Ms. Bustier had grown used to Marinette spontaneously rushing out of the classroom at some of the most random times. It wasn't uncommon that the girl missed multiple classes a day because of her sudden disappearance. The teacher did her best to be sympathetic with her student. Marinette was kind and diligent. Ms. Bustier was sure that the blue eyed teen was leaving that class for a good reason, but after a particularly long disappearance, The literature professor had no choice but to investigate further.
Marinette had rushed out of the classroom a mere ten minutes after the school day began, a glance at the clock told Ms. Bustier that there were only forty-five minutes before the students were dismissed. With a little sigh she left Adrien in charge and went in search of Marinette. She was vaguely aware of a concerned look on the young model's face as she strode promptly out of the classroom.
She first made her way to the nearest female restroom, she went inside. There was no one.
She tried the next one— nothing.
The Library— no Marinette.
The Courtyard— Only some songbirds.
With a resigned sigh, Ms. Bustier decided to head back to her class. As she marched back up the stairs she noticed the door of an old faculty bathroom. Nobody had been in there for years. The toilet hadn't been fixed and the mirror was cracked. The grout of the walls was grimy and mold-ridden. It would have been a perfect place to miss a day of school.
She rushed down the stair and grabbed the door knob. Her heart gave a little jump when the door was locked. Somebody was definitely inside.
The teacher put her ear against the door, listening intently. The sounds she heard made her blue-green widen in panic. There was a horrible retching sound followed by pained whimpers. She could hear strained, shallow breathing.
"Goddamnit!" A voice gurgled from the other side of the door.
There was a sudden cry of pain and a THUMP of someone hitting the ground.
A new wave of panic washed over Ms. Bustier, whoever this person was, they needed to be in a hospital. She ran to the principal's office and—offering no explanation— grabbed the master key that unlocked all the staff-only facilities. The owl-like Mr. Damocles called after her, but the pounding in The woman's ears drowned out any other noise.
She fumbled with the keys, silently begging the door to open.
Open up, Damnit! She screamed internally.
When the key finally clicked into place, Ms. Bustier practically tore the door open. Whe she saw what was behind that door, her heart began to pound at breakneck speed, a strangled gasp escaped her mouth as the key fell out of her hand in shock.
At the teacher's feet lay Ladybug. One of her eyes was black and swollen shut, the other was bloodshot and dialed. There was blood everywhere. A long gash ran from her shoulder down to her stomach, her suit was drenched with blood and sweat. A bruise was blossoming on her forehead, presumably from when she fell on it a short while ago.
There was a sudden, jarring beeping. Then another. The earnings gave off one last warning before a flash of pink light engulfed the heroine.
Ms. Bustier wanted to scream. Here at her feet lay Ladybug, unmasked and horribly maimed, laying in a pool of her own blood. The woman stared at the ceiling, trying to decide whether or not she was going to look down.
I have to help Ladybug! Part of her declared.
You can't just look at her without a mask on, do you want her in more danger? Another side retorted.
She's hurt! I can't save her life if I don't look down!
The heroic side of the brain won the fight. The green eyed teacher looked down slowly. When she saw the girl at her feet, a violent shudder ripped it's way up her spine.
"Marinette!"
Kneeling down, the terrified woman did the only thing she could think of. With a surprising burst of strength she lifted her dying student into her arms. Ms. Bustier rushed to her fiancé's car.
Who gives a shit if I get blood on the seat?!
The floored the gas pedal and made he was to the hospital, paying streetlights and traffic cops no they finally arrived, the small woman gained concerned looks as she breathlessly marched to the front desk and demanded her student see a doctor right away.
"Ma'am, that's simply not possible—"
"THIS GIRL IS ONLY FOURTEEN FUCKING YEARS OLD!" The Teacher snapped with a newfound rage.
"ma'am I—"
"SHE HAS MORE TO LIVE FOR THAN ANYONE IN THIS DAMN WAITING ROOM."
"Please miss I—"
Ms. Bustier gave the secretary a piercing stare, looking directly into the woman's eyes, "when this young girl—who has been losing blood for the past hour— dies in this waiting room, you will be to blame."
She sat down with Marinette still in her arms, fixing the woman with a hawkish stare.
The docter rushed out to see the girl in under two minutes. They took Marinette away into an emergency surgery room, rolling her away on a hospital bed. Ms. Bustier collapsed from exhaustion, she rubbed her temples and enjoyed a few seconds of calm. One of the TVs was tuned to the local news coverage. Ms. Bustier could hear snippets from a few rows away.
"one of the most violent Akumas to date... Location of Ladybug unknown... Chat Noir working with police."
The woman grimaced as a realization struck her.
Somebody had to call Marinette's parents.
