Chapter Text
Jagged Stone's face is the first thing that comes into view, filling up the screen. Then he pulls back, revealing that his assistant Penny is hovering over his shoulder, and says, "What do you need to ask me, Marinette?"
"I just wanted to know if you'd ever heard of someone named Lila Rossi," Marinette says, her voice sounding slightly distorted. It's obvious this is a recording from Marinette's computer and that she’s standing over her laptop, probably leaning over the microphone.
"Lila Rossi?" Jagged repeats, screwing his face up. "No, the name doesn't ring a bell. Penny?"
"No, I don't recognize it either," Penny says, brushing a strand of purple hair out of her face. "Who is that, Marinette?"
"Just this girl I know," says Marinette. "So... out of curiosity, you've never had a kitten that needed to be saved from an airplane?"
"A kitten?" Jagged starts to laugh. Penny sighs and leans in closer to the screen.
"Jagged's not crazy about cats. He likes Chat Noir just fine, but that's about the only cat he can tolerate. Besides, even if he did like cats, we couldn't have one around Fang. He would eat the poor thing." She cocks her head. "Where did you hear such a weird story?"
"Oh, nowhere special," Marinette says.
"So when are you going to design something else for me?" Jagged demands, pushing Penny out of the way to move in closer. "I need another Marinette original!"
Marinette laughs. "I'll design you something whenever you want, Jagged."
"Good! I have loads of ideas and no one gets me quite like you do." He leaps up from the table to air guitar, and Penny sighs, shaking her head with a fond smile.
The screen goes dark. Chat looks around. Several students are wearing confused expressions, but he can tell that no one has quite figured out the truth just yet - no one, that is, except for Lila. Her face is flushed with anger and she's glaring at him like she wants to burn a hole through his head. Chat smiles brightly back at her, all innocence, knowing that it will just make her more angry.
When the screen lights up again, it's showing Adrien and Madame Rossi. This time, already knowing exactly what the video is going to say since he lived through it, Chat keeps an eye on the crowd. He sees the shock on Marinette's face when she realizes what's going on. He sees the shock and disbelief dawning on Alya's face as Madame Rossi insults Ladybug and Chat Noir and makes it crystal clear that Lila is the one who has been feeding her all those lies.
He sees the way Principal Damocles puffs up when Madame Rossi makes reference to the school being closed. He sees the surprise on Nino's face when Madame Rossi says her family hasn't traveled in well over two years, meaning that there's no way Lila was in New York to meet a bunch of music producers last year. He sees the outraged expression on Chloé's face when Madame Rossi calls Adrien Lila's boyfriend.
But best of all is the way that Lila slowly goes dead white as her mother unknowingly unravels so many of her lies. The video only lasts about five minutes, because that's all they really needed for the most incriminating information, but it's five of the sweetest minutes of Chat's life. There's dead silence in the courtyard when the video finishes. Lila just stands there, mouth opening and closing soundlessly. No doubt she's trying to think of a lie, but her mind is coming up blank because there is no lie that could get her out of this.
And then, the last video starts to play. Everyone snaps to when Ladybug and Chat Noir's faces fill the screen. Chat takes the chance to slip away, now knowing that there's no way Max is going to shut off the video prematurely. He detransforms behind some bushes and then walks back to over to Marinette and Chloé. Marinette startles when he wraps an arm around her shoulders, but leans into him anyway. Chloé turns away from the screen, where Chat Noir is doing acrobatic feats, to look at Adrien with a strange, indecipherable expression on her face. Adrien meets her gaze, hugging Marinette to him.
"Stay safe, Paris!" Chat Noir calls out from the screen, and then it goes blank.
There's silence.
Then Alya says, sounding slightly hysterical, "What the fuck was that?! You were lying to me? I posted your interview on my Ladyblog!"
"That - that wasn't true!" Lila says feebly. "It's - obviously those were fakes!"
"No one else could do that, Lila!" Alya screams. "That was them! Chat Noir himself brought that footage!"
"They had to say that! Because Ladybug wants to protect me!" Lila exclaims. "To keep me safe!"
"And what about everything else?" Nino demands. "What about Jagged Stone, or you traveling to New York?! Were your mom and Jagged just trying to protect you too?" Adrien's never seen him look that angry. Alya’s turning new shades of red and purple.
"Or closing the school?" says Alix, crossing her arms. "And saying that Ladybug and Chat Noir never saved all those people?"
Suddenly everyone is yelling, shouting accusations at Lila. Adrien almost feels sorry for her, because Lila is clearly overwhelmed by the amount of vitriol being spewed in her direction. She puts her hands up and backs away.
"No, you don't understand! It's all - it's just - it's her!" Lila points at Marinette. "She's working against me, just like when she attacked me!"
"Marinette never attacked you. That's just another one of your bullshit lies," Chloé says, loudly and clearly to be heard over the angry whispering.
“Yes she did! I had the injuries to prove it! She attacked me, I’m telling you!” Lila looks around, her eyes roving over all the faces staring at her. Adrien can pinpoint the moment when Lila realizes that not a single person here is on her side. Even Madame Bustier looks pissed off.
