Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chloé stared at the child in the mirror. It had been years since she’d let her hair grow so long. Waking up in her bedroom back at Le Grand Paris was met with many feelings. She first tried to go back to sleep, believing all this to be a twisted nightmare, and that she would wake back up at her York Apartment and continue her free-lance photography.

She suppressed the urge to scream bloody murder when that did not happen.

Her mind reeled as she tried to process the implications of her situation. Somehow, assuming this was not some coma induced dream, she’d wound up back in time to before the first day of Hawk Moth. Before she was driven to her lowest point and vilified for it. After years of therapy and self-reflection, she’d been surprised her actions had not landed her in prison, though she supposed it wasn’t too surprising with how corrupt her Da- André was.

Of course that whole story was a mess regardless.

“Mademoiselle?” She’d not even heard Jean Armand enter the room, a look of worry on his face. How long had he’d been there? How long had Chloé been glaring at her reflection.

“Jean-Armand.” She didn’t miss the beat where his eyebrows went up hearing her correctly say his name, though whether he believed she remembered or this was a fluke only he could answer. “Whoever is driving today, please inform them I will be down in fifteen. We need to make a quick stop before school.” She tried to ignore the brief moment of surprise appearing once again as the word ‘please’ escaped her lips. Chloé sighed realizing this was her life now, everyone being confused by the sudden one-eighty she was about to come at them with. She really wished this inconvenience had placed her a day earlier so she could process it all.

“Shall I prepare breakfast to go then?” Jean asked, bringing Chloé back from diving too deep into her mind again. She nodded and as the butler made to leave, her voice called out again.

“I know I don’t say it…ever…but…thank you, Jean. For being there for me. More than I know you are paid to deal with.” Chloé supposed she really hadn’t said it ever, as the only other time she had was a time that had yet to happen. Perhaps it wouldn’t ever happen now, but that was all the more reason to tell the man who’d been more of a parent to her than her actual parents that she appreciated his efforts. Without wasting time, she’d gathered up her day wear and began preparing herself as Jean-Armand took a moment to reboot from the genuine sincerity thrown his way.

“Chloé?” Adrien seemed caught off guard as Chloé pulled up moments after his escape from the Agreste Manor. She didn’t blame him, not with a similar looking vehicle to hers sitting on the other side of the brick barrier he’d scaled. Thinking back on it, she was amazed he managed to sneak out before without her help. Twice.

“Get in loser, we’re going to school.” There was a hesitation, like he was expecting something bad to happen. Chloé figured it was jitters from his prison break. One quick look behind him and he seemed to get the courage to file into the back seat. “Your paperwork is all set and you shouldn’t have any problems once we get to Dupont.” He merely grunted an affirmation and let the silence seep in as they drove off. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Adrien spoke up.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, I’m not, just…why did you come to pick me up?” Chloé had asked herself the same thing when she’d told the driver to head for the Agreste manor. More so about why she hadn’t done that the first time.

“We’re friends. At least, we’re supposed to be.” She paled as that last part left her lips and turned away quickly. There were a million things she wanted to say to Adrien, a million things she would now never get to say with this reset to her life. “Y-yeah so I figured it would be more helpful to actually get you there rather than letting you try and go on foot.” She startled slightly as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

“Thank you Chloé.” She turned to see a melancholic smile on Adrien's face. It felt utterly alien to look at, as though Adrien wasn’t the only one talking to a stranger with a familiar face. The smile she returned didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Sabrina...” Chloé massaged her temples as the redhead in question blew on her whistle the way one would hold a security blanket close. When she arrived, the girl had been waiting dutifully as she’d always done. Guilt bubbled within her as their eyes locked, the girl eager to please. Eager to serve.

She’d told Adrien to go inside without her and that his syllabus could be picked up at Principal Damoclès office on the second floor. Much like when getting in the limo, he seemed to hesitate a bit about leaving the two girls with each other, but ultimately did acquiesce. “Please stop…”

Cyan eyes looked at her, tears barely holding back.

“Please, Chloé, I can still be useful. I can carry Adrien’s bag too if that’s the problem. O-or your homework? I can do your homework too instead of just writing it all out for group projects.” She wanted to scream so badly but enough people were staring as it was, so Chloé settled for clasping her hands around the panicking girl’s cheeks.

“Sabrina, sweetie, I want you to repeat back what I said to you just now.”

“You said we’re not friends anymore…” The kicked puppy look made Chloé want to beat up Roger for instilling this submissive behavior in the girl.

“No, I said, I haven’t treated you like a friend and want to start over.” The words didn’t seem to do anything for Sabrina hearing them a second time. “Ugh, okay look. Sabrina. Something I learned is that your value as a person is not by what you do, but by just being. We can still be friends. I want to still be friends. Just…I want to do it right and not take advantage of you by dangling gifts in your face so you’ll go along with it.” She let go of the girl who’d seemed to regain herself. “Are we good?”

“I…I think so…” Sabrina’s answer didn’t instill confidence in Chloé but she supposed much like her own personal growth it didn’t happen overnight, despite how it was going to absolutely look that way. Baby steps, she had to remind herself, as she took Sabrina’s hand and went to go inside. At least until she spotted an old man laid out on the ground, struggling to reach his cane. She hadn’t meant to stare, but something about him looked familiar.

“Do you need me to call someone?” She asked as she helped him up, Sabrina retrieving the lost cane for the man. He smiled and shook his head.

“No, thank you though. Just a misstep is all.” He said.

“...If you’re sure…” She hesitated, not entirely comfortable leaving someone who’d just been on the ground by themselves but he was already making his way, slowly, towards wherever he seemed to be heading. His pace picked up to a normal stride as soon as the girls disappeared into the school.

Aside from Adrien actually being there, everything was almost as she remembered. Almost being the operative word. She wasn’t sure why Dupain-Cheng was looking at her, like she expected a fight, nor did she get why the not-yet Ladyblogger was already sitting by her, but she didn’t care. Sliding into their seats at the front, Chloé tried her best to explain to Sabrina about how she was allowed to set boundaries in their relationship. She wasn’t sure how effective the chat was but at least Sabrina wasn’t crying. So that was a win.

Unfortunately the day did have to progress, and with it school. Despite what one might think, Chloé wasn’t dumb. She was much like Adrien actually. Book intelligent, emotionally stupid. It was often the reason she kept finding herself digging a deeper hole when a level head would have been more helpful.

Her reign as Mayor of Paris, an event that lasted not even a whole twenty-four hours, was evidence of how easy it was to get her to play the scapegoat if you whispered a few kind praises her way. It was funny, in a way, how quickly her scapegoat status had turned into possibly the strongest defense ever and gave her a new lease on life.

“Those of you who have P.E., M. D’Argencourt is expecting you at the stadium. The rest of you can head over to the library.” Chloé snapped to attention at Bustier’s words. She realized she’d been zoning out the whole time and the lesson was over. But even more so it meant-

“KIM!” Like clockwork, everything was falling back into place as Ivan shouted in frustration at Kim.

