x

- x - x - x -

Chapter 2: Circling Sharks

- x - x - x -

There was a letter in her mailbox. An actual letter, although it lacked a stamp and a return address.

It was Saturday morning and Marinette had decided to go downstairs and check her mailbox in hopes that there might be some coupons within the flyers and other such spam. In particular, she was hoping to find coupons for food. Paris' favorite superhero had about three hundred euros in her personal account and she wanted to make it last as long as possible. She knew she'd soon have to get a part-time job but, in the meantime, she'd live frugally.

The real letter stood out from the other three that were in her mailbox. Marinette haphazardly chucked the those three letters - one from a dentist office, another from a nearby apartment complex, and the last from a Nigerian prince - into the recycling bin.

Marinette Dupein-Cheng, the real letter said in familiar, slanted handwriting. It's envelope was beautiful, made out of a heavy, slightly yellowed paper that was soft to the touch. Marinette almost felt unworthy holding such a majestic piece of mail.

As she walked back upstairs to her apartment, she used a finger to carefully rip it open. The paper inside the envelope was as fancy, if not fancier, than the envelope.

The message the paper bore was short.

Marinette,

I could say that I simply forgot to give this to you at school, but that would be a lie. I felt like you would reject this item if I gave it to you, face-to-face. I'm hoping receiving it through the mail will increase your likelihood of actually using it.

As a reminder, my family is obnoxiously rich. Please don't feel the need to be thrifty when using this.

- Adrien Agreste

P.S. You might want to purchase something with a hood for when you go out.

There was something else in the envelope. Marinette fished two fingers into the envelope until she pinched a rectangular piece of plastic.

A credit card.

A deluxe credit card, for that matter. It was one of those credit cards with metal in the center, giving it a colder, more important feel. Marinette had seen these kinds of cards only on rare occasions when people with uppity expressions and nice suits came in to the bakery.

Adrien was right. She would have definitely rejected it, if he had tried to give it to her in person. In fact, even with the indirect delivery, she was still rather torn as to whether to use it or not. Twirling the problematic card in-between her fingers, Marinette wondered if it was better to take the easy way out and use the card, or go back to panicking about her dwindling funds.

Much to her chagrin, Marinette decided to use the card.

The first thing she bought was an oversized black hoodie. As it turned out, Adrien's suggestion was pretty smart. From the moment that Marinette, sans-hoodie, had stepped foot into a clothing store, every eye in the place had become glued to her. Ducking her head low, Marinette had shuffled quickly through the store until she saw the hoodie. She hardly gave it more than a cursory glance before she grabbed it and brought it to the checkout.

As soon as she got back into her car, Marinette tore off the tags and yanked the hoodie over her head. Relief washed over her and she sighed deeply. Anonymity. Or well, sort of. It was better than nothing. Maybe it would take people more than two seconds to recognize her now.

Then, she noticed little slits for her thumbs at the end of the hoodie's sleeves. Neat, she thought pleasantly as she slipped her thumbs through them.

That's when she felt the thick patches sewn onto the palms of the hoodie. Patches that, of course , just so happened to be lime green paw prints. Oh, please no, Marinette prayed as she tentatively reached up and touch the hood… and found ears.

Ears. Cat Ears.

Marinette banged her head against the steering wheel. She had purchased a Chat Noir themed hoodie.

But, no matter how horrified she was at this, Marinette didn't have the guts to go back in and return the hoodie to the store of a thousand stares. This is my life now, she grimly conceded as she threw her car into drive.

Much later, when she finally got back home, Marinette banished the hoodie to the back of her closet. She would die before she allowed Chat to see her wearing it.

- x -

The sewing machine purred beautifully as it stamped its metal foot along the fabric. Caught up in her work, Marinette did not hear the first few taps on her balcony window. It wasn't until she paused in order to inspect her stitching that she heard it -clack, clack, clack.

Marinette was not surprised to find Chat Noir leaning against the balcony window, beaming at her. It was starting to feel like a rather common occurrence, finding him at her window. Like a stray cat, he just kept coming back.

As she walked over to the balcony door, her mind briefly wandered back to the night before when Chat had pinned her down against the couch. No, shut up, she told her brain, effectively squashing that train of thought. There was no reason to get herself all hot and bothered over… whatever that had been. The details were completely unnecessary to recall.

Although, yesterday's events did result in Marinette having some questions for Chat. Big questions, most of which concerned how the hell he knew the name Adrien .

She unlocked the latch and pushed open the door. "I don't remember adopting you," she told him as he strutted into the apartment like he owned the place.

"Would you like to?" He replied cheekily as he plopped himself down onto her couch.

She guffawed at his stupid question and decided to ignore it. Standing akimbo, Marinette stated flat out, "You realize I have questions, don't you?"

Chat threw a leg up on the coffee table and then threw his other leg over it. "Yep, but I'm not going to answer a single one of them."

Marinette stared at him for a long moment, annoyance bubbling up. This stupid cat had riled her up, dropped Adrien's name, and then hightailed it out of her apartment. All that was less than twenty four hours ago! And now, he thought he could simply waltz right back in, make himself comfy her couch, and refuse to explain himself.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Marinette demanded dryly, "And you're here because…?"

"You forgot?" Chat asked, amused, "It's time for our weekly patrol."

He was right. It was something the pair of them had started soon after getting their powers. At face value, the patrol was about looking for akumatized victims (which they did find sometimes), but it really was about something more. Especially in the recent months, they'd been trying to sleuth out the identity of Hawk Moth. They hadn't found much, but that wasn't a good enough reason to stop. Sometimes spinning your wheels in the mud was better than admitting defeat.

"Fine." Marinette growled, "A quick patrol and then we're done. Tikki!" Her little kwaki floated up out of an open drawer, a cookie in her hand.

"Present!" Tikki replied.

"Come on." Marinette told her kwami in a much nicer tone than the one she was using to talk to Chat. She then turned and headed into her bedroom.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" Yelled Chat.

