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Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

Chapter 2: Veracity

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Shit!” Chloe dives behind a pillar, holding her hands up to block any debris from flying hurting her. She blinks a few times, before glancing up to get a better look at the scene.

Aletheia is there. Her weapon is a sword, but she uses it more like a witch's staff. She points it to her victims, shooting beams of prism light at them. She watches as one hits a student from an upper class. Her friends run to her, worrying and asking if she's alright. She instantly starts lecturing them about their choice of fashion. She even hears her call one of them an embarrassment.

Harsh, she thinks. But after getting a peak at the outfit, she can’t exactly say it's wrong. Really, who wears green and yellow in the same look?

“Where is Chloe Bourgeois?!” Aletheia practically screeches. “I must find Chloe Bourgeois!”

Great. Just what she needs, another Akuma hunting her down. At least this time she can say it wasn’t her fault. Because honestly, how was this on her?! She hadn’t even been that bitchy while talking to Césaire. Maybe she was a bit harsh, but that girl has some thick skin. It’s one of her only admirable qualities.

So really, it wasn’t her fault Alya got Akumatized, she shouldn’t have been so sensitive today.

She doesn’t have time to ponder over it anymore when there's suddenly another blast above her. Though this one seems to miss its intended target. It ricochets off of the staircase and before she knows it, is heading straight for her.

She barely has time to react, already bracing for the hit. What will she say? What will she do? Would she act any differently? Wh-

And then Chloe’s falling. And not just Chloe. On top of her is a frantic Ladybug. “Jesus Chloe, I thought you had better reflexes.” She sighs, exasperated. She rolls off of Chloe, sitting up.

“Usually, yeah. Today was long.” Chloe takes a deep breath, trying to settle her heart rate. It feels like it's beating out of her chest. “That? Was a little too close for comfort.”

Ladybug nods, already pushing herself to stand. “Yeah. Well, I’ve got to be going. Akuma and all.” And then she’s taking out her yoyo, getting ready to swing away.

And Chloe doesn’t know what possesses her to do it. But she's sitting up and grabbing Ladybugs' wrist before she even processes what she's doing. “Wait!”

Ladybug turns to glare, trying to wrench her hand away. “Chloe, let go! What are you doing?!”

“Please!” Chloe grabs on with her other hand. “Let me help this time! I can do this!” She’s pleading, begging even. It's huge because Chloe Bourgeois doesn’t beg. Ever.

Ladybug's eyes widened. She looks around frantically watching as Aletheia hits more students. Arguments between friends break out and it's clear that her and Chat Noir are falling behind. “I can’t- I don’t-” Ladybug swallows. “She's after you! I can’t let you fight her!”

“You need me.” She says, with more conviction. “You can’t do this with just the two of you, you need help.”

Ladybug shakes her head now, finally pulling away. “I can just get Rena Rouge, Carapace even.”

Chloe scoffs, shaking her own head. She stands now. “Oh please. Even if you could get to them on time, which you can’t, you haven’t used them in weeks. Something’s clearly up. So use me.” She puts her hand on her chest. “Please.”

Ladybug bites her lip, glancing around one last time. Chaos surrounds them. Chloe thinks she can hear Chat fighting with Aletheia in the background, but it's clearly a losing battle.

“Fine.”

Chloe’s heart soars. For a second she can barely move, only hears the blood rushing through her ears. And then all at once she's back, looking at the hair comb. Watching as Pollen emerges, eyes wide.

“My Queen!” Pollen zips forward, hugging Chloe's cheek. She tries to keep herself from getting emotional. It's been so long. “Oh how I’ve missed you!”

She blinks back tears, aggressively. She’ll be damned if she cries in front of Ladybug after all that. No, right now she needs to make herself useful and prove this wasn’t a mistake. “Okay Pollen,” Her voice totally doesn’t crack. “Buzz on!”

The words are easy on her tongue. And one moment she's normal, average Chloe. Next, she’s in that familiar song and dance, wearing the persona of Queen Bee.

She takes a moment, looking down at the suit she wears, making sure it's all actually real.

“Well, come on. We have to help Chat!” Ladybug finally yoyo’s away, off to find her partner. And despite their predicament Chloe can’t help but smile as she whips out her spinning top and follows.

