In which they have words with the mayor.

For his second year of lycée, Adrien would be attending the same school as Marinette, Alya, and Nino. They were utterly floored! His father was actually allowing him to leave his prestigious school for their average one.

The kicker was that Adrien hadn't even asked.

He'd been prepared to suffer in silence for the next few years. School wasn't all that bad. The material was challenging and the teachers were nice but the students were…well. Not all of them were bad. In fact some were great! He'd just never realized how patient Nino must have been in order to be his friend or how lucky he was Nino had been there to break the ice and bridge the gap left by his inadequate social skills. That bridge was hard to cross by himself. He couldn't blame his peers, either. It was difficult to be friends with someone whose days were strictly planned and scheduled, whose father wouldn't allow sleepovers or many house visits period, who couldn't just 'hang out' whenever; someone who had to sneak off to battle akuma and spent nights patrolling the city. As a result, he had people he spoke to and worked with when possible, but he didn't really have…friends.

His father called him into his office just a few days after Volpina's defeat and asked him if he was happy at his school. Not if he enjoyed the courses, if the teachers and curriculum were adequate, if he felt he wasn't being challenged…his father wanted to know if he was happy. Adrien wasn't quite sure what to do or say. His father hadn't inquired after his happiness since…he wasn't even sure how long it had been. He'd always just assumed Adrien was content or didn't care.

He decided he couldn't waste the opportunity and told the truth. "No."

Gabriel's next question threw him for a loop. "Would you be happier if you were with your friends?"

"Yes," Adrien blurted out before he could do something stupid like squeak or fall out of his chair.

His father was quiet for a long minute. He seemed to be sizing Adrien up, taking in every detail in front of him. Then, at long last, he nodded. "Then I will have Nathalie make the arrangements to have you transferred, but I expect you to maintain top marks in all your studies."

Adrien did never find out why his father had a sudden change of heart. He didn't much care to press the issue, either. He would just appreciate it.

Nino, Alya, and Marinette wholeheartedly agreed. Loudly. And with great enthusiasm.

"You're happy this evening," Ladybug noted as they bounded across the rooftops, Chat Noir running on all fours like his namesake. He hadn't stopped smiling since he'd arrived which she found odd considering their destination.

"I got some awesome news today!" Chat explained. "Probably the best all year!"

Ladybug smiled, thinking of the other blonde boy in her life. "Me too," she agreed. As far as good news went, Adrien going to school with her again was pretty stellar.

"Really?" He threw a grin in her direction before they leaped across the open air between buildings.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this, then." Ladybug suggested when they landed. "I mean, if we're both having such good days, why ruin it?"

They knew they had to have a chat with the mayor eventually. He had passive aggressively been inviting them to do exactly that on live TV, but they knew that there would be a big media buzz when they did and they weren't sure they were ready to fan the flames stoked by Volpina. There were already people questioning the effectiveness of the heroes. True, Volpina had been defeated, but they'd allowed her to strike over a dozen times before taking her down. Thankfully, no one was aware that they'd sought outside help. Neither Alya nor Max was talking and Frankie had not gone public about finding them in what surely had been in intimate embrace as they'd slept on her balcony. They were extremely fortunate.

Somehow, Chat had learned that Mayor Bourgeois was working late into the night every day this week since Volpina's demise. Under the cover of night, they would be easily able to slip into his office to have a chat with him about circumstances and events. They were just worried how he was going to take their arrival or their decision. Bourgeois was not the brightest man. True he cared for his city but sometimes he seemed a bit drunk on his power. Neither enjoyed working in proximity to him.

Chat Noir's smile slipped but he did not slow down. "No. We can't put this off forever. Things will only get worse the longer we wait."

Ladybug sighed and didn't argue. They'd put off this conversation partially because they wanted a break but also because they'd wanted to make it clear that they were not at Mayor Bourgeois's beck and call. She wouldn't put it past the man to do something drastic if that was what it took to get their attention, though. Chat was right. Better just get it over with.

