Chapter Text
The doors to the classrooms in the hall burst open and teachers rush out due to the commotion going on outside. Marinette watches as Ms. Bustier appears from her door with a worried expression, probably expecting an akuma, but her expression turns into one of shock and horror as she sees something far worse than that.
“Oh my goodness, Lila!” she calls out as she pushes past Marinette and runs down the stairs.
Ms. Bustier crouches next to Lila’s fallen form, her hands reaching down to check for her pulse. Her tensed shoulders relaxed just a little as she let out a relieved sigh. Lila was still breathing and had a pulse. She must have hit her head falling down the stairs and passed out. Then she turned to look up the stairs and shouted, “Marinette, what in the world happened?”
Marinette, who had been still the entire time suddenly jerked back in surprise at the call of her name. A nervous expression appeared on her face as her eyes scanned the scene at the bottom. “Uh well, sh-she tripped! She was going so fast that she must have tripped over her feet and uh, her foot hit the steps. I tried to save her b-but I was too late and she fell!” She gestured to the stairs as if to validate what she was saying. Her eyes were wide and her voice was shaking, the scene replaying in her head as she quickly came up with the excuse.
Ms. Bustier took Marinette’s words as truth, as did everyone around since no one had seen what actually happened. Just the scream and then the sound of Lila rolling down the steps. And Marinette let out a relieved breath as she realized she wouldn’t be getting in trouble. Adrien would never know and she would get to keep her friends.
A few minutes passed before the ambulance finally arrived. Ms. Bustier stayed with the paramedics as they loaded Lila onto a stretcher, answering any questions she had since she was the adult on scene and Lila’s teacher. Marinette stood behind the crowd that was whispering amongst each other, her nails digging into her palms with sweat dripping down the sides of her face. She felt something poke her side and looked down, spotting Tikki looking up at her with the most disappointed expression Marinette had ever seen on her kwami. The sight only made her feel worse and she knew she was going to have to explain her actions to Tikki later.
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Marinette’s walk home was filled with a numb feeling in her chest, she could barely register her walking into her parent’s bakery and saying ‘hi’ to them, before climbing up to her room for privacy. She flopped onto her bed and tense silence filled the air as Marinette waited for the pin to drop.
Tikki flew out from Marinette’s purse, not saying anything for a few seconds. And it was torture for Marinette to be sitting in silence with Tikki not saying anything. “Tikki?” Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but she couldn’t take the silence any longer.
“You pushed her…” Tikki’s voice wasn’t loud, there was no shouting, but it landed the same as if it was. It was the truth, plain and simple.
Marinette felt heat rise to her face. “I-” she started, then stopped, because even in the silence she could hear her heartbeat pumping against her chest. “She was taunting me. She-”
“You let your anger cloud your judgment, Marinette. You are Ladybug, you swore to save people, to protect people and to look for another way out in any problem. Pushing someone is not protecting them nor was it the solution to your problems.”
Marinette flinched back as if she was slapped, a devastated expression appearing on her face. “It wasn’t supposed to… she just kept going and I- I lost it. I-”
“And then you lied.” The disappointment in the tiny kwami’s voice was audible to Marinette. “You chose fear over the truth to save yourself, and you lied to Ms. Bustier. You told her a version of what happened to keep yourself safe instead of telling her the truth. You lied because you were afraid of what would happen.”
Marinette opened her mouth as if to argue back, to tell Tikki that Lila had provoked her and had planned for this to happen, that Lila deserved what had happened to her and that it was a long time coming. But the words sounded weak, even to Marinette’s ears. “She could ruin me. She could tell everyone and I could lose Adrien. I could lose my friends! I couldn’t let that happen…”
“You are a hero, Marinette,” Tikki snapped, her voice uncharistically sharp. “When you transform into Ladybug, you do not trade someone’s safety for a secret.”
Tikki took a deep breath to calm herself down and then flew over to hover in front of Marinette’s face, her previously stern expression softening into one of comfort. “You can still do the right thing, Marinette. You can make things right.”
Tikki’s disappointment hurt Marinette more than the thought of Lila in a hospital bed. But Tikki coming in to comfort her made Marinette feel better. “You’re right, Tikki. I can still make things right. I won’t lose my friends or Adrien.” Not to Lila.
All Marinette had to do was tell the truth. And everything would be okay.
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Days had passed since the incident, and Marinette was feeling like she was stuck underwater, clawing desperately at the surface that was inches away from her hands. Telling the truth to someone, anyone, was a lot harder than she had thought. Every time she tried telling Alya, it was like her throat would swell up and she would end up choking on her words, running away with her tail between her legs.
And the whispers of everyone in class only made it worse.