They eventually find Chat crouching on the roof, overlooking the courtyard. Aletheia floats in the center, blasting more students with her ‘curse.’

“Hey M’lad- ah!” He startles as Queen Bee lands next to the two of them. “Queen Bee?!”

She rolls her eyes, reattaching her spinning top to her hip. “The one and only.”

“I’ll explain later.” Ladybug says, pushing her way to the edge to observe Aletheia. “Right now we need to figure out how to take her down. To do that we have to figure out what she wants.” Ladybug turns to Queen Bee. “What happened?”

Queen Bee throws her arms out, scoffing. “Why must you always assume it’s my fault?”

Ladybug raises her eyebrow challenging her. And Queen Bee sighs, ultimately knowing she’s right. She’s not exactly looking to have that conversion right now. “Aletheia is actually a classmate of mine, Alya Césaire. We got into a fight about some bitch-!” Queen Bee cuts herself off. She can vent about it later. Right now she was supposed to be proving herself. “We got into a fight. I guess Césaire’s emotions were running high today and she couldn’t take what she was dishing out. Then, bam. Akuma.”

She notices the way Ladybug pales considerably. Her eyes widened. “A-Alya,” Her mouth drops and for a moment she doesn’t continue, before suddenly coughing. “Césaire?” She tacks on.

Queen Bee narrows her eyes, gut twisting slightly. She doesn’t know why but the reaction sparks curiosity in her. She also sees the way Chat Noir is unbelievably stiff and catalogs it away for later.

“Yeah… she came up to me looking for a fight, and when I gave her one she freaked. Then she’s Akumatized and spewing garbage about ‘revealing people's true colors.’ A little ironic if you ask me.” She crosses her arms.

Ladybug seems to have recovered by now, nodding and looking back out to the courtyard. “Okay… so that's what that sword does…” Ladybug puts a hand on her chin. “I’d bet that's where the Akuma is.”

Ladybug looks to Queen Bee for confirmation, but she can only shake her head. “I didn’t see where the Akuma went, too busy running for my life and all. But you’re probably right.”

“That's good and all,” Chat cuts in. “But how do we get close enough without being attacked by her weird curse light beam thing? One hit and our secret identities could be not-so secret anymore.”

Queen Bee comes and stands next to Ladybug, watching Aletheia. She observes her movements, the way she attacks. Looking for a weak spot.

“Guys…” She says. “I think I have an idea.

 

____________________

 

Chloe, detransformed, runs down the steps making a mad dash for the courtyard. In order to make it in time she has to get there quickly. The plan needs to go off without a hitch so she-

She’s tripping. Someone's leg stuck out in front of her causing her to practically face-plant at the bottom of the steps. “What the hell-” She’s pushing herself up when she sees a shadow cast over her.

She looks up, Lila standing above her with amused eyes. “Oh, Sorry Chloe. My bad.” She smirks, but crouches and holds out her hand.

Chloe grits her teeth, pushing herself off the ground and ignoring the offered hand. “Sure you are. Now get out of my way Lila,” She starts shuffling past the girl. She doesn’t have time for shenanigans right now, not when so much of the plan relies on her. “I have to-”

“Oh Chloe! I’m so sorry! Please don’t be mad at me!” She’s suddenly fake crying, hands thrown out in despair. “I truly didn’t mean to hurt you!”

Chloe feels her face crinkle in disgust. It's then she notices her classmates, the remaining ones who hadn’t been hit, cowering in the classroom she and Lila stand in front of, watching. “Whatever.” Chloe sighs. “I’ve got to go so…” She turns to go, ignoring the way Lila continues to cry and moan about ‘accidentally’ tripping her. She doesn’t have time for whatever elaborate scheme she’s got going.

Chloe bursts into the courtyard, breathing a little easier when she finds Aletheia still in her place. She shakes any thoughts of Lila out of her head, smooths her hair, and walks forward.

“Oh Aletheia!” She calls out. Aletheia immediately turns to her smirk on her pale face. “Or should I say Césaire?”

That seems to wipe the smirk of her face and she's suddenly sneering. “You!” She practically growls.

