"I'll let you in on a little secret. I always add cream to the chocolate to make the ganache extra velvety. Then I let infuse for one minute." Mr. Dupain explained from the teachers desk to the students gathered around him. It was Saturday at the school, and Marinette's father came in to teach the students some simple baking techniques.
"I love it when your dad comes to class and gives us pastry lessons!" Alya whispered to Marinette, smiling as she filmed the baking lesson.
"So does he!" Marinette giggled, her eyes sweeping over her classmates who were fascinated with the lesson. Only one not there was Ella- she was at an appointment with a lawyer or something, Adrien had mentioned. At that thought, Marinette had to hold back her frown. She knew Ella was under Mr. Agreste's care (thanks to being Ladybug), and only had to make the little leap to theorize she was staying at... Adrien's house...
The blunette bit her lip, trying to beat down the jealousy in her chest. It hurt that all this was happening, but she knew none of it was Ella's fault or probably choice. The girl had no relatives in Paris that she had mentioned, and she'd never get adopted if she became a ward of the city since she's already 16...
Marinette sighed, turning her gaze from the floor to her classmates, and spotted Chloé dialing someone on her phone and whispering. Marinette cocked in confusion.
"Now we need to chill it for half an hour. Marinette?" Said girl gasped at her dad calling her name.
"Yes, dad?"
"Could you put this in the school cafeteria fridge for me, please? In the meantime, I'm going to show your friends how to whip up egg whites!"
"Of course!" Marinette took the bowl of chocolate from her father and headed out the door. Once the wood was closed behind her, Tikki popped her head from her spot in the blunette's purse.
"Mmm, can I get a taste?" Marinette giggled at her kwami, shaking her head.
"Not yet, Tikki. Control that sweet tooth of yours."
"Mari?"
Marinette jerked her head up, her eyes finding Ella coming up the stairs. She had a bunch of folders and papers in her arms and a rather run-down look on her face.
"Hey Ella- you okay?"
"Yeah- just been a long morning already. Did I miss the baking lesson?"
"No- my dad's still going if you wanna head inside. I'm just putting this in the fridge in the cafeteria-"
The teen was cut off by the fire alarm blaring suddenly. Both teens jumped, Ella dropping a few papers in fright. The class door opened and everyone began filing out towards the pair. Adrien saw them- more specifically Ella- and ran over.
"How'd the meeting go?" He asked in a quiet voice, barely heard by Marinette's ears over the bustle of the class walking by. The blunette bit her lip again and moved her gaze to her father approaching her side.
"I hope it's only a fire drill."
Marinette groaned at her father's words, realizing Chloé must have done something- given the smug look the blonde just gave her and the phone call in the middle of the lesson.

"So, some smart aleck had the bright idea of calling the fire department."
Ella sighed, wishing she hadn't even come back to school after the meeting Mr. Agreste had set up. Adrien stood beside her, holding some of the folders she had; the teen was biting at the bit to know what happened, but Ella promised she would tell him later.
"Somebody amongst us thought it would be funny to waste the fire captain's valuable time." Mr. Damocles continued, eyeing the student body.
"Yes, in fact, if you wouldn't mind I..." The fire chief spoke, starting to turn and exit the school.
"Hold on! I want the guilty party to apologize to you." The poor firefighter sighed.
"I'm sure it was Chloé. I saw her on her phone right before the alarm went off!" Ella and Adrien heard Marinette whisper to Alya, all three of them glancing back at Chloé.
"You seeing her make a phone call isn't solid proof."
"Mr. Damocles, sir?" Chloé raised her hand, drawing all eyes to her.
"Yes, Miss Bourgeois?"
"I saw a student leaving the classroom right before the alarm went off. It must have been her."
"Really? Who was it?"
"Let's see if she'll come clean. What do you say, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"
"This girl..." Ella mumbled, rubbing the heel of her hand into her forehead.
"Marinette, do you have something to tell the firefighter captain?"
"Excuse me, sir!" Adrien spoke quickly, raising his own hand, "It couldn't possibly be Marinette. Why would she disrupt her own father's cooking class?"
"And I know for a fact that Marinette didn't even have her phone on her when she went out of the classroom." Alya piped up next.
"And I- umm..." Ella started but froze when Mr. Damocles' gaze shifted to her. But Adrien gently nudged her hand with his and whispered 'it's okay'.
"I ran into Marinette as she left the room. We were talking until the alarm went off." Ella finished, her voice shaky under the intense glare of the principal.
"Mr. Damocles, I must be heading out." The fire chief tried again, pulling the attention off the noirette, who shuddered and took a deep shaky breath.
"Great job, Elle..." Adrien whispered, smiling and giving her hand a discrete squeeze.
"Thanks mon étoile..."
"Just one more second. We're very close to discovering the truth." Mr. Damocles stopped the man again, making him droop.
"Oh well, we all know it can't be me!" Chloé sassed again, swishing her hair off her shoulder.
"I'm not gonna let her get away with this. I've gotta tell..."
"Hang on, Marinette," Adrien placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, not noticing the blush he caused, "we don't know for sure it was her." He spoke low, his eyes glancing back at his childhood friend.
"He's right. Let's not stoop to her level." Alya tagged in.
"We'll figure it out, Mari." Ella added, smiling gently.

