to discuss the ethics of what they did and what they need to do to change that. It’s whatever the board decides.”

“Still though.” Marinette bit her lip. She didn’t like Miss Bustier or Mr. Damocles, but she certainly didn’t want them to get fired. She expected that they would be forced to punish Lila and maybe get a warning to keep the school in shape. Chloé and Sabrina looked at each other. The blonde heiress sighed as Sabrina leaned forward to touch Marinette’s arm.

“Listen, it’s long overdue for something to happen. What if we weren’t in Miss Bustier’s class and Lila did this to someone else? What if this happens again down the road and both of those two allowed it to happen? They went to school for all of this, they signed contracts, this is their job. Mr. Damocles could have more skeletons in his closet than anyone else realizes, and Miss Bustier has been pushing half of her job onto you. If they get punished then it’s on them.”

Sabrina did have a point. Marinette hated to think that she would be the reason that people got fired, but she really wasn’t the true reason. They would have brought this on themselves. Besides, maybe they wouldn’t get fired and just be forced to correct their actions. Because as much as she hated causing someone to get fired, she hated the idea of someone else living through what she did more.

Marinette had a way out. She had people behind her who would be there no matter what. She never was hurt, never had to worry about actually being bullied, never had to worry about not getting saved. What if Lila had chosen someone else as her target? How much would that person suffer and not be able to have someone just out of sight who wouldn’t let them get hurt? Even if Lila never showed up, there was still the concern of the amount of work and stress Miss Bustier put on her shoulders.

Marinette was a student, a child whose only job right now was to learn. Her job wasn’t to plan out the finer details of field trips, settle disputes among her classmates, help grade homework, and so on. That was Miss Bustier’s job. Marinette was good at all that. She had the charisma needed to handle people, had the mind to think and plan out the fine details of things, and any time that she needed extra help she could reach out to Chloé and Sabrina secretly to get. If someone else in the class had to do that… well either they would fail or be under a lot more stress than she currently was under.

After thinking about it all, Marinette sighed in defeat.

“Okay. I understand. I still don’t like it but it’s on them.”

“Exactly, now I don’t know about you but I’m more concerned about Adrien’s living condition after all of this. ‘Brina?”

On cue, Sabrina pulled out more papers from the folder in her hands, laying them out in different piles.

“Since there are a lot of concerns arising on the Agreste brand and Mr. Agreste’s life behind walls, he’ll be investigated. ASE requires all children to be out of the home for these types of investigations, as to prevent more abuse and children being coached on certain answers they should give. For this he can be placed with anyone who is not connected to the possible abusers. The hotel would probably be best, since there is already security.

“From there, they will determine if Mr. Agreste is fit to be a parent. If not, then two main things could happen. If it was decided that Mr. Agreste could become a better parent, then Adrien would just be placed somewhere for a longer period of time but still be considered as temporary, since if Mr. Agreste can complete the required training and criteria he would be granted custody of Adrien again.

“The second thing is that Mr. Agreste is deemed unfit to be a parent and Adrien would be placed in a permanent place. Given exactly what we know, I’m leaning more for the latter option.”

“So he lives here on the papers but basically camps out at Mari’s house twenty-four seven. Simple.”

Marinette choked at that. Chloé simply smirked.

“It’s not that simple. Adrien will have more attention on him at that point. The first temporary placement can just be with outside family or friends, but for longer term placement the hosting people must meet certain criteria. And Chloé, I’m sorry to say this but your family doesn’t exactly meet it.”

Chloé nodded and tried to cover up the reminder about her family. She was slightly successful.

“Well then what’s required?”

Sabrina pointed at one of the stacks of papers.

“They usually try to put children in the custody of other family members, since they don’t like to separate families in the first place if they can help it. But if the family members are unable to then the children are placed into a foster home until someone can take care of them. However, I did ask my dad about it and he did mention that if the family member who would take on custody agrees to it, then custody arrangements could be done. I think in this case Adrien’s aunt would have legal custody of Adrien and there would be joint physical custody. Adrien would fully gain access to all of his legal stuff once he turned eighteen.”

“Legal custody?”

“Yeah, like with medical concerns or his trust funds. Adrien’s aunt would be monitored to make sure that she wouldn’t try and take advantage of his money.”

Marinette nodded.

“So Adrien could live with me then.”

“Not quite. You’d need your family to be registered in the foster care system in France first. They want certain background checks to be done to make sure that more abuse won’t be happening. If you get your family to start doing that sooner rather than later, then it would be helpful. I’m sure if it gets to that, we could find out if the process could be sped up for you guys. But both of your parents have to agree to this. You can’t just do it and have them find out after ASE knocks on your door.”

Which meant that Marinette would have to figure out a cover story for that. Great. Still, she came up with wild excuses for why she missed class during akuma attacks how many times a week? Surely she could think up something.

“I’ll bring up the idea tonight and maybe get them to do some paperwork on it tomorrow.”

It would also be the least busy day at the bakery, so they should have some time to do it. Last Marinette checked, there wasn’t any catering event happening this week so they should be mostly free.

“Good. I’ll let you know if I find anything else.” Sabrina gathered up all of the papers and stuffed the folder back into her bag before standing up. “Anyways, we should probably be heading back now before we’re late for afternoon classes.”

Chapter Text

Marinette fiddled with her hair as she sat at her desk. Her homework was laid out in front of her, but she couldn’t focus on it. Thoughts of her earlier conversation with the girls floated around her mind restlessly. Tikki, sensing the obvious tension, took initiative.

“You’re gonna have to tell them soon, Marinette.”

“I know.” She sighed, glancing over to Tikki. “I don’t want Adrien to be forced out of Paris. Even if he wasn’t Chat Noir, he loves it here. His friends and school are here. He should be allowed to decide where he goes. I just don’t know how I can tell my parents anything when I can’t say anything yet.”

“Then don’t.”

“Excuse me?”

The kwami flew over and landed on the abandoned homework.

“You can’t tell your parents because they can’t know what’s going on yet, but you need them to do this now. Just tell them how you want your family to be registered. They don’t have to do anything besides get a few background checks done, and in exchange they have the ability to help out a friend if needed.”

When Marinette didn’t speak, the being continued.

“You could even say how you heard about it happening to someone else and how you just want to be prepaid. Your parents expect you to be caring and a careful planner, so it would be easy enough to believe.”

Marinette hummed in thought. If she acted concerned and was persistent enough, then her parents would probably humor her. She would just need to be careful not to slip too much into that, since they might start looking at her life a little closer. She glanced over at the time and stood up.

“I think I’ll do that. Mama should be cooking dinner now, and I might bring it up to her first.”

Her mom tended to be more observant, and would definitely be asking more questions, but if she could convince her then her father would go for it no problem. As she began the climb out of her room, Tikki slipped into her pocket to offer close comfort and support.

Sure enough, her mom was already chopping up some vegetables as something bubbled in a pot. Marinette didn’t have time to say something before her mom spotted her.

“Marinette, if you’re not busy why don’t you help with dinner?”

The bluenette nodded, walking over to grab an apron before taking the knife from her mom to finish the chopping. Her mom turned and stirred the pot, grabbing a spice and sprinkling it in. Once she finished cutting everything up, she turned and carefully dropped the veggies in. Deciding it was as good enough time as any, Marinette decided to just throw caution to the wind.

“I was wondering… do you think that we could register our family as a foster family?”

She watched as her mom’s initial smile turned into a confused frown.

“We could, but why would you want us to?”

“It was something that one of the other class reps talked about. About a friend of theirs getting to stay with them instead of having to move in with a random foster family. It happened a while ago, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. We don’t need to do anything, but just in case…”

Her mom smiled, patting her shoulder before giving her the spoon.

“Sure. Tomorrow your father and I were only working in the morning, so we can work on it then.”

Marinette nodded, thanking her, before taking up stirring the pot. The hardest(ish) part was done. Hopefully her mom and dad wouldn’t try to look into exactly who was a foster family. She purposely said about another class rep and not one of her classmates since her mom wouldn’t know those parents and wouldn’t just send a text and ask about it.

During dinner, when her dad said that he would do some research later that night, Marinette knew that things were pretty much set. As she went to bed she let herself relax a bit. Adrien wouldn’t be stuck in that house for much longer. He would be safe soon enough.

Early the next morning, Marinette got up, dressed, and almost threw her brush at Chat as he dropped into her room.

“I told you to knock.”

“You didn’t say that. You just said that you were decent and that I could come in whenever before school.”

Marinette gave him a look, knowing full well that she did include a statement about knocking so that she wouldn’t throw him off her balcony. One look at his cheeky smile told her that he was in a goofball mood. Given what had happened a day ago, she let it slide. Rolling her eyes, she walked over and grabbed the finished necklace from her desk. The intricate fox design hid the required symbols so well that if she didn’t make the design herself, Marinette wouldn’t be able to say where the symbols were.

“Give this to Lila at some point today. I would say just leave it in her locker or desk with a note, but she might be on edge and suspect it to come from me or Chloé if she doesn’t get it directly from you.”

“I’ll give it to her later today. I’ll even ask her to wear it tomorrow and hint about a surprise for her. She might assume that I’m gonna ask her out, but that should make her more distracted so it will be fine.”

Chat took the necklace, tucking it into his pocket as he looked at the other four stones Marinette had carved the night before.

“I’ll put these around the courtyard tomorrow before the sun rises. I would sneak them around today, but I don’t want them to get discovered.” Marinette said as she picked one up, letting him examine it closer. She did add some extra marks to it, but it was mainly done to make the stones look randomly scratched . That way if anyone found one, they would just assume that it was a regular stone.

“Why don’t we make more of these and spread them around Paris? That would stop Hawkmoth.”

“And negate our powers. Remember, magic can’t work in the presence of these.” They were okay right now, but if either of them tried to use their powers then it wouldn’t work. “Trust me, I had considered that. I also thought about us just keeping a stone on us and then hiding them when we have to transform for akumas, so that we wouldn’t get akumatized, but that would be too complicated.”

Too complicated, and also dangerous. While the grimoire didn’t mention the stones causing any harm to the kwamis in low contact levels, having them near something that blocks out magic for long term could potentially hurt them. Marinette already has the needed steps memorized and ingredients on hand for effectively destroying the stones. She wasn’t taking any chances with this.

“You should get heading out. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Chat leaned down and kissed her forehead before smiling.

“Don’t worry, my bodyguard dropped me off at school early today. But you should be going so that you’re not late.”

Marinette watched him climb back out of her room and disappear from sight. She sighed, meantally preparing herself for the rest of the week. Tomorrow would be it. The Finale, Doomsday, whatever other words out there to describe Lila’s end. Of course, it would be so simple as to expose her and that’s it.

There’s the whole thing with possibly working with Hawkmoth to worry about, and if they need to do anything with that if she gets moved out of Paris. There’s Mr. Agreste’s downfall and how Adrien will be affected. Then there’s also the school board and her own parents to be worried about. The school board checking out the school and fixing things is fine, even if Marinette can’t take control like this again. If they do their job and fix things, then there wouldn’t be a need to do this again.
Her parents, on the other hand…

Marinette honestly didn’t know how to handle asking them to sign a restraining order against Lila, much less having to explain what’s actually been happening in her life. If they dig deeper into what’s been happening behind their backs, then it could cause more problems. Them being busy and not as interested in knowing all of her dealings was part of the reason why she could sneak out as Ladybug easily. Them getting concerned now, at a time where she can’t afford to tell them about this part of her life, would make things more complicated to say the least.

She squared her shoulders. She could figure it out, she always did in the end. For now, she had one last day of school as the current norm.

Adrien was feeling stressed. He knew what he was signing up for when he would stay “neutral” in this war between Marinette and Lila, but knowing couldn’t prepare him enough for all of this.

Lila being clinger was to be expected, but her grip was causing him actual pain, which considering his increased pain tolerance from fencing and superhero duties, that was saying something. Honestly hearing them trash talk Marinette was the easiest thing he could do, which surprised him. But all he had to do was tune them out and keep reminding himself that things would change by the end of the week.

What was the worst part, although he refused to ever voice this to Plagg or Marinette, was how his father had been reacting. The jolt of fear that went down his spine when he saw his father throw that vase so close to his face that it cut him… well it sent him back a few years before he had gotten Plagg and he would rather not revisit that.

Adrien couldn’t imagine ever telling those two about his past. His father wouldn’t be hiding away in his study right now if he had attacked him directly, Plagg would have told Marinette and she would have destroyed him. His kwami had let out a low hiss when Natalie had directed him on how to answer if people discovered the cut. Adrien had covered the noise up with a cough, but if Natalie or his father ever discovered his secret, then Plagg would have a reason to do something stupid.

Adrien took a calming breath, refocusing on the lesson that had been happening. They only had a few minutes left in class, and then they would be dismissed for the day. The necklace was tucked away in a discreet black jewelry box. He did consider for a brief moment giving it to Lila during lunch (Natalie had given him permission to eat at the school today, and he expected it was because of his father) but as Lila clung closer to him, he decided against it. She would definitely assume that he was gonna ask her out. That would only increase how much she touched him. And considering the urge he had to toss her ten feet away from him… yeah, he decided to give it to her later.

Like now, since the final bell rang and Miss Bustier was cheerfully wishing them a happy rest of the day. Most of the class were already rushing out, not wanting to be stuck in the classroom for much longer. Lila, of course, grabbed his arm.

“Hey Adrien, I was wondering if you wanted to go to this cool cafe I found. They have the most delicious pastries in Paris.”

She said the last part louder, trying to jab at Marinette’s bakery. Adrien smiled, keeping his true feelings buried down deep, as he answered.

“I’m afraid I’m gonna have to pass today. I am doing my piano and chinese lessons today so that I’m free tomorrow after school. I have big plans.”

Lila kept her good girl expression on her face, but Adrien could tell that she was annoyed. Annoyed, but also curious.

“That’s too bad, I really want to go with you?” She said, throwing on a kicked puppy expression. Before any of her remaining followers could try and force him to change his plans, Adrien reached into his bag.

“Well, how about I make it up to you.” He pulled out the black box, sparing a quick glance to the back of the room. Marinette and Chloé were both still there, watching him like a hawk. And Marientte’s expression… It was terrifying.

Cold and blank, yet you could feel her anger underneath it.

Adrien gulped, reminding himself that she was just acting, before facing Lila and offering her the box.

“I got this made especially for you. I was gonna give it to you tomorrow… but you can have it now.”

Lila looked shocked and delighted, even more so as Marinette stomped down the stairs and out of the classroom, Chloé hot on her trails.

“That’s so sweet of you Adrien, but you could give it to me tomorrow.”

“I insist. But I would love it if you wore it tomorrow to school.” Lila nodded, but before she could open the box, Adrien’s phone rang.

“That’s my bodyguard. I need to get going, but I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Forcing a blush on his face, he rushed out of the class before anyone could protest. He could hear Lila’s gasp and Alya’s compliments, disappearing once he got far enough away. The blond practically sprinted down the stairs. He spotted Aurora, who gave him a look of pity. It was only once he was in his car and the school was out of his sight did he take several deep breaths of relief.

Plagg’s purrs from inside his shirt pocket calmed him. He wouldn’t actually have to date Lila. Any rumors she started would be squashed in less than twenty four hours. He was fine. Adrien sat up straighter in his seat as he recognized the stretch of shops they were driving past.

“Do you think I have time to pick up something? I’ll be quick, I promise.”

His driver looked down at the clock, before looking back at him in the mirror.

“Five minutes.” He signed, as he stopped the car.

Adrien let out a quick thank you as he darted out of the car, not wanting anyone to notice exactly what he was buying. Any rumors done by Lila would be destroyed tomorrow. Marinette was getting her revenge on her, but Adrien also wanted something else out of this. As he walked out of the shop and tucked his purchase into his pocket, he smiled. He was sure Marinette would appreciate it as well.

Chapter Text

The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and a calm breeze was blowing across Paris. It was just a normal, relaxing Friday. Adults were rushing to work, kids headed off to school, everyone was at peace. Unless, of course, you went to Francoise Dupont.