Letting out a savage scream, Lila lunges towards the refreshment table and grabs a knife. “This is all your fault, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I warned you that you would be sorry if you didn’t back off!” She brandishes the knife and comes at Marinette. A few people scream.
“Holy shit!” Chloé exclaims. She gets out of the way and yanks out her phone, training it on Lila.
Adrien moves to intercept Lila, but Marinette is already in motion. She grabs Lila’s wrist and twists it, making Lila yelp with pain and surprise. The knife falls from her suddenly limp fingers and Marinette grabs it, quickly passing it over to Adrien. Then she spins Lila around, wrenching Lila’s hand up behind her shoulders. The whole process takes less than twenty seconds, so that, by the time any of their teachers have started to act, Marinette’s already got Lila taken care of.
“See? She attacked me!” Lila shrieks, wriggling. Marinette effortlessly keeps Lila pinned.
“Yeah, after you attacked her. Which I got on film, and is totally illegal,” Chloé says, still filming. She catches Adrien’s eye, and there’s something new in her face that he’s not yet sure what to make of.
“No! You don’t get it! I don’t – Marinette just – she – ” Lila collapses to her knees and starts sobbing. Marinette lets her go and takes a few steps back, eyeing her warily.
“Principal Damocles, it doesn’t seem very safe to have Lila here. Maybe Sabrina could call her dad,” Adrien says.
“What?” Marinette says, surprised.
“I can do that,” Sabrina says, already whipping out her phone. She sneaks a glance at Chloé, who ignores her.
“Mademoiselle Rossi, we will wait for the police in my office. I’m going to call your mother as well. Your behavior at this school has been reprehensible. You are hereby expelled from Collège Françoise Dupont!” Professor Damocles storms over, Madame Bustier on his heels. Between the two of them, they get Lila on her feet. She walks between them, still sobbing into her hands, back into the school.
“Nice reflexes, Princess,” Adrien says, carefully setting the knife down on the edge of the table. Officer Raincomprix might need it if Marinette decides to press charges. He really doubts that she will, because Marinette’s heart is too big for her own good, but it could happen.
“Thanks,” Marinette says with a tiny smile, turning to him and smiling. It feels like a moment where they should bump their fists together and say “Bien joué!” but that would, of course, be a dead give-away to anyone who is watching them. So instead…
“Wanna go grab a coffee?” Adrien suggests. A lot of people are still staring at them, including Chloé, but he has the feeling Marinette isn’t ready to deal with any of them.
“Yes,” Marinette says emphatically, reaching out for him. He takes her hand and they walk out the gates together, leaving everyone else behind.
They celebrate their success with pastries, cookies for Tikki and cheese for Plagg, and coffee. Marinette is all smiles, like a weight has been taken off her shoulders; Adrien knows exactly how she feels. It’s wonderful to see her smiling again. He’s just considering whether or not they have time to go see a movie before he has to show up to fencing practice when Chloé drops into the seat beside him.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she announces, propping her elbows on the table.
“Oh really,” Marinette says. “About what?”
“I don’t want a personal visit from Ladybug. I want to keep my miraculous all the time.”
Adrien freezes. Marinette chokes on her sip of coffee.
“Come on, it was so obvious after that whole incident,” Chloé says, leaning her chin on her hand. “Chat Noir shows up just as Adrien slips away? The two of you getting such good footage of Ladybug and Chat Noir? Not even Césaire has ever accomplished that, and she’s obsessed with Ladybug. Plus, I’ve never seen anyone move like that except for Ladybug. It also makes way more sense why you two suddenly got so close. Obviously you revealed your identities to each other.”
Marinette opens her mouth, then closes it. She opens it again and says helplessly, “Chloé…”
“Don’t bother lying to me. Adrien’s been head over heels for Ladybug for ages. That wouldn’t just suddenly change,” Chloé says. “Now I get why you two are dating. And honestly, now that I know, I just can’t believe I didn’t see it before. Adrien is a dork, just like Chat.”
“What – I am not!” Adrien says indignantly. “My puns are paw-some, thank you very much.”
Chloé just looks at him with this deadpan expression. “I can’t believe I ever wanted to marry you.”
“Hey!”
“Okay, fine,” Marinette says. “You’re right. But I don’t know about your miraculous. It’s not our choice to make.”
“But you do have a say in it. You’re Ladybug.” There’s something reverent about the way that Chloé says that, though it’s obvious she’s desperately trying to hide it. It’s kind of adorable and Adrien works hard to suppress his grin, knowing that this has to have thrown Chloé for a complete loop.
“I might get a small say,” Marinette says grudgingly. “We’re just not comfortable with too many miraculous being out and about all at once.”
“Well, it’s not like you’re going to be giving out the fox and turtle anytime soon,” Chloé says, grabbing Adrien’s coffee. She takes a sip and wrinkles her nose. “Ew, Adrikins, seriously. Try having a little coffee with your sugar.”
“I like it that way, thank you very much,” Adrien says, grabbing it back.