Marinette poked her head out from the bedroom. "Um, into my room to transform?"

Waving his hand vaguely at the living room, Chat stated, "Do it here."

She blushed. "What, no." The idea of transforming in front of him seemed… weird. Intimate, maybe. It was bad enough that camera had caught her de-transforming a week ago. Prior to that, no one had ever seen her change.

"Why not?"

"Because I said no."

"But I want to see." He drawled out the 'ee' sound in a whiny tone.

"Then get a mirror and do it yourself." She snapped back.

Chat locked eyes with her and they both glared stubbornly at each other. That is, until the corner of his lip quirked up. "Okay." He said with a little shrug as he pushed himself off the couch.

Marinette watched him suspiciously as he sauntered towards her… and past her, into the bathroom.

"Hey, look, a mirror!"

"Don't you dare!"

- x -

Sunday passed without an interruption from the cat, which was good. By the end of their Saturday night patrol, Marinette had been ready to murder Chat for a myriad of reasons ranging from his excessive flirting to his addiction to saying 'paw-sitively' at every half-reasonable opportunity (seriously, three years of superheroing and it was still his favorite pun).

The peaceful Sunday allowed Marinette to be rather productive. She studied, completed her homework, cleaned, worked more on her sewing project, texted with Alya about something other than Ladybug for the first time in a week (Nino had asked her out on a date, finally), and then, at the end of the day, she settled down in front of the TV and watched some fashion design shows on Netflix.

Sunday was great.

Monday… not so much.

Well, Monday had its high points. It started out brilliantly, with Adrien catching her before class and asking if she'd like to go get lunch with him. Naturally, Marinette assumed it was just to discuss the apartment or something, but still. It was hard not to be thrilled about lunch with Adrien, no matter the reason.

She spent most of class doodling pictures of Adrien and Chat Noir.

Lunch started out great. Adrien had his chauffeur drive them to a cute little Asian fusion restaurant, one that Adrien absolutely swore by. Somehow, Marinette managed to crack a silly joke. "I hope it leaves me wonton more," she had told him a shy smile.

He had laughed heartily. In her mind, she had celebrated like she had won a gold medal at the Olympics. She had made Adrien laugh. It was monumental.

The food was good and the conversation was light but lovely. It kind of felt like a date even though Marinette knew it wasn't. Sooner or later, she knew Adrien would bring up the reason why he invited her out. Just like last time, there would be some agenda. Not that she could be mad about that - last time, his agenda had been to give her a car and apartment.

He better not give me anything else, Marinette thought as she pinched a piece of beef with her chopsticks, I'll shred his fancy credit card right here in front of his face . Then, as she popped the beef into her mouth, she recalled that the card was made partially out of metal. She amended her previous thoughts with, well, I'll figure out how to shred it first… and then shred it. Yeah.

"So…" Adrien begun, swirling his fork around in his rice, "... how's the apartment?

There it is , Marinette sighed internally but plastered a big smile on her face. "It's great. Really wonderful. Too wonderful." As soon as the words too wonderful came out her mouth, Marinette panicked, realizing it sounded like she was complaining, "Ah-! B-but not, ah, in a bad way!"

Adrien chortled and told her, "I'm really glad to hear that." He really did look glad, which was good. There was a tiny part of Marinette that was worried he might be bringing up because he was regretting offering the apartment to her. Hey Marinette, I was just kidding about that apartment. I need you to move out now . Luckily, that's not what he said next.

What he said next was, "You know, if you wanted to adopt an animal, you could."

Marinette stared at Adrien like he'd just grown an extra head. Adopt an animal? She was a seventeen year old girl who moonlighted as a superhero while trying to finish school. Why in hell would she do that? "... an animal?" She echoed, trying to be polite despite her shock.

Adrien beamed, flashing perfect white teeth. "Yes! Like, you know, a cat." Marinette sat there, frozen, waiting for him to continue that thought. Waiting for him to provide some reasoning. Waiting for him to suggest literally any other kind of animal.

Only he didn't. Humming cheerfully, Adrien went back to eating his food, seemingly completely unaware of how uncomfortable Marinette felt.

Finally, she forced herself to speak. "A… cat," she repeated, hoping he would say something that wouldn't so strongly hint towards Chat Noir. Hadn't she made a joke about not adopting Chat when he had dropped by most recently? She couldn't quite remember.

"Yeah!" Adrien replied, "Cats are great. They're self sufficient, adorable, and great for cuddling."

Marinette gave up on words and just sat there, baffled. Maybe she was reading into it too much. Maybe Adrien just liked cats a lot. Or, Adrien was not so subtly trying to bring up Chat Noir. Marinette wasn't sure if she liked where this conversation was going.

"You know what?" he asked her, cheerfully picking up his fork and pointing it at her.

"Um, what?" she parroted back, feeling a bit freaked out. Either she was going crazy, or Adrien was acting a bit out of the norm. He seemed more… playful.

"I feel like you're the kind of girl who'd appreciate a black cat." He shoveled another fork full of rice into his mouth and chewed, looking rather pleased with himself. Marinette gaped at him. Right after he swallowed, Adrien added, "Maybe one with green eyes. What do you think?" There was a flirty tone to his words.

Marinette died a little as she realized that Adrien was just like Alya.

Alya, who was convinced that she and Chat were meant to be. Alya, who had freaking fan art of the two of them still up in her room (she refused to take it down, even after learning about Marinette being Ladybug). Alya, who had written some ridiculous story where she and Chat make out on top of the Eiffel tower.

It was horrifying to think that Adrien, her big crush, could be thinking the same way as Alya. Marinette did her best to maintain her cool, while mentally cursing all the stupid websites that had built up this public belief.

For her own sanity, Marinette needed to make it clear to Adrien that she and Chat were not an item. "Oh… no. I haven't and don't plan on letting in any stray cats into my apartment." She told him, keeping her tone sweet but assertive.

