Chapter 4: The Ladybug Job

"Live the life that fate has so callously dropped onto your lap," Master Fu had said to Marinette Dupain-Cheng when she last visited him for guidance.

A lot easier said than done, she thought. She had to somehow survive seeing her crush, Adrien Agreste, casually flirting with her best friend Alya on a daily basis. Her knowing that they were both Chat Noir and Ladybug respectively made the task even more arduous. On top of all that, she had to maintain a good relationship with Nino—and playing pretend-girlfriend wasn't such an easy job to begin with. No, Marinette had a lot on her plate already; focusing on obtaining Chat Noir and Ladybug's Miraculouses was the only thing that kept her sanity in check.

Every morning she forced herself to pay attention to both Adrien and Alya—no matter how flirtatious their interactions were—in hopes of learning anything at all that she could use to get closer to her goal. Sometimes she used Nino as an excuse to continue hanging out with the both of them; double-dating was the perfect opportunity to keep the four of them together as much as possible. She listened and remembered all potential plans and scheduling; it wasn't really that hard considering how she used to memorise all of Adrien's schedules like the back of her hand. She reminded herself that everything she did was for the greater good; to correct the wrongness of the world and restore it to the way it was. But it was almost a week since she had lost her powers and she wasn't getting anywhere fast enough.

"So spill, Marinette." Alya gave her a suspicious nudge and wink one day at school. The girls were having a short break after physical education. Obviously, the boys were away and naturally, the girls would get together to share gossip and talk about relationships. "Have you and Nino… you know…?"

Marinette feigned innocence. "Have we what?"

"Kissed, silly. The two of you have been together since… what… the Animan incident?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Since when did we start dating events by Akuma attack incidents?"

"Nice try, girl." Alya playfully punched Marinette in the shoulder. She then crossed her arms and furrowed her brow, her display clearly meant to show an utmost determination that would not be turned by a mere distraction. "Don't try to change the subject. Now spill!"

"No, Alya." Marinette sighed. "Besides, I don't think now is the right time to be thinking about such things."

Alya narrowed her eyes and leaned closer, as if she had noticed something in her friend's eye. "You haven't really been yourself lately. Did something happen that you're not telling?"

"No!" Marinette replied without hesitation. She waved her hands around as a sign of innocence, despite a growing anxiety within her. "I'm just tired from all the craziness and Akuma attacks of late. Seriously Alya, I'm fine."

"Hmm." Alya raised an eyebrow as she maintained her sceptical stare. It was the kind of stare that gave Marinette goosebumps. She knew that inquisitive side of her reporter friend; once something piqued Alya's curiosity, nothing in the world could prevent her from trying to sate that urge to know.

Marinette wracked her mind for a solution, but fortunately it didn't take her too long to come up with an answer. She remembered that they still had a group project to complete for next week. It would prove as a good, temporary distraction to get Alya's mind off her and onto more pressing matters. Furthermore, she could also use the situation to her advantage. "I might have an idea," Marinette said. "Why don't we all get together for a sleepover this weekend? I mean, we've still got that group project that isn't going to finish by itself, and I thought maybe we could all spend more time together. Like old times?"

"Old times, huh?" A smile formed on Alya's lips. "Girl, you sure have a strange way of referring to things. But that's a great idea. I'll talk to Adrien later about it. You'll tell Nino, won't you?"

Marinette nodded. She also suppressed what might have been a wicked smile. All according to plan.

The weekend was soon around the corner. Marinette had gone over the plan with her friends earlier where they had all agreed to meet up at Alya's place in the evening for dinner. After that, they would gather in Alya's room to discuss school work, among other things. Her room was a little tight for four people to sleep in so they had arranged for the boys to bunk in the guest room afterwards. This arrangement was good enough for Marinette; she thought it was something that she could easily work with.

Marinette was the first to arrive. Alya greeted her at the front door. "Good evening, Marinette. Where's Nino?"

"Oh, he'll be on his way soon. He said he was going to meet up with Adrien before heading over."

"All right, well don't just stand there girl, get in here before you freeze to death."

The evening sun was setting soon. It was going to be a cold night in Paris. It was a perfect kind of night for people to snuggle together under a blanket. This brought about a sense of nostalgia that Marinette could not quite shake off. She sighed softly as she reminisced about the times that she had spent with her friends, doing fun things that real teenagers did. Carrying the weight of the world was such a burden and sometimes, even superheroes could grow weary especially when one no longer had an ever-present companion to talk to. Marinette felt the pain in her heart when she thought of Tikki, but quickly dismissed the feeling as she stepped into the warmth of Alya's home.

Adrien and Nino arrived together a short while later. After being shown to their rooms where they left their belongings to be unpacked later, they gathered around the dining table. Adrien had brought some exquisite cuisines prepared by his chef at the express insistence of Nathalie while Marinette unboxed a collection of bread, croissants and macaroons from her father's bakery. Combined with Alya's mother's cooking, they had quite a feast laid out on the table. The group enjoyed the heavy dinner with light banter about school, though as usual it was mostly Adrien and Alya doing the talking. Marinette forced herself to bear with it for just a little while longer; if everything went according to plan, she would have more important issues to deal with in the ensuing aftermath.