"Security here is shit," Chat Noir muttered. They hadn't come in the front door but they'd still managed to make it to his office door unaccosted. Honestly, what if they'd been trying to hurt him? Hopefully no one unsavory would ever realize how unprotected the mayor was.

Ladybug shrugged indifferently then knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came the muffled reply a moment later.

Chat Noir pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding it open for Ladybug to enter afterwards. Mayor Bourgeois sat behind his desk. He was dressed in a suit like always but his usual sash was absent. His jaw clicked shut and he frowned at the heroes. Without a word, he gathered the papers that were spread out across his desk and began shuffling them into a neat pile.

Chat nudged the door shut with his foot. He stayed one step behind Ladybug as they approached the desk. Normally they would present themselves side by side as equals but this time Ladybug would take the lead. Though he publically treated both heroes equally, they knew from experience that Bourgeois, like his daughter, preferred and deferred to Ladybug. It annoyed Chat Noir to no end but he had to put up with the man enough as Adrien and this was a delicate situation, so if regulating himself to being her imposing shadow would get the best results, that's what he'd do.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir," Mayor Bourgeois greeted them stiffly. "So nice of you to finally come. It only took you a week. Perhaps a bit of punctuality would be better next time. I would have preferred if you had come in the daytime as well."

"We didn't want to," Ladybug replied evenly. "Nor did we want to deal with the media circus it would have caused. But we're here now and we're listening."

Bourgeois eyed them with irritation for a moment and Chat felt his ears lowering of their own accord. He did not try to straighten them.

"Straight to the point, then. I want to know the identity of the young woman who terrorized this city."

"Volpina," Ladybug answered swiftly. "Under the influence of Papillon."

The mayor gritted his teeth. "You know what I mean."

"I do. But we won't tell you her name."

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard her," Chat retorted curtly. "You're not going to get anything from us."

Mayor Bourgeois gawked at them for a long minute, mouth opening and closing like a fish. Ladybug and Chat folded their arms, a united and immovable front, while they waited for the man to make his comeback. He would bluster now, Chat knew. Throw out some excuses, pull rank, anything he could think of to bully an answer out of them. Fortunately, neither of them had to answer to him and their respect for his authority only went so far. …And Bourgeois seemed to realize that.

"Why?" he finally demanded.

"What would you do to her if you knew who she was?" Ladybug asked. "Drag her out into the streets and humiliate her?"

"The people of this city deserve justice."

"So you'd arrest her and take her to court?" she scoffed. "Then what? She was an akuma. You have no case against her, no way to incriminate her for what she did, not without dragging every single other akuma victim through the same thing. All…" she paused, as if trying to remember how many there'd been.

"There's been well over a hundred of them now," Chat supplied helpfully. "And not a single one of them ever has been blamed for their actions."

Ladybug nodded once. "If you want to blame someone, blame Papillon, but I won't—we won't let you ruin a girl's life like that."

The mayor's teeth clicked together sharply. "So you're refusing to cooperate."

"We are," Chat agreed with a nod.

"I am the mayor of this city, I have—"

"And we're the reason it's still standing!" he shot back with an annoyed roll of his eyes

The Mayor was quiet for a moment and then his expression morphed into a grim scowl that Chat Noir didn't like one bit. "As the mayor, I have a say on who and what is allowed to occur in my city. You two, thus far, have been permitted to operate outside the normal boundaries law because we acknowledge that you are the best defense we have against a force that also exists outside the law. …As well as laws of science. However, one word from me and that allowance disappears."

Chat Noir flattened his ears and fought back a growl building deep in his chest. He could feel his tail lashing behind him, whipping through the air in short, jerky motions. Ladybug, however, went completely still. He couldn't quite see her expression from his peripheral vision and he didn't want to take his eyes off Bourgeois to check but he had a funny feeling that it promised murder. Whatever it was, combined with his own glower, was enough to make major clench his jaw nervously.