Chloé started loading her school supplies up like her life depended on it, startling Sabrina as she began to do the same for the bespectacled girl.

“Ivan, what is going on?” Chloé couldn’t criticize Mlle. Bustier. She wasn’t a teacher, she didn’t know how you were supposed to de-escalate these situations. Plus she didn’t know Ivan was about five minutes from becoming the first Akuma to put Paris under siege. She briefly caught Adrien’s concerned stare as she bolted out the door with Sabrina in tow.

“Chloé? Chloé, why are we running?” Old instincts kicked in, her frazzled state barely registering Sabrina’s question as she made her way past other students to the school’s front doors. “CHLOÉ!” The girl in question stopped, her eyes wide with fear that knocked the wind out of whatever objections Sabrina had.

“Not safe, not here. We need to go, now!” Sabrina took a step back from what looked like Chloé just losing her mind.

“C-Chloé you’re scaring me.”

“KIMMM!” A voice roared from near the Principal’s office, the building rumbling as Stoneheart made himself known. All hell broke loose at that moment. Sabrina froze in place, unable to properly articulate as Chloé grabbed her hand and dragged her off with none of the former resistance.

“What was that thing?! Where did it come from?! Why does it want Kim?!” Sabrina asked these questions in the lift between whistle blows as the girls made their way to Chloé’s suite.

“All good questions,” All answers Chloé knew but wasn’t sure how to explain, “But let’s just…we’ll stay here, it’ll be fine. I promise, we just have to wait for the Heroes to-” She bit her tongue as it slipped. Paris didn’t have any heroes yet, and while that would be remedied today it still sounded insane and would just raise more questions from Sabrina.

“Heroes? What heroes? Chloé you’ve been acting strange all day and if a giant rock monster didn’t just appear out of nowhere I’d think you were having a meltdown!” She curled up on the sofa and started blowing into her whistle with a little more intensity trying to calm down. Chloé’s frantic pacing was not helping this. That’s when the ‘Princess of Paris’ froze, eyes locked onto a black box with a red ornate circle carved into the top of it. A small whimpering laugh escaped her lips as she stumbled forward towards it. This was a joke. This was all an elaborate joke. She didn’t know what else to do, so she opened the box.

A bright light erupted out, causing an unprepared Sabrina to squawk in surprise as she fell onto the ground. Floating before Chloé was a small black creature with the vague shape of a cat, eyes a poisonous green as they zeroed in on her.

“...You’re joking…” It said. Chloé wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. “Where’s my Kid, huh? You swipe me from him? No that doesn’t make sense, you’d have to break into that mausoleum of a home and I don’t think anyone ever figured him out. But that still doesn’t explain how you…” The creature, the Kwami, trailed off as Chloé sank to her knees in bewilderment. A cry drew both their attention back as Sabrina was back on her feet, pointing at the floating cat.

“What is that?!” Chloé felt so bad for Sabrina, a lot was being thrown at her today.

“Uh, duh…I…don’t know how to side step this conversation. So this is a Kwami…” She smiled sheepishly, at least this time it was only one person and not the whole of Paris. A blur of black suddenly was in her face.

“You remember…UUUUGH!” The Kwami floated off, groaning in frustration. “Sass you have a sick sense of humor!” Sighing in defeat, the Kwami returned to Chloé’s side. “Alright listen up cause I’m only gonna say this once. My name is Plagg, Kwami of Destruction. Claws Out to transform, Claws in transform back. Cataclysm, destroy anything, five minute timer, I’m sure you remember how it works Queenie.” Chloé looks between Plagg and the utterly confused Sabrina.

“I…thought you’d just demand I bring you back to Chat Noir.” Plagg’s subsequent laugh was dry and devoid of real mirth.

“Oh believe me, I would love to take that ring and leave. But that’s not how it works unfortunately, so until we beat up,” A green bubble emits from Plagg’s mouth and they scowl. “Can’t even tell you who he is, fantastic, really shaping up. I just love that stupid binding spell.”

“I feel like I shouldn’t be here.” Sabrina spoke up from behind the safety of the sofa.

“Join the club, sister!” Plagg said as they floated over to a shelf and started batting things off of it. Chloé slid the ring onto her finger, the black ring turning into a simple golden band with a hexagonal stud. She hated it. It felt like a mockery of her past. Sad eyes turned to Sabrina.

“Sabrina, I know this is a lot but please…please just wait for me here. I promise I will explain everything when I get back. Even if it’s going to sound absolutely insane.” The red-head, looking close to just exploding, simply nodded. “If you need anything, ring up Jean-Armand, tell him I’m freshening up if he asks.” Chloé took a breath to steady herself. “Plagg, claws out.”

Chloé didn’t waste too much time experimenting, only taking a moment to figure out the staff and looking over her new persona before launching herself across Paris. She was clad in a full body leather suit with Steel toed thigh highs, with the toes resembling claws instead, shoulder length gloves with steel tipped fingers, poison green highlights running down the suit making it appear almost as though you’d cut yourself just touching them, the classic domino mask with a slight feline shape to it, and a wild mane of hair running down her back with two cat ears poking out.

Following the screams and trail of destruction, and the vague recollection of where the Akuma would eventually wind up, Chloé made her way to Parc des Princes where Stoneheart had cornered Kim.

Before she had a chance to do anything, the thwip of a Yo-Yo cut through the air and wrapped around the Akuma and pulled him off balance away from the idiot he was trying to kill. Her feline eyes darted to the source and there in red and black stood Ladybug. Even if Chloé didn’t recall everything that happened with clarity, she was one hundred and ten percent certain that Ladybug’s outfit did not start out looking like that. In fact she was sure it wouldn’t be until Shadow Moth that Ladybug would have this ‘upgrade’ to her look.

“Go, get out of here!” Ladybug cried out to Kim as she restrained Stoneheart. The boy scrambled and bolted past Alya who was blissfully recording the whole thing, heedless of the danger. Chloé was pretty sure the girl was secretly an adrenaline junkie. Stoneheart roared in frustration, making it difficult for the Spotted Heroine to get at the object without setting him free again.

She suppressed that small part of her that enjoyed watching the hero struggle alone, and landed on the field to meet her.

“Glad you showed up, Partner. I take it your Kwami has…” Whatever Ladybug was about to say tapered off when her eyes met Chloé’s. She was expecting someone else.

She also remembered the previous future.

Ladybug coughed, as though she could cover up her surprise, unaware that her ‘new partner’ wasn’t new to this either.

“Yeah,” She decided not to show her hand just yet. “They mentioned something about an Akuma?” Motioning a hand towards the restrained victim, Ladybug nodded. “Well, Lady- um, Spots, what’s the plan?” Apparently Stoneheart was tired of being ignored as the Akuma began thrashing again, knocking everyone off their feet, slackening his restraints enough to free himself. Tearing up some seats, Stoneheart hurled them at the heroes as they avoided being crushed by the debris.

