Marinette pushed the squeaky door to her office open, grateful for the closet office's peace and quiet. She had spent the night at her parent's house but getting out this morning had caused a fuss. They wanted her to visit more or at least to text them more, but Marinette hadn't wanted to get their hopes up. Chances were she wouldn't be getting back to the bakery any time soon. As for the texting situation, she could probably make more of an effort to text them when she was home, but her phone now remained off during work hours.

Just as Marinette was about to shut the door, and effectively shut out the rest of the world, she heard her name. It was whispered, but she could hear it bouncing around those outside the office. With a flash of annoyance, she poked her head out of the door just to shut them up. She had endured her fair share of snide comments made about her by Chloe and even Lila back in her youth, but she would have thought the petty gossip would have stopped now that she was an adult working at what was supposed to be a professional workplace. However, when she saw who was doing the whispering, she paled.

The American CEOs rarely visited the small fashion building, but when they did, Marinette had heard rumors that they didn't leave without dismissing someone. The fact that her name was the one being uttered under the collective breaths of the small group of company heads was definitely not a good sign. Part of her wanted to retreat into her office and hide from the group, but she also knew that she would only drive herself mad holed up inside the office knowing it would only be so long before they came in to speak with her. Holding her head high, she abandoned the thoughts of hiding and approached the group.

"I'm sorry," she said, as she reached the group. "I couldn't help but hear my name. Is there something I can help you with?"

The faces of the other workers around her were priceless. She knew many of her coworkers probably thought she had a death wish, but she only wanted to know the truth. Why were they talking about her? If they were going to fire her, then they might as well say so.

A blonde woman turned to face her, her eyes full of surprise and what looked a little like guilt. Marinette found that interesting since people such as Chloe and Lila never felt guilt when talking about her behind her back. Marinette crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow. The woman cleared her throat, her momentary show of shock fading.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"That's me," Marinette agreed, hoping the woman couldn't sense how nervous she really felt.

"A part of you," the woman corrected, giving Marinette a smile full of unnaturally white teeth. "There's more to you than just a simple fashion designer, isn't there?"

Marinette felt the confusion set in. She thought for sure the woman would launch into excuses about how costs were too high to keep everyone in their company on payroll, and how Marinette was the newest of the workers. She wasn't positive where this conversation was heading, but she hoped that it steered clear of where she thought it was going.

"I suppose everyone here has more to them than just fashion design," Marinette answered slowly. "Surely they have families and other passions beyond this company. I'm no different."

The woman's smile didn't falter, but Marinette could see the strain in the woman's eyes. She wasn't doing herself any favors if this woman was truly trying to determine who to keep on and who to let go, but Marinette was rather irritable at the moment. The woman's eyes finally looked away from Marinette and down to a tablet in her hand. Marinette found herself following the woman's gaze.

"I keep track of every advertisement and mention our company has in the media," the woman explained, scrolling on the tablet. "What I found in the latest advertisement was quite the shock."

Marinette felt dread settle into her stomach as the woman turned the tablet around so Marinette could see it. The advertisement wasn't more than Alya had said it would be-it truly was a simple mention in her article. However, what had been written was enough to send ice down Marinette's spine.

LGW Fashion offers super deals on designs inspired by our very own superhero, Ladybug!

There was more to the advertisement than that, but Marinette didn't need to read the rest. She knew what had happened before the woman had finished showing her the advertisement.

"You're firing me because I'm Ladybug."

It wasn't a question. It made sense to Marinette; it was a conflict of interests. She pushed the anger she could feel in her chest down, knowing that making a scene in front of her coworkers wouldn't do her any good.

"Firing you?" the woman with the tablet spluttered. "Of course not! Why would we do that?"

Marinette furrowed her brow, really not sure what was happening now. "If you're not here to fire me, then what are you doing here?"

"I had no idea that when we hired the French girl who had no experience that we were actually hiring Ladybug, the superheroine of Paris. I've lived in New York for most of my life, and all those years ago when you saved our city, I've always been intrigued by you and that boy in the catsuit."

Marinette felt her emotions swirl inside of her, but she kept her cool. She had already made a few too many snide comments, and she knew that at this point she should keep her mouth shut and let the woman in front of her tell her bit.

"Do you know what you could do for our company?" the woman continued, seeming encouraged by Marinette's lack of response. "Gabriel was taken down because of the scandal of Gabriel Agreste-but having Ladybug work at our company could get us to the top. You've taken down a fashion emperor, and now you can crown a new one!"

Marinette felt sick. She backed up a step back toward her office. Back when she had thought she was getting fired, her heart had been beating hard. Now it was positively pounding.

"You want me to use my image as Ladybug to get your fashion company off the ground?"

"That's how business works, Sweetie," the woman pressed, her smile becoming less friendly. "Gabriel would never have reached his peak if it weren't for Audrey Bourgeois. It's a dog eats dog world here in the fashion business. All we would need is for you to power up and take a few pictures with our company logo. We could even sell the designs you work on with a little ladybug embroidered or something of the sort for more. Then you could have your own logo of sorts, and we'd become widely popular! You'd be famous for more than just being Paris's superhero! You'd be a world-famous..."

"No."

