Author Notes -
Restorative Justice Training:
My restorative justice training may have been the single most powerful professional development experience I've ever had. The person who facilitated my cohort's training, worked to train teachers at various schools and community programs for a living, and he did pro-bono work with prison inmates. He imparted over and over again that the worse the transgression, the better restorative justice practices worked.
Facilitator: Every abuser, every bully, every violent person was a victim first.
Me: But how would you approach the situation if they weren't a victim first?
Facilitator: I have never encountered an exception.
Me: Never?
Facilitator: Never.
This is not to excuse their behavior. But those who do harm are doing it to protect themselves from being hurt again. And if you can understand that, and you can help acknowledge and address the underlying issue, often the problematic behavior disappears.
…
Chapter 2 - Preparation
Two weeks had gone by and Chloé had made absolutely zero progress in her self-assigned secret mission, though it wasn't for lack of trying.
She had spent hours on the roof of the hotel with the bee signal trained towards the sky both during, and not during, akuma attacks hoping Ladybug would give her the time of day. Chloé wasn't sure what she was going to say exactly, but she figured Ladybug needed to know that she was going to lose her partner if she kept echoing the way his father treated him.
It hadn't mattered, because Ladybug never came. When the spotted heroine hadn't shown up over the course of several days, Chloé staged a loud conversation with Sabrina during class about how she wasn't even going to ask for the Bee Miraculous (though of course Ladybug would be better off with Chloé on her team). She just needed to give Ladybug some valuable intel.
But Ladybug still hadn't shown.
And neither had Chat Noir.
Which stung more than a little bit. Adrien had heard the conversation as well. And supposedly, he still considered her a friend. At least, that's what he said when she asked if he was mad at her for something. He had seemed genuinely confused at the question. But it wasn't like she could follow up with a "Then why didn't Chat Noir show up on my hotel roof when I asked him to?"
She supposed that neither of the heroes truly believed she had anything valuable to share with them.
God! She wanted to tear her hair from her scalp in frustration. They were both so dumb!
When contacting them as superheros failed, she figured that she would try their civilian personas.
Chloé had taken two steps toward Marinette one morning in the courtyard when the girl was there early for once before promptly changing her mind. Marinette was never ever going to hear her out. As Ladybug, the girl had to at least pretend to be neutral toward Chloé. But as Marinette? Absolutely no way!
Really, Chloé didn't need them to talk to her anyway. She just needed them to talk to each other with complete honesty. But as long as they didn't know who the other was they couldn't be that honest.
What if she just sent them anonymous notes in their lockers or something? It wouldn't even have to be long!
Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir.
Ladybug is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
Boom! Done! End of story.
Chloé had seriously contemplated it. She had the notes written out and everything. She was just waiting for the opportune moment to slip them into said lockers. But then the whole 'Lila planting evidence in Marinette's locker' thing happened. Clearly, lockers were not secure enough.
Chloé had shredded the notes.
And unfortunately, the blonde was back to trying to talk to Marinette. Chloé had found her alone at a table in the library during a study period. Marinette had five books sprawled out around her as she frantically scribbled on a piece of paper.
Chloé stood in front of the table expectantly. Marinette didn't even look up. Chloé cleared her throat dramatically, which only earned her a sparing glance before Marinette's attention was back on her reference book. The blonde thought about just asking if they could talk for a minute, like a normal person, but this was Marinette. And well, Chloé had never been reasonable with Marinette.
Especially not when Marinette was ignoring her.
So instead, Chloé went and collected two volumes of an encyclopedia before returning to Marinette's table. She then dropped the books unceremoniously from as high as she could comfortably reach. The heavy blue volumes hit the table with an explosion of sound.
Marinette jumped twenty centimeters from her seat, her gaze shooting up in indignant frustration.
"Chloé!" she shrieked. "What the hell?"
"You were ignoring me," Chloé observed.
Marinette sighed, rapidly moving to collect her belongings. "I seriously don't have time for this today. Can't you just disappear until tomorrow or something?"