“Paris has its own heroes now, and they’re a female duo.” Chloé’s ears twitched in the direction of Alya filming the fight in the bleachers, not even aware of her surroundings. A large chunk of concrete was thrown towards Ladybug, missing, and on an arch that would land it directly on top of the girl. Power surged through Chloé as she went from ‘nought to sixty’, hand raised out to intercept.

“CATACLYSM!” Reduced to ash that harmlessly passed over the wannabe reporter, Chloé turned to look back at the dumb founded girl. “Get a drone permit, you’re going to get hurt like this.” She leapt back into the fight without waiting for a response. Now on a timer, she needed to wrap this up quickly. A burst of light indicated Ladybug called forth her lucky charm, a wetsuit falling into her grasp.

Before she could do anything else, Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around Chloé and flung the girl into the grasp of the Akuma, followed by her jumping at the Akuma herself.

“Mlle. Reporter! The Tap!” Chloé’s eyes bugged out as she saw Alya was still there and just ran out to turn on the water, no questions asked. She couldn’t blame her for being a stupid teenager, they were all stupid and akumas made it worse, but Ladybug was, as far as she knew, also an adult in a child’s body, and should know better this time around. As the plan worked, much to her annoyance as this would only embolden the recklessness, Ladybug tore the note dropped by the Akuma freeing the Blackened Butterfly within. The hero pulled her yo-yo out and hesitated, looking at the butterfly as it flew off like she wasn’t sure if catching it was the right call.

“Um, it’s getting away?” Chloé didn’t know why she was just standing there, but she wasn’t keen on experiencing Stoneheart part two again. Having the attention drawn to her, Ladybug swiftly caught the Akuma before purifying it and releasing the Miraculous Ladybug. As Ivan turned back to normal, Ladybug seemed nervous, looking around like she expected someone to drop in. Chloé picked up the crumpled paper that had been the catalyst of the incident.

“...Kim you absolute…” She muttered before turning to face Ivan. Bruel was a paradox. He was big and intimidating but housed a gentle soul that was easy to hurt. Like all her classmates, she’d belittled him to make herself feel big. She wished she’d known better then, finding this circumstance a rare opportunity to act on that. “Hey, how are you feeling? Is this what had you worked up?” Chloé held the paper out, the boy crossing his arms and looking away shamefully.

“Kim, he’s a guy in my class always making fun of me.” Ladybug strolled up as Ivan spoke, now seemingly less distracted by whatever it was she expected.

“You shouldn’t get bent out of shape about that. There’s no shame in telling someone you like them.” Chloé side eyed her partner. She didn’t like how rehearsed it sounded.

“Uncanny, amazing, spectacular! Are you gonna be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get stung by a radioactive ladybug? Were you bitten by a cat? Oh, I've got a ton of questions to ask both of you, uh…” Of course Alya stuck around, not that she could make her leave with the danger gone and damage reverted.

“Ladybug,” Without missing a beat, the heroine gave her name. “It’s nice to meet you, Mlle. Sorry, we can’t answer too much now, we’re on a timer.” That was when Chloé realized a few things. How quickly Ladybug was trying to move this along, how she didn’t attempt to introduce her as her partner. How neither of them seemed to be on a timer despite what Plagg had thought would be the case…

“Call me Stray,” Stray walked over to Ivan. “Take you back to school?”

“Er, Stray, will you have time before you-” Ladybug stopped talking as Stray leveled a glare at her.

“It will be fine, Ladybug.” She picked up Ivan like he weighed nothing and headed back for Dupont, before heading back to her suite where Sabrina hopefully was still waiting patiently.

“Your timer didn’t start…” Plagg said, floating idle beside Chloé when they returned. “...Interesting…” With the first day of school experiencing a super villain attack, everyone was a bit frazzled and needed some time to collect themselves leading to a half day.

“Pollen liked honey,” Chloé said, getting ready to dial room service, “What do you like eating?” The Kwami stared at the blonde for a bit.

“Cheese, Camembert in particular. The stench is what makes it.” All the fight from before had left them, though Chloé wasn’t sure if this was from needing to recharge or not.

“Are you going to be okay Chloé?” Sabrina knew the girl had a sensitive nose to certain smells and being around Camembert was not going to be easy if it was as Plagg requested.

“I’ll live…Hi, yes, please send up a wheel of Camembert. …Yes I know I said please, don’t focus on that. …I could just yell and demand instead but I’d rather not. …Okay thank you.” She hung up leaving Sabrina and Plagg to witness the strangest one sided conversation they’d seen. Chloé seemed to notice their staring and just made her way to the sofa. “Okay, answers I guess…any specific questions first?”

“Well, I guess how did you know there were going to be heroes? And that whole thing with Ivan?” Chloé leaned back, mulling over what she wanted to say.

“I think…I somehow went back in time.” 

“When Sass does his thing without a holder, some people will have their memories and experience up to that point shunted back to an earlier time. ‘Oracles’ as some humans have called them.” Plagg plopped between the two girls, adding their own two cents to the mix.

“Wait wait, does this mean you can see the future?” Sabrina went wide eyed with excitement. “What’s it like? Did you get with Adrien? Do we go to the same Lycée?” The excitement starts to dim as Chloé just looks distant and empty.

“I don’t know how it’s going to play out exactly now, but what happened today is going to happen again and again, over and over because of some lunatic calling himself Hawk Moth. He’s a monster, who gives you power in exchange for obedience. He tells you all the things you want to hear in your moments of vulnerability.” She looked away slightly in shame. “He called me exceptional, and I believed him. But I was a means to an end that he knew how to prey upon, not even needing to try that hard to guide me down a self destructive spiral.”

Plagg had said nothing, but seemed to stew in their own thoughts as Chloé spoke.

“While I can admit there are things I did that are my fault alone, I was failed by so many people who should have been there for me. We all were. It took being disowned by André and replaced by my half-sister, who isn’t even blood related to him and M. Lee was well and alive, and being exiled from Paris after a brief stint of enforcing martial law, a plan that wasn’t even mine to begin with, before I was able to be put in a position to get the help I needed.”

Sabrina looked like a fish, gaping for water as she tried to process the sudden bomb shells that just came out of nowhere.

“Mlle, Your cheese.” Jean-Armand knocked as he entered with a silver platter, Plagg sinking out of view as the man approached.

“You have a sister?!” The red-head finally broke out of her stupor, shocking the butler as he nearly dropped the plate when setting it down.

“Half-Sister. She’s Audrey’s, surprise surprise. Thank you Jean-Armand, you heard nothing.” A tired smile was plastered to her face as she shuffled the man out the door before she needed to explain anything else. Plagg took a moment to check for any more intrusions before reducing the cheese wheel to a mere memory.

“How are you so calm about this?!” Chloé felt a bittersweet chuckle build up at the question.

