Marinette paused at the door to the classroom, taking a moment to catch her breath. She was glad her attempt to be on time for once was successful, even if she did have to run the whole way there. No one noticed when she entered the room. They were all too busy watching the latest akuma attack from earlier that morning.

It had been a close call. The akuma's agility made the fight go on for much longer than she had anticipated, even after using her lucky charm. If she hadn't caught and purified the akuma before her timer ran out, there was no way she would have been able to escape.

Exhaustion finally set in as she dropped into her seat next to Alya. Her best friend was hunched over her phone, eyes glued to the screen. A nod in Marinette's direction was the only indication that Alya had even noticed her arrival. She wasn't concerned though. She knew that Alya's behaviour was only because she wasn't able to be there in person. Unfortunately, since the attack occurred on the other side of the city during school hours, she was forced to stay in class or risk getting detention.

Too tired to even pull out her own phone, Marinette settled for watching the report over Alya's shoulder. Nadja paused in her recount of the day's attack, her hand over her earpiece to hear better. "One moment, I'm getting some new information." Her eyes grew wide and she looked off-camera to confirm what she heard was real. She took a moment to compose herself, then continued. "Breaking news. It appears that earlier today, one of our reporters managed to discover the identity of one of Paris' beloved superheroes, Ladybug."

"What?" Alya stood up abruptly, almost dropping her phone in the process. She was quickly shushed by everyone in the room, and she sheepishly sat back down in her seat to continue watching. "I can't believe it," she muttered to herself. "The one day I'm not there."

The blood was pounding in Marinette's ears. Her already tired state made her feel ten times worse as the adrenaline kicked in and sent her heart into overdrive. She began to feel faint. She prayed that they had it wrong, that it was all a hoax, but she knew otherwise. She had been sloppy, and now she was paying for it.

Taking the notes handed to her by an assistant, Nadja glanced over the information. Her mouth opened as if to continue talking but no words came out. Instead, she stared at the name in front of her, looking visibly shaken.

The silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Alya sighed impatiently. She was beginning to get agitated. Eventually, Nadja regained herself and shook her head to clear it. Her voice shook a bit as she spoke but she still managed to sound firm. "I'm not reading this," she said.

Nadja paused for a moment as someone said something over the earpiece. "I will not read this," she repeated, louder. Marinette could hear someone off-camera arguing with the reporter. "She is a child! I'm not going to put her in danger." They argued back and forth before Nadja took her earpiece off and threw it angrily to the side.

"If you leave now you can consider your whole career over," a woman's voice yelled at her. Nadja spared one last look of disgust at her manager and walked off. The report abruptly cut to a screen displaying 'technical difficulties'.

Marinette stared blankly at the screen, her whole body frozen in shock. She could hear the sounds of her classmates but they seemed distant. She didn't know what to do. There was no running from something like this; she could only pray they were wrong.

Alya turned to face Marinette. "No way," she said in disbelief. "I was right! She really is our age. I can't believe this, we finally get to know who she is." Alya looked thrilled.

"You know," Marinette said. "exposing a hero's identity is dangerous." She was starting to feel a little out of breath as the panic rised up inside her.

Alya didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, yeah," she said in mock exasperation. "We've heard this speech a million times before."

Adrien turned around to face them. He looked worried. "You know," Adrien licked his lips nervously. "I agree with Marinette. This is bad."

Oh, not you too," Alya cried in exasperation. She looked between the two of them in disbelief. "She's Ladybug . She can handle herself."

Usually this would be the time when Marinette continued to defend Ladybug's privacy but none came. Marinette's attention was now locked onto the screen again, knowing it would only be moments before the report would start up again and ruin her life. A hand on her shoulder startled her enough to look up.

"Are you alright?" Alya asked. "You look a bit pale."

Marinette smiled to reassure her. "Yeah, I'm fine." She tried to laugh, but the sound was hollow to her ears. Her phone started ringing, the shrill sound making her jump. It continued to ring without her getting it, she already knew who it was.

"Uh, girl? Are you going to get that?" Alya asked, pointing at her bag.

Marinette swallowed thickly, eyeing her bag. With trembling hands she pulled out her phone; the caller ID showed Nadja Chamack. She shot a quick glance to Alya then stood up and moved closer to the door to take the call.

Nino called out to her. "What are you doing over there? You're going to miss it."

Marinette waved off his remark as she answered the phone. "Ms Chamack," she said quietly in greeting. She hoped her voice didn't carry to the other students.

"Marinette? Oh thank God you picked up. Listen, I don't know if you've seen the news yet, but," She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. They know who you are." Marinette knew it was coming but words still made her blood run cold. Nadja's voice became more distraught as she continued. "Look, I would never expose you like that but I can't stop them from reporting on it. I'm so sorry." She could now hear Nadja sniffling on the other end as she continued her apologies.

Hearing the tearful woman, Marinette felt compelled to comfort her. "Ms Chamack, I-"

"Marinette! The report's back on," Alya called out in excitement. This was all too much for her. She backed away further towards the door, desperate to get away. The sound of Ms Chamack crying over the phone stopped abruptly and Marinette had to check to make sure the call was still connected.

"Ms Chamack, are you there?" she asked, her voice was louder than before, no longer worried about attracting attention. No one answered.

From the speakers of the students' phones, Marinette heard a new voice speaking. "Apologies for the delay," they said. They had found someone else to report the findings. Her attention was now split between the phone call and the reporter.

"Earlier today, we discovered some shocking news. The identity of Ladybug, one of Paris' famous heroes, is none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a student at Françoise Dupont High School."

The reporter continued to talk but all Marinette could hear was the pounding of her heart. Nino's phone, closest to her, had fallen from his hands onto the desk. His eyes flickered rapidly between her and his phone. On the screen, she could make out a side-by-side comparison of her, smiling and waving to the camera, and Ladybug.

"This footage was recorded of Miss Dupain-Cheng de-transforming after the attack that occurred earlier this morning." They began to play the incriminating footage of the incident.

Marinette still had the phone by her ear as she watched her classmates' reactions. Most were openly staring at her, mouths gaping wide. Others were still watching the news report, unable to look away. Marinette was so used to the silence on the other end of the phone, that Nadja's, 'Yes, Hawk Moth,' almost made her drop it.

She knew she had to act fast. She opened the door behind her and made to leave but the movement drew the attention of her classmates. Glued to the spot by their stares, Marinette tried to improvise. "Oh, um. I just remembered I have to, uh," she motioned behind her. "go home! Right now." Before anyone could respond, she backed away through the door and pulled it shut behind her.

As she ran, she could hear the voices of her classmates as they realised what happened. There was no time to answer their questions; helping Ms Chamack was more important.

The fight itself wasn't that difficult, but the hordes of reporters certainly made it harder. They all wanted an exclusive interview with her, and their reckless attempts at getting her attention forced Ladybug and Chat Noir to rescue several dozen of them over the course of the fight.

Chat Noir remained the same towards her, continuing his barrage of bad jokes to help lighten the mood. She was glad for it. The familiarity helped her stay focused on the fight instead of what had happened.

Once the akuma was defeated, Chat Noir had to hold the reporters off as Ladybug had a talk with the latest victim. Nadja was confused at first but quickly realised what happened to her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remorsefully apologised. "I'm so sorry, Ladybug. I just felt so helpless. I should have done more, I could have stopped them."

"No, it's okay," Ladybug insisted. "There wasn't anything else you could have done." She helped Nadja up and leaned over to hug her. "Thank you though, for trying to help. I'm really glad to have people I can trust."

All around them, cameras flashed as they captured the moment between them.

AN: Feel free to give any constructive criticism on the story if you have any