“Huh,” Chloe immediately notices the cloth wrapped around her eyes. It’s a matching off white like the rest of her getup. “It seems like Hawkmoth is getting better at his fashion designing skills. You actually look half decent, unlike some of his other Akuma’s.” She places a hand on her hip. “Anyways, I heard you were looking for ‘moi?” She places a hand on her chest, gesturing to herself.

Aletheia bares her teeth, grasping at her sword-staff. “I will reveal your true colors to the world!” She roars preparing to blast her.

“Yuh huh.” Chloe deadpans, pretending to boredly inspect her nails. “Unlike you, people already know my ‘true colors.’ I’m my true authentic self each and every day.” She grins. “Even if that true authentic self is bitchy.”

Aletheia is blasting her now, and Chloe quickly ducks, rolling to the side. Before Altheia has a chance to blast her again, Chat Noir and Ladybug pop down from above. They grab each of Aletheias arms, keeping her still.

“Now Chloe!” Chat calls out.

“Pollen, Buzz out!” She transforms quickly, no time for sentimental feelings right now. She immediately grabs at her spinning top, launching it forwards. “Venom!”

The stinger gets Aletheia, immediately paralyzing her limbs. “NOO-!” She screams out, stopping suddenly as she’s immobilized. She still sees her fingers twitch, body desperate to lash out. She can’t help the vindictive pride that wells up in her.

Queen Been breathes out suddenly, already transforming back. “God, it's been too long.” She sighs, letting Pollen rest on her shoulder. She hadn’t been expecting that to take so much out of her.

“Good Job Chloe!” Chat calls out, cataclysming the sword. Ladybug gets ready to swing her yoyo, ready to purify the Akuma. To be done with this all.

But when the sword crumbles, no Akuma is in its place.

They watch for a moment, wait. “Um….” Chloe looks around for the familiar purple moth. “Where… is it?”

 

Ladybug looks around frantically, grip tightening on her yoyo. “I don’t… I don’t know!” She turns to Aletheia, still an Akuma. “Why is she…”

Chat Noir inspects Aletheia, looking for any other obvious accessories. “How?” He asks. “I mean seriously, what else could it be?!”

“What if she lost it somewhere during the chaos…” Ladybug looks up, horrified. “What if we can’t find it?!” She runs a hand through her hair. “What if she's stuck like this forever?” She whispers the last part.

Chloe swallows, looking around for anything that could be out of place. She tries to push down the panic that seeps into her gut when she can’t see anything obvious. “Oh boy…” She murmurs.

Then Chats ring’s beeping, he looks down, eyes wide. “Hang on, I’ll be right back!” He calls out, already launching himself over the rooftop.

Ladybug is taking deeper breaths, trying to calm herself. She keeps glancing at Aletheia and it only seems to freak her out more.

Chloe looks up, hoping to see Chat Noir already rushing back to them, ready to help Ladybug. Because Chloe is a lot of things, but equipped to handle this situation is not one of them.

“Hey… uh, Ladybug?” Chloe walks up to her, putting a tentative hand on her shoulder. “You have to stop bugging out…”

Ladybug whips around, eyes wide. “I-I know..! But what if we can’t fix it?! God this is all my-!?” Ladybug takes another breath, this one slightly more shaky. Chloe feels her own heart rate skyrocketing.

“Hey. Chill.” Chloe puts both hands on Ladybugs shoulder now. Like Sabrina had done for her after bad phone calls with her mother. “This is gonna be fine, just get a grip.”

So not exactly like how Sabrina had done. But she’s unpracticed, cut her some slack. This is way out of her ballpark.

Ladybug seems to be startled silent. But after a moment her breathing seems to slow slightly and she’s nodding. “Ye-Yeah, okay…” She steps back, out of Chloe's grip.

That should not have worked, not that it really did. But it seemed to snap Ladybug out of whatever nervous breakdown that was. Chloe was out of her depth here. She’s never had to comfort someone before, let alone someone she’d idolized for months. Was that what it was like watching your parents cry? Is that how it felt? She hated it.

Chloe clears her throat, going back over to Aletheia. Trying to find something that stands out. But it's all just that terrible off white shade. Her top, skirt. She wears cuff link bracelets, but rather than be made of gold it's like someone tore up a sheet and wrapped the shreds around her wrists. She doesn’t have any shoes. Even her hair is tied back with the white scraps of fabric.