Tension was higher than that of Monday. News had spread like wildfire about Adrien giving Lila a gift, and everyone wanted to know exactly what the blond planned on doing. The akuma class, save for a few, assumed that he might be asking her out. Some outside the class feared that he would betray Marinette for real. Regardless, everyone knew that something big was happening, and that something would have to do with Adrien, Lila, and Marinette.

So both staff and students wandered into the school, eyes darting around as they kept an eye out for those three people. The only person who did not feel the obvious tension was the italian herself.

Lila, in her eagerness for the attention that came from Adrien’s gift yesterday, was already at the school. The ornate necklace was proudly displayed around her neck, and her sweet smile was bordering on smug.

Despite Marinette’s strange alliance with Chloé, the new seating arrangement, and how some of her classmates decided to side with the bluenette, Lila felt good. She got her kicked out of being class rep, even if Alya did ruin her plans to steal Marinette’s finished plans and pawn them off as her own, and she has Adrien fully on her side. And even if Adrien didn’t side with her willingly, she still had her connections to his father to help control him.

Of course, with the rumors that were getting spread online about her, those connections were weakening. His assistant assured her that things were getting resolved, but they did cancel a photoshoot that she was supposed to do. Plus she was instructed to not post on social media until they said so. It was annoying, but things would go her way again. Lila was sure of it. Once Adrien asks her out, she can post the announcement with him backing it up.

That would show everyone that the blond likes her, and then the rest of Paris will be too busy eating up how cute of a couple they make to even consider the rumors. Besides, even if people did bring it up, they could just be shrugged off as jealous. Just like how everyone brushed off Marinette’s warnings as petty jealousy. And how fitting was it that Marinette had been betrayed by Adrien, the one person who had known the truth and forced her to keep quiet.

Lila would keep her promise to Marinette. Once she got the rest of the class back to her side, that would be it. Marinette would be isolated and alone. Even better yet is if she got Marinette expelled again. Without Adrien doing his threat, she wouldn’t have any way back into the school and that would be it for her.

Afterall, Lila would be dating Adrien by then and he would choose his girlfriend’s side. Plus whatever Lila did to frame Marinette could further be done to say how jealous the bluenette was of Lila. And if her crush on Adrien got told to the blond then… well it just added to her embarrassment didn’t it. Yes. After today she would win, like always.

Of course, reality had its way of crashing down on such fantasies. And in this case, reality came in the form of said bluenette standing at the top of the steps. The same steps that Lila claimed Marinette had pushed her from and that the latter made her announcement about her return. This time, she would deliver another announcement, one that Lila wouldn’t forget for a long, long time.

Marinette was dressed in a deep red jacket over a black jumpsuit. Her hair was let down loose around her face but didn’t cover it, showing off her fierce expression. It was clear to anyone who looked at her that she was out for blood.

“To the students of Francoise Dupont, I want to apologize to you all. When we sunk into the background, we trusted that things could continue as normal and that there was no need to keep order. And this was true for a while. But there is a weed that has been growing among us, one that at first could be seen as a dandelion. Annoying and everywhere, but ultimately harmless. However it turns out to be something quite more than that. Someone has crawled into this school and has worked to turn this into their personal playground. And I gave them a chance to change on their own, a chance to not face the consequences of their actions, but they threw my offer away like the garbage they spread.”

Bluebell eyes honed in on certain green ones.

“I’m talking about our resident liar, Lila Rossi.”

From beside her, Lila could see Alya frown as she soon opened her mouth to defend her. However Marinette continued, not giving the redhead a chance to get a word in.

“I know that some of you don’t believe me, which is why I have gathered evidence by your request. Proof that the girl Lila has made herself out to be is not the real her. Proof to the horrible truth that she has been hiding. Before coming to Dupont, Lila attended a school in her birthplace Italy. There she developed the habit of lying to become popular. This itself would not be such a big deal, had it not evolved.

“When a fellow student called Lila out, she made it her mission to make sure that the student wouldn’t be trusted. She twisted lies about the boy hurting her and ruining her homework, and the other classmates took it at face value. To help protect their ‘friend,’ they bullied the boy back. Except the boy had done nothing except try and warn his friends. Things escalated, and Lila went so far as to tell the boy that there was only one way to escape the pain he was feeling. Luckily the boy was saved before something worse could happen.

“After that incident, Lila’s father tried to hide the truth. However the truth can never be silence, and as such it is being told to you. Instead of learning from her lesson and changing, Lila decided to continue her path of destruction. She told outlandish lies and would push down anyone who questioned her and tried to warn their friends.”

Marinette focused her glare onto Alya, who flinched under the intense look.

“If you chose to not believe me, you can always look on the school website. All of the evidence to debunk each and every single one of Lila’s lies, as well as the report of the incident in Italy, are there.” Suddenly, the glare shifted into a bit of a smirk. “Or, you could ask her mom.”

Lila felt her first genuine spike of fear run through her. All of Marinette’s words, even if they were true, she could cover up. She just needed time to come up with a perfect lie to continue to keep her idiotic classmates at bay. And if worse came to worse, then all she needed to do was lament to her mom about the number of akumas and bullying. Then she would be out of the country within the day.

But if Marinette was telling the truth, if she told her mom everything… well Lila had no idea how her mom would react. Even if Marinette only told her one thing, either about her past in Italy or the times she herself became an akuma…

No.

This was just Marinette bluffing. There was no way to contact her mom. The school didn’t even have the correct home address listed, let alone a phone number. And there was no way the embassy would give out private contact information. But with the stories she heard from Alya about Marinette’s stalkerish tendencies, it could only be a matter of time before she discovered where she lived. And Lila couldn’t afford that.

If she could escape back to her house, then she would be home free. A quick call to her mom, a simple lie, and she could go back to Italy or another country even. But judging from the glares being drilled into her by all the students present, there was no way Lila could escape without being seen. She needed a distraction.
But luck seemed to be back on her side, as the perfect scapegoat walked through the doorway. Besides, since she wasn’t going to stick in Paris for much longer, there was really no harm in damaging this relationship before it could fully begin. So like the skilled actress she was, Lila clutched one hand to her chest while pointing back with the other.

“What about him!?” Lila cried out loudly, pointing to the blond as he walked into the courtyard. Marinette frowned and her glare hardened.

“Last I checked, this was about you and your actions.”

“So you’re just gonna let him get away with what he’s done. He knew! He knew the entire time about my lies and just let it go, all while pushing you to take the fall! Are you really gonna let your crush on him prevent you from saying the truth about him! Or were you too blinded by love to believe that Adrien Agreste could do no wrong.”

Yes. Even if Lila was going down, she would take whatever victory she could get from this. Let Adrien know about Marinette’s crush. Either the bluenette will be embarrassed or she will bash the blond in front of the whole school. That would be the perfect distraction. And judging by how Marinette was covering her face, it was working as intended. As Lila looked to try and find an escape route, her attention was pulled back at the sound of a snort.

When Lila looked back up, she saw Marinette covering her mouth. Not because of embarrassment or anger, but because she was laughing. After a full minute of laughter, she cleared her throat.

“Oh Lila, you really are something. Did you really think that Adrien would side with you, just like that? As you said, he did know what you were like. Why would he trust you over me, the everyday ladybug, the girl who would do anything for her friends?”

Lila opened her mouth to refute, but was shocked when Adrien walked right past her. The crowd that had closed her in had opened up for the blond, only to close up just as quickly. Even as Marinette continued, Lila’s eyes stayed on Adrien.

“He didn’t believe you for a second. You only see him as a pretty face, as someone you can lech off of and gain from. You don’t see how smart he really is. He’s had plenty of people who’ve tried to play them for their own gain. He’s seen plenty of gold diggers.”

By then, Adrien was only two steps below the bluenette. He had one hand inside his bag.

“I hope you don’t mind, my queen, but I have something I wish to do.”

Marinette herself seemed confused by this but nodded. Lila smiled. Yes. Marinette was wrong about Adrien. He would prove that he really did believe her over his “everyday ladybug”. Lila smirked, ignoring the fact that Alya was staring at her with shocked and angry eyes.

“From the moment I met you, I couldn’t put a finger on what I felt towards you. For days I thought that it was just admiration, but it was after one day that I figured out what I felt. Marinette, I love you. I don’t think I could go the rest of my life without you in it. And I’m not proposing marriage yet, because we are too young for it, but would you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?”

Lila watched in horror as Adrien pulled out a jewelry box. She couldn’t see Adrien’s face but she could see Marinette’s, with wide, happy eyes and a blush. Marinette let out a small giggle before pulling something out of her pocket.

“Adrien, ever since I was a kid, my parents told me about how their love felt like a whirlwind. I always thought that it wouldn’t happen to me like that, but it has. And we’re too young for a lot of things, but we can do anything together.”

Marinette reached into her pocket and pulled out two bracelets. One was green and the other was red. Lila could see Adrien’s body as it shaked with his laughter.
“And here I thought that I would be the one to surprise you.”

Lila wanted to scream as the two exchanged gifts. No! This was all wrong! She was supposed to rule this school, to have a model boyfriend, to win over Marinette! None of this was supposed to happen! Instead of giving into her desire to screech like a demon, Lila took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. She would just escape while they were too busy looking into each other's eyes. Adrien’s fangirls would tear Marinette apart. That or his father would.

Lila ran towards the exit, pushing past anyone that came in her way.

“Hey! We’re not done with you yet!”

Lila barely spared a glance back at Chloé’s shout, but it was enough time for her to bump into someone. As she tried to pull back and continue her escape, hands clamped down and kept her in place.

“Let me go!” She roared, thrashing about.

“Not so fast, young lady. You’re heading down to the station with me. Your mother is already there.”

Lila’s body froze, her eyes snapping up to see a police officer holding her still. If she paid attention to any of her classmates and their conversations, she would have recognized him as Sabrina’s father. However she did realize something. She was utterly screwed. Lila tried to sweet talk, to say that she was innocent, but Mr. Raincomprix already knew the truth. He pulled Lila outside and to his car while his partner followed closely, on guard in case Lila tried to attack.

Another two police officers stayed behind, one with a megaphone to be able to be heard over the crowd.

“Everyone please head to your respected homerooms and stay there. We need to talk to a few teachers, but someone should be in within the hour to give you an update as to what is going on. If you wish to talk to your parents, you are free to do so. However if you wish to leave you must get that cleared with an officer so that we know where to reach you in case you are needed.”

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other. The show wasn’t supposed to be over yet, but it was honestly fine to be ending now. The only other people they had to talk to would be stuck in the same room as them anyways. So hand in hand, they made their way into Miss Bustier’s room, ignoring the chaos behind them.

Chapter Text

“Well, that was something.”

Marinette laughed and squeezed Adrien’s hand.

“Yeah. I didn’t think that you would be the first to ask me out. I was rather hoping to have that honor.”

“You should have told me. I would have let you. Lila certainly would have felt it hit harder if you finally confessed and I said yes.”

Marinette blushed and looked down at their joint hands.

“Well, I was actually gonna wait until later on… Well, later.”

Adrien could guess what she meant. They were planning on doing patrol today, if they were able to, and the colors she used definitely were meant to represent their hero selves. As much as he loved to be able to start dating as heroes too, he knew that Marinette would make them wait until they acted like a couple. That would at least give them some time separation between when their civilian selves started dating and when their hero selves started dating.

“It made it better. Man, if I couldn’t stand her face I would go and rub it in.”

Both teens sighed at Chloé’s interjection. Before either could say anything, a voice popped up.

“I can’t believe Lila did that!”

Marinette sighed and Adrien let go of her hand over to throw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer.

“What exactly? When she framed Marinette? Lied to all of you? Tried to get a kid to kill himself for calling out on her lies?”

As the couple turned together, it was to Alya’s irritated expression.

“All of it! She’s completely ruined my blog! And you, Adrien, aren’t innocent either!”

“Listen, Marinette tried to warn you all. None of you were listening. What could I possibly do? Other than getting me in trouble with my father. And it wasn’t as if I didn’t try, I did. I suggested that you fact check, ask Ladybug for proof, even just showing sources so that people could see more of Lila’s stories. Nothing that I did got through to you, so why would I try to beat that horse when it’s given up on hearing anything that it didn’t want to hear.”

Adrien held back from saying that she deserved any backlash her blog gets from this, which took some will power. After the things she’s said about Marinette this past week, he would love nothing more than to throw her to the wolves. But Marientte promised Nino that Alya would only get what she deserves, and what his lady believes she deserves is very muted to what she actually deserves.

“Oh quit using your dad as an excuse.” Alya sneered. “You could do all this, yet you couldn’t tell anyone before this.”

He felt Marinette stiffen under his hold.

“You shut up right now Alya, before I do something you’ll never forget.”

Alya opened her mouth to say something, but it snapped shut once she looked at Marinette. He glanced down and felt a shiver run down his spine. His princess looked ready to kill. Adrien pulled Marinette back slightly. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that she wouldn’t be able to break out of his hold if she really wanted to maul Alya, but it would give the blogger a second longer to run. Chloé walked in front of the two, seemingly to realize the same thing.

“You’re acting as if none of this is your fault. We tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen. Not only did you not listen, but you resorted to not just unfriending Marinette, but bullying her and trying to destroy her stuff. And yet, despite everything you’ve done, she is still willing to show you some mercy. If I were you, I would accept it and move on with your life.”

Chloé’s words washed over Adrien in realization.

“Wait, she did what?!”

His eyes went between the three girls. Chloé looked confused. Alya looked scared. Marinette wasn’t looking at him.

“What did you destroy?”

“She didn’t destroy anything. Trust me, things would be different if she did.” Marinette muttered, glancing down at her purse.

As Adrien opened his mouth to try and find out what exactly Alya was trying to destroy, a knock sounded on the door. All heads turned to the police officer standing in the doorway.

“A teacher will be in to explain what will be happening today. Is there an Adrien Agreste here?”

The blond felt all eyes turn to him as he slowly raised his hand, offering a small smile.

“That would be me. Do you need something?”

“We need to talk to you. If you would come with me.”

Adrien nodded, pushing down the feeling of dread as it built up. He knew that Lila was acting as a spy for his father, so it could be possible that she reached out to him and told him about what happened. But she couldn't have. As far as they knew, Lila was taken to the police station and her mother was already there. She wouldn’t have had the opportunity to call anyone.

Of course, someone could have seen Lila get into the car. She had caused a scene as she left the school. A student here or a person outside could have easily posted a photo or video of her. But Adrien had nowhere to go, so he nodded and followed the officer out.

It was then that he noticed that it wasn’t just the officer who was waiting. Just out of sight of the classroom was a woman in a suit.

“Hello Adrien. I am going to assure you now that you're not in trouble. I just need to ask you a few questions privately. Follow me please.”

Adrien knew better than to try and argue. Plus whatever this was about, he’d rather find out privately. His classmates were no doubt eavesdropping, and he couldn’t count on Alya or anyone else not posting about this. He followed the woman down the hall and down the stairs, with the police officer right behind him. She opened a door to one of the rooms he’d never been in and led him inside. The officer didn’t enter.

Adrien looked at the room. It looked like Principal Damcole’s office but smaller and without the hidden hero memorabilia. There was a plain desk with some folders and papers on it, with another chair at the one end for a guest.

“Please take a seat. I’m sure you’re wondering why you got pulled aside.”

Adrien sat across from her and nodded, deciding not to speak just yet.

“Well my name is Ms. Blanchet, and I am a social worker with ASE. It has come to our attention that there are some… things happening in your home life.”

Adrien allowed himself to relax slightly, which probably looked odd to her but he didn’t care.

“What I say to you is confidential right? No one will find out who said it?”

“I have a number of sources. Some people who are working on this case will know that you gave the finer details, but the public won’t know what those details are. Please, tell me about anything happening in your home life.”

Adrien took a deep breath, remembering how the protective stones were up and how he was safe from getting akumatized.

“Where should I begin?”

Ms. Blachet, Adrien decided, was very good at self control. He didn’t know exactly how many cases like his she had dealt with, but she had kept her body poised and simply nodded while Adrien recounted everything he had dealt with from within the mansion. The only sign that she was reacting was a slight twitch in her eye when he told a particularly worse detail. She kept full notes in one of her notebooks, with a voice recorder saving his exact words. And it was a lot.