"You need to listen to me!" Chloé insisted.
Marinette stacked up her reference books into a neat pile. "I don't need to do anything of the sort," Marinette told her before stuffing the last of her work back into her backpack, and leaving the blonde alone at the table.
In the library. With dusty books. Ugh.
Really, Chloé needed to just lock them in a closet together or something! Surely, Sabrina could come up with some scheme to get them in a room with no windows and a locked door. Surely, the hotel had some storage closet somewhere that they could use. Or maybe something at school would work better. Sabrina was amazing at getting people to do as she wanted. And God, that had come in handy on occasion. Adrien wouldn't be hard. He might even listen to Chloé, but she'd need Sabrina for Marinette. Only Sabrina could still trick Marinette.
It wouldn't really work though. Marinette would probably love the forced alone time with Adrien. And they were both so stubborn. They'd never reveal their identities just to get out of a locked room.
Her fingernails clicked on the desk in rapid succession like a series of grace notes.
They wouldn't reveal their identities for their own convenience, sure. But if someone else needed Ladybug and Chat Noir?
So, Chloé would just have to lock them in a room together and then inspire an akuma.
It wouldn't be that hard, would it? And creating an atmosphere for an akuma shouldn't be that challenging either, should it? Like, she had done it by accident how many times now?
How very heroic.
She quickly realized it couldn't work anyway. For them to know about an akuma, they'd have to have their phones, but if they had their phones, what would stop them from contacting Adrien's bodyguard or Alya and Nino to get out of the room?
She had tried to approach Adrien directly, too. She only had the five or so minutes before he had to be in his limo after their last class, being shipped off to whatever lesson he had going on that day.
"It's been a long time since we talked, Adri-kins," she told him. "We should set up a lunch date to catch up."
He smiled at her. "My schedule is really packed this week, Chloé. Maybe have your people call my people to set something up later in the month?" he said lightly, as he brought his fencing bag to his shoulder.
The brush off hurt more than a little bit. But of course he would want to spend every scrap of free time with his close friends.
Which was a very short list, and she was clearly no longer on it.
Maybe this whole idea wasn't worth it in the first place.
Like, why was she trying so hard to help Adrien when he barely gave her any of his time or attention anymore?
"But maybe I have something important and urgent to talk to you about," she admitted.
He tensed, his green eyes giving a cursory glance over her whole form. "Is something wrong?" He reached out a hand to her shoulder. "Has your mother…?"
She waved away his physical comfort. "My mother is in New York!" she snapped impatiently. "She hasn't spoken to me in weeks."
Which meant she couldn't have said anything hurtful to tear Chloé to pieces.
She had no reason to be upset.
None at all.
But his frown only deepened, and he stepped forward again.
And that's when she realized he probably would make time for her if she asked.
The idiot.
"It's nothing about any of that. I'm fine. I'm worried about you," she insisted emphatically.
And with those words he pulled away, and closed himself off immediately. "I'm fine, Chloé," he told her with that stupid pasted on fake smile. "What could I possibly have to complain about?" he asked her before walking to the door and waving farewell.
She had wanted to run after him so she could scream at him.
That had been three days ago.
She furiously wiped away the tears that were sliding down her cheeks.
Why couldn't she help him? Why wouldn't he let her? He was growing more withdrawn by the day! Not that anyone other than her seemed to notice. Which she couldn't understand! It was so obvious!
When he had first come to school, he had been an excited puppy anytime anyone included him in a conversation or invited him to some social outing. Chloé had assumed that the novelty of school and peers would eventually wear off, but a solid year later, it hadn't. He was still an excited puppy with any scrap of affection.
Or he had been until recently.
Adrien had been far less animated for the past week. He still smiled and said all the right things when people engaged with him, but it wasn't real. He was going through the motions. Pulling out the politeness and the charm that had been drilled into him as a child that grew up in the spotlight.