“I’ve had over a decade to process and learn, I already had my meltdown years ago.” She sighed. “Besides, if I fall apart now I don’t think I could pull myself back together.” Chloé melted into the sudden hug Sabrina put her in. Neither noticed Plagg as they slipped out into Paris.

Tikki watched their chosen pace back and forth. They had hoped to remedy the mistakes made during this time, only to be met with a fully grown mind. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, Marinette was clever and with her timer nullified taking care of Hawk Moth would be a walk in the park.

Except compounded trauma and an atlas complex not helped by everything that happened, along with Tikki’s own ignorance on modern humanity, left their chosen with an unfettered control complex. Tikki hadn’t fully grasped the issues brewing beneath the surface, not allowing a literal child soldier to develop properly into a healthy adult. Sass activating their powers untethered was a shock, one that had made an Oracle of their chosen at least.

And possibly an Oracle of whomever ‘Stray’ was.

Tikki wasn’t sure what would come of this, but they did know these changes were going to throw Marinette into a defensive state if not outright hostilities eventually. 

“I can’t believe this…this Stray! Doesn’t she know what’s at stake here?” The girl fumed at the audacity of the holder that somehow replaced Chat Noir. She knew what she was doing, with everything playing out the same if not with more efficiency. But she just needed people to listen to her. Now that was all in jeopardy because the timeline had diverged so suddenly.

After kick-starting her friendship with Alya, she expected Chloé to once again make a stink about the seats, only now with Alya by her side they wouldn’t be playing musical chairs. Except Chloé didn’t say anything to her, in fact barely a glance. She thought it had to do with Adrien being there but that hadn’t stopped her from making a scene before. On that topic, Adrien shouldn’t have been there today. She was thrilled he was, but she didn’t understand how this happened.

“I’m sure if you explained it to them-” The Kwami of Creation was cut off.

“I can’t! If I tell them what I know they’ll try and rush in delivering one of the Miraculous straight to Gabriel or worse, expose this information which will undermine the trust I need to fix all this! I need her to trust me or else I won’t be able to stop the wish, save Nooroo and Duusu, and keep Adrien’s only family from dying.” Tikki wasn’t sure when they’d heard the phrase ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’, but watching Marinette was like watching a highway construction.

Tikki’s antennae shot up, sensing their other half nearby. While Marinette was oblivious, the Kwami drifted towards the window and spotted a certain feline waving in. Normally Tikki would have chastised Plagg for doing this, but there was a lot to talk about. To those who listened closely, there were no words spoken. None that humans could understand at least.

“So, Stray did well.” Tikki started off avoiding the topic, not sure how to approach it.

“She has experience,” Plagg flew into the shadows with their opposite. “I’m guessing Pigtails is an Oracle too?” Tikki nodded. “Great. Look I know it goes without saying, but I really need to say it, your kid cannot find out Stray’s identity. She’s not perfect, no one is, but after this first battle…” Plagg looked like they were trying to chuck up a hairball. “I think we forgot these were all children. I mean REALLY forgot.”

“We did. Especially me. I built up expectations and it was crushing her. She demands trust without giving any because she doesn’t want to burden anyone else but it’s not healthy. And I encouraged it.” Tikki lay their head in their hands, Plagg trying to comfort them.

Adrien was absolutely disgusted looking at the silver band in his possession. It was him, his life, his soul, his being, his essence.

His Amok.

When Gabriel died, he was given the twin rings and told to keep them on him. The last request of his Father as he so valiantly sacrificed himself to stop Monarch. He was never told why they were so important or why he needed to protect them. A lie of omission is still a lie, and he was getting very tired of people not telling him things that he should know about his own life.

He was a sentimonster, like his cousin Felix. Unlike Felix, though, he didn’t hold secret information over his head while mocking him for being unable to resist things he knew he couldn’t possibly fight. But this time he had the knowledge to make informed decisions, a gamble that had paid off when having Sass ‘reset’ time. He’d managed to reclaim one half of his life from his Mother, her body kept in some perverse crypt below the mansion.

Before the truth slipped, he thought the man was just grieving, that he needed time. But he had no intention of moving on. Why would he, he’s Gabriel Agreste. The world should bend to his will. His career as Paris’ first Magical Terrorist proved that. Yet Ladybug told Adrien, to his face, that the man died a hero. His abuser, which he’d finally come to terms with, was being sold to the world as the ‘Man who defeated Monarch’ by the partner he admired deeply. 

He wondered what lies she’d told Marinette, his poor girlfriend being used as well to keep Adrien in the dark. Or worse, was she also told the truth and kept it from him. It took years of therapy to fully understand just how emotionally stunted he’d been, not allowed to learn how to process things in a healthy way. Several bouts of property damage as Chat certainly showed that.

When he saw Stray leaping across the skyline, he wanted to be upset with her. But if anything he was terrified for her. A complete stranger was going in to fight side by side with Ladybug, a girl who claimed to hate liars and yet did so with every breath, for her benefit or others didn’t really matter, the theft of autonomy was something that he couldn’t abide, and he couldn’t warn her. But with how differently things played out, maybe he wouldn’t need to…

Speaking of playing out differently, a part of him relished the sheer fury that danced across Gabriel’s face when he couldn’t command his ‘perfect son’ to ‘cease this nonsense’ about going to school and was forced to let him attend. His other option was calling Adrien’s bluff about ‘making a scene’ at the next photo-op, and considering how having half of his soul in his back pocket, unknown to the man, allowed him to resist commands, it seemed M. Agreste couldn’t be sure he’d remain in control.

As he slipped the ring onto his finger, Adrien went over his goals once more. Acquire the second ring and secure his complete freedom, rescue the Kwami, and make sure Gabriel wouldn’t avoid the consequences of his actions a second time.

Chapter Text

“Mlle. Bourgeois, welcome back. it’s lovely to see you again.” Dr. Bridgette smiled at the girl. Chloé simply glared, gripping the chair with white-knuckled intensity.

“Well it’s not like I had a choice now, did I?” The bitterness was not lost on Bridgette, but she reframed the situation.

“Not so. You could have chosen to not come back. The fact that you did means you must find some value in these sessions.” Chloé scoffed at the therapist. “I’m serious, I know the alternative makes it seem like you have no choice but sometimes doing nothing to change is easier and I’m glad you have chosen against that.” She saw the slight uptick on the girl’s lips as praise for her actions caused Chloé to light up, only for it to dissipate as quickly.

“Well I AM the Daughter of The Style Queen; It would be unexceptional for me to do otherwise.” Her voice was hard, like she’d rehearsed the words constantly and just regurgitated them with no understanding of what they meant.

“You mentioned that in our first session, about having to be exceptional. I’m curious, what does being ‘exceptional’ mean to you?” Chloé laughed, as though she’d heard the dumbest question ever.

“To be a winner, to hold the adoration and respect of your lessers. Like my Mom does.” Bridgette nodded as she wrote in her notes.