Everyone was talking about it, about Lila falling down the stairs and going to the hospital. Worried whispers filled the class each time a lesson was over with, turning to each other to talk about the accident.
“It’s just so horrible,” Rose sobbed into her hands, voice muffled. Juleka sat beside her and was rubbing her back in slow circles. “I heard from someone in the other class that there was so much blood around Lila after she hit the floor.”
“I just don’t get it,” Alix muttered, her arms crossed. “Lila tripping? Doesn't sound like her.”
And then the question came. “Marinette, you were there. Did she really trip over her feet?”
Marinette froze as everyone’s heads turned towards her, expectant. Her throat tightened. “Oh, uh… yeah,” she said, voice thin. “She was running too fast and then just… tripped. That’s all.” She gestured vaguely toward the stairs, eyes darting anywhere but their faces. She couldn’t bear to look at them without spilling everything.
The silence that followed felt heavy, but not suspicious. Her friends exchanged glances, then looked at Marinette with understanding. Alya gave her a sympathetic nod, and everyone turned around, resuming about the many rumors they heard.
Marinette exhaled slowly as everyone believed her weak excuse, figuring that she was traumatized by witnessing a scary accident. Tikki peaked out from her purse, a disappointed expression on her tiny face. Marinette pretended she didn’t see it and went back to watching her friends.
Eventually, everything changed on the Tuesday of next week. Ms. Bustier was talking to the class when her phone began to ring. She picked it up and began to quietly speak into it, a worried expression appearing before disappearing, and she hung up the phone.
“Marinette, you’re needed at the office,” she announced.
Marinette looked up with a look of confusion that turned into worry as everyone went silent around her. Why was she being sent to the office? Was she in trouble? Did she need to go home? Not wanting to get in any more trouble, she quickly got up from her desk and made her way to the front office where Principal Damocles was.
The walk to the front office felt colder than usual as Marinette made her way down the halls. Her footsteps sounded louder within the halls of the school, a quick look around letting her know that she was the only one walking around. Everyone else was still in class.
Making it to the principal’s office, Marinette took a deep breath and opened the door. Only to immediately freeze in the doorway.
Her parents were seated inside of the room, both having confused and concerned expressions on their faces. Across from them sat a woman who looked a little familiar, but Marinette couldn’t figure out from where. Her face was tight, jaw clenched and anger clear as day in her eyes. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she sat up straight in the chair. And next to her were two uniformed police officers. Everyone turned to look at Marinette’s frozen form.
Principal Damocles sat behind his desk, a serious and grim look to his face and his hands folded on the desk’s surface. “Marinette,” he nodded towards her in greeting. “Please, take a seat.”
Cold dread hit Marinette like a gust of wind as her legs moved on instinct, folding into the chair as her heart thudded against her chest. Her posture was stiff as a board from how terrified she was.
“We’re here to discuss the incident involving Lila Rossi,” Principal Damocles started. “She is recovering, but her mother has raised some concerns and I need you to tell us what happened, Marinette.”
Marinette dry swallowed. Her throat felt dry and her tongue thick. “She… she tripped,” she said, the lie falling easily like it did so many times. “She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and her foot caught on the step, I… I tried to stop her, but I was too late.”
Marinette felt her parents reach out to comfort her, relief on their faces. Her mom grabbed her hand to hold while her dad placed his hand on her shoulder.
The woman across from them didn’t move. Instead, her eyes narrowed at Marinette, and when she spoke, her voice was sharp and unwavering. “That’s not what my daughter told me.”
The room went still.
Daughter. Lila was this woman’s daughter, which made her Mrs. Rossi. Which meant Marinette’s world was about to crumble all around her.
“Lila told me everything,” Mrs. Rossi continued, leaning forward in her chair. “She told me how you were fighting over some boy from class, told me how you snapped and pushed her down the stairs. She did not trip. She was pushed.”
Marinette’s breath caught in her throat. She had to think of something to try and salvage what she could. Anything that would stop this from happening.
“She’s lying,” she blurted out. She could feel her nails dig into her hands.
Mrs. Rossi’s voice cracked with fury as she stood up, towering over Marinette like a protective dragon. “My daughter was in the hospital for a mild concussion, a sprained ankle, a fractured wrist, and bruises all over her. And you dare tell me to my face that she lied to me? That she lied about someone from school pushing her?”
“Mrs. Rossi, please calm down. I understand your anger, but we are in a school and we need clear heads to decide what happens next,” Mr. Damocles said with a raised hand.
Mrs. Rossi sat back down, but a glare still present. After she physically calmed down, Mr. Damocles cleared his throat. “As per Mrs. Rossi’s request, we will be taking a look at the security footage at the time of the incident.”