And normally, Chloé could have dismissed the change in behavior as a sign of fatigue. The akumas recently had been constant and brutal, and Gabriel showed no signs of easing up on Adrien's commitments or expectations.
But it was more than that because he hadn't transformed gradually over time as his responsibilities built up. No, he had changed from puppy Adrien to polite Adrien in the span of a few minutes. From sunshine-child to creature-of-the-night literally instantaneously.
Chloé had been in class sitting next to Sabrina as always, working on their project. Or well, letting Sabrina take notes on their project, but whatever.
Ayla and Marinette sat in their usual seats with their heads together with Nino sitting a few feet away occasionally laughing or shaking his head at whatever nonsense they were saying. Then Adrien had arrived late to class from a photoshoot of something.
"What are you guys talking about," he had asked as he took his seat next to Nino.
"N-nothing!" Marinette had stammered, her face turning tomato-red.
Nino rolled his eyes again. "Don't worry about it, dude. Girls are crazy."
And Chloé had watched Adrien's shoulders stiffen. And his eyes go flat. And of course there was that stupid polite smile in place. He was upset. He was upset that they his friends were keeping things from him.
And of course the other three keeping secrets from him would drive a wedge into his soul. How could they not know that? Chloé didn't care that they were doing it to protect whatever was left of Marinette's dignity.
Chloé didn't care about Marinette's dignity at all.
They were hurting him. Making him think they didn't trust him either.
Just like his father.
Just like Ladybug.
And since that day, he had stopped initiating conversations. He didn't talk about his favorite video games, or whatever anime he had binged that past weekend. He didn't light up like a supernova when Nino asked him to come to a party or the girls invited him out to ice cream.
And worse, he wasn't accepting their invitations. He was making excuses for why he couldn't even try.
Not even real excuses like whatever stupid lessons his father had him taking, but fake ones about being tired or needing to study.
As if! Adrien didn't really need to study. He was one of those obnoxiously intelligent kids who just absorbed academic knowledge through osmosis or whatever. And even if he needed to study, (which Chloé still doubted), he wouldn't miss out on time with his friends to do it. He would just stay up all night instead.
But he was declining invitations and she guessed everyone was just so accustomed to him not being able to come, that they didn't notice he had stopped trying. And the second his friends' eyes were off him, he would wilt like a plant without water.
And his so-called friends didn't notice that either! Not even Nino.
But Chloé noticed.
And she didn't like it.
And as loathe as Chloé was to admit it, Marinette wasn't faring any better. She was probably worse actually. The part-time superheroine had bags under eyes, and she was constantly falling asleep in class only to wake up screaming in pure terror.
Chloé did not want to know what those nightmares were about.
Then, the civilian side of Paris's savior and super heroine had randomly burst into tears at least twice in the last three days, and refused to explain to anyone - even Alya - what was upsetting her.
But that didn't mean Chloé had to help her. Marinette had made it clear that she didn't want Chloé's help, which was just fine because the feeling was completely and thoroughly mutual.
Marinette had always acted like she was some great authority on moral goodness. But Chloé knew Marinette was selfish, too. Marinette neglected responsibilities for her own gain, she lied more frequently than anyone realized, and she pushed her way into situations that were none of her business thinking she knew better than everyone, often making everything worse! Marinette always assumed the worst of Chloé even when she legitimately was trying to help.
Which is likely why Ladybug had always assumed the worst of Chloé even in the very beginning when Chloé had tried to help her locate Vanisher's akuma. Why Ladybug had been so insistent on seeing the worst in Queen Bee even right after she had helped Ladybug and Chat Noir rescue that runaway speed train.
The heroine hadn't been wrong in that instance, but that was hardly the point!
But then, something had changed when her father had been akumatized the first time. And the spotted heroine Chloé had so admired offered her compassion, a shoulder to cry on, and a second chance. Told her she wasn't useless and could become a hero if she wanted to be. Had invited her, Chloé, to race across rooftops and serve as her partner against a vicious akuma, when Chat Noir had been mentally transformed into an actual cat.