Chat is back, leaping down from the roof. He checks on Ladybug who feigns being alright. He glances at Chloe and she shrugs, gesturing him over.

“Does any of this seem to stick out? Because I can’t see jackshit.” She huffs, throwing her arms out to her side.

Chat shakes his head, groaning. “Of course it wasn’t that easy. It’s never that easy. Why did we think it would be easy?”

Chloe snorts, rolling her eyes. “The good news is she’s immobilized for now.”

Ladybugs walking over now, holding a pair of ladybug themed scissors in her slightly trembling hand. “What… I mean how am I supposed to…”

Chloe’s eyes flick between Aletheia and the scissors. And then her heart soars. She rushes fourth, grabbing the pair from ladybugs hand. “I think…”

She walks over to Aletheia, bringing the scissors to her face.

“Chloe-!” Ladybug calls out, Chat Noir already rushing forward to stop her. “What are you-”

She loops the blade underneath the blindfold, snipping it in half. The two pieces fall to the ground, fading to two halves of glasses and then into nothing. A purple moth flies out.

“Holy shit-” Ladybug grabs her yoyo, launching it out towards the moth. “De-evilize!” She says quickly.

There's a flash and suddenly the purple moth is a white butterfly, soaring into the sky. ANd Ladybug is shouting and suddenly the damage done to their school is undone. Students leave hiding spots dazed, but relieved. Friends are rapidly apologizing for the words said.

Ladybug breathes a sigh of relief, but quickly yoyo’s away at the beeps of her earrings. Chat is following, quick to escape rabid fans of the heroes.

Chloe thinks he’s crazy and soaks up every moment of the attention from adoring civilians. Most of her classmates hate her, which she doesn’t care about too much. She never really did. But sometimes it's nice to be reminded that there are people in the world who don’t hate her.

 

____________________

 

Queen Bee sits on the ledge, letting the wind blow her ponytail. For all she had desperately wanted to escape to New York with her mother as a child, she has always found Paris beautiful.

She takes the sight in, remembers how this very moment feels and goes over the details in her brain until she thinks she’ll never forget. Because she’s not stupid. For all that she had proved herself today, she knows that when it really comes down to it, Ladybug doesn’t trust her. Not anymore. At the very least not as much as she used to. Her reluctance to give her the Bee Miraculous had made that clear enough.

Still, she would hold onto that small piece of hope. Keep it close to her heart. Because while Ladybug had been reluctant, she had also had the Bee Miraculous on hand and ready to go. Queen Bee didn’t remember seeing the Turtle or Fox there. So maybe, maybe she will be seeing her miraculous again soon.

She hears two sets of feet land behind her. Approaching slowly.

“Pollen,” she whispers. “Buzz Off.” And just like that she's Chloe again. All the empowerment that came with being Queen Bee, with being a superhero washed away.

Ladybug comes and sits next to her. She doesn’t see him, but can tell Chat is loitering awkwardly in the background.

“Chloe... “ Ladybug starts, but she never seems to figure out how to finish what she's saying.

Chloe reaches up, gently unhooked the comb from her hair. She cradled it in her lap, shoulders slumping a bit. Pollen flew out in a flash of yellow, muzzling against her cheek. “My queen…”

“It’s fine. I’ll see you again soon, okay?” She uses her finger to lightly pet her Kwami. “I’ve got to go, places to be, you know?” She pushes herself up.

She nods at Chat Noir, watching as he nods back with hands wringing in front of him. Weird. An unusual mannerism for the hero.

Ladybug stands too, looking like she has more to say. A lot more. But Chloe is honestly not in the mood. She’s tired, and desperately wants to take a bath.

 

____________________

 

Chloe sighs, slipping into the hot water, feeling the grime wash off. The bathroom smells like honey, because of course. Sue her for making being a literal superhero her entire personality. Most would in her situation.

She stares at the ceiling for a considerable amount of time, really just processing everything/ She got to be Queen Bee again, for the first time in weeks. It was just… amazing. She feels less exhausted then she has in while despite doing crazy hero shit.

“That was awesome.” She murmurs, smiling at no one.