“And how do you accomplish this?” This time Chloé was silent. Bridgette could see the gears turning as she tried to formulate an answer but only frustration grew as she seemed dissatisfied by whatever crossed her mind.

“It’s…You either are or you aren’t, and that’s that. Not like you would know.” Chloé’s vitriol rolled off Bridgette’s back like water on down.

“So it’s not something you can accomplish then?” Catching Chloé off guard.

“N-no, I mean, you can, I can, it's just…I mean…d-don’t twist my words!” Bridgette shook her head.

“I simply wish to understand you, Chloé. Being ‘exceptional’ is very important to you, but it sounds like the goal post is always moving.”

“Of course it’s always moving! If you can’t keep up then you can’t be exceptional!” The girl got very quiet after her outburst.

School had been…different. Between Adrien’s early arrival and Chloé’s un-Chloé behavior, Marinette had many worries. The biggest one being without Ivan turning into Stoneheart a second time, even without an army thanks to Stray forcing the matter, Hawk Moth never made his big announcement. Now she was here three days later trying to focus on the Weather Girl competition while also keeping Manon from hurting herself. So far it was just as disastrous as the first time around as her phone was stolen to submit a vote for Mirelle.

There was a knock at her trap door and Alya popped up through it.

“Hey, I got a huge scoop for you. Guess who’s on a photoshoot in the park?” Naturally, Marinette still had feelings for Adrien even if the circumstances didn’t occur. She would take it slow this time, trying to keep him from losing his Father and secure his Amok so he could be free.

“Adrien? Right now?” The event had slipped her mind, not that Alya knew she’d known already.

“As we speak.” Alya stood proud as Marinette bit her knuckle. If Stormy Weather showed up again she didn’t want to put Alya or Manon in danger.

“Er, well, I would love to see him but-” Manon peaked out from behind Marinette’s legs.

“Who’s she?” The child asked, looking at Alya with suspicion. Stranger danger after all.

“-I’m babysitting… Alya, Manon. Manon, Alya.” Alya squatted down to meet the girl’s eyes.

“Nice to meet you, Munchkin.” Manon took offense.

“I’m not a munchkin…what’s a munchkin?”

“It’s what you are.” Manon began laughing as Alya started to tickle the girl. “Come on, I’ve had to babysit my twin sisters all the time. We go to the park, she can run around and get this energy out while YOU go say hi to your dream boy.” Marinette lamented the moment Manon started chanting ‘Park’.

One thing that didn’t change, and he dared not push just yet, was Modeling. Adrien was a bit rusty but got into the swing of things seeing Vincent again. Despite his penchant for Spaghetti talk, literally, the man knew how to compose a picture. His eyes wandered, spotting Marinette and Alya with Nadja’s kid. His Father had akumatized two of them, threatened the third, and it upset him greatly. Apparently these thoughts were not as internalized as he believed.

“No, no. You look like someone spoiled Mama’s spaghetti.” Adrien looked sheepishly at the photographer. “This will not do, I need the hunger. I need something…you!” Vincent rushed up to Alya. “I need an extra!”

The sound of a body impacting the ground startled everyone as Stormy Weather furiously pulled herself to her feet. She aimed her Parasol up at the roof and fired a blast of lightning at a black silhouette. Stray gracefully dodged with Ballet muscle memory, landing on her feet and sprinting towards the Akuma. Despite the power the Akumas would wield, they were mostly just people. Aurore was no fighter and her Akuma found herself on the back foot the entire time.

“Everyone get out of here!” Stray shouted as he swung her baton, Stormy scrambling to block it in time.

“I knew the heroes would be back!” Alya scrambled to pull her phone out as Marinette grabbed her arm and Manon before dragging them away from the fray. “Woah, Marinette, the battle is that way.”

“And safety is THIS way. I am not letting you and Manon get caught in it.” The sky began to turn dark as the wind picked up, Stormy Weather getting the hang of her abilities now.

“Hope you’ve got your winter coat, you Mangy Cat!” She conducted a chilling blast of air at Stray, icey precipitation rained down like a hail of bullets. Stray grit her teeth as she weathered the storm, her ear twitching as she heard something to her left.

“Hey Ice Queen!” Stormy Weather cried out in surprise as a rock was thrown at her. Adrien stood defiantly, staring down the Akuma. “Why don’t you chill out a bit?” He smirked as this clearly irritated her. She raised her parasol before Hawk Moth’s visor appeared, and judging by the way Stormy Weather was grimacing, she didn’t like what he was saying. This momentary distraction was enough for Stray to slam her staff into the Akuma’s midsection and send her flying half-way across Paris.

“Do you have a death wish?” Stray was suddenly in Adrien’s face, her fury tempered by shock. “I’m telling you like I told that blogger, you’re going to get hurt.”

“Only if I overstay my welcome.” There was something about how Adrien spoke that reminded her of Felix when he knew something others didn’t. She hated that tone immensely.

“Don’t…test my patience.” She tiredly said, rubbing her temples. “I know your heart is in the right place, but please just stay out of danger. Physical wounds may heal but the Psychological ones are what I worry about more.” Adrien grew quiet at that.

“Hello Paris!” Television screens came to life as Stormy Weather started up her broadcast. “I’m Stormy Weather, your new Weather Girl! Before we get to today’s forecast we have a special message from our new sponsor!” She smiled widely before looking a little sick as a swarm of black butterflies flew out of her mouth, forming into the shape of a head that only a select few could recognize.

“Citizens of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawk Moth.” Stray didn’t notice the way Adrien’s fists curled tighter as the villain spoke. “Ladybug, Stray, surrender the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous now!”

“Should you choose to fight, then consider Paris under Siege and the blood of innocents on your hands. I will not stop until your Miraculous are in my grasp!” Marinette watched the screen in horror, unable to reach through and capture the akuma swarm, unable to inspire Paris that she would not give up. Manon was hiding behind a pillow.

“I don’t know who Hawk Moth thinks he is, but Ladybug and Stray are heroes. And heroes always triumph.” Alya spoke with conviction, the mood infectious enough to calm Manon down. Marinette felt something sting in her heart when she mentioned Stray. It should have been Chat Noir here with her, not this total stranger.

“I’m…going to use the little ladies room, uh, stay here and don’t go outside.” She bolted to her room where Tikki flew out.

“This is a disaster! We have to hurry and make sure Paris has faith in me!” Tikki frowned at Marinette’s words.

“And Stray?” Marinette had a confused look on her face, not following Tikki’s train of thought.

“Tikki, spots on!”

The TVi studio looked like a frozen fortress when Ladybug swung onto the scene. The front doors were caved in as a chill left the building. Snow crunched under her feet as she made her way inside.

“Hawk Moth has shaken up the city.” Ladybug spun, ready to fight as Stray walked in behind her. “We’ll need to do damage control after this if we don’t want him to have his pick for Akumas.” Ladybug narrowed her eyes at Stray. She clearly knew more than the average Parisian.