After dinner, the four of them had retired to Alya's room as planned but instead of discussing school work, Alya presented them with a heap of board games to choose from. Play first and work later was the order of the night then. It wasn't really a big deal, nor something that Marinette was in any way concerned about; she had bigger things on her mind and her best option was to just play along with it.

Apparently Alya had already planned everything right from the get go. In fact, she even had an itinerary. They would start off with something light like Ticket to Ride or Settlers of Catan, then progress to something deeper like Risk, Diplomacy or Twilight Imperium, and then top it off with a physical challenge like Twister.

"You do realise we can't fit all that into one night, don't you?" Marinette said after passing the itinerary over to the boys and watching their eyes widen in surprise. "Remember the last time we played Twilight Imperium? We had to skip through lunch and dinner just to finish it."

"Yeah, but it would be fun to try and see how far we can go before my parents yell at us to go to bed." Alya's mischievous grin only served to prove how serious she was with the plan.

"Besides, there's not a cat in hell's chance that we're gonna pass up the opportunity to have an all-nighter like that," Adrien added.

Nino simply shrugged and threw his hands up in submission.

"Okay fine, you win," Marinette said. "But I want to at least have a shower before all this craziness gets out of control."

"Sure, let's all get cleaned up before we start," Alya said. She began ushering the boys out of the room. Once both girls were alone, she turned to Marinette and said, "You go on first."

Marinette grabbed her towel and a pair of spare clothes before heading over to the bathroom. So far so good, she thought. The bath was all part of her master plan to get Alya separated from her earrings, or at least that was what she was hoping for. She assumed that Alya would take off her jewellery before showering, giving her a small window of opportunity to go after the stones. Tikki should be inactive while the earrings were taken off so she could simply grab them with little to no trouble. She had to immediately go after Adrien after that, though. She hadn't given much thought about how she would get his ring, but figured that she could somehow wing it when the opportunity presented itself. After all, what could be so difficult about pulling a ring off someone's finger? It would be certainly a lot easier than trying to pluck off a pair of earrings from a person's ears, she reasoned with herself. Even then, the window of opportunity was limited to the amount of time that Alya spent in the shower. If I'm going to do this, it's now or never.

"Alya, I'm done. Your turn," Marinette called out as she left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair. She waited by the door until Alya appeared.

"You didn't have to wait for me, girl. Go on back in, you and the boys can get started with the games first if I'm not out by then."

"Okay, sure." Marinette's eyes were locked onto Alya's ears as she walked past her friend. She smiled at the lack of earrings as she pushed the door to Alya's room open.

Alya's room was empty; Adrien and Nino were either not done yet, or perhaps they were still waiting for the girls to be ready while they remained in the guest room. Marinette pressed her back against the door until it closed shut with an audible click. She quickly scanned the room and spotted Alya's dressing table. That's got to be where she keeps her earrings, she thought. With trepidation, she crept across the room and reached for the drawers. She pulled them open and began looking for the small, ornate wooden box within.

It didn't take long for Marinette to find what she was looking for. Hidden underneath a notebook was the familiar-looking box that held Ladybug's earrings. She gingerly cupped the box in her hands and brought it up closer for inspection. Her hands were shaking as she reached for its clasp. With a gentle press, the lid swung open. The two round orbs that were set inside the box were now ripe for the taking.

"Ma-Marinette?" A tiny voice squeaked.

"T-Tikki?" Marinette instinctively jerked her hands back. The box rolled out of her hands and fell into the drawer. She wanted to reach into the drawer to pick it up again, but the little red spotted kwami pushed itself against the drawer, closing it shut.

"Marinette, what are you doing?"

"Tikki, how are you here? Actually, never mind that, but this isn't what it looks like!" Marinette reached for the handle to give it a quick tug, but the little kwami kept the drawer closed shut. "I just need to borrow something for a while."

The kwami continued to push against the drawer. "Marinette, you can't do this. This is wrong!"

Marinette reached for the red spotted kwami, but it zipped out of her grasp and flew up to the ceiling. "Tikki, stay still! I'm not going to hurt you."

"Alya!" the kwami shouted. "Alya, help!"

"Tikki, be quiet—" In the midst of the confusion, Marinette knocked a chair over and hit the floor with a loud bang. She dropped to her knees to stand the chair back up but all this while, her eyes were locked onto the hovering red spotted kwami near the ceiling. Without budging from her position, she reached for the drawer again. Her other hand was prepared to snatch the little kwami if it made a move, but she froze when the door behind her slammed open.

Alya stood at the doorway with a most exasperated look all over her face. She was still dripping wet from head to toe with only a towel wrapped around herself. "What the hell is this, Marinette?"