"Hmmm…" he hummed thoughtfully before cheerfully saying, "could have fooled me! So, anyways, what were you up to yesterday night?" Before Marinette could reply, he spoke again, "Spending some time with a friend?" There was something in the way he was looking at her, as if he was trying to hint at something. Something, like how Chat Noir had visited her last night. Oh my god, Marinette thought, nearly dropping her chopsticks.

He knew.

He knew about Chat Noir's visits.

She didn't know why he knew, but she couldn't deny the glimmer in his green eyes. Marinette had been friends long enough with Adrien. She could relatively read him, and right now, he wasn't being subtle. There was a dopey smile on his face as he nonchalantly stirred his miso soup.

"I... what," whimpered Marinette. It wasn't a question. It was a simple expression of utter embarrassment.

"I was just curious," Adrien replied quickly, still smiling like an idiot, "you know, just in case you wanted to talk about him." Marinette died inside. The boy she'd been rocking a crush on for years knew about her rather inappropriate visits from Chat Noir. Not only that, he seemed to think it was cute, judging by the way he was watching her.

"No thanks," Marinette told him just as quickly, before shoveling several chunks of rice into her mouth, hoping to buy herself some time to think.

How did Adrien know? Only two people in the world knew that Chat Noir had visited Marinette at the new apartment. Those people were Marinette and Chat Noir.

The gears in Marinette's head turned and turned. For a brief moment, she naively considered that maybe, just maybe, Chat Noir was Adrien. The thing was, she'd already eliminated that possibility many times over the last few years. To start with, they didn't really look the same. Yes, they both had blonde hair, but… well, they were different. It was hard to explain, especially since she couldn't hold Chat's image steady in her brain. Tikki had once explained to her that that was due to the magic behind the suit. It messed with how the brain perceived the miraculous holder… or something like that. Tikki's explanation had been purposefully vague. According to the kwami, it wasn't vital for Marinette to understand how the magic functioned, just that it did.

No, if Adrien knew about Chat Noir, that then could only mean one reasonable thing: Chat had told Adrien about it.

This really wasn't that unreasonable. She already knew that Chat knew about Adrien to some degree; Chat had known that Adrien was the one who was paying for her apartment. Somehow, the two were in cahoots.

And now, Adrien knew that Chat was visiting Marinette at that very apartment. That's why he asked her to lunch, so that he could try and subtly bring it up. Like Alya, he wanted to gossip about a possible Ladybug and Chat Noir relationship. It made Marinette feel sick to her stomach, despite the lovely aromas rising from her half eaten lunch.

All of this was because Chat, that stupid, crazy cat, was gossiping to Adrien about their nightly escapades.

I'm going to kill him, Marinette thought furiously, fighting to keep the anger off her face.

Meanwhile, as Marinette was going through her mental gymnastics, Adrien was sitting there quietly and watching her. His smile had vanished, replaced by something more nervous. Perhaps he'd realized that this wasn't a topic she wanted to talk about. At least that, Marinette could be thankful for.

As soon as she'd finished swallowing the too-much-food that she had jammed in her mouth, Marinette sought to change the subject. Without any reasonable segue, she blurted out something about Nino and Alya going on a date. Luckily, Adrien willingly took the bait, almost look relieved himself to have a new subject. He launched into a little story about how he'd helped encourage Nino to ask Alya.

The rest of lunch passed without any more Chat Noir references.

Adrien carried most of the conversation, having a great time telling Marinette about how Nino dragged Adrien shopping for a shirt he could wear on the date. Marinette did her best to keep up with the conversation, to hmm and haw at all the right points, despite how distracted she was. There was a bubbling rage building inside of her.

She found herself wondering how many ways there were to skin a cat.

- x -

"Monsieur, don't forget that we are leaving promptly for Toulouse after school," said Arthur - or, the Gorilla, as Adrien liked to call him behind his back.

They were in Adrien's limo, maybe about half the way back to school. Until that point, Marinette had been artfully corralling their conversation, keeping it on school topics and away from anything of feline nature.

Adrien groaned and rubbed his face. "I totally forgot. Ugh." He looked over at Marinette, grimacing. "My father has a habit of scheduling photo shoots in the middle of the school week."

Marinette had noticed. That year, it'd been worse than ever before. Marinette could think at least four times since Christmas break where Adrien had missed school for one of his fashion shoots. "Can you say no?" she asked curiously.

Adrien scoffed. "Oh no, definitely not. The company comes first." The boy turned his gaze out the window and squinted at the shops they passed. Then, so softly that Marinette wasn't sure if she heard correctly, he muttered, "The company always comes first."

Marinette had the feeling that the company was a delicate subject. Rather than reply, she garnered what little bravery she possessed and reached over and reassuringly squeezed Adrien's hand.

The smile he gave her in return was blinding.

The limo pulled up to the school.

There wasn't a crowd a reporters in front of the school any more, but there was a crowd inside of the school. Their entire class was milling about in the hallway with expressions that ranged from boredom to annoyance.

Chloé was blocking the classroom door, looking defiant.

Adrien and Marinette pushed themselves to the front of the crowd to stand next to Nino and Alya. But, before they could ask their friends what's going on, Chloé spotted them.

"You!" screamed Chloé, dramatically pointing a well-manicured nail at Marinette. "Caught. In. The. Act," the blond girl snarled out, enunciating each word.

The crowd got quiet. Marinette didn't bother raising her voice as she, rather lamely, replied, "Um, yeah? That was, like… a week ago." Chloé was normally the queen of social media. It seemed absolutely baffling to be accosted by her over news that was, in internet time, decades old.

"Not that," Chloé huffed, "this! Him!" That manicured finger switched to a new victim: Adrien.

"Chloé," Adrien spoke firmly, gently pushing Marinette behind him as he stepped forward, "I don't know what's your deal today, but there's no reason to make a scene."