And for the first time in a long time, Chloé had had hope that she could become something… better. Something… worthwhile.
No matter what her mother said, or her classmates thought of her - she could be a hero. Someone others trusted without question, someone people respected, looked up to, and emulated.
Chloé didn't know how to be that person, but she knew that she wanted it. And that she was willing to try.
But then a few weeks later, Paris's heroine had taken it all back. Even after Chloé fought against Hawkmoth with her. Even though Chloé hadn't done anything differently. Even though she had tried to find others ways to build herself up instead of tear others down by making collages of selfies and videos dressed up as Ladybug rather than targeting others.
None of it had mattered. Ladybug had just stopped coming to her with the miraculous. And then, right after Chloé had managed to fight off an akuma all on her own, Ladybug had shown up and said she'd never get the miraculous again because people knew who she was?
It was a load of bullshit!
Because that hadn't mattered when her father was akumatized, it hadn't mattered on Heroes Day!
Which led Chloé to one inescapable conclusion - Ladybug was just like everyone else. Someone who changed the rules when it suited them, went back on their word without thought, and wasn't nearly as kind or compassionate as she pretended to be.
Really, Chloé should have known better than to ever hope.
She shoved her notebook off the table in front of her, sending it flying into the back of Ms. Bustier's desk with a satisfying bang when the metal furniture snapped back into form.
"Chloé?"
Chloé started at the voice of concern. Ms. Bustier slipped into the classroom from the door in the back and quickly approached her.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Chloé spit out venomously, whirling away from her teacher towards the front of the room.
Ms. Bustier put down her bag at her desk, rolled the chair from her desk in front of Chloé's table, and took a seat.
Chloé shifted uncomfortably. She didn't want to talk out her feelings.
"What were you working on?" her teacher asked, her voice calm and smooth as a still lake.
Chloé shook her head rapidly. "Nothing! It was a stupid idea. I'm clearly not cut out for it."
"Maybe you just need some help," was the gentle suggestion.
Chloé sighed glancing up into the warm face of her teacher. "I… was trying to fix something. But I should've known better. I'm really good at making a mess of things. The idea of me fixing something is ridiculous."
Utterly ridiculous.
Silence permeated the otherwise empty classroom. It was stifling. Chloé stared into her hands, folded under the desk. Her teacher remained silent, sending her emotions spiraling down to new depressing depths.
Even Ms. Bustier didn't know what to say. Clearly, Chloé was a lost cause. And so was her self assigned mission.
"Do you want help?"
Chloé looked up, searching the compelling green eyes of her teacher. She seemed earnest in her concern, but Chloé has been burned before. Her childhood nanny, Adele, had promised to help her, too. And then the petite woman had gotten herself fired and Chloé had never seen her again.
It's not like Bustier could actually help, anyway.
But then, another thought struck through her psyche like lightning. Ms. Bustier totally could make a couple of kids sit alone in a room together.
In a fucking circle.
But Chloé hated circles.
She took a deep breath. This was for Adrien. For Adrien. For Adrien.
"Could… could we maybe do one of those circles? Not the community one, but the other one when people are fighting?"
Ms. Bustier raised an eyebrow. "You want to do a restorative circle? Did I hear that right?"
Want was not the correct word. But Chloé had tried everything she could think of. And at least the circle didn't require getting someone akumatized. She forced herself to nod.
Her teacher leaned forward and put a hand on Chloé's knee. "Did something happen? Are you and Sabrina not speaking?"
Chloé physically recoiled at the very idea. "What?! No! Sabrina is great. No… this would be with..." her indignation evaporated instantly, and she found her gaze glancing over the shoulder of her teacher's white blazer. "With Marinette and Adrien."
Ms Bustier sat up straighter. "You're just full of surprises today, Chloé."
Chloé risked another glance up, but her homeroom teacher was smiling.