"I really have to leave now. Just call me if you find out who the prankster is." The fire chief tried once more, turning to leave, but Mr Damocles stopped him.
"Fine. Since no one is owning up, the whole school will be punished." The fireman groaned, while the students gasp at the punishment.
"What?! I'm not so sure my father will react kindly to me being punished without any proof!" Chloé pulled out her phone, preparing to call her dad with a smirk on her face.
"Oh, no! Please, don't disrupt the busy mayor." Mr. Damocles panicked, before amending his punishment.
"The whole school is punished except for Miss Bourgeois!"
"That's more like it." Chloé sassed, putting her phone away once more.
"Now you know how we deal with anyone who misuses the fire department's time." The principal addressed the students, who groaned and grumbled at the turn of events. The fire chief rushed out the door before he could be stopped again and the students began to disperse.
"Help me put these in my locker?" Ella asked Adrien with a sweet smile.
"Of course!" The blond followed the noirette, leaving Marinette and Alya to stare after them.

"How was the meeting? What did my dad and the lawyer say?"
Adrien asked the moment the pair entered the locker room. Ella stayed silent a moment as she led the way to her locker beside his own and opened the metal door.
"The police found an uncle down in New Zealand..." She started, placing a few folders up on the top shelf.
"What?!"
"He wants nothing to do with me- he's my father's brother. Thinks I deserved everything..." Ella frowned sadly, shifting her weight to take some of the other folders from the blond.
"Then obviously you aren't moving to New Zealand."
"No... but a guardian has been found..." Adrien stared in shock as Ella rifled through a specific stack before handing him a sheet. It took the teen's green eyes a few tries to read what was typed there but once it registered in his brain, he was ecstatic- moving even beyond that.

"Nathalie's gonna adopt you!? This is great!" Adrien cheered, reacting without thinking and wrapping his arms tight around Ella. His brain caught up a second later when he felt her go taut and the shaking began.
"Shoot- I'm sorry Elle!" He apologized, backing away and holding his hands up placatingly. The girl took a few seconds to breath before she nodded and held out her hand for him to grab.
"I'm good... yeah, she and your father said it would make the most sense- especially since I sold the family business to your father anyways."
Adrien's eyes couldn't get any wider. He must have looked hilarious cause Ella started laughing, her face turning red in an effort to keep the giggles in.
"You sold the jewelry business to my dad?" He finally got out, robotically handing the girl the rest of the folders.
"Yeah, that was part of the meeting too. I want nothing to do with it and he wanted to expand his reach in the fashion world, so it was a win-win. I got way more than I asked for it, so my college fund is full, and he wants me to still model pieces he picks and designs. He also promised to keep the employees from the store locations. They shouldn't suffer because the owners changed." Ella finished, stacking the last folders atop the others and shutting her locker. She sighed and took a seat on the bench. Adrien frowned at the change in attitude, sitting beside her quick- and with a glance around and seeing no one else nearby- wrapped an arm around her waist.
"What's wrong? What else happened at the meeting?" Ella was silent for a heartbeat before she shuddered and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"My father has a court date set. I need to testify to make sure he goes away for good."