Glancing around at the students around her, Marinette couldn't help but think, too late.

"Adrien, I'll tell you what's my deal! She. Is. Selfish!" A little fear pierced deep into Marinette. Did Chloé know about the apartment? The car? The credit card?

"Chloé, I think you've officially lost it," Adrien growled. When Chloé began to stalk forward, closing the distance between them, he didn't budge. His posture was defensive as Chloé stopped a foot in front of him.

Caught up in the confrontation, Marinette almost forgot about Alya's presence until her friend's hip bumped reassuringly into her's. "Bitch." Alya growled lowly so that only Marinette heard her, her eyes burned holes into Chloé's beautiful face.

"Adrien, she is dangerous." Chloé stated this loudly, her voice echoing in the otherwise silent, crowded hallway. Alya, Marinette, and Adrien all started speaking at once, outraged at her ridiculous comment.

"She's a fucking hero -"

"You can't be serious -"

"I would never attack -"

"Shut up, you idiots!" Chloé screeched at them, her cheeks going red. The silence returned to the hallway, before Chloé continued, "I'm not saying because she'll hurt someone, but Hawk Moth will! And, who do you think he's going to go for? If he can't get her, it'll be those near to her."

Well. That harsh nugget of truth was not something Marinette would have expected to come out of Chloé's mouth. Her jaw hung open as she stared at Chloé over Adrien's shoulder.

"First," Chloé growled, "he'll kill her family, sure. But who's next? Alya? Or you, Adrien? I don't want you getting murdered because of -"

Adrien was furious. Marinette didn't need to read minds to see that. He was shaking and his hands clenched into fists the moment that Chloé oh-so-casually mentioned that her parents would inevitably be killed by Hawk Moth (a comment which made Marinette's stomach do several terrified somersaults).

But it wasn't Adrien who shut Chloé up. It was Alya.

With a right hook to Chloé's face.

The quiet crowd exploded in screams and jeers. Chloé herself started screeching absolute bloody murder and she lurched at Alya. If Sabrina hadn't caught her, wrapping up arms up and around Chloé's armpits, Chloé might have started clawing at Alya. And, if Nino hadn't caught Alya, wrapping his arms around her waist, Alya might have punched Chloé again.

"You bitch!" Chloé howled.

"Insensitive cunt!" Alya howled back.

- x -

Alya was suspended for the rest of the week. However, that did not stop her from being proud of the sucker punch. That evening, Marinette found herself relaxing on Alya's bed for the first time in a while.

"Did you see the picture that Nathaniel got? It's brilliant. You can see the snot coming out of Chloé's nose." Alya turned the phone to show Marinette. Marinette passively nodded in agreement, although she was pretty certain that the snot Alya was seeing was just the movement of the camera. Nathaniel had snapped the rather-blurry picture half a second after Alya's fist had connected to Chloé's cheek.

"It was pretty hot seeing you go all Amazonian on her," Nino complimented with a grin that made Marinette feel somewhat like a third wheel.

Not that she would dare to complain about that; Alya and Nino had been making doe eyes at each other for long enough. Marinette was glad that their relationship actually seemed to be progressing.

Alya showed her and Nino some more images that she'd found on social media, including some of her " work " - AKA, Chloé's huge bruise.

"It says she's going to sue you," Nino said, pointing to the caption on the bottom of Chloé's instagram post.

Alya scoffed incredulously. "I'd like to see her try. Can you imagine the headlines? Rich bitch sues defender of Ladybug's honor." Pausing, Alya tapped a finger to her chin in mock-thought. "Actually, I quite like that. Sounds good, don'tcha think?"

Nino agreed heartily but Marinette didn't. She hadn't been listening; she had retreated into her own head.

Since lunch, Chloé's words had been circling around and around in her mind. He'll kill her family. Heck. It hurt hearing that come out of someone else's mouth. Marinette knew it was a possibility. It had always been a possibility, whether her identity was public or not. When she was younger, sometimes the thought would keep her up late at night: what if Hawk Moth comes after my parents? What if he comes after my friends?

Marinette would not be able to protect them. Sure, she considered herself a pretty good superhero, but she was not perfect nor omnipresent. She couldn't always be there with her loved ones, ready to protect them. If Hawk Moth really wanted, he could probably kill them, easy.

However, there was one particular fact that greatly mitigate most of this fear:

Hawk Moth and his akumatized victims had never, in over three years, killed anyone. Not even by accident.

Long ago, based on their many akuma battles, she and Chat had optimistically (and sure, precariously) concluded that Hawk Moth did not want to kill. He wanted their miraculouses, yes, but not their deaths. Their villain wasn't all evil.

A hand waved in front of Marinette's face. "Hello-oo, earth to Marinette?"

Marinette came back to reality, blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry, I was just…"

"Marinette," Alya interrupted her, frowning sternly, "you're letting Chloé get to you."

She could only shrug. "Maybe a little."

"Don't listen to her." By Alya's tone of voice, it was clear that this wasn't up for debate. "Hawk Moth isn't the freaking mafia. He could have killed half of Paris by now if he really wanted to."

Frowning, Marinette said, "Jeez Alya, I don't know about that." Those purple butterflies were powerful but maybe not that powerful.

Alya shrugged. "Some of those akumas have had some serious power. And yet, nobody dead."

"Me and Chat have both nearly died a few times."

"By accident. The akumas don't aim to kill you two. Do you remember Sharpshooter?"

Marinette shivered a little. "How could I forget? He blasted my knee into thousand pieces. It was easily the worst pain I've ever felt." Sharpshooter probably had been her least favorite enemy. Despite the egregious pain from her shattered knee cap, Marinette had to pretend like she had only sprained her ankle when she got home. For a good week, while her body powered through the healing process with the assistance of the miraculous powers, she had to pretend that it didn't feel a thousand knives stabbing through her leg with every step.

