Chapter Text
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief when they finally landed on Dupain-Cheng’s balcony. The journey itself hadn’t been too bad, but the entire time a nagging fear that Chloe might somehow drop Dupain-Cheng accidentally had buzzed in the back of her mind. Now she only had to get through Dupain-Cheng’s trapdoor. Somehow.
“I’ll help,” Dupain-Cheng’s kwami said quietly, coming out of Dupain-Cheng’s hoodie. The kwami phased through the trapdoor, then lifted it from the inside, which made Chloe raise her eyebrows. She hadn’t realized that kwamis were that strong.
Chloe dropped through the trap door and blinked with surprise when she realized that she’d landed on Dupain-Cheng’s bed. She set Dupain-Cheng down, snagging a pillow to tuck under her head. She scooted back a little bit, then regarded Dupain-Cheng for a moment before rearranging the unconscious girl’s limbs so they weren’t completely haphazard.
“She’s going to be fine, right?” Chloe asked. Her voice definitely did not waver. At all. Even if she admired Dupain-Cheng.
Dupain-Cheng’s kwami nodded solemnly, looking down at her holder with sad eyes. “Thankfully she didn’t crash very hard. She’s not going to wake up for a while, but she’ll be fine.”
“And she doesn’t need to go to the hospital?” Chloe checked. “I mean, if she’s not going to wake up for a few weeks, she’s going to need nutrients and things . . .”
Dupain-Cheng’s kwami was shaking her head. “The magic’s put her into a sort of stasis. If this had happened with another miraculous, she probably would’ve needed to stay in the hospital for a few days after waking up, but the Ladybug Miraculous is the embodiment of creation, so she should be healthy within a few days of waking up.”
“Right,” Chloe sighed. Then a thought struck her. “What the heck am I going to tell her parents?”
Dupain-Cheng’s kwami opened her mouth, then closed it. “Um.”
“Never mind, I’ll handle it,” Chloe dismissed. She’d just make something up, something about the Ladybug cure or some other. She could probably swing that.
With one last glance at Dupain-Cheng, Chloe carefully made her way to the end of the loft bed. As she made her way down the stairs, she finally looked at the rest of the bedroom.
It was a disaster. The chaise lounge had piles upon piles of cloth haphazardly twisted around each other, a toppled stack of what looked like the templates for the different pieces of clothes spilled over the end. On the floor next to the chaise four—no, five different cloths were spread out with the templates pinned to them, half of the pieces cut out of each, some of the piles of which had fallen over and were mixed together. Stray papers and sewing equipment were scattered across everything, and two different sewing mannequin things were set to the side, one displaying a nearly finished dress and another supporting the first pieces of another. On the other side of the bedroom from the sewing stuff there were stacks and stacks of papers, some that Chloe recognized as schoolwork, a lot that looked like business stuff, and even more that were written in some sort of language that Chloe had never seen before. That last set was tucked into the middle of the desk, next to what looked to be a little cauldron and bottles of a bunch of stuff that Chloe didn’t recognize. Spilled papers covered the floor like someone had covered it for the room to be painted, many of them crumpled where they’d been stepped on. Dirty—but thankfully empty—dishes were all over the place with a small pile of them next to the trapdoor that led to the rest of the house.
“Yeesh,” Chloe breathed. She hadn’t known that a room could radiate stress, but Dupain-Cheng’s room took the cake.
Chloe glanced back at Dupain-Cheng’s kwami, who was watching her from the end of Dupain-Cheng’s bed, then stepped over to the trapdoor. She had to fiddle with the latch for a moment to get it unlocked, but then she hauled it up, careful to make sure that it didn’t drop on her head as she went down the stairs.
“Perfect timing, Marinette,” a female voice said. Chloe discovered that it belonged to Mrs. Cheng, who was facing away from her as she rummaged through one of the cabinets. She was on tiptoes while also on a stepstool, and Chloe suddenly understood why Dupain-Cheng was on the shorter end of the scale. Not that she hadn’t seen Mrs. Cheng before, but Chloe had never actually processed it.