Adrien had noticed the clock on the far wall around the start of his recounting. By now it was over an hour, and he wasn’t giving full details.

“The most recent thing was earlier this week. My father has been getting hate comments online and he was upset. I walked down for dinner and got hit by a piece of glass from something he threw.”

“Did he have any reaction to you getting hurt?”

Adrien took a deep breath, focusing in on Plagg’s purrs.

“He was too busy throwing stuff to notice, but his assistant did. She took me to another room to clean the cut. I was told to not let anyone know about it. I did take a picture though, and I sent it to my one friend since I was worried about my father finding it. I don’t have it on my phone anymore, but if you need it I can tell you who my friend is.”

“Yes please. It’s not that we don’t believe you,” She clarified. “It’s just that we need all of the details for this case.”

“Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s in the same homeroom as me and lives at Tom and Sabine’s Bakery. Do you need her phone number too?”

“No need. I already have all basic contact information for the people in your homeroom. Is there anyone else who knows about your situation that isn’t in your class?”

“Only other person who knows something about my home life is Kagami. She’s part of my fencing class, but she only knows that I have a strict father. I never told her about anything else.”

Ms. Blachet wrote that down before closing her notebook and grabbing a folder.

“Well unless you have anything else, I think it’s about time we discuss your living situation. Whenever we do an investigation on parents, we like to take any children out of the house to ensure that nothing worse happens. We tend to use other family members, but since you don’t have any in Paris or even France for the matter, we were thinking of placing you with one of your friends. Of course, if you would prefer staying with a family member, we can make it happen.”

“I would prefer a friend, if that’s okay.”

Adrien didn’t want to deal with the tension that would come from staying with his aunt and cousin. Once he got his life together, then he could work out what his father had ruined.

“Okay. But I should let you know, with what you’ve told me it is very likely that your father will not be deemed worthy of custody over you, even if just temporarily until he receives the required training. In that case, we are required to place you either with other family members or with people registered in the foster care system. It is for your own safety, since we don’t want children to be kicked out of their friend’s house if they no longer become friends, or if the family can no longer provide for the child. Plus we need to know that there won’t be any abuse in the home, or that the home is already unstable.”

Adrien nodded, recounting what Marinette had told him. Sure he could see about living with Chloé, but he knew that her home life would most likely not be considered stable. Which meant that he would either be put into the system and hope to Tikki to get lucky or live with his aunt in London. His mind only snapped back to attention at her next sentence.

“We currently have the Dupain-Chengs as the listed option for you to stay with them.”

“Wait, you mean Marinette’s family?”

“Yes. I have heard rumors that you two are dating now and we normally would want to avoid placing people in homes where they have romantic relationships, in case they break up. However, since they are currently being reviewed for enrolling in the system we figured this would allow both you and them to figure out if this will work out. We have reviewed the basic information to make sure that no immediate abuse history has been found and that they are able to provide you the necessities, and the other forms will be looked at soon.”'

Tears picked up in his eyes, despite him trying to keep them down. Marinette had been doing so much recently, with just planning Lila’s downfall. The fact that she had planned and acted to protect him like this meant the world to him.

“For now I am going to have you wait here until I get an update on what can happen next. If you have any questions, Officer Dorian is just outside. Do you have any more questions for me?”

“Would it be okay if Marinette came down here so I could talk to her?”

“I don’t think so. She was getting pulled out for an interview not too long after I got you.”

Adrien nodded, watching as the woman walked out of the room with her notebook and folder. It was only once the door shut did Plagg peek his head out of his shirt pocket.

“I guess she’s getting asked about the photo then.”

“Photo?”

“Yeah, the one I sent her on Wednesday.”

Plagg flew out and floated in front of him, one eye trained on the door.

“Not exactly. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised about that woman asking her about your dad now, but pigtails was pulled out of class shortly after you were.”

“So why exactly was she pulled out?”

The kwami didn’t have time to respond, since the door pushed open and Plagg hid back inside his pocket.

“Hello Adrien. My name is Mr. Toussaint. I need to speak to you about what’s been happening in your class for the past few months.”

Chapter Text

Marinette kept her cool as the man in front of her, Mr. Vernier, clicked his pen repeatedly. She had expected this to happen. As soon as Adrien left the classroom, another person came in shortly after and explained that they needed each person to talk to them for a couple minutes. With how much authority was getting involved, there was no way the school board was just going to ignore how it started. And now she had to confess to this person exactly how involved she was. This person, who neither she nor anyone else have ever met. Who would have a role in determining what happens to her. Fun.

“So, Marinette, please tell me about how it's been in Miss Bustier class?”

“Do you mean in general or…”

“Overall. If I need more details or something specific, I’ll let you know.”

So he was doing this tactic. Letting her say whatever so he’d get information on something he wouldn’t think to ask. Well she wouldn’t give him everything. As much as she knew that working willingly would get this done sooner, she also had a long week and it wasn’t even over yet.

“It was bearable before this year. But it seemed like since I became class rep, she decided to push more responsibilities on me.”

“In what ways exactly.”

“Having me plan the class trip and fundraisers. Telling me that I have to be an example, that I can’t overreact when people bully me or mess with my stuff. Things like that.”

“Did you ever try and ask her why you had to?”

“She wouldn’t let me. The moment I try to question why I have to do something, or ask why I had to let people bully me, she’d just talk about the Marinette’s in the world and giving people an example to learn from. It only got worse once Lila came here.”

“Expand on that.”

“Lila came in talking about knowing all of these celebrities and doing all these different things. However the issue came when she claimed she had tinnitus from saving Jagged Stone’s cat from an airplane. Miss Bustier decided to move around the entire class and shoved me in the back, and then got mad at me when I questioned why I had to move.”

“Where exactly did you sit in class?”

“I sat in the second row. She moved one of the boys in the front row to my seat, as well as moved the rest of the class around to the seats that they wanted.”

“That brings it into a different perspective.” He muttered, writing something down. “Is there anything else that came from that incident?”

“I had to apologize and then had to go sit in the back. The seats didn’t even stick because the next day, a boy in the front row moved to the back to sit with me. He mentioned how he felt bad that I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Lila then claimed that her tinnitus got cured by Ladybug and that she could sit in the back. I was moved to the front, and then the boy who moved back with me went to his old seat again. The seats changed back completely to how they were before Lila by the end of the day, with the exception of her sitting in the back.”

“You said that Lila got her tinnitus cured?”

“Supposedly. Although I’m pretty sure Ladybug’s powers don’t work like that. If she could cure things like that, she would have been to hospitals and cured cancer. Not like it matters, since a week after she came back from her trip she said that her tinnitus was acting up again.”

That caught his interest.

“What trip?”

“Her mother is a diplomat. Most of the stories Lila talked about often came in the form of her either doing charity work or meeting different celebrities with her mom on these world trips they would take for her work. She was gone from school for about two months. She left about a week after she came to school.”

He jotted that down in his notebook, not bothering to look up as he continued.

“Was there anything special that happened when she came back?”

“Yeah. A few days after she got back she framed me for stealing from her, cheating on a test, and pushing her down the stairs. I didn’t get in trouble, since there was no evidence that I did those things other than her word, but they were never looked into beyond that.”

“Are you sure they didn’t look into it?”

“No. In fact I probably would have been expelled if it wasn’t for one of my teachers vouching for me. I was with her asking for help on her newest assignment during the time I supposedly pushed Lila down the stairs. It was only after she suggested looking at the security cameras did the principal believe her.”

“So they saw that nothing happened during that time.” He said, nodding as he looked down at his notes.

“They didn’t check it.”

His head finally snapped up to look at her.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they didn’t check it. I got called into the principal's office while I was finishing up with my teacher, Ms. Mendeleiev came with me. When she suggested checking the camera feeds, Mr. Damocles seemed flustered. That’s when he said that he trusted her and that I could get back to class.”

Mr. Vernier clicked his pen a few more times, each one seeming to deepen his frown. He opened his mouth to say something before deciding against it. Instead he wrote something down.

“Well that’s enough of this for now. I do need to know about something else though. It seems very clear that you and a few other students orchestrated a school wide hullimation of a fellow student.”

Marinette felt anger coarse through her. He was talking about all this as if it was a petty and unnecessary thing! Like a stupid game a bully would play on their victim!
“I don’t know how much you heard about what was said, but the student you talk about had a large past of crimes. Crimes that were covered up with money that should at least be available to find if a person wishes to.”

“You should have left it to the adults. Tell someone about your concerns and let them handle it in a controlled manner.”

“And who, pray tell, do you suggest I reach out to for help? The principal sides with whoever has the largest influential family, my homeroom teacher forces me to take over responsibilities that should be an adult’s, other teachers and staff are either so entranced with trusting that the principal is doing his job to not listen or cannot act in fear of losing their job. I tried reaching out for help, and no one answered.” Marinette stood up, looking down at the man in front of her. “So forgive me if I decided to take up the reins and bring attention to someone who’s trouble and knows it, thrives off it. Or would you rather people only realize what was wrong after a student commits sucide?”

She allowed him to sit in silence, soaking in what she said. Mr. Vernier looked shocked, whether at her outburst or what she was saying, Marinette didn’t know or care. If this person was talking about what she did as if it was a crime, then it didn’t matter what she said to him. Her fate was sealed if she didn’t act. After a solid few minutes of continued silence, the bluenette spoke in a softer tone.

“I refuse to let someone at this school, whether it’s someone I talk to or dislike, take their life because of someone I know is bad and didn’t try to intervene sooner. And if you are going to try and guilt trip me for preventing that, then this integration is over.”

It seemed like Mr. Vernier finally realized who he was again and who should be in charge.

“Sit back down, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. You are a child and need to listen.”

“No. You need to listen. I am telling you the truth. I bet if I turned to Miss Bustier with proof about who Lila really is, she would destroy it and punish me. Tell me to either stop making up such ridiculous tales or that people change and bring up the past would do nothing but harm. I wanted to reach out to the school board, but I had no way of knowing if it was as corrupt as this school.”

As he opened his mouth to speak, the door opened and a woman walked in.

“I need to borrow Ms. Dupain-Cheng for a few minutes.”

Marinette didn’t even wait for Mr. Varnier to speak before walking towards the door.

“Ms. Blanchet, I still need to finish this interview.” He stressed the last word, looking at the bluenette with more of a glare.

“I think you have all the information you need, Mr. Varnier. If anything, you should look into the camera feeds and see why the principal was so resistant to review those despite that huge accosaution.” Both parties were shocked, and the woman looked between the two. “Next time you integrate someone, Mr. Varnier, try picking a room that’s a little more soundproof and make sure the door’s fully shut. Come along, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I’m sure you’re getting tired with everything that’s happening today and want to get home sooner rather than later.”

Marinette didn’t look back as she followed the woman out. From the few moments since meeting her, she was sure that she wouldn’t be guilt tripping her and would actually listen to what she has to say.

“I would bring you to the room where I was before, but another person has taken over. But there is one room where I was promised full privacy and should be fine for our short conversation. It’s just down here.”

Marinette had been all over this school. She liked knowing where everything was before, and that need only increased when she became Ladybug. She knew every nook and cranny of this school, all the best places to transform and which rooms would allow her to talk to her kwami without someone overhearing. However she didn’t expect to be led into a music practice room.

“Shouldn’t we be in a classroom or office?”

“Most of those are being used either to hold students until they are dismissed or to do interviews like this one. Plus all the other spaces that are available aren’t soundproof and people could easily eavesdrop. And since this matter is more private, I needed somewhere where that isn’t possible. But you should close the door and make sure it’s closed.”

Marinette shut the door without protest, letting it click shut unlike how she had it after she entered the office before with Mr. Varnier. She also reached into her bag and turned off the voice recorder that she had running earlier. It wasn’t her idea but Sabrina’s. The redhead had expected some police involvement and wanted each of us to be able to know what happened in any interviews they had. But she couldn’t record this conversation. Not when she recognizes the voice of this woman.
“My name is Ms. Blanchet and I am from the ASE. I wanted to speak to you about your one friend, Adrien. He said that he sent you a photo earlier this week.”

“Yes. He had told me about his homelife a little bit before, and I had always told him how he was welcome to tell me anything. I promised him that I could keep secrets but… I don’t want him to get hurt again.”

She pulled out her phone and flipped it around once the photo was up. Ms. Blanchet nodded slightly as she examined the image.

“I was wondering if you could tell me a little about what he said about his homelife.”

“Well he’s been stuck at home for almost his whole life. Even when his mom was alive, he was homeschooled and only left the house really for events and his activities. After his mom disappeared, Adrien tried going to school. His dad was resilient but finally let him go, but it took Adrien enrolling himself and sneaking out of the house to do it. Even then, his dad just used the excuse of pulling him out of school to force him to do things. “For the brand,” he says. Adrien even admitted to me that he’s thought about his father hurting him before what happened this week.”

“Okay. That’s basically it, but I do need to tell you something else. Your family's forms were submitted this morning. Usually the process would take months to approve, however we are going to speed it up with a few more interviews and a little trial run. We try to avoid having children in the same home of parents that we are investigating since it can complicate the process.

“It was proposed that Adrien stays with your family during the investigation. If it is deemed that he needs a longer term temporary or even permanent home, then we would see how well the situation was working and about finalizing your family’s forms. Do you have any questions?”

Several, and most that she should probably refrain from asking. Instead Marinette asked the first thing on her mind.

“When is Adrien going to go to my house?”

“We have someone talking to your parents right now about the arrangements. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have him go over so suddenly, since it would be best to give them time to finalize a space for him, so probably not for a couple days. I’d say a week at most. He’ll be leaving with an officer and myself later today so that he can gather some of his belongings. I think the current plan is to then have him stay at a hotel, the one your one classmate lives in.”

So at least he’ll have Chloé. That should also give her enough time to try and explain to her parents what’s been happening at school.

“If you don’t have any more questions for me, I’m gonna go see how everything’s going. I’m also pretty sure you’re good to go. Just let the officer by the front doors know that you talked to both me and Mr. Varnier before you head out.”

“Will do.”

With that, Ms. Blanchet walked out. Marinette waited a few seconds to make sure that she was completely gone before letting out a sigh of relief. Tikki popped her head out and looked around the room.

“Plagg said that they are heading to the mansion once that woman gets there. He’ll have to give an official interview with the police at the hotel later, but then he’ll be free for the rest of the night. Of course, they might tell him to not leave the hotel since he is a celebrity and they don’t want the public any more involved in this case as they probably will be.”

“That’s fine. Even if they don’t allow him to have guests, we have ways to get in and see him without alerting anyone. For now I think I really need to talk to my parents about all this. Let’s go, Tikki.”

With that, the kwami flew back into her purse and the two set off back for home. There really was no hiding what had happened the past few weeks anymore, and Marinette would have to give the most honest answer she could while hiding the most important parts of herself. But it wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before.

Chapter Text

Marinette felt herself slowing her steps as she came closer to the bakery. She knew what she had to do, but it wasn’t going to be easy for her. What if her parents decided to keep a closer eye on her and discover her secret identity? While they certainly wouldn’t react as negatively as Adrien’s dad probably would, she couldn’t be sure that they wouldn’t panic and try and get her to give up being Ladybug.

Once she was outside the main doors, she took a deep breath before pushing through. Instead of seeing her mom like she expected, she saw Alyena.

“Hi, welcome to- Oh Marinette, you’re back early. Though from what I’ve heard happened at the school I’m not surprised. Your parents are upstairs.”

“Thanks Alyena. Do me a favor and if anyone who isn’t with ASE or the school board wants to see me, tell them I’m not here.”

She nodded, albeit a bit confused, and Marinette practically raced upstairs. Hopefully that would get Alya and anyone else from getting in and complicating things further. She didn’t doubt that if Alya decided to that she would find a way of reaching out to her parents and giving her side of the story, but as long as she gave her truth before the blogger things should be okay.

When she walked into the living room, both of her parents were there. If it wasn’t for the papers spread out on the table, it would have felt more intimidating, like they were stationed there for the moment she would come in.