"Right, well," Alya continued, "that guy shot Chat's baton from his hand from, like, two hundred yards away. And yet, when he shot you, he shot you in the knee. The knee. Marinette, people don't die from being shot in the knee. They get immobilized, but not dead."

Chewing her bottom lip, Marinette recalled thinking about that very thing, back when she'd been hobbling up and down the stairs with her busted knee, a fake smile for her parents plastered on her face. "I know, but maybe the person within Sharpshooter morally wasn't okay with murder?" Marinette countered. Akumatized victims often had some control over their own actions.

"But what about all the others? Marinette, it's been true for all the other akumatized peeps too." Alya taped her phone knowingly. "Trust me, I've watched some of the videos of your fights hundreds of times."

Marinette smiled a little in spite of the weight of their conversation. "Hundreds of times? Okay, sure."

"No, trust me, she's not lying," Nino spoke up, grimacing, "I've had to watch some of them with her. Over, and over, and over again. It's terrible."

"No it's not, it's fun." Alya humphed and glared at him.

"Ah… I mean, I love watching the same video with you hundreds of times, babe."

"That's better," Alya purred.

As soon as Alya looked back at Marinette, Nino made a point of silently communicating with Marinette by vigorously shaking his head as if to say, no, really, it was terrible.

- x -

On Tuesday evening, Marinette was lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. She was thinking about her court meeting the next day. This brief meeting with the judge was supposed to decide whether or not she, at seventeen, could legally live on her own and make her own decisions. Decisions, like being Ladybug and saving Paris.

"Marinette, are you okay?" Tikki asked, floating closer to her.

"No," Marinette replied honestly, "I feel terrible, Tikki. This whole emancipation thing… it just feels so drastic."

Tikki seemed to consider that for a long moment. "Then… don't go through with it." The kwami suggested.

Shaking her head, Marinette explained, "I can't do that, Tikki. I can't live with my parents any more. Paris needs me to be Ladybug." It was starting to feel like a mantra. Paris needs Ladybug. Paris needs Ladybug.

And, honestly, Marinette needed to be Ladybug. It was part of who she was. The memory of her mother eyeing the miraculous earrings haunted her. No, I can't go back, she thought.

"Besides," Marinette added, "Nathalie went through all the trouble of setting it up. I can't just tell her no at this point."

"Marinette," Tikki replied, speaking slowly as if she was carefully considering her words, "don't you think it was a little odd, the whole thing? I mean, don't you feel like maybe you're being pushed into this process?"

Pushed? No, she was pushed when her parents tried to ground her from being a superhero. "It's kind of necessary, Tikki." Marinette sighed deeply. "Necessary… but suckish."

Tikki continued to look at her sadly.

Closing her eyes, Marinette added, "They'll still be my parents. They'll always be my parents." Hopefully, eventually, they would come around and accept her decisions, just like Tikki had first reassured her.

Hopefully.

- x -

On Wednesday morning, Nathalie intercepted Marinette on her way into the school in order to hand her some documents, ones that showed that she was financially provided for and currently enrolled in school.

Marinette didn't know how Nathalie had gotten her school records, but she didn't bother to ask.

"Thank you," Marinette said.

Nathalie hesitated, inspecting Marinette. The always somber secretary appeared apprehensive. "Adrien…" Nathalie spoke cautiously, "... seems to have taken a liking to you."

Blushing, Marinette rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, ah…" This was awkward. "W-we've been friends for awhile."

An emotion passed across Nathalie's face. For a very brief moment, she almost looked guilty. But, it was gone before Marinette could think twice about it. Without another word, Nathalie turned and walked off, her heels clicking loudly against the sidewalk.

- x -

On Wednesday evening, Marinette got to the courthouse half an hour early and found herself sitting in the waiting room with her parents.

Her father gently asked her how school was going, if the place she was staying was comfortable, and whether she was eating well. Marinette was cautious but not cold when she answered. She could feel her father's love in his careful questions.

Her mother, on the other hand, spent most of the time staring at her own hands, which were neatly piled in her lap. Sabine looked almost conflicted and exuded certain awkwardness. It was pretty obvious which of her parents was taking the situation the hardest.

Marinette's heart ached.

At the start of the meeting, Marinette submitted her paperwork to the judge. Her parents did the same. The judge shuffled through the papers for a few lengthy minutes, occasionally reaching up to his face to poke his reading glasses farther up his nose.

As they waited, Marinette snuck a few sidelong glances at her parents. Her father kept reaching over and rubbing her mother's shoulder.

Finally, the judge looked up from the paperwork and asked Marinette some straightforward questions.

"How are you going to afford food?"

"I have a friend providing financial, ah, assistance to me."

"And why do you think they are doing that?"

"They want to… support me and what I do." Playing the superhero card made Marinette feel sick, but she knew she needed it. After all, what else did she have going for her?

"Will you still attend school?"

"Of course. College too, hopefully." Marinette had been allowing herself to consider that as a possibility, once again. If she could survive high school as an outed superhero, she could survive college too.

He never asked her why she was moving out, nor did he ask her parents a single question.

"I've reached my conclusion. Considering all of the special circumstances ," it was pretty obvious he meant by that, "I have decided to rule that your petition is valid, and as of now, you are to be considered legally separate from your parents."

Her mother started to cry. Her father wrapped his arms around her. Neither of them bothered to argue with the judge.

Afterwards, in the lobby of the courthouse, her father called for her to wait. Marinette paused in her beeline to the door and allowed him to catch up with her. An awkward moment passed as daughter and father sized each other up.

It was Tom, her father, who spoke first. "Marinette… there will always be free pastries for you at the bakery. Please don't be a stranger." He hesitated and glanced over his shoulder at Sabine, who was hanging back, "She'll come around. I promise. Just give her time."

Another moment passed where Marinette stared at her father, shocked.

Then, she threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I'll visit often," she promised.