Marinette let out a strangled gasp as Principal Damocles began to move the mouse to his computer. Security footage? There were security cameras around the school? Since when? And why are they being brought up now? Lila had to have known about the cameras somehow and that’s why she had confronted her in public. Not because of witnesses being present, but because of the cameras!
Camera footage would make Lila’s claims look legit more than a witness would. Marinette cursed herself for not thinking of that as Mr. Damocles turned his computer screen around for everyone to see.
He clicked on the mouse once and the paused video on the screen began to play. The quality was a little pixelated, but you could clearly see people walking by and could distinguish them by their clothes. It showed two figures on the top of the stairs. Marinette and Lila. It showed the two girls bumping into each other with Lila apologizing to Marinette, and Marinette returning her apologies with a glare. It showed the conversation slowly growing more into an argument, with Marinette being the main aggressor and Lila looking confused, before turning annoyed. It showed Lila laughing at Marinette and Marinette getting more and more angry until finally. She snapped. And everyone watched as Marinette shoved Lila hard, causing her to stumble backwards and down the stairs.
Marinette’s stomach dropped as everyone reacted to watching Lila fall and hit the stairs on her way down. She could hear her parents gasp in shock and horror as they witnessed their kind and gentle daughter harm someone in such a way. She could hear Mrs. Rossi cry out as she watched her daughter’s head snap against one of the steps and pass out from the blow. And worst of all, Marinette could hear her life end right then and there. Her whole world crumbled in one single moment, sounding like glass shattering into tiny pieces.
Her dad’s face turned pale white before hardening, his jaw clenching as he stared at the screen. Her mom had a hand to her mouth, looking physically sick at the sight, but couldn’t bring herself to look away. Mr. Damocles stopped the video and turned his monitor back towards him.
For a split second, silence, and then Marinette bolted up at the defense. “I-it’s not what it looks like, I swear!” she shouted. “Lila, she- she’s framing me! Trying to make me look like a bad person! She planned the whole thing!”
“Framing you? Marinette, we just watched you push that girl on video! How could she be framing you?” her mom asked her, which broke Marinette’s heart that she was falling for Lila’s plan.
“She’s a liar!” Marinette’s words came tumbling out. “She’s lied about everything! Knowing all these celebrities and famous people. About traveling all over the world. She even tried turning all my friends against me by filling their heads with lies about me! I was just defending myself!”
Her dad’s expression turned into a stern one, disappointment in his eyes. “Marinette, you need to stop lying and tell us the truth about what happened.”
“I am telling the truth! Lila has been out to get me since the moment she got here! She- she lied to Adrien too, but then Ladybug showed up and disproved it, and I’ve been trying to tell everyone ever since but, they just keep believing her and her stupid lies! It’s not my fault!”
“Marinette, you are in serious trouble right now. You were caught on camera harming another student over what, telling fake stories about celebrities? Lots of young girls do that, Marinette. I know that we taught you that lying is bad, but that doesn’t mean you should hurt someone over them.”
Marinette turned to her mom with a frantic look. Why couldn’t her mom understand that Lila was a bad person? Why couldn't she see that Lila obviously hates her? Why won’t she believe her? “She’s lying, she set this whole thing up to make me look bad. Mom, you have to believe me.”
“And how do you know that? Did she tell you she was going to fake this?” her dad said, interrupting Marinette’s ramblings.
Marinette opened her mouth but then closed it again. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Obviously, Lila wouldn’t just tell her that she was planning something. But Marinette had seen all the signs of Lila making one, so obviously Lila being pushed down the stairs was just another plan to ruin Marinette’s reputation. “B-but she really is a bad person! I’ve seen her hanging all over Adrien and he’s always looking uncomfortable! She pulls on his arm and drags him around like he’s on a leash! And she called me a creep and that Adrien would hate me if he found out I loved him! She was saying all these horrible things about me that weren’t true and I just... I just wanted her to shut up. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
Marinette heard a scoff from across the room and looked up to see it was Mrs. Rossi who had let out the noise. “You know, I couldn’t exactly believe my daughter fully when she told me she was attacked by a classmate over a boy. But now, I realize she was telling the truth.”
“I- he’s not just a boy, he’s- it wasn’t like that at all!” Marinette felt her cheeks heat up. Everyone was looking at her like they couldn’t believe what she was telling them. It was humiliating. “I just wanted to protect him from her. He- he’s too nice to say anything to her so I have to.”
One of the officers cleared his throat. “Intential harm is still intentional harm. The motive behind it will be considered.”
Mr. Damocles spoke up right after, voice flat as he spoke. “Claims of provocation do not excuse physical violence,” he said. “Especially not in a school. You understand how this looks to the parents and to the police.”