“Hi mama, papa, I need to talk to you.”

For their credit, they didn’t look too shaken considering what happened today. As far as Marinette knew, they found out about an investigation being launched on Gabriel Agreste and about Adrien coming to live with them. Plus they probably heard at least the general details of what happened during school.

“Marinette, what’s been going on? Is everything alright?”

“Everything is now. It’s been a long couple weeks though, and I’m sorry for not telling you sooner but… with how the school was treating what was happening, I was worried that you two wouldn’t believe me and… I really should have told you sooner.”

She sat down on a chair, glancing over to her parents without hiding her nerves. It was true that she worried about how they would have reacted if she tried telling them about Lila.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Lila, Lila Rossi, or was. She came into my class and started to tell a lot of stories. I knew they were fake, since the details didn’t match up with the facts, but Alya didn’t believe me. I thought that maybe she was just trying to make friends, so I approached her privately to let her know that she didn’t need to lie to do that, but then she threatened me.”

“She what?!”

“She told me that she’d turn everyone against me, and she was almost successful. Alya isn’t my friend anymore, she hasn’t been for a while, but I didn’t want to say anything since I was still hoping that something would happen. But then I discovered that Lila’s been spying on Adrien for his dad and that she did a lot of awful things in the past, and none of the teachers were doing anything about it, so I might have done something.”

She looked down at her lap, waiting. Finally her dad asked, “What did you do?”

“I exposed her. I also sent a message to the school board about what was happening and with evidence. As for why I asked about getting our family registered in the foster system… Adrien’s not having the best home life. From what I submitted to ASE and from what they gathered so far, there’s an investigation launched against him. And I know you guys might be mad at me for keeping all of this a secret for so long, but I want Adrien to be safe.”

Marinette was so entranced in what she was saying that it wasn’t until now that she noticed her parents on either side of her, hugging her.

“Oh Marinette, we aren’t mad at you. Sure you should have told us sooner, but if what you’re saying happened at school is true… I think I’m gonna have to have a talk with your teacher.”

“It’s crazy over there right now. I think all the teachers are getting interviewed about what’s been happening. I got called out early and got sent home after I talked to someone on the school board and from ASE.”

She was the most in the dark about this that she has ever been, and there really was nothing that she could control about this situation now that the police and school board were involved. Of course, she could control the choices she makes.

“I don’t think that Miss Bustier’s classroom is the best place for you. Exactly how much stuff has been going on there?”

“Some of the people in my class have been bullying me. I had to stop bringing my sketchbook to school because they talked about destroying it and I couldn’t risk it. Miss Bustier hasn’t said anything about it, only telling me that I have to be an example and to stop being so hard on Lila.”

Looking back at it now made Marinette madder. What in Miss Bustier’s mind made her think it was okay to sit back and allow such bullying to happen? If Chloé bullying her had been real then she probably would have thought about it sooner, but now with it being real there were no rose colored lenses to look through.

“I didn’t want to do this, but I’ve been considering it for a while and… well, do you think it would be possible for me to switch schools?” Upon her parents’ shocked faces, she quickly added. “Or switch homerooms. I just don’t think I could really… handle being in that class for much longer. Even if Lila isn’t around anymore, I can’t just forgive them just like that.”

“I think that’s reasonable. We can figure it out later. I think that after what you’ve been through you can miss a day of school or two while we work this out. For now I think we need to get the guest room ready for Adrien. Marinette, can you change out the sheets? They’re clean but it wouldn’t hurt to make it less formal and more… homely.”

The bluenette nodded, pleased at how things were going. Her parents were on board with her switching to, if not a different school then a different class, plus they were willing to let Adrien stay here. She still had to bring up the restraining order, but perhaps she could save that for tonight. Maybe Sabrina can have her dad make the suggestion to her parents? Then it would be a different voice, an adult no less, who’s putting in the advice.

Once she got into the guest room, she pulled out her phone and texted Chloé to let her know that she’s home. She could have gone back to the classroom and saw who was still in there but she really didn’t want to deal with her classmates yet. Anyone who didn’t know about Lila already could easily turn on her and use her as a scapegoat for their ignorance, and she just didn’t have the time to deal with that. On Monday she could deal with it. For now she just wanted to focus on helping Adrien.

Walking over to the bed, she stripped it and tossed the pile of sheets and covers onto the far side of the room to be put away. Marinette stepped around to the dresser, opening the drawer and pulling out some green sheets.

“Are you going to make him a Chat Noir themed room?” Tikki asked, floating near her head.

“I would do Ladybug, but we don’t have red sheets. They’re annoying in the wash. Besides, it’s not completely Chat Noir themed. We don’t have any black sheets so I’m probably gonna have to use blue.”

It would work better, to be honest. After things calm down a bit they would be working harder to find Hawkmoth. Having a room to just relax in, with no indication of a secret superhero life, would be welcomed.

Once she looked at the finished bed, she scanned the rest of the room. They would have to move the extra sheets and bedding that they kept in the dresser and closet somewhere else once Adrien got here. Besides that, any other decorations or things could be done with Adrien present. Her partner would probably enjoy having input on where he would be sleeping. So for now she folded up all the old sheets and stored them in the dresser.

Just as she was about to leave, her phone started ringing. Marinette slowly pulled it out, answering it much quicker once she saw the user id.

“Is everything alright?!”

There was a pause, before she could hear him laughing.

“Aw, were you worried about me?”

“Quit it, kitty. You’re supposed to be with the police right now, figuring things out. The only way you could be calling me right now is if there’s an emergency.”

“Or if I’m currently in my room packing. I just wanted to make sure that everything is fine. Plagg said that you were called away after me and I wanted to know if you’re good.”

Once she calmed down a bit, Marinette retreated back to the guest room and sat down.

“It was okay. I talked to someone on the school board. They asked about my experience in Miss Bustier’s classroom as well as the whole thing with Lila. I showed the one woman from ASE, Ms. Blachet, the photo. I also came home and talked to my parents.”

“Did everything go okay with that?”

“Surprisingly, yes. We have a guest room you can stay in. Once you come here we can decorate it however you want. I also mentioned about switching homerooms and they said it would be fine.”

He was quiet for a moment, before he asked.

“Do they know about Chloé?”

“No. Not yet, because with you living here Chloé will probably want to visit you, but I still need to tell them. But I have to tell them about getting a restraining order yet, so priorities.”

“Yeah. Your parents are probably going to be more on edge now that they know what’s been happening. Plus with the ASE having to check in on my situation, they’ll feel more pressure to make sure that there isn’t anything else bad happening behind their backs.”

“Don’t say that. I’m already worried about both of us being able to sneak out for akuma attacks as it is.”

It was something that both had gotten lucky at for a while now. She was usually all over the place, running different errands all the time and rarely at home unless she was wrapped up in a project, in which case her parents didn’t interrupt her. Adrien was just lucky. All it would have taken is one time where Natalie walked into his empty room to get him on lockdown.

But now? Her parents would want to check up on both of them. And if they thought that both of them were in one bedroom? Especially once they found out that they were dating? Well they wouldn’t be able to help but meddle, both out of curiosity and out of parental instincts.

“We’ll figure it out. Is there a window in the guest room that I can get out of easily?”

Marinette stood up and walked over to the wall. Luckily it faced the alley way, so all of Paris wouldn’t see Chat Noir climbing out of a window above the bakery.

“Yes. And it faces the alley too.”

“Then I’ll be fine. If I asked them not to disturb me then hopefully they wouldn’t. And since I won’t have such a tight schedule anymore, we could go out somewhere and then go and deal with the akuma. If we’re each other’s alibi sometimes then it will be alright. Not all the time, otherwise they’ll absolutely look into it, but occasionally will be okay.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let you get back to packing.”

“Actually, I have something else that I need to let you know about. Felix called me. He said that he and his mom were coming down to Paris and wanted to talk to me.”

That was the last thing that Marinette had expected. She had assumed that his aunt and cousin would want to hide in London, not join in on the media fire that’s surely burning brighter now that Lila’s been taken off in a police car. The only thing she could think of is that they wanted to try and benefit from this.

“What do they want?”

“I don’t know. Felix did ask me if I was okay. But honestly, there is something I need to do with them that could be done sooner rather than later.”

“Adrien, what are you planning on doing?”

He let out a chuckle.

“You know, you really sound like Ladybug right now. Stop panicking, bugette, it’s not anything bad. I just… my dad has something that belongs to him. I would keep it for our wedding, but honestly it means less to me and more to them.”

“Wedding?”

“It’s the Graham de Vanily Twin Rings. My mother and father used them as wedding rings, but since my mom isn’t here… I think my aunt should have them.”

His voice was soft and emotional, and Marinette wished that she was with him right now so that she could hug him.

“Are you sure? If they are your mom’s-”

“I’m sure. I know that my father didn’t throw away mom’s stuff and just stored it somewhere, so I can find those and have that to remember her by. Even if they only have one of the rings, it would be better than nothing.”

“Well if you’re sure.” Before she could add anything else, a knock was heard.

“I’m gonna have to go. See you tonight.”

Just like that, the call ended. Marinette looked at her phone before sliding it back into her pocket and walking out the door. Tikki floated close by her, ready to slip in her pocket or bad if needed.

“I think I’m gonna bake him something for tonight. That or help out in the bakery. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to wait until tonight otherwise.”

“He’ll be okay. If you want I can go and check on him in person. Or at least with Plagg.”

“No. Just because Lila has a charm to prevent akumas doesn’t mean that someone else won’t get akumatized over this. Ugh we probably should have slipped one to Mr. Agreste, or at least put a couple by the police station. Hopefully if he gets akumatized Adrien would be able to hide and transform.”

Marinette tried to shake off her worries, walking down to the bakery kitchen to offer her help.

Chapter Text

It was only once it was almost midnight that Marinette dared to lock her trap door and sneak out the one above. Her red suit never did her favors when it came to stealth, and as much as she wanted to just use Kaalki to transport to the hotel, she didn’t want to use the wasted energy. It was something her and Chat only did when absolutely needed, usually if the user got hit by an akuma or if they had no time to find that person, and for good reason. Master Fu was right about how using multiple miraculous used up more of the holder’s energy.

So, despite her fear of being spotted, Ladybug ran across the rooftops as fast as she could. It was a nice night, peaceful and ignorant to the trouble caused earlier. If she wanted to, she and Chat could go out for a patrol and goof off, pretend that everything was normal. Except it wasn’t, and she had to focus on what was happening. So she slipped through the opened window of the hotel, happy to see that it was void of people as he promised.

“I never thought that you would visit me. It was always me visiting you.”

“I would have if you let me, chatton, but you always refused on that front.”

Hearing his voice, seeing him in person, made all the stress and worry run off her like water on her suit. His appearance was more laid back than it was this morning, with him dressed in casual wear as opposed to his dressy black number he wore to school.

“Tikki, spots-” Her words were stopped by him frantically shaking his head.

“I would like to get out of here, if that’s okay. There’s some stuff that I wanted to do at the mansion that I couldn’t do earlier.”

“Should we be heading over there? I know you said that your father had security cameras in the rooms, and they’re probably gonna look through the feeds.”

“It will be fine.” He promised. “I actually had Plagg destroy the cameras in the room I wanted to visit. The feeds will still be in whatever computer backup my father had, but it won’t record anything we do tonight.”

Well if he had everything planned out…

“Sure. Transform and lead the way.”

Ladybug followed close behind him, keeping one eye out to make sure that no one was watching them. It was late enough that usually people would be in, but since it was Friday there could be people who decided to stay out into the night. It wasn’t that unusual for the two of them to be out at night, but if word got out that they went to the Agreste Mansion? Well that was a can of worms that would best be kept shut.

Chat showed her where exactly to go so that none of the outside cameras would capture her, and pulled open an already cracked window. It took her a few moments once she got inside to recognize the room.

“I thought you’d want something else from your bedroom. Why are we in your dad’s office?”

“It’s the safe. I know that my father claimed to only have the grimoire for inspiration, but it would be a good idea to get that before their investigation gets to it. There’s no need to have miraculous related things out in the public, after all. I’ll have to detransform to open it, though.”

Marinette nodded, opening her yoyo and pulling out another miraculous.

“I’ll do the same. Then we can just use Kallki to get back to your hotel room without any hassle.”

Once the glasses were in her hands, she detransformed and pulled out a cookie for Tikki to munch on. Plagg was already out and finished, waiting by the painting of Adrien’s mom. Marinette walked over towards it. She remembered seeing it during Simon Says. Mr. Agreste had acted so cold and calm during the akuma that he’d caused. Adrien grabbed the portrait and began to pull the one side off. As he did that though, he paused.

“Adrien? What’s wrong?”

“The painting’s pressing down.”

He frowned as he pushed it back in place with a click, showing exactly where the painting had pushed down. Instead of there being an obvious dent or tear in the art, the area pushed down without resistance, pushing back up once released.

“Is that for the safe?”

“No. The painting pulls away from the safe, and there’s a combination pad here for the code.” He showed her, pulling the painting back open to reveal the safe before closing it again. “So why is there a spot in the painting that pushes down?”

Marinette put her hand on the painting, slowly moving it down over the surface.

“There’s a spot here too. And here. Maybe there’s a way to open the frame? Like he has papers in there that need to be kept safe, but out of his other safe. Although I don’t know why he would have two safes back to back.”

“My father would. He could have gotten it done after I first discovered the safe. He might have moved the stuff in the safe after catching me looking at it. So the book could be anywhere now.”

“Well it doesn’t hurt to check. I can also make sure there isn’t a security camera in the safe while I’m at it.”

Plagg phased through the painting, not going through the lock pad yet to check for cameras. As such, he’d registered the fact that he went through the combo pad of the painting only after he heard something click into place. When he phased out it was to the sight of the ground lower, the ground where Marinette and Adrien were standing to be precise.

“What the- what’s happening?”

“Stop it, Plagg.”

This time Tikki phased through the pad, but the floor continued to go down. The kwamis, not wanting to let their holder go off alone, flew down as the opening to the floor closed from above. Luckily there were lights in whatever they were in, so Marinette and Adrien could see the ground as they continued downwards. Unfortunately for Adrien, he could see exactly how small the space they were in was. Marinette grabbed his hand in a tight grip.

“Don’t worry. I have Kallki remember? I can get us out of here right now if you want.”

“No. I need to see exactly what in the world my father is doing. How in the world did he even get this thing installed?”

It was then that they slowed down a bit, and noticed that the thing they were on went on one of two pathways.

“There’s multiple routes? What is even down here? I thought that maybe it was just some weird entrance to your basement.”

Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by the following view. It was a massive cavern. A metal walkway was in front of them, and seemed to lead to some garden. He had a very, very bad feeling about this. The two kwamis, who were silent up until this point, made their presence known.

“Okay so we’ll go up ahead and check things out.” Plagg declared, as he considered the space before them. “Transform with Kaalki just in case you two need to get out quickly.”

Marinette slid the glasses on, doing as told without any protest. To be completely honest, she wouldn’t mind just teleporting out of here now and trying to forget that this exists. Why a fashion designer has this under his home should be no concern to her. But this was Adrien’s dad, so as long as he wanted to do this then she would stay with him.

The two watched as the kwamis became nothing but dots in the distance, Adrien’s hand finding her’s again.

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

“Because no one should have whatever this is hiding underneath their house. Once Plagg and Tikki make sure that everything is okay, we can teleport back to your hotel room and I can stay with you until morning.”

It was at that moment that a scream was heard.

“Plagg?!” Adrien called out, worry evident on his face.

Marinette didn’t wait another second before dashing across the walkway, something that probably would have been bad for her if it was rusty or slipper, but it was completely stable even with her frantic movement. She only stopped once she got across the bridge and noticed exactly what the two kwamis were looking at. And it was only evident that Adrien was with her when he uttered out the word ‘mom’ before falling onto his knees.

Inside a glass coffin was indeed Mrs. Agreste, looking exactly like how she did in the photos Adrien had showed her. As still as a photograph. She looked like she could be asleep.

“Did… did father really…”

Adrien couldn’t even finish the thought before turning and throwing up. Marinette was barely in the right mind to try and console him. Instead she glanced between the two kwamis, silently begging for an answer.