- x -

Marinette hummed as she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair. It smelled lovely, like fresh baked cookies. Adrien had very good taste in conditioner, that was for certain.

She turned the shower off and sighed pleasantly.

The day had been a rather lovely Thursday. Her father had, at some point that morning, dropped off a bag of delicious éclairs at the school for Marinette. She'd shared them Nino and Adrien, the latter of whom arrived back from his photoshoot half way through the day. After school, Marinette had brought Alya an écliar and some schoolwork ("Yeah, I'll take the pastry and you can keep the papers." Alya had joked). Marinette had then stayed at her friend's place for a few hours, playing video games and discussing miraculous lore.

Now, it was nine in the evening and Marinette was squeaky clean and ready for a restful sleep. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around her waist and another around her hair.

And then her television, the one in the living room, blared to life.

The introduction for some cooking show started playing, filling the apartment with music and recorded chatter. Marinette froze, dread racing up and down her spine. Had Hawk Moth finally decided to pay her a visit?

"Tikki." Marinette hissed, "There's someone here."

Tikki floated into the bathroom and giggled nervously. "Don't worry Marinette, it's no one dangerous." The kwami's words pacified Marinette's fear but also fueled her irritation.

Eyes narrowing, Marinette murmured dangerously, "It's Chat, isn't it?"

The kwami shrugged and smiled, "Take it easy on him, Marinette."

Chat was fully sprawled out on her couch, the remote control resting on his chest, when Marinette finally walked out into the living room wearing pajamas and a scowl. His eyes lit up. "Good evening, princess!" he greeted her cheerfully.

Marinette ignored him in favor of walking into the kitchen and rifling through one of her cabinets.

He watched her curiously. "Whatcha got there?" he asked her as she walked out of the kitchen, something held behind her back.

Marinette smiled kindly. "I'm only going to ask nicely once, kitty, so listen carefully." The television babbled on in the background as Chat's expression became apprehensive.

"Uh…"

"What did you tell Adrien about us?"

Chat's eyes got wide and his lips pressed together. It looked like he was trying to keep himself from laughing. Cautiously, he responded to her, "Ah… ma chérie, I'm paw-sitive that I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Wrong answer," Marinette chastised him sweetly, her eyes glinting dangerously.

That's when she pulled the spray bottle from behind her back and aimed it dead on at Chat.

"Talk, cat," she growled, her tone explicitly threatening this time.

His face continued to contort with barely held back laughter. Despite her threat, he sarcastically replied to her, "Sure, I'll talk. Meow meow meow meow -"

She fired.

Phft phft phft phft.

Chat erupted into intense giggles as the water stream hit him. It was ruthless, the onslaught that Marinette unleashed on him. Even when his breathes came in gasps from too much laughter, she didn't stop her attack. It wasn't until he raised his hands and panted in-between gasps, "Hahaha okay actually stop now please, it's really fucking cold," that she relented.

She kept the squirt bottle levied at his face and said, "There's more where that came from."

"Yeah, it's called a faucet."

Phft phft phft phft phft phft.

"Oka-aay, I'm sorry! You can stop." Chat reached out and grabbed the end of the squirt bottle, redirecting it away from him. Marinette continued to glare at him stubbornly. "Geez, who peed in your cheerios, Bugaboo?"

"You, Chat!" She yelled at him, "You peed in my -" She realized how stupid her sentence was going to be half way through saying it.

Chat quirked an eyebrow up. "Go on."

"Shut up," she huffed, before getting to the point, "you, Chat, told Adrien that you've been visiting me at night!"

He clapped a hand over his chest in mock sincerity. "M'lady! How could you suggest such a thing! I feel paw-sitively betrayed!" Unfortunately, Chat had a steady grasp on the squirt bottle. If he didn't, Marinette would have started to squirt him again.

"Stop lying, Chat," Marinette pouted, "He knew you visited me on Thursday and Friday last week!"

There was a moment where the only noise came from the television. Chat seemed to become more serious as he inspected her face, like he was considering something.

Finally, he sighed and relented with a heavy shrug of his shoulders. "Okay, you got me, Bugaboo. I might have mentioned it to him."

"Chat!" Marinette cried, her voice going a bit whiny, "Why would you do that? You know I like him. Now he probably thinks we're a couple."

Chat was snorting with laughter again and he dropped his gaze to the carpet. Frustrated, Marinette used her free hand to flick the side of Chat's head. "It's not funny!" she snapped at him. Was everything a big joke to Chat?

"Whoa whoa, calm down Mari, it's fine," said Chat as he tried to regain his composure. He waved his free hand (the other one was currently keeping Marinette from braining him with the spray bottle) reassuringly. "Look, he knows we aren't an item. Trust me. He knows."

He sounded very certain. That reassured Marinette to some degree.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm paw -" Marinette yanked on the spray bottle, her expression darkening. Chat gulped his pun down and quickly amended his phrasing, "- ah, I mean, I'm sure."

Marinette chewed her bottom lip and forced herself to think rationally. She was pretty sure that Chat wouldn't lie to her about something like this. "Okay," she finally muttered.

"Good! Now, let's relax and watch some television!" Before Marinette could protest, Chat had wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her down onto the couch beside him, so that one of her legs was hooked over one of his. He launched into an explanation. "Right now, they're having to make an entré with gummy bears!"

"Chat!" Marinette chirped, trying to wiggling out of his grasp. His arm was locked like a vice around her, keeping her next to him. She could feel his body heat even through her pajamas and his leather suit.

"I know, it sounds impossible! But the girl there - with the long hair - she's combining them with pork chops, which I think is pretty smart -"

"Chat."

"- only she's waiting too long to start those pork chops, how earth is she going to get them cooked on time? Now, the guy next to her -"

" Chat."

"- his recipe isn't as clever but he's more on top of the time by and far -"

"Chat, for crying out loud!"

He paused in his diatribe and craned forward so that he could look her in the eyes. "Yes, Mari?" He asked innocently.