"Okay, and was anyone else affected by this conflict? Anyone else that you think is involved or might have hurt feelings? Or anyone else that hurt you in this same conflict?"
Chloé cocked her head to the side, letting herself consider the question. Really, it just needed to be Marinette, Adrien, and Chloé. But… Alya's presence could prove to be incredibly useful. And if Alya was there, Nino would likely reinforce everything the brunette would say…
The only problem was involving more people would piss off Ladybug even more.
Chloé grinned at the thought.
She had never been above getting a bit of revenge when it was deserved. (And maybe undeserved). All five of them it would be.
"Césaire, Lahiffe, and Adri-kins," Chloé supplied. Bustier went to her desk and retrieved a notebook and quickly wrote down the names.
"What happened?"
Chloé hesitated. Technically, nothing had happened, though of course she and Marinette had a ton of history, dozens of fights and altercations that she could pull from, and yet…
"I tried to tell Marinette something really important. But she won't listen to me. And I can't totally fault her for that, but this is really really important. Like fate-of-the-world-important!" she exclaimed, her hand stretching out to indicate the scope of the situation at hand.
"What is it that you want to tell her?"
"That she's a blind self righteous know-it-all," Chloé ranted. "And she needs to knock it off because she's hurting someone that we both care about."
"Adrien?" Ms Bustier guessed even as she was taking notes.
Chloé nodded. "Yes, Adrien, but she doesn't even know that she's hurting him because he will just sit there and take it! He'll never say anything," she lamented, her lips twisted into an indignant sneer. "But eventually he's going to break, Ms. Bustier. And I don't want to see that! I've been trying to get her to talk to me so I could give her some context and explain what she was doing, but she ignores me completely, or won't even let me say hello before she declares she doesn't have time for me and runs off!"
"I can see how that would be frustrating for you, Chloé," Ms. Bustier empathized. "But I also need you to understand that the purpose of the circle is to heal things between you and Marinette. It is not so you can yell and berate her when she is not allowed to leave. Do you understand?"
Chloé sighed, but nodded anyway.
"Now, do you have any idea why Marinette might be acting this way? Any reason at all that Marinette might distrust you or be unwilling to hear you out?"
Chloé glanced away toward the classroom window, her righteous anger fading. When she turned to the front again, her gaze remained locked on her nails.
"Perhaps," she admitted, her voice carefully flat. "I may have antagonized her unfairly once or twice in the past."
Ms. Bustier's lips trembled as if she was trying not to laugh.
Chloé huffed out a sigh. "Okay fine, I've done a lot to her over the years. But that's not true this time! Listening to me would make her life far less stressful and get her closer to Adrien."
"That's quite the claim," Ms. Bustier commented neutrally.
"It's the truth!" she declared hotly.
"Okay. I believe you. Now, is there anything specific that happened recently that would cause Marinette to be more irate with you than she usually is?"
Chloé glanced down at her nails, but she really didn't know what to say. Did throwing a fit when Ladybug said she could never have the Bee Miraculous back count?
Because the truth was, since Chloé had figured out the heroine's identity, she had no idea why Ladybug had given her a chance in the first place.
And she was just as confused as to how she had managed to lose that chance a few weeks later. Chloé certainly hadn't treated Marinette any worse than she normally did in the intervening time. She had even teamed up with the girl once so they could keep Kagami away from Adrien!
Ms. Bustier sighed, placed her pen down on her notebook, and leaned forward. "Chloé, in order to facilitate a restorative conversation between you and Marinette and the others, I need to prepare. I can only do that if you tell me what happened."
The blonde nodded. What could she tell her that would be useful in Ms. Bustier being prepared?
"I…. figured out one of her secrets, something that is really important to her. And then I told her friends."
"They didn't already know?"
Chloé shook her head.
"How did the others react?"
Chloé pursed her lips in thought. How would the others react? Adrien was going to turn into a puddle of goo. Alya probably wouldn't be much better, but she would feel guilty as hell for the whole Lila debacle. Nino was a rock, so Chloé had no idea how he would respond. But Marinette?