“She isn’t dead. At least, not yet. It’s magic. The peacock, more specially.” Tikki answered, not looking at Marinette at all. Instead she was focused on Plagg who was watching Adrien with a blank expression.

“Mr. Agreste, but-”

“He-He’s Hawkmoth, isn’t he? Mom. I can’t-”

Adrien let out a sob, releasing Marinette of her shock enough to comfort him.

“Mom… do you think we can save her?”

Tikki fluttered around the coffin.

“She’s not dead yet but… from what I can tell I don’t think she’d make it much longer even if we get the peacock miraculous fixed and try to heal her. From what I can tell, there seems to be another health issue to blame here. One that magic can’t heal.”

Adrien didn’t cry, instead looking down at his ring.

“Ma-Marinette? Do me a favor?”

“Yes. What is it?”

He slipped his ring off and held it with shaky hands to her.

“Keep this safe for me. I don’t- I don’t want to be tempted to do anything.”

Anything, meaning either killing his father or trying to make the wish. Marinette hugged him tightly before taking the ring and slipping it into her pocket. Plagg’s blank expression changed.

“No one needs to know who Hawkmoth is. We can find a way to make sure that Paris knows that they are safe but not bring attention to you.”

“But then we’re covering for him. Just like what happened with Lila.” Before anyone could protest he continued. “Even if he loses custody of me, he’d still be free. He’ll have his reputation ruined but still have an escape. He’s killed people people. He’s killed me before. Even if we don’t count me being Chat Noir, he’s created akumas that targeted me. He even targeted me when he was an akuma. I can’t let him get away scot free. I just can’t.”

Marinette kept her tight grip around him, deep in thought.

“We can make sure that the public knows that you didn’t know about him, as well as let them know that you helped stop him.”

“Let me stop you there, pigtails. We can’t let people know who you two are. There’s still the worry of people trying to steal the miraculous.”

“I’m not talking about him being Chat Noir. We could say that Adrien waved us down from patrol, wanting to give us a book on the miraculous that he knew his father had. He claimed that it was an inspiration book, but it still felt wrong for it not to be in our possession. So we went over to the mansion and walked in, using a bit of magic to open the safe that it is kept in. Except we accidentally discovered this secret elevator. So we followed it and discovered this.”

Marinette eyed Mrs. Agreste before looking back down at Adrien.

“You’ll be shocked, of course. After all, as far as you knew, your mother just disappeared. We could even say that we considered not releasing a name to the press, but how you wanted to make sure that Hawkmoth would be put away for good. There would still be some people who talked, but Paris should see you as a victim. And we don’t have to do this right away. We could wait a day or two before telling the police, think things over a bit.”

“I think,” Adrien licked his lips before continuing. “I think I’d rather just tell the police and get this over with. If my fath- if he suspects that someone might know his identity, he could try escaping.”

“Let’s at least wait until morning. Gabriel is under watch right now anyways right?”

Marinette thought about it. All it would take is a few moments of someone not watching him for him to try and escape. Adrien must have thought about the same thing, because he was shaking his head.

“No. There’s no point risking it.”

“I can do it. I’ll just say that Chat was keeping an eye out on Adrien. Want me to get you sent to your room first and then go?”

“Yes please.” Adrien begged.

With just a word, Marinette used her powers and carried Adrien back into the room. She laid him down on the couch, grabbing the teapot from the stove and refilling and heating it before detransforming. She handed Kaalki a cookie before grabbing blankets and wrapping Adrien up. Then she considered the ring.

He wanted her to keep it so he wasn’t tempted to do anything, but he really couldn’t just leave him without some companion. And she would need him to speak as Chat Noir too. It would be too suspicious if only Ladybug appeared, or if they switched miraculous.

“I trust you, Adrien. Do you think you can keep your ring on you?”

He shook his head.

“No. Not today at least.”

She squeezed his shoulder, watching as Plagg landed on the other one.

“I can stay here with him. They might inspect him just in case so it’s probably a good idea not to give him a miraculous. Just say that Chat Noir is handling other things revolving this.”

“Okay. I’ll go and handle this. Are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Marinette transformed, giving Adrien a kiss on the forehead, before taking a deep breath. Then she used her powers and practically flew in, wanting to get this over with before Mr. Agreste could cause any more harm.

Chapter Text

The effect happened immediately. Once the butterfly miraculous was off Gabriel and the situation was explained, more police showed up to take him away to a different holding area. Marinette recharged Kaalki before bringing Natalie in and ensuring from Nooroo that the peacock miraculous was still in the mansion. She then told the police the story she created.

“Adrien’s in shock. I left him in his hotel room.”

“Alone?”

“Chat and I were considering waiting until morning to do this, but time was important. I needed to get the miraculous and he had to go and alert some of our other team members about what is happening. If you want, I can confirm with Hawkmoth’s kwami if Adrien was an accomplice or not. Kwamis have to do as the user asks after all, so they wouldn’t be able to lie.”

“Do that. And we have police going over to where Adrien is right now. Even if he didn’t know anything, they should still be there.”

Right. If any of this got out to the public, then there’d be news reporters and a mob banging on Adrien’s hotel room’s door before they could blink. And if they only knew that he was Hawkmoth’s son… Well, Marinette was now regretting not trying to convince Adrien to be selfish.

They could have found a way to punish him outside of the law, without having to alert the public. They could have figured out a way to have the public know that Hawkmoth was defeated and that the man behind the mask was properly dealt with without saying any names. Of course there would be more naysayers then, people who felt like they deserved to know.

There could also be people who might try and claim that Hawkmoth was merely a temporary villain placed so that they could play heroes. That would make it so that they’d have to sink into the background for good. Which, well, they do need to figure out what to do with themselves once this is all dealt with.

Surely Master Fu would have taken away the miraculous so that all were where they should be, but Marinette refused to strip Adrien of a form of familiarity. Besides, she was the guardian now. But she supposed that she had plenty of time to think on it. For now she just pulled Nooroo out of the brooch, asking him about anyone who was involved as a willing accomplice.

“Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth, as you know. And his assistant, Natalie, was Mayurua. His son had no idea. He was going to tell him once, but for some reason he changed his mind.”

“Was there anyone else? Anyone who helped them or used the miraculous?”

“I don’t know for certain, but Gabriel’s wife did use the peacock miraculous. She’s in one of his underground lairs, trapped in a coma due to the miraculous being broken and zapping too much energy from her. But I do know that there was someone else who was fully willing. Her name is Lila Rossi. Gabriel had been using her to cause akumas, and even become akumas willingly. She also was spying on Adrien for him.”

Marinette knew all of that already, but it was nice to have it openly said. The police officer who was with her looked shocked.

“That’s certainly not gonna help that girl’s case. And we will have to dive in deeper to figure out exactly what Mrs. Agreste was doing with that miraculous.”

“I can get the other kwami and ask them. Although I’m afraid that it will take a little bit. For now though, I’ve seen Mrs. Agreste’s body myself. I don’t think she’ll be any issues right now.” More like ever, since according to Tikki she would have died anyway even without the peacock’s damage, but until they figured out exactly why Mrs. Agreste was using the peacock miraculous, it would be a good idea to keep that detail omitted for the time being. “Chat and I can come to the station with the peacock to get confirmation once we can.”

“Sounds good. Is there a way we can reach you two?”

Ladybug opened her mouth before closing it. If this was months back, she wouldn’t hesitate to suggest doing a post on the Ladyblog. But even if Alya didn’t do all those things, using a public news source to give alerts to heroes wouldn’t be such a good idea. Instead she flipped open her yoyo and tapped on the screen before holding it out.

“Write down this number, and do not show it to anyone outside of this case.” She could easily change the number that responds for her yoyo, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to deal with spams from all of Paris. And another thing she should make clear… “And Chat and I will be doing several things on our own because of Hawkmoth’s defeat, so it might take us a little bit to respond.”

Luckily the officer didn’t question exactly what they would be doing, merely taking down the number before heading off. She turned to Nooroo who was hovering patiently nearby. Right, he’d been dealing with being a prisoner for a while now.

“Let’s get back to the mansion and get everything now. That way we don’t have to worry about anything being stolen again. Then once that’s done, I can take you back to the miracle box.”

The kwami gave a tired smile and nodded. She transformed with Kaalki and portaled over to the mansion. Nooroo was very helpful, telling her the exact combinations for both ways for the secret elevator (the other way was just an empty space that he used to akumatize people and had nothing else in it, which was a relief) and where everything else was including Duusuu. He did warn that since Duusuu’s miraculous was still broken that she should refrain from pulling her out until it’s fixed.

Once the final miraculous related thing was stuck into her yoyo, she took a final look around. The sun was just rising up, letting in the sunlight into the office. It was a long night and would be an even longer day. Too bad she couldn’t ask the police to hold off in telling people the news for a day or two. The information would be getting added on to Lila’s case as well as Gabriel’s, and it might possibly be included with the school’s. With this information getting spread to so many different parties, there’s bound to be just one person who overhears or lets something slip.

She frowned and looked closer at the painting. She feels like she’s missing something else, but what exactly? It’s only once Nooroo comes into her vision that she realizes that she’s spacing out.

“Sorry Miss, but that is everything that’s miraculous related. I can take you down to his one lair if you wish, in case you want to check it out.”

“No it’s fine. It’s been a long night and I just have a feeling that I’m missing something. But Mrs. Agreste can be portaled out later today or tomorrow, since Tikki said that she wouldn’t be able to survive anyways.”

“It’s a shame. I just hope that his son will be okay. After all, he doesn’t have a family now.”

At those words the final thing she was missing clicked into place, and with it came panic.

“Adrien! Oh no, oh no, oh no. I didn’t even think about that. Oh, my parents are gonna find out. They might not-”

Marinette didn’t even want to say those words. When her parents find out that Adrien’s dad was Hawkmoth, they might decide that it would be best for the bakery if they didn’t foster him. And what then? He would be sent to London to live with his aunt and cousin. And if they don’t want to take him in, then he’d be put in the system. She needed to figure out how to get her parents to not give up on fostering Adrien.

Nooroo seemed confused, but Marinette didn’t have the time to explain it. Checking the clock on the desk, she would need to get home now if she didn’t want her parents to discover that she was out all night.

“Kaalki, are you recharged?”

The kwami nodded from her place on the desk, where she had been recharging. She would have to let her have an actual break after this.

“Kaalki, full gallop. Voyage.”

Marinette leaped through the portal with Nooroo flying in right behind her. Once it closed she detransformed fully and looked over near the trap door. It was still shut which was good. If her parents had already been up to check on her, it definitely would be open. She walked over to her sewing box and opened it, touching the miracle box to put the brooches and glasses in. The other kwamis peeked up, before spotting Nooroo and tackling him in a hug.

“Shush, keep it down a little bit. I don’t need my parents coming in and finding this out.”

As soon as she said that, she had another thought. Would it be okay to tell her parents now? Hawkmoth was gone, the two miraculous were safe, and there were no other dangers that they knew of. If she told them about her and Adrien, then they might be more inclined to still foster Adrien. She shook her head at the thought. She really shouldn’t be making those types of decisions without Adrien’s input.

“Actually, can you guys stay in the miracle box today? That way you don’t have to worry about noise and having anyone come in and see you guys.”

The kwamis didn’t resist, all flying back into the box save for Tikki. Marinette sighed and looked at the box. She would need to fix Duusuu’s miraculous soon, but for now she had other things to worry about.

“Marinette, I think you should sleep for a little bit. You’ve been awake all night and you woke up early yesterday. Plus you haven’t been sleeping a lot for the past few days.”

“That’s because I’ve had so much stuff to do. I don’t think it’s gonna do me any good, my parents always get me out of bed by ten on weekends.”

“Still that’s a few more hours of sleep than you would be getting now. You’ll need the energy, especially since you used Kaalki and me for the better part of the day.”

She knew that her kwami was right. Using Kaalki’s powers three times in the span of a few hours was probably not good for her. But she didn’t know if she could sleep. She knew what Adrien must be feeling right now, and it isn’t good. She needed to be there for him.

“I need to see Adrien.”

“Later. Once you and him get some sleep. Want me to switch with Plagg so he can let you know what’s going on?”

“Yes please.”

“Okay, but you need to go to sleep for me. You’re gonna have a long day today as both Marinette and Ladybug, and you can’t help anyone if you’re falling asleep on me.”

Marinette nodded, although it was mostly to get the kwami to leave. Of course Tikki waited until she climbed up to her bed and laid down before flying off. And by that point, the adrenaline she’d been running on wore out enough for her to be knocked out.

Chapter Text

“Marinette. Marinette wake up please.”

Marinette snuggled deeper into her pillow, letting out a groan. She didn’t get enough sleep yet. She just wanted to sleep in just a little bit longer. Why was she so tired? Slowly her mind worked to feed her the details of yesterday, and with that came the spurt energy to sit up.

“Sorry to wake you, dear, but it’s already past ten.”

“It’s fine. I was just up late sketching.” The lie was almost automatic, something that would probably be a habit until she works to break it. "I’ll get dressed and be down to help in the bakery soon.”

“I’m not waking you up because we need your help. I just- We have something that you need to know. Get dressed and come downstairs, okay? Mrs. Blachet is already here.”

That only filled the bluenette with more worry. She didn’t know exactly why the woman would be here so early, but given what she knew it can’t be good. Of course, Marinette wasn’t supposed to know anything yet, so she just nodded as her mom went back downstairs.

“Adrien’s fine, all things considered.” Her head snapped to see Plagg floating nearby. Tikki and him must have switched places like she promised. “He’s honestly angrier at his father than he is shocked or sad. He’s still gonna meet with his aunt and cousin today. I don’t know how much of a good idea that is, but the police are fine with it and I can’t get him to change his mind. In fact, once you get some time alone, he wants you to grab something for him at the mansion before then.”

“I don’t know when I’ll try and sneak away. I’d use Voyage again but Kaalki needs a break.”

Plagg waved his paw, brushing what she said off.

“Kwamis are fine. You give us some food for energy and we’re ready to go again. It’s humans that need a break. You really shouldn’t be using the miraculous for so long back to back. Adding on more miraculous and using our powers only wears you out more. And I’m sure you can find the time.”

“Right now I need to get downstairs and figure out why that woman from the ASE is here this early.”

She could definitely take a guess why, but she would need to hear it for herself before figuring out a way to fix everything. Marinette quickly switched out her old clothes for new ones before racing downstairs to the living. She immediately noticed that there was a fourth person in the room, one that she didn’t recognize. All eyes turned to her, and Ms. Blachet was the only one to offer a small smile.

“Ah, Marientte. Please sit down. I already told your parents part of the news.”

The bluenette nodded, sliding in between her parents on the couch. Having them on either side of her made her feel protected.

“Is everything alright?”

“I won’t share the full story, since it is Adrien’s to tell, but last night it was discovered that Mr. Agreste was Hawkmoth. Him and his assistant were arrested early this morning.”

Hearing it said out loud to her, while she wasn’t transformed, made her reaction more real. She leaned forward.

“Is Adrien okay?”

“He is fine, mainly he’s in shock. Ladybug and Chat Noir have already cleared him of all suspicion, so he is innocent. However this makes his situation a little more complicated. Your parents both insist that they still would be willing to foster Adrien. However, since things are more extreme, we believe that it would be important for his other family members to decide if they wish to take Adrien in before friends do.”

This wasn’t what she expected. Marinette figured that either her parents would refuse to take Adrien or the state would claim that he had to go off somewhere instead. Did Adrien find this out already? Who was she kidding, he probably did. That’s probably why he wanted her to get something from the mansion before he meets with them. If they do insist on taking him in, he could try and persuade them otherwise. Of course, she can’t voice any of that out loud.

“Will he be okay?”

“With time hopefully. Right now he’s being advised to not talk to people, since the police are trying to figure out a way to alert Paris of the news and make sure that everyone knows that Adrien is innocent, so please do not repeat this conversation to anyone else. I will be sure to update you three once we figure out where Adrien will be going.”

She shuffled through some papers before holding a stack out.