...
Initial reaction was to protest.
Adrien didn't want Ella to have to go through all those memories again. She was doing so much better now (at least around him) and he didn't want her retreating back behind her walls.
"I know what you're thinking... you really do wear your heart on your sleeve..." That soft whisper spoke and a gentle hand took his own.
"I just don't want you to go through it again..." He sighed, pressing his cheek against her hair.
"I know... and while I don't want to either, if I don't testify, there's a chance he'll walk with some community service and I could end up back in his care-"
"I won't let that happen!" Adrien seethed, his mood shifting faster than Chloé's on a bad day.
"I know, Adrien, I know..." Ella shifted, pressing a feather light kiss to his neck. The blond felt his face flush scarlet and he had to hold back the urge to squirm under the warmth spreading through this chest down... oh lord he really was a teenage boy!
"But I have to do this. I have to make sure he gets what he deserves..." Ella continued, unaware of what she was doing to him.
"W-well I'll be there to support you the whole way." His voice caught at the start, still affected by her kiss, but he cleared his throat and put his head back atop hers.
"Nathalie wants me to go to a teen group therapy too- to talk everything out."
"Why can't you just talk to me?"
"Cause I can't keep piling everything on you, mon étoile. The trauma I've gotta face isn't something I can easily talk about with you- I need an actual psychologist. And Nathalie said being a group session would help me connect with teens my age who've gone through the same or similar situations. She and I also talked... about your father's rules. Since I'm still living under his roof, Nathalie still wants me to follow what he says... but I can at least go outside to the park- when I need to get away from everything... as long as I let her or Gorilla know where I'm going."
"And me." Adrien added quickly, ignoring the slight twinge of jealousy at Ella's words; that she was allowed to leave the house, if only to relieve her anxiety and panic, "I want to know where you are, even and especially when I can't be at your side."
The rest of the couple's conversation was cut off by Mr. Damocles's voice echoing through the school, calling the students to the courtyard to begin their punishment. Ella sighed, shifting to stand. Adrien followed, waiting until the very last moment to remove his arm from her waist.
"I know it's hard, but one day we can be out in the open with everything- like Cat Noir and Raven." Ella said with a small smile. Adrien smirked, his ego boosting a little at the notion of acting like how Cat Noir acts around Raven with Ella... but the good mood went away with that realization once again, that he'd have to end things with Raven as Cat Noir if he and Ella went public...
"What's got your thoughts in a tizzy? I thought you liked Cat Noir and Raven as a couple." Ella's voice pulled Adrien from his thoughts.
"I just... I was just thinking- they don't know each other in real life, you think?" Ella shrugged.
"Who knows? Why?"
"Well- could you do that? Be in a relationship with someone as one person but have a crush on someone as another?"

Inside (and noticeably outside), Ella started panicking. Where the heck was all this coming from!? Did Adrien figure out she was Raven?! There was no way- she was always crazy careful! She knew she wanted to tell Adrien who she really was but how could the boy figure it out on his own?! And it was too soon! She wasn't ready to spill she was really Raven! He'd accuse her of cheating on him with Cat Noir! He'd leave her!
Oh crap- the room was starting to tilt... her hands were starting to tingle...
Wait- weren't her hands usually clammy during a panic attack? Why were they warm?
The warmth made its way into her panicking thoughts and the scent of lavender permeated her senses. With a shaky short breath, Ella inhaled the familiar fragrance. A couple more deep inhales and about half the panic ebbed from her system.
"You okay?" Adrien's voice filled her ears and Ella felt the rest of the panic flow away as his familiar presence and smell washed over her.
"Y-yeah... I-I'm good... sorry..."
"What have I said about apologizing for having a panic attack?"
"Not to?"
"Exactly." Adrien moved the small vial of essential oil away from her face and returned it to his own pocket. He smiled down at her, making Ella's cheeks flush red.
"You good to go? I think we might be the last ones out to the group."
"I'm okay... yeah, let's go."