She was going to be out of this world pissed.
And for a second, Chloé hesitated.
"Chloé?"
"You think I took the time to talk to the plebians?" she countered hotly, too late to actually be convincing.
Bustier raised an eyebrow.
Chloé wilted. "Okay, fine!" she relented. "But I really don't know. I could guess, but I didn't stick around to see their reactions directly," she improvised on the spot.
"Why did you tell them?"
She glanced down into the palms of her hands. "Because… they needed to know," she admitted softly. "They can't help her if they don't know. And she…" she was drowning and Chloé worried how long it would be before Marinette was the akuma. And then where would Paris be? "Despite what she thinks, she can't do what she does alone. She needs them. Especially Adrien."
Chloé clutched at her head with both hands. God! What was wrong with her?! Why was she even trying to help Marinette? Marinette would only be livid. She wouldn't be grateful. She certainly wouldn't give Chloé another chance with the Bee Miraculous. This was supposed to be for Adrien! Adrien was the one who deserved to be seen and appreciated.
Maybe it was for both of them.
Maybe Chloé didn't need anything in return.
She looked up to see Ms. Bustier smiling at her. "And what was this secret?" her teacher asked.
Chloe balked. She knew it was silly. Ms. Bustier was going to know everything tomorrow anyway. But she was afraid Bustier would back out if she knew the full extent of what this was about.
"I'd rather not say."
Her teacher's green eyes considered her for a moment, and Chloé had to look away again. She sighed again before the educator spoke. "Thank you for telling me this bit. I need to interview the others and understand their side of the story and then we'll get something scheduled."
Chloé jumped to her feet, shaking her head violently. "No! You absolutely can not talk to them beforehand!"
Ms. Bustier was not disturbed by Chloé's outburst. "And why not?"
"Because Marinette will never ever agree to this if she knows what it's about. Trust me. But she's wrong. She needs this. Actually, we all do. I promise, everything is my fault. It's not theirs." The words fell out of her mouth unfiltered like a runaway train.
"Chloé, I have rarely encountered a conflict where one side was wholly at fault. I'm sure the others have contributed."
This track wasn't working. "I won't participate if you talk to them beforehand," Chloé threatened.
"That's not how this works, Chloé."
"Please!" Chloé begged. "You don't understand. I can't explain completely, but Marinette will not come if she knows what it's about. I've already tried like four times this week! We have to blindside her."
"What is it about?"
"But Ms. Bustier! This secret… it's really…" Chloé stammered, searching for words that would not come. "It puts Marinette in a really vulnerable position. I'm not willing to tell you on the off chance that you are not able to pull off this circle. But if we do meet and I am able to actually talk to her, I think the benefit will outweigh the drawbacks of you knowing."
Ms. Bustier's green eyed gaze pierced through her, and Chloé found it difficult not to fidget on the spot. "You're asking me to put a lot of faith in you, Chloé," she finally said.
"I know!" Chloé conceded, bowing her head down. "And I realize I probably don't deserve it."
"I didn't say that," her teacher interjected.
"But I'm trying to be worthy of it. I swear! I'm trying to be better," her gaze fell to her shoes.
Two fingers on her chin gently urged her gaze up. "All you have to be, Chloé, is yourself."
Chloé's squeezed her eyes shut, trying to suppress the sudden burn behind her eyelids. She shook her head in denial.
A warm hand fell onto her shoulder and squeezed reassurance.
Chloé shrugged it off. She didn't want to admit the contact felt good. She shouldn't need reassurances like that. She couldn't afford the weakness.
"Just to warn you, Marinette is going to be absolutely pissed. You may think you've seen her in self righteous must-fix-all-the-injustices-in-the-world Marinette mode, but this will take things to an entirely new level. And you probably should just let her fly off the handle. I don't need her to be respectful. I probably don't deserve it anyway."