“On better news, we have completed the background checks and your family is up to standards and able to foster. I understand that you’re only doing this to help out a friend, but we’re going to finalize everything just in case. Even if Adrien goes off to live with his aunt, there might be a case of it not working out and him needing a new home. Having everything already set would save a lot deal of time. Plus if the need ever arises, you’ll be set to help someone else out. Do you have any questions for me?”

“How soon will we know. About where Adrien will be going?”

“Sometime in next week hopefully. We can’t really know for sure with this though. And some things might be getting set only to be changed at last second.”

She stood up, tucking the papers back into her bag before pulling out and handing her dad a business card.

“Feel free to call if you have anything else you need to discuss. And if you feel like you won’t be able to take in Adrien, let us know. It’s worse to put a child in a home only to have to take them right back out, so even if you just need a few more days to consider things let us know.”

Ms. Blachet began walking out of the room, but the other adult remained. Marinette eyed him wearily. Ms. Blachet hadn’t acknowledged him, so he had to be here for something else. But if he was able to listen in on what she said, it had to be related.

“My name is Samuel Roux. I’m an attorney sent by Ms. Bourgeois regarding the case with Lila Rossi.”

Marinette didn’t look at her parents, instead silently cursing Chloé. Of course the blonde would move ahead with things, she had no idea of knowing exactly what was going on yet. She didn’t know about their identities, much less the discovery of Hawkmoth. And now Marinette was going to need to explain to her parents her “sudden” friendship with Chloé after she had been “bullying” her for the better part of her school life.

“What about Lila?”

“There are several marks of that girl’s record, and since she would most likely target your daughter and Adrien, it would be good to have some legal markings in place to help prevent her from being able to approach them.”

“A restraining order? And you were sent by the Bourgeois family?”

“The youngest, yes. She’s getting a restraining order done on Miss Rossi and figured that she would offer it for Marinette and Adrien as well, no cost to you but some time to sign the papers.”

“But why would she be offering anything?”

Marinette took a breath, not daring to look at her parents.

“We had a… heart to heart earlier this year. She actually apologized to me and hasn’t been bullying me. When Lila came around, I had approached her privately to tell her that she didn’t have to lie to make friends. She threatened me that same day. I didn’t bring it up to anyone else, but Chloé had found out about it. Apparently she had overheard.

“We both spent some time looking into Lila’s lies, and then we realized how bad it all was. And then Adrien had admitted to Chloé about him not liking how Lila was touching him, and Chloé was insistent on getting things done herself and… here we are now.”

It wasn’t the full truth by any means, but it was as honest of an answer as she could give them. She glanced up and noticed that, while they seemed slightly concerned, they didn’t seem skeptical of her explanation. The lawyer coughed to draw the attention back to him.

“Since you might be adopting Adrien, you would need to sign the order for him as his guardians. And if you don’t end up taking Adrien in, then you still would need to sign for your daughter. If you want to, of course. I can answer any questions you might have now if you have time. If not, then I’ll just give you my card and you can reach out to me at any time.”

“Do I have to be here for this, or can I go?”

“Marinette-”

“I would feel better if there was something that prevented Lila from being near me. She looked crazy yesterday. I felt scared that she was going to do something to me. And I know that Chloé’s done a lot of bad things in the past, but I trust her on this. I just- I just need to see her and talk to her. I want to be with a friend instead of sitting here worrying about Adrien.”

In reality she needed to sneak out to go get whatever thing it is that Adrien needs, but she could go see Chloé and talk to her as well. Her parents hesitated before looking back at the lawyer.

“Does she have to be here?”

“We’ll have an official meeting with all parties before you sign it where we’ll go over exactly what the restraining order says. This meeting is just to answer any initial questions as well as provide you with some idea of what it might look like. I do have a rough draft copy of the details that she could look at later, so if she feels better with some friends right now then that’s fine with me.”

“Make sure you have your phone on you. And call us if anything happens.”

“I will, don’t worry.”

Marinette ran back to her room, grabbing her purse and phone before also securing her secret stash of cookies for Tikki. Of course, she didn’t have Tikki right now. She had Plagg, and while she could transform with him and go to the mansion that way, she couldn’t do it without his ring. The kwami flew out of his hiding spot and hovered by her.

“What’s the plan, pigtails?”

“Do you think it will be okay if I have Tikki’s miraculous on me? Like not me wearing it, but having the earrings in my bag?”

“It’s gonna have to be. I don’t want my kitten to go into a meeting with his aunt without me being there and him having a good escape available. You should be fine as long as you stick them somewhere safe. They’ll be protected once you transform anyway.”

True. She took them out and grabbed a small jewelry box she used for storing her earrings when she couldn’t wear them at school. With them safely tucked away, she walked over and grabbed the ring. She did a final check of everything before going back downstairs and out the side door.

Once she made it to a hidden spot, she opened her mouth to transform before Plagg stopped her.

“Wait. You don’t even know what you need to get yet.”

“Well, okay. What exactly does he want?”

“His mom’s ring. You need to grab it before it becomes evidence.”

Marinette blinked. Once. Twice. If she waited long enough, then maybe Plagg would tell her he was joking and tell her what Adrien actually wanted. But he didn't, so Marinette groaned.

“You realize that by now there are police officers all over the mansion right? The entire place is a crime scene. Am I just supposed to go there as Lady Noire and ask to see the body, which they might have people looking at right now, take the ring and leave?”

“I talked to Nooroo while you were talking to your parents about the restraining order. He said that there’s an underground entrance that you can use to sneak in. The police were going to wait for a special team before going in the elevator, so you’ll be fine.”

She took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. The sooner she got this done, the sooner she could check up on Adrien.

“Okay. Tell me where this entrance is.”

She followed Plagg’s instructions through the sewares, into the hidden pathway, all the way to the bottom of where she was only a few hours before. She vaulted herself up and to the coffin again. Sure enough, no one was there. She took the moment of calm to look at Mrs. Agreste more closely.

She looked as still as a statue, not dead but not quite alive. She would probably officially die once they took her out of the machine. Marinette felt along the side of the glass until she found where to pull the lid up like a hatch. Then, as quickly as she could without disturbing the body she took the ring off, thankful for the gloves blocking her sense of feeling. Without waiting another second, she slipped the ring into her pocket, closed the lid, and went back the way she came.

Chapter Text

Adrien waited patiently for his aunt to arrive. Marinette had left not too long ago, only leaving once her parents texted her to ask if she was with Chloé yet. He honestly didn’t want to do anything else for the rest of the day. All he wanted after Friday was to finally go on a date with Marinette, not have to deal with… all of this. He rubbed the ring on his finger.

As much as he didn’t want to wear it earlier, with fear of his emotions blinding him and him doing something he would regret, it felt good to have it on. Having Plagg by his side, just someone who trusted him and would protect him, made him more at ease. It also served as a reminder that he wasn’t a villain.

His kwami had tried unlessly to get him to call off meeting with his aunt, but Adrien knew that he had to see her more so now than before. Apparently, because they didn’t tell him this, but they’re planning on letting his aunt decide if she would want to take him in instead of the Dupain-Chengs. He wanted to say that his aunt wouldn’t want to, but there was also the chance that she would. All of his meetings between his aunt and cousin were always covered in thick tension, due to something happening between his father and his aunt.

Adrien couldn’t reach out and talk to them, not without his father finding out and him getting in trouble, and Felix never bothered to explain things either. Presumably he had assumed that Adrien was well aware of whatever happened and was on his dad’s side. Him missing his uncle’s funeral definitely didn’t help. The only thing he could hope for is that something gets resolved in this meeting.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when a knock sounded on the door. They didn’t wait for a response though, merely opening it moments later.

“Adrien? Your aunt and cousin are here to see you. Do you want to be alone or…”

“We’re fine.”

The man gave him a look over, probably suspicious of him even if Ladybug had cleared his name. Still, he didn’t argue as he left. His aunt looked at him, Felix hiding slightly behind her.

“Adrien, are you alright? I heard the news.”

“How much of it?”

His aunt paused. She didn’t look as cold and fierce as he’d seen her in the past. Adrien watched as she sat down on the couch across from him, wishing he knew what was going on in her mind.

“Are you okay?”

“I found out that my father was not only a terrorist but also knowingly targeted and hurt my friends and me. Not only that, but my mother’s corpse is hiding in the house. I’m managing.”

Managing in the best way he knew: by hiding his emotions from everyone. He’d been forced to move past anything that had actually devastated him. He didn’t have time to unpack his emotions right now. Now was a time where he could try and correct at least some of the mistakes his father had caused.

“I actually have something for you.” Adrien said, holding out his open palm.

“What is- Is that the…”

“The twin rings. They mean more to your family than mine. I don’t know exactly what happened between my father and you, but I hope this helps with something.”
The rings made even Felix react. Adrien kept his palm wide open as his aunt grabbed the rings from him and examined one.

“But I thought that Emilie had one.”

“She did. I- I ask the heroes to grab it for me. I didn’t want it to be evidence.”

It could be risky, if his father somehow found out that his aunt had both of the rings, then he could try and raise a fuss. Of course, who would they believe? A terrorist or the heroes of Paris? His aunt took a deep breath, looking directly at him.

“Do you know exactly why I’ve wanted these rings?”

“No. Believe it or not, my father never told me anything.”

“These rings have been on my side of the family for years. It always goes to the older sibling. My sister is younger than me by a few minutes, but she was getting married before me and I decided to give them to her, since she always seemed so fascinated by them. After she got married, I wondered if it was a mistake.

“I’m sorry for speaking ill of your father, but he wasn’t a good man. He was rude to everyone except Emilie, and I have no idea how she got that to happen. Gabriel had been keeping the rings like a sort of bargaining token. They’re something that can’t be replaced with money. And you’re just giving them to me? You might be kind like my sister, but you are still of his blood so you have to have something in mind.”

This is what he’s gonna have to go through from now on, isn’t it. No matter how much people can vouch for him and his innocence, there will always be a giant red flag marking that he’s related to someone so evil.

“What I had in mind was that I finally don’t have to pretend to be the perfect son of Gabriel Agreste, and can actually speak out against him without fear of being physically hurt. I can’t make him take back every action he has caused, but I can at least do this small thing for you.”

“I knew it was an act.” Felix smirked at him, although his eyes were still slightly guarded. His aunt lightly tapped him on the back of his head.

“He wouldn’t hurt you though.”

“There was an investigation launched on him before it was discovered that he was Hawkmoth. What do you think that was for?”

Adrien didn’t give them an answer, after all he didn’t need to. His aunt and cousin both knew about how Gabriel Agreste showed his emotions through violence.
“It took me sneaking out and threatening to leak evidence to the ASE for me to go to an actual school. It’s only once I got hurt that I told my friend about what was happening. She and her family are one hundred percent willing and able to take me in as one of their own.”

“I spoke to that woman. Ms. Blachet I believe? She mentioned how it would be my choice if I wanted to take you with me back to London. It would get you away from Paris.”

“Running away would only convince more people that I’m guilty. I-I want to be here.”

His aunt studied him intensely before sighing.

“I don’t like your father, but you’ve clearly got more of my sister in you than of him. My door is always open for you. If you wish to stay here, then I won’t stop you. But reach out to me if you need an escape. I don’t want to find out that something bad happened to you on the news.”

Even if it was just guilt fueling her, it was more than she’d given in the past. Maybe this could be fixed.

“I don’t think anything worse can happen, but I’ll be sure to reach out. And… I’m sorry about your loss. I should have been there.”

“It couldn’t be helped. We need to head off now, but reach out to me if you change your mind.”

Adrien nodded, walking them to the door. The man from before was waiting outside. It was as he was closing the door that he caught the snippets of conversation.
“-he wants to stay with his friend, so he can do it.”

“But it is advise that-”

“I’ll be ready to take him in if needed. Ask him yourself if you want to know.”

He sighed and walked away from the door. As much as he would love to look out the window, he really didn’t want to risk someone outside of the hotel to recognize him. So he walked over to the bedroom and shut the door. Plagg flew out and landed on his knee as he sat down on the bed.

“How are you feeling kid?”

“I’ve been better. I’m just glad that that’s over with. Are you all charged up?”

“Yeah.” The kwami narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Marinette and I are going to have to make this announcement sooner rather than later. And Chat Noir can’t just be missing for this. It’s probably already suspicious that I haven’t showed up to anything yet. We can’t let people catch on to the trend.”

“Let me stop you there. There’s no way you can stand in front of a crowd and-”

“And what? Pretend that everything is fine when I’m drowning on the inside? I do it every day. I can’t let Marinette do this alone anymore than she already has. The sooner we tell the news, the sooner I can deal with Paris’s reaction.”

The god gave him a look, but it wasn’t like he could really stop him. Once he said a few words, Plagg would be helpless to do anything. But he tried again.

“Give yourself a bit of a break, kid. You’ve been through a lot in the past, what, twenty four hours? Before your dad there was all of the Lila stuff. Besides, you and pigtails can’t just be missing for so long. She has to be with her parents and you have to be here. Even if you snuck out now, there’s no guarantee that she’d even be able to go out as well. Relax for a bit and wait until tonight. Maybe take the time to eat and rest up. They did make sure to bring you food, you know.”

He knew that, he just felt too sick to eat anything when they did. But he was feeling better now, and knew better than to try and object when Plagg looked like this.
“Sure. Is there a way that I can reach out to Marinette and ask her to meet up later?”

Usually he would use a secret messaging app he had, but he had deleted that before getting interrogated about his dad being Hawkmoth. They didn’t have plans to reveal themselves to Paris, and that could cause more issues than it would solve.

“You can transform and message her once you eat something. Now go.”

Plagg flew up and kicked him in the back of the head. It didn’t hurt, but it got him moving. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Marinette would need to be doing right now.

“I’m going to kill you.” Marinette announced just as the door shut behind her.

“What did I do this time?” Chloé asked, barely looking up from her phone. Sabrina leaned back from her seat, looking over her book as she watched the scene unfold.
“You sent a lawyer to my house to talk about a restraining order!”

“Um, yeah. We talked about this earlier. Lila Rossi is kinda crazy. Even if she’s going to be shipped off to serve whatever punishment they decide, there could be a chance of her or someone in her family trying to do something in the future.”

“I never had a chance to explain my friendship with you to my parents. I had to give them an answer on the spot.”

“And you’re here now, so I’m sure everything turned out fine.” Chloé turned off her phone and placed it in her pocket. “Besides, since your parents will have guardianship of Adrien they would need to sign for both of you. Getting things settled now will be easier.”

Okay, so clearly either Chloé has a lot of confidence that Adrien’s aunt won’t want to take him in, or she is just unaware of what’s happening. Oh who was she kidding, Chloé has no idea what’s going on. Even if she knows about Adrien’s aunt, she doesn’t know about Hawkmoth.

“How much do you know about what’s happening? Because right now Adrien’s aunt is getting the choice if she wants to take Adrien back to London with her. He’s meeting with her today to talk about it.”

“Yeah I already know about that. He’s in this hotel after all. And there’s nothing to worry about for that.”

“Do you know something we don’t?” Sabrina questioned, marking her page before putting her book down on the table. “You’re acting like something worse is happening.”

Marinette couldn’t tell them. Even if that woman didn’t say to keep it a secret, it was Adrien’s news to tell. He should get to decide when he tells his friends, and when they tell Paris. It can’t be put off forever, but he deserves some time.

“I just have a bad feeling about this. Friday felt like a victory, but not in a way.”

“It’ll be fine. Lila’s been outed, Gabriel is actually gonna have to face his punishment for his crimes, and Adrien will be happier. Plus you two are finally dating.”
Oh, right. She actually was dating him. She rubbed the ring on her finger and smiled.

“Things are crazy now but everything will turn out fine.” Sabrina finished as she stood up. “Now I’m craving something sweet. Do you guys want anything from room service?”

Marinette wanted to give in and stay here, just relax and enjoy the company. Except she had things that she needed to do, like save a certain kwami.

“Actually I need to head back home. My parents didn’t want me to be out for so long.”

“Suit yourself. Text if there’s any updates.”