She pulled out her phone and reluctantly scrolled down to the name Dupain-Cheng, Marinette.
She was about to press the "start call" button when the redhead realized that the two bakers probably had no knowledge of their daughter's double life. It should shay that way? Ms. Bustier bit her lip nervously and fiddled with her engagement ring.
I can't just give away the identity of the hero of Paris!
The "Hero of Paris" is a fourteen year old! She doesn't need this kind of danger in her life!
Unsure of what to do, She sighed. It was a bit of a shock to find out that Ladybug was the same girl who couldn't even walk without falling over, was the graceful guardian of the City of Lights. She began to listen to the distant news report once again.
"No one has seen her since this morning... Her parents are offering a cash reward to anyone who can bring her home..."
Ms. Bustier's attention snapped to the TV, across the screen in big bold letters read the phrase, "Parisian student gone missing after Violent Akuma attack."
That made up her mind. She pressed the "start call button."
The tinny, prerecorded sound of a phone ringing reverberated in her ears as the teacher she counted the rings. One… Two… Three… until the sound of a gargled voicemail message played.
It was a woman, presumably Marinette's mother, "Bonjour! You've reached to home phone of the Dupian-Chang family. If you'd like to make an order, please call the official bakery phone, if you'd like to leave a personal message please do so after the tone." The recording ended with a low beep, signaling Ms. Bustier to begin speaking.
It barely took the couple five minutes to make it to the hospital.
Sabine looked drawn and pale, barely moving any more than she had to. Tom on the other hand, was a fidgety mess. His knee bounced up so fast, that it was merely a blur, his eyes darted all around the room, if Ms Bustier hadn't known better she would have thought the man was extremely high on som sort of illegal substance.
"What did you say happened?" Marinette's father questioned.
"I found her in the bathroom, I have no idea what happened."
Ms. Bustier almost choked on her own lie, these people were Ladybug's parents… did they need to know it?
Thus began an internal debate in Ms. Bustier's eyes. This debate completely cut her off from any small talk the miserable couple tried to engage in. She simply started at the floor and debated with herself, realizing that she was quite possibly one of only two people who knew the identity of Ladybug, the other she presumed —although incorrectly— was Chat Noir.
When they were finally allowed to see Marinette, the three walked in unsure of what to expect.
What they got was a weak, exhausted Marinette who was pale, with an obviously fake smile across her face. The girl's eyes flitted nervously over to Ms. Bustier.
"Hey guys," she mumbled quietly.
"Hey Marinette," The teacher responded.
This drew a genuine smile from the girls lips. Her mother began to fuss over her in the loving way mothers did, while the girl's father, and teacher shared a jokingly incredulous smile.
After a few hours of answering her mother's worried questions, and accepteting her father's warm embrace, Marinette caught Ms. Bustier's eye.
"Hey Mom, Dad, shouldn't you head home? Tomorrow's Saturday,your busiest business day!"
"Oh, Marinette, some things are more important than baking!"
Ms. Bustier caught the eye of her student, it was a apparent that she wanted to talk to the teacher alone.
"Actually, I was hoping to go over what we learned in class with Marinette, if you don't mind."
Sabine made a small noise of annoyance, "but she's in the hospital!"
"It's alright mom." The girl insistsed, "you go and get some rest, I was going to ask Ms. Bustier for the notes anyway."
The girl's parents reluctantly left the girl with the teacher. As soon as the door shut, Marinette spoke.
"So, you know then?"
Unsure what to say the teacher nodded.
"And I assume you understand that you can't tell anyone about this?"
"Marinette what about your parents?"
The girl froze, an odd display of remorse played across her features, "I don't want to tell them."
"But—"
"I know I should," Marinette signed, "but as soon as I did— well, I don't know how they would react."
There was a quiet pause, Ms. Bustier opted for a different line of questioning, "Does Chat Noir know?"
This drew a laugh from the raven haired girl, "no, of course not! Could you imagine what a disaster that would be? Silly kitty would probably never leave me alone!"
The teacher couldn't help but smile at how casually her student had referred to Chat Noir, despite not knowing his identity , she certainly knew him well.
There was an odd pause before Marinette spoke up one more time.
"Does this mean I'm excused from missing class all those times?"
Ms. Bustier smiled, "yes, I suppose it does."
Woot! I have successfully created my first oneshot! It was really fun. I loved writing a smaller snippet instead of developing a whole plot. If you enjoyed this, you can check out my longer story called "When worlds Collide" If you have the time please review. I love to what I'm doing well and what I can improve on! Anyway, thanks so much for reading, (this is normal where I say see you soon, but unless you check out my other stuff I probably won't see you again.) *abrupt ending*