Marinette did her best to look intimidating and angry despite the flush of red staining her cheeks. "First of all, we are not done discussing Adrien, and secondly, release me."

"Tell you what. Pick one of those two and I'll agree."

Her jaw dropped open. Well, at least he was, in a way, agreeing to talk more about Adrien. "Fine." She conceded as she stopped struggling and allowed herself to relax. "How do you know Adrien?"

Chat's eyes drifted momentarily up to the ceiling and he hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I guess you could say we go way back."

"So… you're friends?"

"Kinda. Sure. Yes."

There was something fishy in Chat's answers. It was like he was trying to skirt around the truth.

That's when it occurred to Marinette. She twisted as much as she could with Chat arms locked around her. His eyebrows lifted as she scrutinized his face, trying to read the truth.

Chat cleared his throat nervously. "Take a picture, princess, it'll last longer?" The tease sounded so unsure it might as well have been a question.

"I get it now," Marinette murmured softly, intently.

"You... do?" His whisper was rough, emotional.

Steady blue eyes met shy green eyes.

"Yes…" she whispered, and then raised her voice and shouted at him, "You're mooching off Adrien too!"

His hands released her so quickly that she slipped from the couch and fell onto the floor. Blinking hard, Chat apologized, "Ah, sorry, I- uh… wasn't expecting that." He gave his head a good shake while Marinette picked herself off the floor and stalked a few feet away from him. Frustration was practically rolling off her in waves. Chat asked her incredulously, "You think I'm… mooching off him?"

She did an about face and stuck her hands on her hips. "I don't know! Maybe! Maybe he's paying for an apartment for you too. That's why you know him. Because he supports you too." It made perfect sense to Marinette. Adrien was too kind. If Chat had gone to him and asked for his own apartment, his own car, and his own credit card, Adrien probably would have happily provided it.

"Uh huh…" Chat drawled slowly, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "You seem awfully bothered by this, princess."

Marinette flailed her arms and she whined at him, "Chat, you can't just take advantage of Adrien like that!"

"Oh, but you can?"

"That's different!"

"Oh! I get it. Only you can take advantage of him." There was something terribly indecent implied by Chat's tone. As if it wasn't obvious enough, he also threw in a big wink.

Marinette threw the entire spray bottle at him. He yelped and ducked just in time. The plastic spray bottle bounced harmlessly on the couch and rolled to the ground.

"Oh, come on," Chat complained, "that was funny."

Marinette's face was hot with embarrassment. "Yeah, well, so is your face."

Another pause. Both of them stared at each other. The television continued to gurgle, some judge talking about the flavor palette presented by the gummy bear pork chop.

And then they both started to laugh.

The tension melted away. Marinette apologized for trying to kill Chat with the spray bottle. He followed her lead and apologized for teasing her.

Three years, working side by side with someone, relying on them to have your back when facing danger, produces stronger ties than any little bicker could ever destroy. Although Marinette would never admit it out loud, she could not stay mad at Chat for long. Some of the frustrating things he did were also some of the most charming to her.

She flopped back down onto the couch next to him.

Chat spoke honestly, "Marinette, Adrien isn't giving me anything, financial or otherwise."

Frowning a little, Marinette asked him, "Then... what is your relationship with him?"

That's when Chat scooted towards her and tenderly took her hand into his own. "Mari." His green gaze was intense and seductive, captivating Marinette. His tone became serious. "If I told you… I'm pretty sure it would reveal my identity."

Not for the first time, Marinette found herself considering whether she was ready to know Chat's identity. Her partner, her kitty, her pain-in-the-ass. If she knew, everything would be more complicated. They would be more than two superhero partners. Emotions would - or, at least, could - be taken to a whole new level.

Did she want to know Chat Noir better? Did she want to be closer to him?

Yes.

Did she want to encourage the entropy that already defined her life?

No.

Her feelings battled each other. Her fear versus her curiosity. Her desire for stability versus the blooming affection she felt for Chat.

Marinette hated herself for being so indecisive.

"Soon," she whispered to him, sadly.

A soft smile grew on Chat's face and he reached forward with a gloved hand to dab at the corner of her eye. "Don't worry about it. Forget I said anything," he whispered back, his voice pained. Why did Marinette feel like she was breaking his heart? Or, was it her own that was breaking?

That's when they heard the explosions. Far off in the distance, visible through the balcony window, a handful of bright flashes sparked like flightless fireworks.

- x -

"I am the Boomer!" The akumatized victim screamed into the night.

"Yeah, maybe the baby boomer," Chat Noir huffed, sounding bored already.

The two of them were half hidden, crouched on a roof where they could watch the Boomer inch down Rue Piat street. Occasionally, the Boomer would take his hand off his walker ("Seriously?" Chat had whispered, "Is Hawk Moth even trying anymore?") to throw little colorful discs either into the shops to his left or into the Parc de Belleville to his right.

Glass and wood cried as the colorful discs detonated, destroying all that was nearby.

"We need to bait him into the park and away from all the shops," Marinette, now Ladybug, pointed out.

Chat stared at her for a moment. "Mari, have you forgotten that you can reset all the damage to the stores?"

Rolling her eyes, Marinette told Chat, "Obviously. I just mean that we don't want to get hit with glass or metal shrapnel." About two years ago, some akumatized lady who'd been furious at her reflection had went around shattering every mirror in Paris. Both Marinette and Chat had been at the receiving end of some of the shards that had fractured off those mirrors.

Sure, the rest of Paris had gotten a lovely face lift from Marinette's Ladybug magic, but the two of them had been left limping away to lick their wounds in secret.

Chat grimace, probably remembering the same incident. "Oh, yeah, good point."

"Let's see if my Lucky Charm can help us with that." With that, Marinette twirled the string of her yoyo, swinging it around and upward. As it hit its high point, she chanted the keywords, "Lucky Charm!"