The bluenette nodded, walking out and back home with growing confidence. She would get the peacock miraculous fixed, they would figure out why Mrs. Agreste was using that miraculous, find out if there’s anyone else who worked with Hawkmoth, and make the announcement to Paris with proof that Adrien was innocent.
She felt a peep in her step as she turned the corner to the bakery. It was then, a moment later, that she came crashing back down to reality as she bumped into someone.

“Sorry, I wasn’t-”

“I need to talk to you.”

Marinette knew that she would have to confront her classmates about what happened with Lila. She just didn’t expect that it would happen sooner than Monday. Of course she should have expected that Alya wouldn’t wait until then.

Chapter Text

Marinette’s mood changed instantly, now fully on guard. Her last conversation, or rather interaction, with Alya wasn’t good. Alya was attacking Adrien for knowing, and it took all of her self-control not to do something rash. They were in school, she promised Nino that she wouldn’t go overboard, and she also didn’t want to get in trouble and help whatever sob story Lila came up with.

Here’s the thing. She’s tired and completely done with all of this. The end of Lila Rossi was supposed to be a massive, booming downfall with enough things being handled by the adults that she could relax with her boyfriend. It wasn’t supposed to also be the downfall of Paris’s magical terrorist, who of course just happened to be her boyfriend’s father because of course that just had to happen.

And right now, Alya didn’t know about that second part. She didn’t know that Marinette had been awake for most of the night as Ladybug, handling hero business while worrying about what would happen next. She didn’t know how she was currently stressing over the fact that Adrien could be dragged away from Paris until he turns eighteen. But even if she did know, Alya wouldn’t care. She would instead use that as an opportunity for herself.

Right now all Marinette wants to do is go home and figure out how to repair Duusuu’s miraculous, not entertain anything that Alya has to say. Especially given her reaction yesterday and how she looks today.

“Can’t talk. I got things to do.” She said as she tried to step around, only for Alya to block her.

“Oh, like destroying someone else’s reputation?”

“Lila had it coming for years. She actively made the decision over and over again not just to lie but to hurt people. All I did was put an end to that cycle.”

“I’m not talking about her, I’m talking about me. You ruined my blog.”

Looks like the news about Lila’s true nature has already spread like wildfire. A few sparks laid in place by Chloé online, alone with the fuel from Friday’s big bang was enough to do her in. And of course along the way came victims from the bystanders. But Alya was much more than just a simple bystander. She helped plant the trees to allow Lila’s reach to be vast.

“How exactly? Did I tell Lila to give you interviews with fake information? Did I encourage you to post those without fact checking? Because from what I remembered, I told you that she was lying. I told you that you should check yourself before you post more. So how exactly did I ruin your blog?”

“You could have told me about her sooner. How was I supposed to believe you without proof?”

“Proof that you could have gotten yourself if you didn’t trust mine. Didn’t I show you the blank web searches? The interviews of Jagged Stone where he said that the only pet he’s ever had is Fang, a crocodile? Or how about when I said how each and every one of Lila’s stories contradict each other? When she was in two different countries on the same day, or when she claimed that a charity she worked on was for one cause when it was another? I tried Alya, but you didn’t listen.”

“You could have told me what you said on Friday! It’s all thanks to you that it’s ruined!”

Ah, yes, because showing her more evidence would definitely make a difference. Alya totally wouldn’t claim that the evidence was outlandish and was made up to make Lila look like a bully. Marinette took a deep breath. Her facts and logic approach wasn’t working, so now what? Actually, why was she even trying to get through to her? After all, this isn’t just about Lila getting exposed.

“I ruined what exactly? Your blog or your chance at fame? Because that’s why you were friends with Lila right? To become famous? After all, why else would you delete every comment that says something negative about Lila on all your posts, instead of checking the claims? Why else would you shift your blog’s focus from the heroes of Paris to a girl who claims are outlandish? After all, even if you knew she was faking it, other people didn’t. And those views made you feel special.”

It was something that Marinette had suspected after her first few tries of getting Alya to see the truth. One thing that she knew was that Alya wouldn’t let questions be unanswered, not if she had a say in it. That’s why she was so hell bent on trying to discover Ladybug’s identity and how she had gotten herself into situations where she was expelled for sneaking into people’s lockers. She couldn’t understand how Alya could be blind to all the proof being presented to her. Given Alya’s shocked expression, the answer was presented on a silver platter.

“You knew, didn’t you? You knew that she was lying but chose to go with it. I supposed that my friendship with you was more like a parasitic relationship, with you sucking everything you could from me before moving on to someone else. Figures.”

At the accusation, the girl’s expression immediately shifted to anger.

“We were friends but you- Lila- I helped you with Adrien!”

“You mean by pushing me into confessing? Having me do it in such elaborate ways that it was bound to fail? Never letting me get a break? Please, Alya, I understood your back handed compliments more than you realized. It was all just entertainment for you. And how about babysitting? I was always pushed to do that, for free too. And speaking of free, there was all the baked goods and outfits and countless other things that I was demanded to make without any hopes of getting paid for my efforts.”

“I didn’t-”

“Your parents told me about you. They warned me about how you were back in your old school, and wanted to make sure you weren’t doing the same things here.”
Alya’s mouth shut, and dread flushed out most of her anger. Seeing as how she was speechless, Marinette continued.

“I’ve known all along, yet I tried to help you. Because that’s what I do. I help people even if they don’t deserve it. But there is a limit to kindness. Even the most patient person can have their buttons pushed to the breaking point. And that came in the form of Lila. You truly didn’t care about me or anyone else. As long as you could gain, it didn’t matter who got hurt. But now it matters, because you’re no longer winning. You actually have to face the consequences of your actions.”

Seeing as Alya was standing in place, frozen in disbelief, it seemed like the perfect time to escape. Walking around her and looking back, the bluenette added, “I would have been willing to help you, but you lit my olive branch on fire with the promise of fools gold. Perhaps you can learn from this and improve. But I won’t be the one to help you do that. Don’t bother me again.”

With that, Marinette walked forward until she turned the corner. Once out of sight, she ran. It wasn’t until she stepped into the side entrance of the bakery and the door slam shut behind her did she let herself catch her breath. The scent of sweets and baking bread helped ease the stress and anger off her. It didn’t disappear completely, she was still angry at how Alya had viewed and abused their friendship and her trust, but there wasn’t much else she could do about it.

What she could do is help Duusuu. The poor kwami had been stuck in a broken state for so long, it was only right to help her. She gave a quick hello to her dad so that no one wouldn’t wonder if she’s back yet and check her room, before heading up there. It was only once the trap door was shut that Tikki flew out of her hiding spot.

“How are you holding up Tikki?”

“How am I- Marinette, you’ve been through a lot in the past two days alone! It should be me asking how you are.”

“How I’m holding up won’t affect if the world’s destroyed, so answer my question.”

Tikki gave her a look and a huff before giving in.

“I’m angry at Alya and you. How come I never knew about Alya’s past?”

“There was an akuma earlier that morning, so you went to be with Plagg while I studied with Alya. I figured that there wasn’t really a need to recount that to you.”

Especially how Tikki could be sometimes. When Marinette first encountered her, she seemed like a happy, carefree being. But even she has her limits. At first she didn’t want to make Tikki sad with the news, but it’s clear that Tikki definitely would have acted differently as time went on if she knew the truth.

“Well I wish that you would have told me, but there’s not much we can do about that now. Anyways, how are you doing?”

Marinette sighed and went to grab the grimoire.

“Tired and stressed. I hope that Adrien is holding up. I can’t even imagine being in his shoes. I’m sure that I’ll be fine once this is all over.”

There was no telling exactly how long that would take. Sure, the official announcement will be done soon, but there will still be articles and broadcasts done about it, along with the demand to know what will happen next. Not to mention the amount of distrust and backlash Adrien will get despite being declared innocent. Even if the public knew about him being Chat Noir there would still be talk of how he should have known, even though the magic of the miraculous made that impossible.

“Marinette!” Tikki called out.

“Hm.”

“You were spacing out. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Let’s just figure out how to fix Duusuu’s miraculous.”

“You can do that later. You need to rest up while you can.”

It seemed like the other kwamis figured out that she was alone because they floated out of their hiding spot. The sight of Nooroo from the corner of her eye made Marinette double down.

“I can relax once I finish this.”

“M-Miss Marinette, your emotions are all over the place right now. There’s no way you could fix Duusuu right now.” The butterfly kwami drifted closer hesitantly. “Repairing a miraculous is no easy task, especially for the kwamis of the Zodiac Box.”

“But, what about Duusuu? Isn’t she hurting right now.”

“She is fine as long as she is inside the miraculous. We cannot sense much while dormant. And Duusuu is a kwami of emotions. You need to keep yours leveled so that her’s will even out.”

“Nooroo’s right.” Wayyz supplied. “Besides, having rampat emotions will prevent you from having full concentration while repairing the brooch.”

Marinette looked between the two kwamis before pulling the girmore out, walking over to her desk without looking at anyone else..

“I won’t try to repair the peacock today,” she promised, “but I do want to find out how I’m supposed to do it. Depending on the ingredients needed it might take me a while to get them anyways.”

She caught Tikki’s grumbling and a flash of red as the kwami settled onto the desk. The bluenette ignored it. Just because she wasn’t able to fix the miraculous right now doesn’t mean that she couldn’t be helpful. She’ll be even busier starting tomorrow, and there was no point in holding off on something like this while she had the time.

Once all of her superhero duties are done, she can focus on everything else in her life. Moving homerooms would be a good idea. Even if Miss Bustier gets fired she doesn’t want to deal with some of her classmates again. Especially not Alya. Oh boy there’s no way that Alya won’t leave her alone at school, if not just for petty revenge.

Chloé has a restraining order going against Lila, maybe she could get something similar for Alya? Or at the very least Marinette should make sure that Alya can’t come into the bakery. They might think it’s rude, but Alya can’t be allowed anywhere near her room. Especially since the miracle box is here. If Alya ever found out that she was Ladybug… Marinette shook the thought off. Right, she needed to focus on the grimoire. The grimoire that Tikki…

“Hey!”

Tikki and Mullo flew across the room, the grimoire between them.

“No. Marinette you should rest. Push this off until later today at least.”

“But Duusuu-”

“I thought that it was discussed that she’s okay right now.”

“But I also need to make sure that there was no one else who was willingly helping Hawkmoth.”

“There was no one else. I was there. Mrs. Agreste kept Duusuu with her until she ended up in a coma.”

Marinette paused from trying to grab the grimoire and looked at Nooroo.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Mr. Agreste needed me to be active in order to use my miraculous, so I saw everything for the most part. I can tell you more if you’d like.”

The urge to say yes was strong, but there was an issue.

“We need to wait for Adrien. I won’t force him to hear it if he doesn’t want to, but he should get the choice.”

Master Fu was trying to keep Ladybug and Chat Noir separate, even more so than just keeping their identity safe. He never voiced it openly, since Marinette made sure to teach him everything Master Fu taught her, but she could tell that it bothered him. It wouldn’t be fair for her to learn about his parent’s past first.

“Perfect.” Tikki said, and it was at that time that Marinette realized that she had no idea where those two hid the girmore. “Well I think it’s time to relax, maybe grab a snack or take a nap or something. Adrien’s gonna be under careful watch all day so you won’t be able to see him until tonight anyways.”

Marinette sighed, reaching into her drawer for her sketchbook.

“Fine. But I’m looking that the girmore later today.”

She promptly ignored Tikki’s call back of “no promises.”

Chapter Text

“Next time we do something at night, let’s do something romantic or fun and not, you know, this.”

Adrien watched as Marinette gave him a tired smile. Given how much and fast Tikki spoke (read: ranted) to Plagg after she detransformed, he assumed that something else had happened in the span of the day. He would have to figure out what happened later.

“Tell you what, next week when things calm down a bit I can teach you how to bake macaroons. Then we can sneak out for a picnic.” She paused for a second before frowning. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

“Might as well know why my father decided to become a terrorist. Might help me sleep at night.”

It was supposed to be a joke (well mostly, there was some truth to it) but Marinette only looked more concerned.

“Adrien, do not feel guilty about your father. It’s his fault, not yours.”

“It’s not just that. I’ve… I’ve been wondering about why my mom used the peacock. I just want some answers.”

All of his memories of his mom… not a single one matched up with the idea of her using a miraculous for evil. Even just the thought of using the miraculous to the point where she died… it didn’t make sense to him. He just needed to know exactly what happened, since he doubted that his father would tell him the truth even if Adrien wanted to see him. Marinette grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the couch, throwing an arm around him to keep him close.

“And you’ll get some. Nooroo, please tell us everything you can.”

The kwami was seated on the table in front of them, seeming to be weighted down.

“How much do you know about Master Fu’s mistake? The one that lost the butterfly and peacock?”

“Some. He said that he tried to make a senti-creature and it backfired.”

“Well the way that Duusuu’s miraculous works is that it takes the user’s emotions into account. He wasn’t just hungry. He was frustrated and angry as well, which got put into play when he used Duusuu’s powers but that wasn’t the main issue. The big thing is that the guardians had casted a special spell on him. It’s only temporary, but it will prevent the person from being able to use the miraculous. Since the spell was active, it broke Duusuu’s miraculous and prevented Fu from being able to control the creature.

“I don’t know exactly what happened after that since I was still in my miraculous, but I was called out of the broach a few years ago. Once Mr. Agreste realized my powers, he began to use my miraculous in order to sense how people were feeling. He was able to get him to make more deals and get his company more profits.”
“What about my mom? What did she use the miraculous for?”

Nooroo paused before answering, which wasn’t reassuring.

“Well, both Agrestes were really busy, and your parents didn’t trust just anyone to be with you for so long without them so she created copies of themselves. She did them weekly, so the peacock miraculous only got more damaged.”

Adrien blinked.

“What?”

Weekly, as in there were exactly how many times that a senti-clone was there during his childhood? How many of his memories with his parents were fake? Was that why his dad changed so much after his mom died? Because he was never really changing, his substitute was just gone. What about his mom? How different was she really compared to the fake? He was only drawn out of his thoughts when Marinette spoke.

“Are you okay?”

“As okay as I can be. I guess I can never know exactly what my mom was like.”

“She did care about you. I remember her asking the amoks about what had happened while she was gone, and she made sure to follow through with the things they promised you.”

Well that was one thing, at least. It still didn’t make the ache in his chest go away, but it was something. Marinette shifted closer to him.
“Is there anything else we need to know?”

“No. All amoks that Mrs. Agreste created were destroyed when she got really sick. And the only amoks that Natalie created were for battles and got purified. They were planning to try and create an amok for spying purposes, but they never got a chance to.”

“Yeah, speaking of that, why didn’t my mom just stop using the miraculous?”

“Actually, yeah that’s a good point.” Marinette sat up straight.

Nooroo rubbed his numbs together.

“Well…”

“You might as well tell them whatever else had happened. My kid can’t be hurt anymore than he already is.” Plagg said, seemingly appearing from nowhere. He landed on Adrien’s shoulder, tilting his head to the lilac kwami. Nooroo sighed before continuing.

“They found out about the other miraculous. With the power that was already possible with two miraculous, having more would make them unstoppable. They weren’t planning to take over the world, but they were planning on expanding their business. Mrs. Agreste kept making amoks not just for you but to get more research done. Since she was using the miraculous even more in a shorter period of time, she got the side effects all at once. And since Mr. Agreste didn’t want the miraculous taken from him, he hid her in the basement until he could heal her. He found out about the wish and about the guardian and that’s when he first made Stoneheart.”

Adrien leaned back, taking it all in. He shouldn’t feel okay about this. He should feel angry or sad or something, right? But given the type of person he discovered his dad was, he could see that he would do all of that. A conversation from earlier today popped into his head. He let out a laugh.

“Adrien, Adrien are you okay?”

Marinette had grabbed and moved his face to look at her.

“I’m fine. I just remembered something. Earlier today my aunt said how it was strange that my mother got along with my father, but maybe she was more like him than people thought.”

Marinette pulled him so close to her that he fell onto her lap. He clutched her as he collapsed against her.