"Are you threatening us?" Ladybug's voice was quiet but as hard and cold as ice.

Mayor Bourgeois' expression faltered but his voice did not. "If you're refusing to cooperate with us then your actions can and will be deemed as 'taking the law into your own hands'. That makes you vigilantes."

Chat hissed. Ladybug held up her hand and he stymied the animalistic response. "Fine," she said simply. "So be it." With that, she turned around and strode towards the door. He wasn't quite sure what she was playing at here but followed behind without protest. "Good luck with the akuma," she called over her shoulder.

"Wait!" the mayor called.

They whipped their heads around, perfectly in sync.

"You can't just—"

Oh, you wanna bet? Chat thought with a contemptuous laugh. "Watch us."

"This is how it's going to be, Monsieur Mayor," Ladybug warned him. "Either you accept that we will not expose Volpina and let us continue as we are or we walk away and let Paris save itself. Nothing you can say will ever change our minds."

"You may think you're all powerful," he added spitefully. "But you have no power over us."

"So what's it going to be?"

Several blocks away from Hôtel de Ville, the heroes of Paris stood on the edge of a building and stared across their city.

"I can't believe we just did that."

"Me either."

The next day the mayor announced that they would no longer be pursuing any leads on Volpina's identity. After careful consideration, he had decided it would benefit no one to drag her out into the open. She could not be held responsible for her actions any more than any other akuma and since Paris had suffered no lasting harm thanks to Ladybug's cure, the only thing to seek justice for was wounded pride. That hardly justified the damage it would cause to the young lady's reputation.

"Can you believe this guy?!" Plagg demanded and then hurled his piece of half-eaten camembert at the TV, ignoring his host's protests.

Tikki did not throw any food at her own host's screen but she did fold her arms and let out a quiet, angry buzz. "I do not like that man."

Mayor Bourgeois was smart enough not to speak against them publically; he wouldn't risk calling their bluff. And it wasn't a bluff. It would terrify her, but Marientte was willing to stand back and let an akuma rampage for a long time if that's what it took to show the mayor she was serious. She wasn't going to let that man give her or Chat orders. Once he started, he would never stop. They were Guardians, not weapons to be used by the government whenever it suited them or dogs to be ordered around.

Besides, as much as she enjoyed the exhilaration of being a hero, Chat absolutely relished it. He'd once admitted that it was one of the only things he truly loved about his life. She would not let anyone take that from him and especially not because of Lila.

They hadn't heard a peep from or about her since they'd dropped her off on the ground. Hopefully it would stay that way and she'd just fade into the background. Papillon was being uncharacteristically quiet as well and Marinette didn't like that nearly much. Despite the turmoil of the city and the watchfulness of her parents, Marinette couldn't help feel like this was the calm before the storm. The whole thing had blown over too easily.

Guardians were, on the whole, a proud bunch. At some point or another, they all took pride in being chosen for it meant they were better, worthier, than those around them. It meant they were strong enough even as children to do things that others who were their superiors in every way could not. They took pride in their mantle. They took pride in their powers, their strengths, their accomplishments, and their victories, as well as those of the other Guardians. They all shared the same burden, after all.

There would come a time in every Guardian's life where their pride was the only thing they had left. Even when the world around them forgot, their pride remained as a testament to all they had fought for and achieved.

Ladybug was but an infant compared to other Guardians alive and her pride as a Guardian was only just beginning. The anger she felt towards Lila was but a fraction of what a Guardian even ten years her senior would have experienced in face of her deceitful claims. Yet even then it paled in comparison to what she would have felt if Lila had claimed to be Ladybug.

And in the midst of all the chaos, between avoiding the mayor and press, and trying to maneuver through the shockwaves her most recent attack had left on their lives, both Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to overlook the single, important thing. The Fox was real.