Eventually she gets ready for bed, dreading the school day tomorrow. Because of course they don’t close after a literal super villain attack. Why would they?

Sabrina texts her, asking if she’s okay. She opens the message but never actually responds. Just stares at it until her head hurts. She eventually shuts her phone off.

 

____________________

 

“So yeah, just the rest of this week! Sorry Chloe!” Sabrina waves, running towards where Lila is seated. In her spot, once again.

Chloe grits her teeth, forces a smile at Sabrina, and makes her way back to the last row for the third time this week. Adriens in the back again. Marinette just glares at Lila with her arms crossed.

“What now?” Chloe asks, with no amount of subtlety. She could give two shits what the rest of the class thinks about her. She hasn’t cared for a while.

Marinette glances at Adrien, then the rest of the room. Then she just waves it off. As if to say, ‘at lunch.’ Because apparently it's just assumed Chloe eats with them now.

 

____________________

 

“She has the nerve to corner me in the goddamn bathroom and-” Marinette takes a breath, putting her face in her hands and letting out a muffled scream. “She told me Adrien was hers. As if he belongs to anyone!” Marinette groaned. “Then she gives me some super villain monologue about how she could turn the whole school against me. As if she hasn’t told me a hundred goddamn times.”

Adrien glares at his food. He grips his fork so hard Chloe's shocked it doesn’t just snap. “I can’t believe her. The nerve.” He grits out through clenched teeth. “She shouldn’t be able to say stuff like that.”

Chloe is inclined to agree. Because it's true. But she doesn’t feel like voicing her agreements. Because technically, she’s said her fair share of terrible things she shouldn't have been allowed to. She had her reasons, right or wrong. But she doesn’t really feel like hashing any of that out today.

“God, I don’t know how much more I can take.” Marinette says, and her voice wavers in a way that sounds like she’s about to cry. And Chloe is suddenly very aware of Marinette's body language, the way she’s holding herself. “Why is she doing this?”

Chloe glances in Lila’s direction. She sits, hands gesturing in a way that suggests she’s recounting one of her ‘glorious tales.’ Their peers surround her table like a flock of pigeons, eating her lies up like bird seed. It makes Chloe sick for so many reasons.

Sabrina, who sits right next to Lila nursing a drink, has stars in her eyes. She is absolutely infatuated with Lila. She seems to catch Chloe staring, eyes flicking over as she sends back a small smile. Chloe just scoffs, turning back to her own lunch. It doesn’t taste as good today.

“She was weird yesterday, during the Akuma attack. I was running downstairs to try and stop Aletheia, super hero duties and all. Anyways, I was running down the stairs and for no reason, she just trips me. Completely unprovoked. Then makes a big deal about it being an ‘accident’ and how ‘sorry’ she was. Tried to make me out as a bully for being obviously upset.”

Marinette raises an eyebrow. “Does she really need to try so hard for that?”

“That's not the point, Dupain-Cheng. Keep up.” She snaps. She’s in a bad mood today, clearly. And Marinette’s sarcasm just ticks her off.

Marinette seems to be in a similar internal standing, because she laughs. But it has a bitter tone to it. “Yeah? Well what is the point Chloe? What is the point to any of this? Why are you sitting with us?! You have a perfectly good hotel suite to go home to for lunch, so why stay? Why are you here?!”

“Because, I… I… God shut up!” Chloe slams her hand down, Adrien jumps next to her. “I can do what I please and I certainly won’t let some baker girl try and tell me otherwise!” She crosses her arms, glaring at Marinette. She doesn’t know why she’s starting a fight all of a sudden, but she supposes she should’ve expected it.

She’d almost forgotten what an annoying little bug that girl was.

“Guy’s… don’t fight. We’ve got bigger things to worry about.” Adrien says, albeit meekly, while wringing his hands in front of him. And-

And holy shit. He’s wringing his hands. Twisting a ring on his finger in circles, a silver ring. Like Chat Noir. Like Chat Noir's ring Blond Chat Noir, green eyed Chat Noir. Chloe’s eyes widen, her world tilts on its axis. Because no fucking way.

“No, Chloe’s been an asshole since before you even came here! Sorry she’s your childhood friend or whatever, but I don’t have to let her be a bitch to me!”