Marinette raised her hands in front of her and waved in an innocent manner. "Alya! It—It's not what you think. I was just having a look, and then—"

"She was trying to steal the earrings!" Tikki said from the top corner of the room.

Alya narrowed her eyes at Marinette. She was breathing heavily, her shoulders heaving up and down and she bared her teeth at her. "You were trying to steal my Miraculous? How dare you, Marinette!"

"No," Marinette began, shaking her head from side to side. She closed her eyes tightly and clenched her fist. "I mean, I wasn't stealing them. I just needed to borrow them for something, and although that sounds like the same thing, but it's not what you think. I—I can explain—"

"I've heard enough!" Alya slammed her fist into the door frame. Her voice was shaking, but still seething in rage as she spoke. "I don't want to hear any of your excuses. Just—Just get out. Get the hell out of my house now!"

Marinette hung her head down. Without saying a word, she grabbed her bag and scurried to the door. She turned her head away as she walked past her friend. She only managed to squeak a little "sorry" as she bolted past a confused Adrien and Nino, who had emerged from their room to find out what all the ruckus was about. Once she was out of the house, she ran home as fast as she could. She didn't bother answering her parents' concerned questions, nor did she pick up any of the calls on her phone. They were all probably from Nino anyway. She only wanted to lock herself up in her room and stay there for the rest of her life.

It was already past noon when Marinette had finally found the strength and courage to drag herself out of her bed. She was hungry and her stomach proved to be a stronger motivation than her fears of facing everyone again. She looked out the window, half-expecting an evil Akuma to be waiting for her. The bright sun shone into her face, forcing her to squint. She turned away when her stomach rumbled once more. With a sigh, she quietly shuffled out of her room and made her way to the kitchen.

"Good afternoon, dear," Sabine said as Marinette opened the refrigerator to take out a milk carton and a bottle of marmalade. "Your lunch is already prepared on the table."

"Good afternoon, maman." Marinette replaced the items that she had taken and dragged her feet to the table. She continued to stare at the food which her mother prepared, but in truth her mind was elsewhere. Last night was a total disaster and because of her recklessness, she would never be able to face any of her friends again. It was the worst outcome, and she had no solution for it. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice her mother sitting beside her at the table.

"I don't know what happened last night, but that's still no excuse not to eat, dear." Sabine reached out to pat her daughter on the head but Marinette lowered her head and shifted to one side to avoid her. "Marinette, you know that sulking won't help. Why don't you finish your meal first and then we can talk about it afterwords?"

Marinette could only nodded and then ate her food slowly. She didn't have the appetite despite the vehement complains from her stomach along with the delicious aroma of her mother's cooking. After all, everything good in life was all but gone, drained out of her life with no explanation at all. Once she had finally finished, she contemplated how she was going to talk to her mother. She was so used to having Tikki by her side in times of trouble. Now, Tikki was probably the enemy. She was completely alone despite being surrounded by familiar faces. "Maman?"

"Yes, Marinette?" Sabine quietly sat at attention and waited for her daughter to speak.

"What if… what if you, and only you yourself knew, that something was wrong and the only way to make it right was to do something that was wrong as well?" It was as vague as vague can be, but Marinette couldn't tell even a sliver of truth of her situation to her parents. No one would believe her. Not especially now.

"Does the end justify the means?" Sabine asked. Seeing no response from her daughter, she continued. "Machiavelli. Have you read The Prince, for one of your history lessons perhaps?"

Marinette shook her head.

"Those were the words of Machiavelli. Thinkers, philosophers and politicians have often debated those very words of his. Some say that his thinking is wrong, but many others have argued the opposite. Can an unjust act be justified if the final outcome is for the greater good?"

"I—I don't know," Marinette said. She continued to look down at table, and at the now-empty plate before her.

Sabine placed a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I know I haven't actually said much, but you haven't given me much to work with either. But perhaps if you were to give some thought to what I have said, and try to understand both sides of the arguments, you may be able to find the answer that you are looking for."

Marinette closed her eyes and leaned towards her mother for a hug. After all that she had been through, a hug was something that she really needed the most. "Thanks, maman. I'll think about it."

Soon, Marinette left the kitchen and climbed the stairs that led to her room. A gust of wind blew at her ruffled hair as she lifted the trapdoor to her room. She narrowed her eyes and slowly scanned the room. Satisfied that it was empty, she slowly crept through the trapdoor and closed it without making a sound. A window was left slightly ajar near her work table. She tiptoed over to it and took a peek outside. There was nothing out of ordinary going on from her view out of the window, so she closed it and slid its bolt shut.

She turned around and leaned her back against the window. Besides her unkempt bed, her desk was also a mess. However, her eyes were drawn to piece of paper that was left neatly folded in half and propped up against her computer monitor. Curious, she walked over to the desk and picked it up. Her eyes widened when she unfolded it to read its contents.

The note contained nothing more than the symbol of a butterfly stamped over a date, time and address in Paris that she was not familiar with.