“I’m suddenly getting a vision of my life in the near future and regretting my choices,” Marinette mutters, looking totally unsurprised when Chloé promptly steals her coffee instead.
“Oh please. I’m an upgrade and you know it. If you’d told me you were Ladybug, I would’ve made Lila Rossi disappear ages ago,” Chloé says.
“It concerns me that I’m not sure whether you’re serious or not,” Marinette says.
“I’m 100% serious,” Chloé says, not smiling. “Daddy has connections.”
“Not helping your chances of getting your miraculous, Chlo,” Adrien says.
“Hey, you both owe me. And I miss Pollen.” Chloé’s voice gets a little quieter at that. Adrien feels a pang and knows, glancing at Marinette, that she’s affected too. Losing Plagg for even a few minutes when Sandboy was rampaging around was horrible. He can’t imagine only getting to see Plagg here and there.
“We’ll see what we can do,” he promises Chloé.
That night, Ladybug pays Master Fu a visit. Saturday morning, Adrien escorts Chloé to the bakery and then up to Marinette’s room. There, Marinette formally presents Chloé Bourgeois with the Bee Miraculous.
“This is a big responsibility, Chloé. By taking the miraculous, you’re pledging to put Paris first before anything else,” Marinette says, Tikki floating beside her. “You’re promising to care for your kwami and fulfill her needs to the best of your abilities. You’re vowing to keep any secrets that you discover in the line of duty, including our identities, to yourself, no matter what kind of situation presents itself. You’re agreeing to work with Chat and me, including patroling with us, no matter what sacrifices it requires of your civilian life. And most of all, you’re affirming that you will never use your miraculous for evil.”
Chloé nods, looking unusually sombre. “I swear,” she says, holding a hand out.
“Then you, Chloé Bourgeois, are now the holder of the Bee Miraculous. You will keep your miraculous safe at all cost. If anyone asks, you will neither confirm nor deny that you are still Queen Bee.” Marinette gently sets the comb into Chloé’s hand. It glows, and Pollen emerges.
“Hello, my queen!” she chirps.
“Pollen!” For a moment, it almost looks like Chloé is going to cry. Adrien can’t blame her for excusing herself to the bathroom.
“I still can’t believe Master Fu agreed,” he says into the silence.
“Well, he didn’t want to. Not until I explained that I won’t be asking for the turtle or fox miraculous anytime soon. He was disappointed, I think. In me, and in Alya and Nino.” Marinette sits down beside him on the chaise, leaning against him.
“Master Fu wasn’t disappointed in you, Marinette. These things happen,” Tikki says, landing on Marinette’s knee. “That’s one of the reasons why he didn’t want you to give out the miraculous for good right away. Not everyone is suited to having one.”
“Maybe in the future, Alya and Nino will re-earn your trust,” Adrien says gently.
“Frankly, I’m surprised the old man was willing to let Chloé have the Bee Miraculous when the Butterfly and Peacock are still out there,” says Plagg.
Marinette shrugs. “I told him the truth. That Chloé was going to be our choice for back-up from now on, and that it doesn’t always make sense for Adrien and me to leave a battle to go retrieve a miraculous. It’s worked out for us so far, but Hawkmoth has shown that he’s only getting stronger. Originally I was going to ask about the fox for Alya, but…” She bites her lower lip.
Adrien squeezes her in a hug, kissing the side of her head. “Have you heard from them?”
“Oh yeah. I’ve been flooded with texts. It’s crazy.” Marinette reaches out and grab her phone from her desk. She shows him the screen and all the texts. “I haven’t responded to anyone yet. I don’t really know what I’m going to say yet.”
“Not even Alya?”
“No. I need some time to think about it. And frankly… a text isn’t going to cut it.” Marinette puts her phone in her pocket. “She’ll probably talk to me on Monday. Depending on what she says, I might accept her apology. But I’m a long ways away from trusting her again.”
“That’s fair,” Adrien says. He feels similarly about Nino. They’re still friends, but this whole thing has definitely made Adrien question how well he knows Nino.
“Alright, I haven’t been Queen Bee in ages,” Chloé says, throwing the trap door open and barging up the stairs. “I want to go out.”
Marinette smiles. “I don’t see why not. Sometimes Chat and I do patrol during the day.” She stands up. “Tikki, spots on!”
“Plagg, claws out!”
“Pollen, buzz on!”
Queen Bee is the first one on Marinette’s bed and out onto the balcony. Chat grins to himself as Queen Bee leaps off the balcony, letting out an excited scream. He pulls himself up onto the balcony and stands there for a moment. Ladybug joins him, and they watch the yellow-and-black silhouette swing towards the Eiffel Tower. Queen Bee’s excited whoops echo back to them.
“I never thought I’d say it, but I’m actually glad Chloé picked up the miraculous that day,” Ladybug says.
“You and me both,” Chat says. He leans over to kiss her. “I love you, My Lady.”
Ladybug’s eyes sparkle for the first time in what seems like forever. “I love you too, Chaton. Now… last one to the Tower buys everyone else juice and feeds the kwamis?”
“You’re on!”