Chloe’s standing, gathering her trash rapidly. Her heart’s beating out of her chest, going wild. Her ears feel hot and it's almost like she can hear water rushing. “Holy shit…” she murmurs, barely loud enough to hear herself

“Where are you going?!” Marinette gawks at her, outrage flashing in her eyes.

Adrien's head, Chat Noirs head, swivels in her direction. She can picture his expression with eyes wide. “Chloe…”

“I have to… oh god…” She takes a breath, lifting her leg out of the bench and walking backwards towards the trash can. Her whole world feels off balance and for a second she thinks she is going to be sick. “I have to go…”

“Chloe? Chlo, what's wrong?” And suddenly hands are on her shoulders. Red hair flashes in front of her, Sabrina.

Chloe feels her headshake, shakily pushes hands away. She feels sweaty. “No… nothing, I-” She cuts herself off, head still shaking.

She tosses her garbage, grabs her bag, and leaves. She ignores the several people calling after her. She can feel Lila watching her leave the courtyard, and hates that she’s getting some sort of vindictive pleasure from doing so. Its not even because of anything she did, so fuck her.

Chloe finally bursts through the front doors of her school, after what felt like hours of dazedly making her way down and out of hallways. She has enough sense to shoot her dad a quick text. Let’s him know she’s leaving early and that he needs to call a teacher.

 

____________________

 

Chloe lays in bed. It's only One o’clock in the afternoon and she already lays in bed. Her shoes are still on, but she’s not paying attention to that.

Her phone is out, she’s scrolling through photos of Ladybug and Chat Noir, specifically Chat Noir. She even finds a few interview videos.

She watches until the sun sets, ignoring any notifications she gets from anyone. Even Adrien himself.

Everytime she catches a small similarity between Adrien and the hero, she kicks herself. She goes through old clips dating back to when the duo first debuted. And it’s so incredibly obvious. The way he holds himself, the way he fidgets when he’s nervous. It’s all the same. She even recognizes the model smile in a few talk show segments. It’s all there, evidence waiting to be pieced together.

And she fucking missed it.

She thinks about his behavior the last several months. How he’s been more tired lately, but also more carefree. Like there’s a weight being lifted from his shoulders. She thought it might've been school and she’s still sure that helped. But thinking about it, him being Chat Noir makes sense. He’d be getting out of the house more. For both Akuma Attacks and patrols. He’d have a new sense of freedom.

“God…I’m such an idiot.” She sighs, scrolling through more interviews. One catches her eye suddenly, not because of Chat Noir/ Adrien.

The interview opens with Nadja Chamack. She introduces the heroes and they dive right into the interview. A Q&A about the two from fans across France.

Nadja quickly glances over the question, before wincing and looking up. “Okay guys, this ones from a young viewer in Bagnolet. It's a bit of a sensitive topic, but please try to answer honestly.”

The question flashes across the screen and Chloe just breathes, deeply. Because, of course that's the question.

“Have you ever dealt with bullies? If so, how did you handle it?”

Chat Noir frowns, shaking his head. “I wasn’t actually in a public school until recently. My fa-mother wanted me homeschooled so I could receive a better education. So I wasn’t exposed to bullying. Though… I’m sure it doesn’t feel great. Sorry.”

Chloe almost laughs again, because how did she not see it? He wasn’t even trying to hide his true identity. And yeah, everyone knows Adrien Agresetes mom was dead. So maybe that was a little clever. But he even almost slipped that up, and he was giving away too much. Next time she’s Queen Bee, and there will be a next time, she’s giving him some serious media training.

Ladybug is up next. And Chloe is keenly aware of her stiff shoulders and slightly pale face. “Ladybug? What about you?”

“Oh… well.” Ladybug crosses her arms, sitting back slightly in her seat. “I have dealt with bullying before. All throughout middle school. Even still in highschool. There's this… one girl. She’s spread a lot of rumors about me. My friends. Even threatened to turn everyone against me.” Ladybug smiles sadly. “She got me suspended once. I managed to get back in thanks to… a really good person.”

Chloe chokes on air.

Because, gee doesn’t that sound familiar?

Nadja nods solemnly, patting Ladybugs shoulder. “I’m sorry, no one deserves that. Thank you for sharing your experiences.”