Marinette tried to say anything to defend herself, but her mind was blank. Why couldn't they understand that Adrien needed her protection? He’s practically helpless without her, too polite to say anything against Lila!
Mrs. Rossi stood up from her chair, dusting off the front of her suit. “You don’t get to endanger my child and then tell me you did it because you were jealous,” she said, aiming a glare at Marinette, causing her to squeak in fear and jerk back. “That is not protection or love, just obsession and jealousy.”
Then, she turned to the two police officers. “I wish to formally file a complaint against Marinette Dupain-Cheng for attacking my daughter and sending her to the hospital. I will have the hospital records handed over as evidence and would like to request the footage to be used as well.”
“What…?” Marinette said as she looked between the police officers and Mrs. Rossi, feeling like a hole had just opened up beneath her and swallowed her into a pit of darkness. “No. No, you can’t do that! I’m not a criminal! I- I’m not a bad person!”
Marinette didn’t bother to struggle as one of the police officers came up behind her and began to escort her to the door. She turned to look at her mom and dad with a terrified expression. “Mom, dad, help! You know I’m not a bad person, you know that!”
Tom and Sabine had frozen the moment they heard Mrs. Rossi uttered those words. They were only unfrozen by the sight of an officer walking to Marinette and escorting her out of the principal’s office. Sabine wanted to reach out and to tell him to leave her daughter alone, Tom right along with her. But the truth was right in front of their eyes. Marinette had hurt someone intentionally. And she was having charges pressed against her because of it. They couldn’t fight against the law, no matter what their instincts told them to. They could only stay by their daughter's side as she faced the consequences of her actions.
And so, they only stood there and watched as their daughter was taken away. They would meet up with her at the police station due to Marinette being a minor and needing adults present. But for now, they wanted to bask in each other’s presence as they grappled with this huge betrayal they have just gone through.
Meanwhile, Marinette was devastated that her parents didn’t do anything to stop this from happening. She knew that logically, her parents couldn't just fight the officers or the law. But they were supposed to stand by her side as her parents. They had a duty to protect her from danger. And they didn’t.
Marinette had tears streaming down her face as she kept trying to tell the officers that she wasn’t a criminal. “Please, you don’t understand. I’m not a criminal! I’m not a bad person! I was trying to protect him, Lila was hurting him! She’s the one you should be arresting!”
Marinette didn’t realize how long she had been in the office. Class must have ended earlier and students were let out. She didn’t notice a huge crowd had gathered from the shouting and the sight of officers escorting someone out of the building. A crowd which included Adrien and all her friends.
“She set me up! Lila planned for this to happen! She’s been lying to everyone and has been lying about me, too! I- she was trying to steal Adrien from me, she hates me, she- she wants to ruin me!”
Alya, who had been pushing through the crowd to get to her best friend, paused at the front of the crowd and took in the information she had just heard. It seemed like everyone was beginning to piece together what was going on. Why Marinette kept mentioning Lila and how she didn’t do anything. Why she was mentioning Adrien and bringing him up.
“You pushed her,” Alya said, her voice being heard over Marinette's shouting. “You pushed Lila down the stairs.”
Marinette stopped and stared at Alya with a frantic look, her eyes wild as she pleaded her innocence. “Alya,” she mumbled. “I- it’s not what it looks like, I promise. I didn’t- I’m not-,” she tried to say, but her words kept stumbling over each other.
By now, everyone knew what was going on and were frantically whispering to each other in shock. Some even had their phones out to record the whole thing.
Alya only shook her head in disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing coming from Marinette's mouth. Marinette, who was her best friend and one of the kindest people she had ever known. Marinette, who was being arrested because she pushed Lila down the stairs. And then lied to all of them about it when they asked her.
“I can’t- Marinette, why would you- over Adrien?”
The question hung in the air. Settled into everyone’s minds. Did Marinette Dupain-Cheng really push a girl down some stairs in jealousy? Over one of her classmates?
“I…” Marinette could only get out before the officers began to push her forward. She couldn’t say anything. She had no words to tell Alya that it was all just a big misunderstanding. And that Lila was behind it all. But the words wouldn’t come out. And she was forced to keep moving.
With one last look back, she saw someone who caused her breath to hitch and her feet to stumble over each other. Adrien, the love of her life, was standing behind Alya. And his expression caused Marinette’s heart to break. He looked terrified, betrayed. Eyes full of devastation. And it was aimed at her. Adrien… was scared of her. Marinette turned away, she couldn't bear to look at him and could only hang her head in shame and acceptance.
Everyone at Francoise Dupont, teachers and students alike, watched on as Marinette was put into a police car and sent away. Everyone knew what she had done. And everyone knew that she had done it all for a boy who was now scared of her.