“Just follow my lead.” Ladybug made her way to the stairwell, Stray following behind, a little irritated by how the Heroine was acting. They passed ‘statues’ of ice, people frozen inside as they tried to flee. It hurt Stray to look at. Even after the cure was cast, they would remember how they died.

The two burst into the studio, Ladybug looking around for the Akumatized Aurore, only for the Weather Witch to plunge the building into darkness.

“Hehehe, try and catch me~” She taunted as she flew up towards the roof. Ladybug stumbled in the dark for a moment before Stray called out to her.

“I have night vision, come on I’ll guide-”

“I’m fine!” She spoke a little sharply, still making her way towards where she thought the door was. Stray was unimpressed as she watched Ladybug smack into a wall instead.

“We don’t have time for this.” Stray grabbed Ladybug, who protested, and pulled her along to the actual staircase. The two managed to make it to the roof where Stormy Weather did her best Ojou laugh.

“You’ve fallen right into my trap, heroes!” No longer needing Stray to lead her, Ladybug wrenched herself from the Black Cat and twirled her Yo-Yo.

“LUCKY CHARM!” Ladybug held her hand out to catch the towel- “A ring!?” She started to panic a little. It wasn’t a ring last time. Not that it mattered, she had infinite lucky charms now. Except when she tried again she still got a ring. Even Stormy Weather was perplexed by Ladybug’s behavior, but she began her assault regardless.

“Hail to the Queen!” She pointed her Parasol at the heroes as a storm of hail rained down on them. Stray twirled her baton to make a shield, protecting the two as Ladybug grew frustrated.

“It should be a towel…why are you giving me a ring?” She muttered, not aware Stray could hear perfectly.

“Enough of this!” Stray extended her baton out , catching Stormy Weather by surprise as she smacked the end against her wrist, the Parasol dropping from her grasp. The hailstorm ceased and Stray lunged for the Parasol, cataclsyming it, releasing the Butterfly within. Ladybug, frustrated and confused, purifies the Butterfly as Stray catches Aurore. As the cure is dispensed, Stray looks Aurore in the eye.

“How are you feeling?” The girl is taken aback for a moment.

“I…I don’t know. I was angry, humiliated, and then…I don’t remember how I got here.” Aurore held a hand to her head and winced, Stray keeping her steady.

“Let’s get you some water. Bug, now’s the time for damage control.” Ladybug didn’t let Stray or Aurore see the annoyance on her face. She was supposed to be fixing all of this and yet Stray was taking charge like she knew better. Worse, it was not dissimilar to what she’d do which made arguing against it moot.

“People of Paris, I know you are scared. A mad man has just declared war on our peace. But hear me when I say I won’t give up and surrender to bullies. Neither should you. Hawk Moth wants you afraid, wants you angry, that’s the only way he can control you. But rest assured Paris, I will not rest until Hawk Moth is brought to justice and his Miraculous is safely away from his abuse.”

Gabriel scowled at the broadcast. Stormy Weather’s defeat frustrated him. Now he knew the heroes, both of them, were not on a timer just as he wasn’t. Ladybug’s declaration against him meant he’d have to step it up greatly if he wanted a chance in hell to succeed. But he did notice something, perhaps trouble in paradise. I, Me, Ladybug used singular in her speech. Stray was in frame, clearly present, yet Ladybug seemed to separate herself from the other. Perhaps he could use this potential schism to his advantage.

“Father, what a rare treat.” Adrien appeared over his shoulder, leaning over the back of the couch. “Are those the heroes? Wow, I’d hate to be that Hawk Moth guy.” 

“Adrien, why are you not at the Photoshoot?” His voice was even, but you could hear a tinge of irritation.

“The weather, ironically, stopped being ideal shortly after Stormy Weather was defeated. Vincent has enough pictures anyway, you know he does good work.”

“Then you should have no problem moving up to your other scheduled items.” Gabriel twisted his ring, Adrien briefly shuddered before he frowned.

“Yeah, I think today has been exciting enough, I’m gonna make a sandwich and take a nap instead. I’ll practice my Chinese later.” Gabriel stood up quickly, his irritation on full display for a moment before he schooled himself.

“Maybe school was a mistake, it seems you have picked up some bad habits.”

“You could pull me from school, but then Chloé would have to call the authorities.” Gabriel paused at that. “See, I have a ‘dead man switch’ set up with her. If I miss school for more than a day, well, something is up. As a concerned friend she’d be making sure nothing bad happened to me. I’m sure you can explain how you pulled me from a prestigious school to protect me from ‘bad influences’ no problem.” Gabriel grit his teeth. Adrien smiled, walking off to the kitchen despite what Gabriel wanted. He couldn’t figure out how Adrien was doing that. His flippant behavior, the refusal to do as his Amok commanded, not to mention how he attacked his Akuma. Stormy Weather would have blasted Adrien away without his intervention. Nooroo had been unhelpful, merely stating a ridiculous notion that Adrien was tired of being controlled. He shouldn’t even know, to which the Kwami had merely shrugged. That was another thing that had changed suddenly. Nooroo had gone from this submissive creature to borderline belligerent. He was not about to lose control of the situation, not when ultimate power had revealed itself so quickly. It was only a matter of time before everything went his way.

“A ring, Tikki?” Marinette was pacing, irritated. “Three times in a row I got a ring, and not a towel like before. What gives?” Tikki looked at their Chosen with sad eyes.

“I cannot influence the Lucky Charm, Marinette. You know this. Whatever the reason was, you got a ring.” The Kwami was being truthful, they did not influence the Lucky Charm. But they did have an idea what it meant, even if the Holder didn’t. Or refused to acknowledge.

“At least I managed to get the message out to Paris…” She slumped back on her bed, still upset about the whole thing. She didn’t trust Stray. They were an unknown that drastically shook up the timeline. She missed Chat Noir. He listened to her, supported her. Not like Stray. She just went ahead without input, doing her own thing. What had Master Fu been thinking, giving this rogue element a Miraculous? Everything in the past had gone topsy turvy and it gave her a headache. It was supposed to be simple.

Tikki floated by Marinette’s cheek, patting it.

“You’re not alone in this, you know.” They smiled.

“I know, I have you.” The smile faltered a bit. They had meant Stray.

“What about Stray?” Marinette shot up, uncharacteristically frustrated.

“No, not Stray. How can you say that? You and I both know it was supposed to be Chat Noir!”

“But he isn’t!” Marinette stumbled back as Tikki raised their voice, startled by her companion’s sudden outburst. “...I get it, but Stray is your partner now. If you try to do everything yourself, you’re going to get hurt or worse. Pushing away Stray will not make the fight easier.” They floated off to the kitchen to steal a cookie or two, leaving Marinette to sit alone in silence.