“Yeah, of course. I know it's helped me to feel less alone when things were at there worst. So maybe if this fan knows that even Ladybug gets picked on, they won’t feel so bad about that.”

The crowd claps, Nadja says some other generic interview stuff, and Chloe powers her phone down.

“What the fuck…”

Because Adrien is Chat Noir. Ladybug is Marinette. She’s been idolizing Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She considers texting Sabrina, Because god, she really needs to talk. To someone. And Sabrina feels like the right person to share this… discovery with.

But,

But she doesn’t. She isn’t sure why. Maybe she just doesn’t trust Sabrina like she had before. Which is crazy, crazy that all it took was three days and she's suddenly keeping secrets from the only person she’d usually tell almost everything to. But Chloes is also sure that the super secret identities of Paris’s most popular hero’s fall outside of that category.

Plus, she knows the downsides of having your identity public. Sure, it makes transforming in public easy. Makes it more convenient. But it also puts her and her family in danger everyday. And as much as she had rolled her eyes when ladybug had said so, she was right.

Agreeing with Marinette makes her feel gross. Because Ladybug is Marinette so agreeing with Ladybug is agreeing with Marinette. She hates that.

Anyways, she ultimately decides Sabrina’s out. Who knows whether or not she’d blab to Lila.

She restarts her phone, opens the school's contact book, and grabs what she needs. She adds some contact information and sends out a text.

“Well, no going back now.”

 

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Notes:

Cliff hangers, my favorite >:)

Anyways, I know I said this fic would never be updated before my tmf one, but I was feeling inspired. Besides, I've already started the next chapter of Major League, Major Trouble. SO hopefully I can pump that out quickly!

This was a fun chapter to write. A little setup ish and maybe a tad bit repetitive, but fun nonetheless! I know I mentioned on my tumblr page (@jagged-dust-jacket) that I someday wanted to do a Miraculous rewrite. And while this isn't it, this does have some elements from what I wanted in that.

For one, I've aged the characters up. It just makes so much more sense in my mind that they be in high school. Especially since they've been middle schoolers int he series for eight years (:O)

I also want to include Chat Noir/Adrien more in main storylines. I really dislike how they handle his character. So there will be a lot more of him then we usually see.

Other than that, this specific fic will solely be about Chloe's redemption (plus plot after the redemption). I'll save the rest for my actual Miraculous rewrite.

Also, in case anyone was curious, there's no timeline for when this fic takes place. it literally just starts at a random point. I didn't pick up from any episode. I literally took the concept and wrote. So if its not following along the cannon epsiodes, cool. That's sorta the point after all XD.

Anyways that's about all for now! I hope you guys have a great day/night! And as always, my comment section is open for anything. Criticisms (as long as they're kind) included. I ultimately just want to become a better writer and bring more entertainment to you all!

I hope you all enjoyed very much! And thanks for reading!

Notes:

So, I know I’ve once again dove head first into another unexpected fandom that is widely critiqued by fans for having bad writing.

I think I just have a thing for poorly written shows with potential, sue me.

Anyways I have brought you another multi-chapter fic!

I wanna assure all of my Field of Nightmares fans that this won’t cause a slow down on updates! In fact, I’m hoping this might actually help speed those up!

This will give me something to write when I’m not so in the mood for my other fic, hopefully then motivating me to write for that. And vice versa!

Now I have two awesome fics to jump between, and I couldn’t be happier!

I also wanna address the slash tag. Cause I know it might put some people off. That is planned to eventually come into play, and will be read as explicitly romantic. But it won’t be a huge part of the story for a minute. This is geared towards Chloe and her character journey as a whole.

So while the ship tagged will be there at the end ish of the fic. It really won’t be anything you can’t ignore if you don’t like the pairing. And any Sabrina/Chloe interactions with plot signifiante will be able to be read as platonic. I want as many people to enjoy this as possible, and never want a ship to put anyone off of my writing!

I’m super excited to plan this out alongside with my other ongoing fic, hopefully bringing you fun content for these two fandoms!

As always I hope you all have a lovely day! And remember, don’t be shy with comments! I appreciate any and all of them, even the criticism ones! As long as you’re kind I will never be opposed to hearing critiques, as they make me a better writer!