Ms Bustier offered a gentle smile. "We all deserve respect, Chloé. But we can also create the space for Marinette to air her grievances and for you to be treated with respect."
Chloé appreciated Bustier's confidence, but she also knew the teacher only knew the tip of the iceberg.
"Ms. Bustier?" she asked softly.
Ms Bustier looked up from her notes and gave Chloé her attentive gaze. "Yes, Chloé?"
Chloé swayed from one foot to the other, her hands fidgeting at her waist. "Can I ask about the "honor privacy" norm?"
Ms. Bustier nodded. "What about it?"
"Are you included in that? Will you respect Marinette's and everyone else's privacy?"
"I'm required by law to report certain things like child abuse or suicidal thoughts, but I will honor privacy in all other respects."
Chloé bit her lower lip. Where did having a secret identity that required you to constantly put yourself in harm's way fall into that? "So like... any time a student is in danger?" she suggested.
Her teacher nodded even though she was taking down notes into her notebook.
Chloé cringed. Yeah, this was probably definitely something that fell into the category of something a teacher was required to report.
"But…" Chloé glanced away again. "What if reporting it increased the danger they were in?"
Bustier looked up at her then and frowned.
"Are you in danger, Chloé? Is Marinette?"
Oh, what the hell?! In for a penny, in for a pound. "I'm in danger all the time," Chloé explained with a straight face and was pleased to see Ms. Bustier's face frowning in growing concern. "I'm Queen Bee," she declared.
Ms Bustier's frown transformed into an amused smile. "If you wanted that to stay private Chloé, you probably shouldn't have announced it on live television."
"But that's my point. I'm always in danger because people know my identity. Papillon knows, and he's already used me to get to Ladybug before."
Her teacher softened. "Are you worried that he's going to try again?"
"No! I…" she threw her hands down in frustration. "I can't put this into words!"
"What does this have to do with Marinette?"
"N-nothing." Chloé wondered one again, why she was stalling. If her plan worked, Bustier was going to know everything by the end of day tomorrow anyway. "I was just trying to give you an example where sharing the knowledge of a student being in danger would put them more in danger."
Ms. Bustier put her hand on Chloé's shoulder again, and this time Chloé allowed the warmth to remain. "I can appreciate the nuance of such a situation," her teacher reassured. "I would never put a student in danger if I can help it. You must understand though, sometimes my hands are tied by legal requirements."
Chloé nodded, figuring that was close enough. Surely, there wasn't a specific law about teachers being mandated to reveal a superhero's identity. There had never been enough instances of teenaged superheroes to codify that kind of requirement.
Right?
Ms. Bustier smiled kindly at her. "Is there anything else you want to tell me, Chloé?"
Chloé pursed her lips. "Not really, no," she concluded.
"May I ask you a question?"
The blonde nodded her assent.
"Why are you doing this now? Trying to make amends with Marinette, I mean?"
Chloé fidgeted nervously. She still didn't really know how she felt about Marinette. Or about Marinette being Ladybug. But that's not why she was doing this anyway. "I'm doing it for Adrien," she finally admitted. "He needs Marinette to actually see him. I don't know what will happen to him if she doesn't. I'm really scared for him."
"It's not Marinette's responsibility to save him, you know?"
"Maybe not, but she'll want to. When she has the full picture she will love him better than anyone in the whole world. And if she doesn't, I will be there to grind her face into the ground."
"Chloé…" Ms Bustier chastised disapprovingly.
Chloé held her hands up in mock surrender, but she wasn't actually sorry. She meant it. If Marinette didn't learn to better appreciate her partner, Chloé would definitely make certain she regretted it.
…
Chloé walked out of Bustier's classroom after class feeling more optimistic than she had in the last sixteen days. Ms. Bustier had passed out slips to the five of them requesting their presence at the next day's lunch period for a restorative circle, which meant this was actually going to happen.
Maybe by end of day tomorrow she would see Adrien's megawatt smile again for the first time in weeks.