Chapter Text

“Nathaniel! What are you drawing?” Chloé flinched at Mendeleiev’s outburst as memories of this day returned. She kept her head down as Nathaniel tripped, exposing his artwork of his crush on Marinette. Said nothing as he gathered it up. Tried to be as small as possible as he left the room. There was no guarantee he wouldn’t be akumatized but she desperately did not want him gunning for her again.

“-Sabrina, Chloé, and Marinette.” Chloé snapped back to reality. She vaguely remembered being in a group project, but due to her lack of interest didn’t remember much beyond the Akuma attack. As the class cleared out for study period, Chloé couldn’t help but fidget. If Kurtzberg became an Akuma still it would mean she’d have to bail on the group project, and while Sabrina would understand it was Dupain-Cheng who would see it as her slacking off. She really didn’t feel like arguing with the girl.

“So, how are we supposed to be dividing this up?” Sabrina looked at Chloé, not sure how to answer the question. It was different to how they’d worked for years.

“Sabrina,” Marinette appeared from seemingly nowhere. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes? Maybe? We were just wondering how to divide up the work.” Her brow furrowed in uncertainty.

“Oh, well, Chloé should do part of the work for the project.”

“Yes?” Chloé said, which threw Marinette off. “We’re just not sure how to divide it up. I mean, I guess we could split it into Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons. Slap it into a powerpoint when we have our notes.”

Marinette said nothing for a while before Chloé snapped her fingers in the girl’s face.

“Dupain-Cheng, you there?” Marinette nodded dumbly. “Good, do you have input or should we go ahead with my idea?”

“Er, no it’s…fine.” She was at a loss for words.

“I guess we’ll figure out who is doing what in the Library?” Sabrina added, still a bit confused how she was supposed to act in this new situation.

A cry rang out as Mlle. Mendeleiev was booking it down the courtyard as a large pencil sketch of an ‘Oxygen atom’ rolled after her.

“...Uh, so, I just remembered that I need to do my makeup. Can’t do particle physics without looking good?” Chloé didn’t wait for a response, cringing at her ‘escape excuse’, and ran into the girl’s restroom.

“That was awful, blondie.” Plagg popped out of Chloé’s bolero pocket. “I can’t wait to hear more of these.”

“Don’t start with me. I just want to finish this before Dupain-Cheng tries anything.” Plagg rolled their eyes. “Plagg, Claws Out.”

Stray arrived on the scene to see Ladybug was already engaging the Akuma. She always wondered how the Heroine managed to hear about the Akuma so quickly. A quick scan of the courtyard showed Cesairé filming, as was her aggravating nature, and Sabrina hiding with Adrien and Lahiffe.

No Dupain-Cheng though. She didn’t have time to dwell on it as the Evillustrator tried to make an escape through a newly made hole in the wall.

“Don’t tell me you're leaving already? I just got here.” Stray flung herself across the way into the Akuma’s back, the two sprawling out in the Library.

Evillustrator grit his teeth, before panicking as he realized he dropped his tablet pen in the tussle.

“I know you’re frustrated, embarrassed even, but Hawk Moth is not a sympathetic ear. When he has what he wants he’ll drop you like last season's shoes.” She spotted the tablet pen a split second too late as Evillustrator grabbed it first.

“What an excellent idea.” He smirked as a giant stiletto shoe was quickly sketched out. Stray suddenly found herself unable to breathe, unable to move, just staring up at the heel of doom that was coming down at her. Something yanked her away before she could be crushed and she found herself in Ladybug’s grip. She didn’t spare a glance at Stray before snapping the heel of the shoe with her yo-yo causing it to dissipate. However, it seemed Evillustrator escaped while the heroes were distracted.

“What was that?!” Stray looked up at Ladybug who’d rounded on her. She couldn’t formulate the words, numbness taking her over as memories of events yet to happen paralyzed her. Ladybug just groaned in frustration, taking the silence from Stray as defiance.

“You know what, forget it. The Akuma is getting away.” The spotted Heroine left in pursuit leaving Stray in a state of shock. She got to her feet, shakily, trying to not think about how she was almost killed by a giant shoe. Again…

“You like to walk all over other people. But you don't like it when others trample on you! Do you, Chloé? Do you?!” 

She ran off as she saw Alya make her way towards her, not feeling like indulging the blogger.

Stray slumped against the restroom wall, turning back into Chloé, trying to not feel ill.

“So feeble, need chee-” Plagg stopped upon seeing Chloé curled up. “Uh, Kid? You doing okay?”

“I froze.” She sniffled. “I froze and the akuma got away because I couldn’t…”

“Chloé?” Sabrina had come in, kneeling down next to the Blonde. “Chloé, breathe with me. In…deux, trois, quatre, cinq, and out…deux, trois, quatre, cinq…” They did this for a bit as Plagg fidgeted with their paws. They sat quietly for a couple minutes before getting up.

“Are you going after the Akuma?” Sabrina hesitantly asked. After Chloé ran off to transform, Marinette had made some weird excuse before running off as well and had not seen her since. She really did not feel like doing the Lion’s share of work anymore.

“I should…” Chloé said, fidgeting with a wedge of Camembert as she handed it off to Plagg. “...If I don’t, Ladybug will think-”

“Screw Ladybug!” Sabrina surprised both Chloé and herself at the outburst, but kept the momentum. “She’s treated you like…like some kind of burden when you’ve been on the scene more than her! And today? You had a panic attack and she just yelled at you!” She balled her fists up, trembling a little.

“Sabrina…”

“If she’s so great at this, she can do it on her own!” Chloé found herself being dragged along by a fiery Red-head all the way to the Hotel. She kind of liked it when Sabrina took charge.

Marinette had lost Evillustrator. With Mme. Mendeleiev being the target instead of Chloé, she had no idea where he’d gone. While she didn’t think her science professor was in much danger, since what kind of student knows where their teachers live, a rogue akuma was not something she wanted. This was mitigated by the fact that Nathaniel WOULD come to her house with an invite to his Birthday, or date really, but without Chat Noir for back up…

She drummed her fingers on her desk, Tikki munching on a Macron, when her phone buzzed. It was from Sabrina. She froze as she remembered there was a project to be done before her mind halted reading the text.

“With Chloé at Hotel, covering Leptons and Quarks, you get Bosons. Zut! I left Sabrina with Chloé!” As she got up to ‘save’ Sabrina, the sound of something being erased came from behind her. “Double Zut.” She turned to see Evillustrator, Tikki having hidden away, and gave the best customer service smile she could muster.

“I hate science.” Chloé was trying to get her notes in order for Quarks while Sabrina did Leptons. “I hate it more knowing half of the big bang was this menace.” She pointed at Plagg who merely shrugged as they ate more cheese.

“Technically Sugar Cube and I came after, just slightly. Boy those first couple of billion years…”

“...I can’t tell if they’re serious or not.” Sabrina opted to ignore the avatar of destruction, scrolling through her phone instead. Plagg made a weird noise and floated up to Chloé.

“What?”

“Ladybug’s bugging you.” She rolled her eyes and transformed, her staff ringing as she did so.