“I can’t say how your mom really was, but I promise you this. My parents will love you like one of their own. We’ll rebuild all the childhood memories you should have, and if Paris gets too much then we can always escape. I’ll make sure you’re okay.”

Adrien didn’t respond, instead choosing to close his eyes and just take in her presence. Everything could have been worse, if they had discovered all of this during a battle then things could have turned out very different. The fact that Marinette not only doesn’t hate him for his father and also wants him to be a part of her family means the world to him.

“Adrien?”

“Hm?”

“Are you tired? Because if you are then you should sleep in a bed.”

He was tired, but he knew that he couldn’t sleep just yet. There was something else they had to talk about. So he sat up and pulled away slightly, turning to look directly at her.

“I’m okay. Besides, we need to talk about something.”

Marinette looked confused before nodding, speaking at the same time he did.

“Right. When should we make the announcement?”

“What happened to you?”

Marinette looked confused for a moment, but by the time she realized what he meant, Tikki was already buzzing.

“Right, let me tell you what exactly went down!” She started, flying up in between them. Marinette went to grab her but the kwami moved out of the way, resulting in the bluenette to crash into him. Adrien hugged Marinette to his chest, keeping her from stopping the god.

“So apparently Alya has been purposely abusing their friendship to get free outfits and pastries. And apparently she also knew that Lila was lying and didn’t say anything since she was getting good coverage on her blog. And Marinette here knew all along and didn’t tell me.” Tikki finished, hovering beside Adrien. The kwami must have decided that she was safe from Marinette’s reach since he was holding her.

He just looked at the god. He kind of knew the first part already, Alya was always demanding things from Marinette and would always use a “true friends would do this for free” approach to keep Marinette from finishing her requests for money. The second part, about Alya knowing that Lila was lying, was news. And speaking of…

“And how exactly did you find out?”

“Tikki, let’s just stop and focus on the other issue at hand.”

“Excuse me, weren’t you the one who was so determined to keep him in the loop for everything? Even when Master Fu said no? Shouldn’t he know that Alya confronted you today?”

He looked down at the girl in his arms.

“Marinette.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.” She said, waving it off as she slipped out from his grasp. “She blamed me for ruining her blog, and I blew up on her slightly. She’s not gonna try anything else, not when she’s dealing with the fallout of her blog. Besides, we really do need to figure out how to do the announcement to Paris.”
Adrien wanted to know more, but Marinette was right. That was just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. If they wanted to avoid any more rumors than there already would be, they needed to get the facts out there pronto.

“We could do it tomorrow. I’m sure we can get any news sites we want to broadcast the information on such short notice.”

“You really want to do it that soon?”

“The longer we hold off, the more it seems like we were considering hiding the information. Besides, there’s bound to be someone in this case who’s told other people.”

“You’re right. My parents know and so do the people in ASE. Not to mention Chloé’s lawyer. There’s no way we can hide Hawkmoth’s real identity. I can make the announcement and say that you had to be somewhere else.”

Adrien shook his head.

“No way. We need to both be there for the announcement. It’s already looking weird that I wasn’t with you to turn him in or for the other report. It would make sense that ‘Adrien’ doesn’t want to face the public during that. I can make my own announcement later next week, maybe even the next day. That way people can see that I am being upfront and not hiding something.”

He could tell that Marinette felt uneasy, but he knew that this would be the best course of action. He’s heard enough about public relations and all that to know when to speak up and sit back. If he truly wanted to be able to walk in the streets of Paris again one day, he needed to speak out.

“Fine. But you’re not allowed to do it in front of a crowd. I don’t even want to think about what could happen. But I think us doing our announcement in front of people would let them ask questions, so they’d feel like we aren’t trying to hide anything from them.”

That sounded fine. Letting people get answers straight from them would also help to stop any rumors.

“We’ll have to speak with the police and let them know. They might not let us share Lila’s name publicly since she is a minor.”

“But she worked with Hawkmoth! Of her own free will! Why wouldn’t we be able to say that?”

“She’s already facing a lot of trouble already. Besides, it’s not like she’ll just get away with working with a terrorist. I heard the police talking about it whenever I was getting interrogated.”

“Fine. Well I guess we should go tell them then. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

He must not have looked fine because she gave him a frown.

“Hey, we can afford to wait another day if you want. Or I can go and tell them by myself and then you join me tomorrow if you prefer.”

“No. I want to go tonight.”

Even if he didn’t want to face this, talking with the police in private would at least prepare him for tomorrow. She looked him over before grabbing his hand.
“Fine. But if you need to leave, then leave. I can cover for you.”

“Of course, my lady. I trust you.”

It didn’t matter what happened next. No matter what, he had her. They were Ladybug and Chat Noir, and nothing could stop them. So together they transformed and made their way to settle things.

Chapter Text

This was it. If Adrien was told before that they would defeat Hawkmoth, he would be imagining it be an epic battle with all of their teammates being led by him and his lady. Then once everything was settled, they could actually date and give as two normal teens.

This was nothing near that outcome. In all honesty, the more he thought about it the more he preferred how things were going (at least if his father being Hawkmoth had to be a constant). Discovering the truth in secret, not having to react with the public watching him, was much more preferred. Marinette might not want to associate with him much outside of the suit, but that would be fine.

“Stop thinking that.” A voice that sounded like Plagg said. "She’ll fight anyone who tries to hurt you.”

Adrien took a deep breath as he tried to forget his thoughts, drawing the attention of said girl. She raised her eyebrow in a silent question. Do you need to leave? I can handle this. He shook his head as subtly as he could. That would definitely draw too much attention now. They were at the base of the Eiffel Tower, waiting until it was time to give the announcement.

Besides, he needed to do this. A part of him blamed himself for all of this happening. If only he paid more attention. The grimoire was with his father for kwami sake. That should have been proof enough that something was off. Of course, he wouldn’t try saying that publicly. Marinette would absolutely stop him before he could finish, and he didn’t want to upset her.

She opened her mouth, clearly not believing him and about to call him out, when an officer walked over.

“Everything is set and ready to go. Please use this so that everyone will be able to hear. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, we’re fine.” Adrien answered, grabbing the microphone from the man before Marinette could say anything.

He went up to the lowest beam above them, with her following right behind him. She held out her hand to take the microphone. It was part of the plan, let her announce it first and then let him off easy saying the other things. But his mouth reacted before his mind could.

“People of Paris, we stand before you today to announce that Hawkmoth is no more. He was unmasked as Gabriel Agreste and is now in police custody, waiting to face his crimes.”

Before he could continue, the mic was ripped from his hands. Marinette gave him a quick look before turning and addressing the crowd.

“He was discovered thanks to his son, Adrien Agreste. The moment he realized who his father was, he alerted us. Without his help, we would still be facing akumas right now. We thank him for his bravery and cooperation in this distressing time for him.”

Marinette paused for a breath, but a voice came out from the crowd.

“How could he not realize sooner? He lived with him!”

The look she had was dangerous, way too dangerous considering that she wasn’t supposed to have strong emotions towards Adrien. He reached for the mic before she could do anything she’d regret.

“We have been superheroes for as long as Hawkmoth has been around. Not once has anyone in our lives questioned if we could be the heroes. Given how Gabriel Agreste was a recluse before Hawkmoth’s first appearance, it is no wonder why it took this long for him to be discovered.”

Not that he shouldn’t have realized the truth sooner, but he just needed to say something to diffuse the situation.

“The only other accomplices of Gabriel Agreste are already in custody. To ensure that Paris continues to feel safe, we will continue to watch and make sure that there are no other accomplices of any kind who are still free. I believe that the full police report will be released to the public later this week, so any concerns with all the details can be answered there.”

He debated if he should mention Natalie right now, but decided against it. They weren’t allowed to announce Lila as an accomplice, not until things settled down a bit. Of course, once any new information came from this, it would relite all the fires again. He tilted the microphone so that Marinette could add anything else.
“We are happy to answer any questions that you have right now.”

There were a few shouts from below. Thanks to his increased hearing, he was able to understand most things that were being said. The questions weren’t as bad as he expected. Some about concerns on who else helped Hawkmoth, a couple about if they would reveal, and a few other random things. He let his lady answer most of them, filling in anything else she’d missed. She didn’t choose to answer any about their relationship and he didn’t either. After a while it was clear that she was getting tired of questions, so he took initiative.

“We would like to thank everyone for joining us today, but unfortunately we do have other matters to attend to right now.”

“Before we leave, we want to remind everyone that Adrien is as much of a victim in this as anyone else in Paris. We ask that everyone please do not harass him for crimes that he had no part in doing.”

She took the microphone from him and swung down to hand it off to someone before going off to the rooftops. He was following right after her, the noise of the people fading fast behind him. It was only once they snuck into her bedroom and detransform that she spoke to him.

“So… how are you feeling?”

“Ask me that again once the reality of all of this finally hits.”

Plagg was floating right next to him, but was looking at Marinette.

“Pigtails, tell my kid that you are not gonna just abandon him in either form.”

“Wait, what? Adrien, why would you think that?”

He blinked confused for a second, before realizing something and looking down at his kwami.

“Wait… did you speak to me in my mind?”

“Kid, I’m a god. You’re using my magic, I can hear anything you say. And I can say anything I want back to you. There’s just never been a point where it’s been needed.”

“Don’t get distracted.” Marinette said, drawing all attention back to her. She walked over and pulled him into a hug. “I am never leaving you. I will fight anyone who tries to hurt you.”

Adrien just leaned into her, letting his biggest fear melt away without a second thought. Once he did, though, he realized exactly how tired he was. Still, he couldn’t just rest. He needed to speak to the police as Adrien so that he can make his statement tomorrow. He also had to figure out school now since going back to Dupont probably wouldn’t be such a good idea. And he should also talk to Nino and-

“Sit down and wait here. I’ll grab some pastries and hot coco and we can play Megastrike or something.”

He blinked out of his thoughts, only realizing that he was being guided to the chaise just now.

“But, I need to-”

“Listen to me and relax? I know. Don’t go anywhere.”

He tried to open his mouth to respond, but she was already running downstairs. Tikki sighed and settled next to him.

“I would say that she should take her own advice, but I’ll let it slide. For now.” When it was clear that he was still confused, the kwami elaborated. “You were zoned out and not responding to her. Plagg mentioned how you haven’t been sleeping well, which makes sense with everything that’s going on.”

“But I really do need to do things. I can’t just hide away. Not when the police know where I’m supposed to be.”

“At least relax so that pigtails will relax a bit too. Besides, I thought you two were gonna tell the police that you were moving ’Adrien’ to a different location.” Plagg stated. “You know, for the chance that someone tracks you down and tries to hurt you.”

The blond frowned.

“I never said that.”

“I did.” Marinette answered, a tray of sweets in her hands, closing the trapdoor with her foot. “I figured that it would also stop the police from realizing that ‘Adrien’ wasn’t in the hotel room during the announcement and think that you ran away or something.”

Marinette seemed calm, too calm. Something was up.

“Is everything okay with you? Tikki said that you haven’t been sleeping well either.”

“I’m fine. Trust me, kitty, I’ve just been planning.” She set the tray down on her desk as she went and picked up her controllers. “I have a feeling that everything will turn out okay.”

“She was freaking out too much and I had her go ask Bunnyx to peek into the future.” Tikki translated, flying over and grabbing a cookie from the tray as Marinette let out a hey.

“I wanted to make sure we weren’t making any mistakes. And I- I know it can be dangerous to interfere with the future, but I wanted to make sure that nothing happens to you.”

“Did she mention anything specific?”

“No. She didn’t give me details. All I know is that you’ll be okay in the end.”

Adrien looked at her. She seemed relieved, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Maybe she cares more about him than he realizes, just like he cares for her more than she knows. And looking at her more closely, he could see just how tired she was. Maybe helping her relax would be a good idea.

So… videogames?”

Adrien wanted to pace around. He was getting antsy just sitting there, waiting, but that would give away how antsy he was, and Marinette would scoop him up and get him out of here. The past three days had been crazy, but things seemed to be turning out better than he could have imagined.

Despite a few people claiming that he was secretly working with his father, the majority of Paris was siding with him. It probably helped that there was a lot of backlash already happening on his father and the brand before the announcement.

He had looked through the responses as much as he could before Marinette stopped him. He knew that she didn’t want him to stress, but he wanted to know what was being said. At the very least it would prepare him for the type of things that Nadja would ask him. After some debate, it was decided on doing a recorded interview that would be aired later this evening. If he said anything that the police didn’t want out yet, then it could be redone. It would also prevent a mob from forming outside.

He’d already been through makeup, and now he was sitting across from Nadja as they waited for the final things to get set up. She was wearing a sad smile, similar to the smiles he’d gotten at his mom’s funeral. He pushed that thought away and sat up straighter as the crew started to count down.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

“Don’t be amused, it’s just the news. Today I am talking with Adrien Agreste in regards to the recent news of his father being Hawkmoth. Now, everyone’s been wondering how exactly you found out about your father. Mind clueing us in?”

“Yes. I found out with the heroes. My father had a book that I had seen before. There was information on the miraculous inside, and since it seemed important I wanted the heroes to take it. It was as they were getting the book that they discovered the miraculous.”

“And you didn’t know before?”

“Not at all. I knew he was bad, but terrorist bad? The thought never occurred to me.”

She raised an eyebrow at that, clearly sensing more gossip to pull out.

“What do you mean by him being bad exactly?”

“After my mom died, he’d been a lot more… closed off. He would make me stay inside the mansion with him but I rarely saw him. The only times I would was if I made some sort of mistake at a photoshoot or in one of my lessons. It took me sneaking out for school to be able to go, and even though I was allowed to keep going the threat of being pulled out was always over my head. In fact, I had seen that book I’d mentioned before but wasn’t able to get it to the heroes until last week.”

As soon as he’d mentioned that, he was starting to regret it. The look Nadja gave him clued him in to what she was about to ask.

“If you had seen the book before, why didn’t you alert the heroes about it then? What took so long.”

Adrien closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to get into this, but he also couldn’t avoid the conversation forever.

“Back then I was taken out of school and my father got akumatized and attacked me. But the main reason why I was able to have the courage to get the book to the heroes only now is because my father was already in police custody. There’s a reason why I was afraid to go against him.”

Adrien could feel the stares of every person on set. He glanced off screen and saw Ladybug shocked. She clearly didn’t expect him to mention this. Nadja was able to recollect herself after a few moments.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. Is there anything else you would be willing to share on the matter.”

“I want to thank my friends. There was an… incident that happened last week that caused them to help me reach out for help. Without them, I might not have been able to be free of him.”

Nadja nodded. She asked a few more questions, about what he planned to do next, if he knew who worked for his father, before she finally finished the interview. Once the crew announced that the cameras were off he allowed himself to relax. Nadja opened her mouth to say something but didn’t get a chance to say anything.

“I’ll be taking Adrien now. He has to finalize some things in concern with the current situation.” Ladybug said in her “don’t try to say no to me” voice. Before Nadja could respond, Adrien was already picked up and carried out of the studio faster than he could blink.

“I know that you probably only said that to her to get me out of there sooner, but I really should finish speaking with the police.”

She didn’t respond, swinging out of an opened window and onto the rooftops.

“My lady?”

“How… how were you able to be so calm when saying that?”

She looked him in the eye, concern obvious.

“I could either confirm it now and once or have to state it at a different time. And I never really said it, more suggested.”

“Is it too late to cataclysm your father?”

“Yes.” He answered, pushing Plagg back down into his pocket before the kwami could contradict him. “Now I do want to figure out where I’ll be staying the next couple days, so I really should go talk to the police.”

She took a deep breath before slowly letting it out.

“Fine.”

“Are you scared?”

“For you I am. All the blogs I read said that you should be reacting more.” She blushed in embarrassment when she realized that she said it out loud.

“Didn’t you say yourself that things turn out fine? The only thing I can do is just accept the facts and move on.”

“Right. Let’s go then. The sooner you talk to the police, the sooner we can go back to the bakery and snuggle.”

Adrien smiled as she took him off. He trusted her. She said that everything would be okay, she was trying to make sure that he was okay. It wouldn’t be easy, but as long as he has her, things would be okay.