A large, red-and-black bowl came falling back down. The contents sloshed as Marinette caught it, cranning forward at the unexpected weight. "What the hell?" she said as she squinted at the bowl, which was filled with a thick cream.

Taking a step towards her, Chat reached out a hand and swiped up a bit of the cream from where it had splattered onto Marinette's cheek. With no regard for the fact that it could literally be poison (her Lucky Charm could be unpredictable), he licked it off his glove.

Marinette blushed. She wished she hadn't. Spending all this time around Chat Noir was making her brain was all sorts of glitchy.

Suddenly, he started laughing, loud enough to alert the Boomer to their presence. Marinette smacked a red gloved hand over his mouth, shushing him through gritted teeth. Down below, the Boomer started demanding, "Who's there!? Get off my lawn, ya whippersnappers!" Luckily, he was looking around wildly, seemingly unsure where the whippersnappers he was searching for were.

"What's wrong with you?" Marinette hissed, taking her hand back.

Pointing a clawed finger at the bowl, Chat giggled, "It's banana pudding. OId people love banana pudding."

Marinette slapped a hand onto her own face this time, groaning. "Wonderful. We get to fight Mister Explode Stuff with banana pudding."

"Delicious banana pudding." Chat added before reaching out again with his greedy paws, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Marinette slapped his hand away from the banana pudding bowl, scowling.

"No, bad kitty. Focus."

Chat pouted a bit at that, but agreed. Together, the two propelled themselves up and off the building. While Chat Noir got to duck and roll as he landed, Marinette had to carefully squat as she landed in order to keep the banana pudding in its bowl.

"You! Hoodlums! Whippersnappers! You appreciate nothing!" the Boomer screamed as soon as he saw them. Then, he started chucking the discs at them.

Up close, Marinette realized that they were a lot smaller than she had originally thought. Each disc was only a bit over a centimeter long and was somewhat opaque - or well, it was, in between its warning flashes, that is. Thankfully each disc ten or so good seconds, its flashes occurring faster and faster until - boom . Her and Chat had plenty of time and warning to jump away from each bomb before they went off.

If the Boomer hadn't been so stinking old, his abilities could have easily have made him one of the most dangerous villains they had ever faced. The explosions from each little disc produced clouds of dirt and dust that were taller than Marinette. Watching them go off reminded her of old war movies with mortar fire.

"Those discs are no joke, Chat! Be careful!" Marinette yelled over at her partner, who was several yards away.

"Chips!" he yelled back.

Marinette blinked in confusion. "What!?"

"They're chips - bingo chips, I think!" Then, as if he just couldn't resist the temptation, Chat added, "We probably have to take… a few gambles!" He grinned large and looked hopefully towards Marinette, as if she might congratulate him for his pun.

She didn't.

Instead, she raised the bowl of banana pudding above her head and shouted, "Good evening sir! I've got some banana pudding! Would you like some?"

The Boomer seemed to thoroughly consider his offer.

It helped when Chat added, "It's delicious! Freshly made!"

"Did you make it the way it's supposed to be made!?" the Boomer howled his question as he slowly adjusted himself and his walker to face them.

"Um… yes. Of course," Marinette replied.

"What's that!? I can't hear you!"

"Yes sir, it is made correctly!" Marinette all but shouted this time.

"None of that fake vegan shit?" the Boomer's voice dropped, sounding less angry and more cautiously curious. "Real milk and good ole American bananas?"

"I'm pretty sure that there is no such thing as American bana-" Chat began to say.

"Chat, shut. Up," Marinette snapped at her partner, before replying kindly to the Boomer, "Yes, sir, completely American bananas! Whole milk and, uh, whole… butter."

"Whole butter," repeated Chat with a quirked eyebrow and a grin. Marinette shrugged in response.

It seemed good enough for the Boomer. Mumbling under his breath, the akumatized old man began to waddle over to them.

It took awhile.

It didn't help that there were plenty of curves that Boomer had to delicately raise his walker over and then each foot. Chat made a point of yawning and checking an imaginary watch on his wrist. Almost three full minutes later, Boomer made it over to the two heroes.

Marinette held out the banana pudding, forcing the friendliest smile she could muster onto her face. Boomer didn't smile back, but he also didn't look particularly displeased as he took both hands off his walker and reached for the banana pudding.

"Now, Chat," Marinette grunted through her fake smile.

"Cataclysm!" His right hand become enveloped in black bubbling energy.

"What in tarnation -!" the old man exclaimed, flailing his arms as he rocked and stumbled backwards.

Chat's claws came down on the walker, splicing through it. As the pieces fell apart, a glowing butterfly fluttered up and out of it. Marinette wasted no time. Shifting the banana pudding to one hand, she used the other to throw her yoyo at akuma, catching it. A quick yank brought the yoyo back to her hand. Using her thumb, she drew a quick line down the yoyo, releasing the now purified akuma.

She hummed proudly. Sometimes, she and Chat were criminally good at their jobs.

Meanwhile, the old man continued to backup unsteadily, muttering under his breath something like, this is why I don't trust dangnabbing technology.

Then, Chat gasped, "Mari!" She tore her gaze away from the white butterfly and over to him. "Chips!" In the next, painstakingly long, second, she followed his gaze, which was not on her but rather on the ground below them. The ground, which was littered with a hundred orange chips, each blinking faster and faster.

Oh no.

If she did her reset now, it wouldn't matter. Her gut reaction took over and she hurled the banana pudding, bowl and all, into the air. In her peripheral vision, she registered that Chat was crouching, about to spring backwards. He hesitated as she, with her one-track mindset, began to scream, "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

She was still screaming bug when Chat, cursing fiercely, darted forward instead, grabbed her, and jumped.

The bombs went off half a breath before her reset charm swallowed the sky.

- x - x - x -
A/N: Dangnabbing technology, always causing explosions.

This chapter was last edited on 6/25/2019.