“Stray.” Chloé spoke as she opened the communicator function.

“Oh good, you picked up. Listen, Stray, I know we’ve had our differences but I…” There is a sigh like this is the most difficult thing for Ladybug to say, which causes Sabrina to scoff in the background. “I need your help. There’s this girl, Marinette. Evillustrator is in love with her and he’s promised not to attack as long as she comes to his Birthday Party. I need you to take down the Akuma while he’s distracted.”

“What is wrong with you?” Ladybug was taken aback on her end by Stray’s question.

“I don’t-”

“We’re supposed to protect people, not use them as bait where they can get hurt.” Stray was trying to keep her temper in check. “You did this with the blogger girl too, did you know she almost died being that close to our fight with Stoneheart?” The call was silent. “And where are you supposed to be in this plan?”

“I, um, s-secret mission?” Stray was glad their weapons were durable, because a regular phone would have been crunched by her increased grip.

“A secret mission. You’re sending a civilian into danger and you aren’t even going to be there?” Sabrina backed up a little, terrified by the sudden increase in pressure exuding from her friend. “Do you even hear yourself?! Is this just how you operate?!” She took a breath. “I’m doing this to catch the akuma and keep someone safe that you have endangered.” Before Ladybug could reply, Stray hung up. She holstered her weapon and started doing a counting exercise Dr. Bridgette taught her to calm down. When she finished, she looked at Sabrina sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“I-it’s okay, I understand.” The redhead smiled, though it was melancholic.

Marinette had knots in her stomach as she approached the location Evillustrator gave her. Ladybug’s call to Stray had gone poorly but Marinette’s meeting with Stray was…

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She was startled and fell on her butt as Stray landed in the erased remains of her window. “I don’t know what Ladybug was thinking but it’s okay. You don’t need to go. As long as the Akuma thinks you're going he’ll stay in one spot.”

“Huh? What?” Marinette was a bit out of it with how differently things were going.

“...She didn’t even tell you the ‘plan’ did she? Just expected me to be the scapegoat putting you in danger.” Stray’s face darkened, making Marinette nervous.

“Oh, no no, it was, um, it was my idea…” She shrunk as the Cat Heroine’s eyes narrowed at her.

“...” Stray walked up, calmly, to the girl. “This isn’t some normal school drama, this is dangerous. I don’t care how good the intentions are, you shouldn’t be part of this. Ladybug should be better than this, sending a child in her stead, I used to think the world of her before-” Stray stopped, realizing she was talking of a world that hadn’t happened. Would never happen. “Just tell me where the meet up is and I’ll take care of it.”

“No.” Part of Marinette wasn’t sure why she said that.

“No?” Stray tilted her head, irritation in her stance. “You don’t get to say ‘No’. This is a serious matter, life and death. You can’t just say ‘No’ and expect me to let you be part of this mess.”

“W-well, I’m not telling you. I’m going to help lure Evillustrator into this trap.” Stray hated how self-righteous the girl was. She always acted this way, luring people in with this facade of meekness. But she knew better, you push hard enough and she would push back. And did Chloé push hard. Envy was a terrible color on her but she couldn’t help but wear it every day she was around Marinette.

“This isn’t a game.” Stray leaned back, arms crossed, and scowled. “Even if Ladybug can ‘fix’ things she can’t fix trauma!”

“...I have to do this…” Stray’s ears twitched at the response. She wanted to shout at the girl for being so stupid and stubborn.

“Don’t do anything stupid…” Was all that came out as she left.

…She wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

“Happy Birthday.” She did her best to smile and act normal as she arrived at the Seine. Evillustrator lit up at her presence.

“Marinette.” He escorted her onto the boat, where he began to do all the things he’d previously done for her. The Moon, the music, everything was as before. Except she couldn’t see Stray at all.

“Is something wrong?” Marinette didn’t realize she’d been looking around.

“N-no, just, brrr, chilly. Should have worn a jacket.” She rubbed her shoulders hoping he’d buy it. The jacket sketch around her made her think so.

“I’m not a designer like you but I hope you like it.” Evillustrator said, blushing.

The next thing anyone knew, Evillustrator was on his side, a throbbing pain in his head, as Stray retracted her baton landing atop the Akuma. The tablet pen was swiped and swiftly broken as the Akuma Butterfly went to escape.

“Cataclysm.” Stray enclosed her fist around the Akuma, burning away the corruption, and opened her hand to reveal a normal butterfly. Marinette wasn’t the only one stunned as Stray had this look of surprise. “That’s…new.” Stray then realized she was still straddling Nathaniel and quickly removed herself. “How’s your head?” The boy rubbed the welt forming.

“Hurts…where am…” He looked up to see Stray and- “M-Marinette?!” He was extremely embarrassed right now, gathering context clues from his surroundings. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t…did I hurt…”

“I’m okay, really. You just…wanted me to be at your Birthday.” She rubbed her arm, feeling extremely awkward right now about all this. Plus the thought that Stray could purify Akuma with Cataclysm, why had she not been told that? “L-look, Nathaniel, I’m flattered you like me but…” She tried to steel herself as the boy sank back down a little.

“I understand. I’m really sorry about all this.”

“I’ll get you two home, if Ladybug isn’t done with her ‘secret mission’, and clean up.” Stray picked up Nathaniel before going to grab Marinette.

“N-no, It’s fine I don’t-” She yelped as Stray grabbed her as well and the trio went on a rooftop run.

Marinette was glad the Miraculous Ladybug still worked, even if she hadn’t purified the Akuma. She wanted to be mad at Stray but…

“Dupain-Cheng.” Chloé interrupted the girl’s thoughts. “I heard you were with Kurtzberg yesterday.” Her arms were crossed, looking at the raven-haired girl like she was sizing her up. Before Marinette could get defensive, Sabrina spoke up.

“Chloé and I started out portions of the assignment yesterday, we’re not sure if you were able to since…y’know…but if you need help we’re going to finish up in Study Hall.” Marinette looked sheepish, not expecting this at all.

“I, uh, that’s…okay?” The answer seemed good enough for the duo as they continued to their lockers.

“Hey,” She was startled by Adrien’s appearance when she closed her own locker. It was crazy how quiet he could be. “I heard Nathaniel went after you. Were you okay?” Marinette started to wonder how so many people knew about her involvement now.

“Yeah, It went fine! No mishaps or…anything…” She seemed a little upset at how quickly Stray handled it, and with how upset she seemed to be with Ladybug involving civilians. Now with the knowledge of how Stray could purify Akumas too, she felt…pointless. Either one could show up without the other and still save everyone.

She felt bad that she didn’t like that.

…She wondered if this was how Chat felt…

“Marinette?” She looked up at Adrien, concern on his face. Something about it made her feel loved. “It’s okay to not be okay. If you ever want to talk…”

The bell rang, interrupting him, but Adrien just smiled at the girl and continued. “I’m here for you.”