But Chloé still had one loose end to take care of before she was confident that she could push Marinette into being honest. And that loose end involved Alya. And Chloé couldn't even delegate the task to Sabrina because that would reveal identities to a civilian, and while Chloé was all for pissing Ladybug off, she did understand the danger of too many people knowing. Not to mention, she didn't want Sabrina in danger more than she had to be.
Sabrina was able to tell her Alya's whole schedule though. So that was helpful. Chloé left her things with Sabrina with directions to deliver her bags to her car, and left "to go to the bathroom" ten minutes before the last class was over to wait outside Césaire's 6th period. She was lucky that apparently Marinette didn't share the class.
Alya was one of the last to leave. But when she walked out the door, Chloé immediately fell into step beside the Ladyblogger.
"I need to talk to you," Chloé began without preamble.
Alya cast her a dark look. "Why would I want to talk to you?"
Chloé tried not to growl. She was only half successful. "It's about Marinette. She needs your help."
"Why should I believe you about anything regarding Marinette?" Alya snapped, readjusting her bag on her shoulder and picking up her speed, not bothering to make eye contact.
Chloé matched her pace easily. "You eat up everything Rossi says about her like a child eats up candy! I thought you'd believe anything," Chloé shot back.
"This conversation is over," Alya declared cooly, whirling away.
Chloé scurried after her. "No wait! I'm... I'm sorry."
That got Alya to pause. "You're what?"
"You heard me," the blonde growled back. Chloé wouldn't say it again. No friggin' way. "So, are you going to listen now?"
"This has gotta be big if it got the high and mighty Chloé Bourgeois to apologize for something," Alya reasoned even as she let her bag fall unceremoniously from her shoulder to the ground as she turned to Chloé.
"Marinette needs your help. Adrien does too. But they'll never come clean on their own and certainly not at my suggestion. I need you to come clean first."
Alya's dark eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Come clean about what?"
"About being the Fox."
Alya stared at her, her auburn eyes as wide as the Seine. "What?!" she hissed, suddenly up in Chloé's face.
Chloé held her ground, but didn't resist Alya getting in her space. "I can't explain. Ladybug will kill me. But tomorrow, Ms. Bustier is going to pull the five of us together."
"Five of us?"
"You, me, Nino, Adrien, and Marinette. I'm going to introduce myself as the Bee. I need you to introduce yourself as the Fox. Please! It's for Adrien... and Marinette too." She tacked on as an afterthought. "Please trust me as one partime hero to another. I swear, I'm trying to help."
Alya shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed together like an angry cat. "I won't betray Ladybug's trust."
"You'll be helping her!" Chloé countered. "And Marinette too."
"No way, Chloé. You can't trick me." And with that, the would-be-journalist stomped off.
Chloé watched her go. "Well, that could have gone worse."
...
A/N:
Kids who are victims of abuse or trauma are often the assholes. Like, they are used to people being abusive OR just leaving them to sort it out themselves. The behavior is often a "I will hurt you before you can hurt me" OR a test of "Will you really stick around?" And they make it REALLY hard for you to want to stick around. But if you do stick around, you can potentially nudge a kid's life trajectory onto a better path.
As an educator, the trick is to not put up with their bullshit, but also never stop communicating that you care. You have to make it safe to fail or screw up in cruel ways, and it's still always possible to be redeemed. They are still kids and they are still learning. Failure is the best teacher. But if failure is not allowed, then the learning from that failure cannot happen.
I don't claim to have this all figured out, and I've definitely been more successful with some kids than others. I am also definitely not privy to everything that happens in my classroom. But if there's one thing that I've learned, the most valuable tool I have is to model to them what acknowledging harm can do. If I can admit to disrespecting them when I accidentally do so, and genuinely apologize for doing so, they almost always try to reciprocate. It often takes more than one conversation. And it's definitely more challenging because I'm trying to teach them physics at the same time. Ha!
I'm really excited about the next chapter! It's the one that started this whole thing!
Thanks for reading. Reviews are love!