Marinette watched as the woman's excited expression slowly changed to one of anger. She had expected the woman to be angry, but as the woman began to tremble, Marinette realized that the woman was furious. She stood her ground, keeping her arms folded over her chest. She had fought countless villains with superpowers. She could handle a disgruntled fashion CEO.

"You can't be serious," the woman said at last. "You could have everything."

"No," Marinette corrected. "I could give you everything. But I won't."

"You selfish little-"

"Besides, I don't wear the earrings anymore," Marinette cut in before the woman could call her anything. She found it almost amusing how quickly the woman had gone from singing her praises to insulting her. "I couldn't help you even if I had wanted to."

"Where are they?" the woman asked, surprise breaking through her anger for a moment.

"Where they should be," Marinette responded, turning back toward her office. The conversation was over, whether the woman wanted it to be or not.

The click of heels was the only indication that the woman was following Marinette, but the young fashion designer didn't turn to acknowledge her. She grabbed a box from a shelf and started stuffing her belongings into it. Most of the fabric and designs in the room belonged to the LGW company, so she wouldn't have to take much. It helped that she hadn't been working here long enough to pile the office with her belongings.

"What are you doing?" the exasperated woman asked as Marinette dumped some old macaroons into the box.

"Oh, sorry," Marinette said, glancing up. "I quit."

"WHAT?"

If Marinette had thought the woman was angry before, she had been wrong. Veins bulged in the woman's neck and forehead, but Marinette simply pushed past the woman and out into the hallway.

"You can't just quit!" the woman called, running after Marinette. "You have to give two week's notice and turn in your resignation and-"

"I'm leaving," Marinette said flatly. "If you have a problem with that, then you can fire me."

"YOu'll ruin your career," the woman growled, clutching her tablet so tightly that Marinette was surprised the screen didn't crack.

"I doubt it," Marinette snorted. "There will always be someone willing to hire me."

"What makes you so sure?" the woman challenged, her voice full of acid.

"Because," Marinette sighed. "I'm Ladybug. And everyone would love to have her work for them."

"That was stupid."

"Shut up," Marinette said slamming her apartment door behind her.

"You quit?"

"I don't see why you care," Marinette muttered to the imaginary boy sitting in her kitchen.

"I care about you."

"You're nothing more than my conscience," Marinette muttered. "My mind playing cruel tricks on me to try to get me to make smart decisions. A type of what would Adrien say trick."

There was no answer and Marinette knew that if she were to look, Adrien would be gone. He wasn't real, no matter how many times he appeared in her mind to talk to her. She slammed her box down on the kitchen table next to her sewing machine and moved to the kitchen. For once she would have time to make herself a proper meal, and she planned on doing so even if it was only to keep Alya and her mother off of her back.

As she stirred her soup, she sighed to herself. She had been stupid to quit the job. She probably could have reasoned with them or created some sort of compromise. She had known that someone would bring up her superhero alter-ego eventually, but she had thought that it would have been from a much less important person. A coworker could be tolerated. She hadn't thought that anyone in America would have cared, but she had been wrong. Ladybug had far more influence than she had realized.

"I could move farther," she reasoned. "Somewhere no one would know who Ladybug was or why that was important."

"You couldn't," the voice responded. "You have the miracle box."

"It shouldn't be in Paris anyway," Marinette argued, pointing her wooden spoon at Adrien. "Maybe I should take it to Tibet and be done with it."

"True," Adrien said. "But then you'd be leaving your parents behind."

"I would visit," Marinette sniffed.

"No, you wouldn't."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. Like you've pointed out, I'm actually you."

Marinette blew some steam away from her soup, her frustration boiling in her chest. "Fine, maybe I could start with a trip to Tibet. I'll give them the box back and move back here and decide what to do then."

"Why haven't you done that, then?"

Marinette hesitated. She reached over to turn the burner off, not answering the question.

"You think it could be useful," her conscience version of Adrien filled in. "You could use it."

"I should take it to Tibet," Marinette argued. "If I use the miraculous for my own purposes, then I'm no better than Hawkmoth."

"Hawkmoth used it to hurt others to get a wish that would destroy the balance of the world. What you'd do would affect anyone else."

"It's still wrong. Master Fu-"

"Master Fu did it too, for something much less noble," Adrien countered.

"He regretted it," Marinette snapped irritably. "He lived with guilt for years. Need I remind you that his actions led to the destruction of all the other miraculous and the Tibet temple?"

"He was untrained. You're not."

"He trusted me," Marinette whispered.

"He doesn't even remember you."

The comment hurt, but Marinette knew it was true. When he'd given up the miracle box, his memories had been erased, which was another reason she hadn't gone to Tibet yet. She'd forget about being the guardian. She'd forget Chat Noir.

"I'd be betraying his trust regardless of whether he remembers me or not," Marinette said firmly, placing her pot of soup in front of her.

"Well, then, I guess we'll have to see," Adrien said, leaning back. Marinette watched the boy, feeling disturbed. She knew he wasn't real, but she was disturbed by how unlike Adrien he had become in her mind over the last few minutes. Real Adrien would never have suggested her using the miraculous for her own purposes, right?

"See what?" she questioned quietly.

"What's more important," Adrien said with a grin. "Master Fu's trust...or me."