Mrs. Cheng continued as she found what she was looking for, “Your father needs you help in the bak—” She turned around as she stepped off the stool, freezing when she saw Chloe. “—ery. Queen Bee? What are you doing here? Is there an akuma?”
“No, not anymore,” Chloe assured quickly. “I’m here because—actually, is Mr. Dupain around?” she altered. “I don’t want to have to go over this twice.”
Mrs. Cheng frowned. “We’re both really busy, could you possibly come back another time?”
Chloe blinked. Seriously? A superhero shows up in your house and you ask them to come back later? “This is important.”
Mrs. Cheng stepped off the stool fully, bending to grab it. “You’re sure it can’t wait?”
Irritation flared in Chloe’s chest. “Sure,” she said dryly, folding her arms. “I’ll wait to explain to you why your daughter is in a magical coma.”
Mrs. Cheng straightened abruptly. “What? What do you mean, magical coma?”
“I mean a magical coma,” Chloe retorted. “And I’m not explaining until your husband gets up here, so go get him.” It was a little bit of a jerk move, but Chloe was frustrated with her for reasons that she didn’t want to admit.
Mrs. Cheng’s eyes narrowed. “Chloe, if this is some sort of twisted prank—”
“Yes, because Ladybug lets me run around Paris with a miraculous so that I can tell people that their children are in comas,” Chloe snapped. “Y’know, for funsies.”
Mrs. Cheng gave her a disapproving look, but then the reality of Chloe’s words hit her and she paled. “I’ll go get Tom.”
Chloe tapped her foot impatiently as she waited, mulling over what fake explanation she was going to give them. She’d just about figure out what she wanted to say when she heard Mr. Dupain’s voice coming up the stairs, “What do you mean, Marinette’s in a magical coma?”
“That’s what Queen Bee said,” Mrs. Cheng said, stepping onto the landing. Mr. Dupain was right behind her, but as soon as he was up he immediately headed for the staircase leading to Marinette’s bedroom.
“Maybe I should explain first, Mr. Dupain?” Chloe asked sharply.
Mr. Dupain glared at her. “You just told us that our daughter’s in a coma!”
“And she’s going to be fine,” Chloe shot back. “Waiting five minutes to see her isn’t going to change that.”
“What happened?” Mrs. Cheng asked.
“Long story short, she got hit by an akuma, the miraculous cure fixed it, but the miraculous cure also tried to fix the extreme exhaustion and stress she was suffering from, which apparently manifests itself as a very long nap. She’ll wake up in a few weeks and be right as rain.”
“What?” Mr. Dupain asked as Mrs. Cheng said, “But she wasn’t hit by an akuma!”
“I’m pretty sure she was,” Chloe countered. Technically, she wasn’t even lying—Ladybug had taken a few punches.
“But Marinette’s been in her bedroom all day, and the akuma wasn’t anywhere near here!” Mr. Dupain argued.
Chloe shrugged. “So she left without you noticing.”
“That’s not possible,” Mrs. Cheng said, shaking her head. “Both ways out of the building go right past me and Tom.”
“So she got out a third way.” Why wouldn’t they just accept the story? It’d make everything so much easier.
“There isn’t a third way,” Mr. Dupain said, crossing his arms. “Unless you’re implying that she somehow climbed down from her balcony—” He cut himself off, his eyes going wide. He looked at his wife, who was looking back at him with dawning realization in her expression. “Is that how she’s been sneaking out?” Mr. Dupain wondered.
Oh dear. They’d noticed Marinette leaving?
Mrs. Cheng was frowning. “But there’s no easy way down, she’d fall—”
“She could have found a way just to spite us—”
“Wait, what?” Chloe interrupted. “Spite? Marinette? The only person Marinette’s ever spited is me.” And Hawkmoth and Mayura, she added silently.
Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng glanced at each other, communicating silently. Chloe really hated when people did that.
Apparently reaching a consensus, they turned back to her.
“We’ve been having some problems with Marinette—” Mrs. Cheng started.
“Nope!” Chloe exclaimed, holding up a hand. No way was she going to listen to this. “Marinette is the one who’s been having problems. You two are the ones who’ve been not seeing those problems.”
“What?” Mrs. Cheng exclaimed, alarmed.
“What do you mean?” Mr. Dupain asked, concern lining his face.
There we go, Chloe thought. Her stomach twisted with jealousy—Marinette’s parents really did care, even if they’d been distant lately, unlike Chloe’s own. “What do I mean?” she scoffed. She held out her hands, counting on her fingers to make her point. “Oh, I don’t know, I mean, you could start with the fact that she’s been the target of a pathological liar and expert manipulator who’s destroyed each and every one of her friendships. You could also add on the fact that our entire class now hates her—hates her more than they’ve ever hated me—and regularly shout insults at her and call her names that I won’t ever repeat.”
Mr. Dupain’s and Mrs. Cheng’s faces were twin expressions of absolute horror.
“Yeah, I mean, outside of Adrien—who’s got his own problems with said manipulator—I treat her the nicest out of everyone in our class, and I’m still a brat, even if I’m not an outright bully anymore. Oh, and there’s also the whole being-a-full-time-student-while-also-running-a-freaking-business, apparently alone, thing, which means that Marinette already had a lot on her plate before everyone decided to make her school life miserable. Not to mention that her parents, who were her only remaining support, apparently don’t listen to her anymore!” Chloe glared accusingly at them, and they had the decency to look ashamed. Admittedly, Chloe didn’t actually know what was going on between them and Marinette, but considering the fact that they hadn’t noticed how close Marinette was to breaking, something was wrong—especially since that was behavior that Chloe would have expected from her own parents, not Marinette’s.
Mrs. Cheng had her hands pressed against her mouth and Mr. Dupain looked like he was about to cry.
Chloe took a deep breath, trying to let go of some of her fury. She really shouldn’t be taking out her own parental problems on Marinette’s parents.
Mrs. Cheng swore softly, startling both Chloe and Mr. Dupain. “It’s Lila, isn’t it,” she said, her expression pained. “She’s the one targeting Marinette.”
Chloe just barely held back from snapping no duh. “Yes, she is. And why were you so quick to believe her, anyway? I mean, it seems a little bit stupid to trust some random girl at school over your own daughter.”
Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Dupain glanced at each other again.
“We knew that something was going on,” Mr. Dupain said. “She’s been skipping classes, sneaking out at night, failing to follow through on things she said she would, and she’d always lie about it—at first we thought it was just a secret boyfriend, but then the whole expulsion thing happened and . . .” He looked like someone had shot a puppy right in front of him.
Chloe grimaced, screwing her eyes shut as she rubbed her forehead. Marinette needed her parents’ support. Even without having any sort of experience with that sort of thing, Chloe had watched other people enough and read enough books to know that it was a thing and that someone who loved their family as much as Marinette did needed that. But for that to happen, trust needed to be reestablished, and for that to happen, they’d need a reasonable explanation as to why Marinette had been and would continue to sneak out, skip class and otherwise generally disappear.
Chloe muttered a curse. Marinette would be furious at her, but they really, really needed to know. And hey, Chloe was a brat anyways.
This was going to be messy.
“It’s because Marinette’s Ladybug,” Chloe said without opening her eyes.
Dead silence.
Chloe cracked her eyes open to see that both adults had frozen, staring at her in a mixture of disbelief and shock.
“Marinette’s . . .” Mr. Dupain started.
“. . . Ladybug,” Mrs. Cheng finished.
There was another moment of silence.
“You’re sure?” Mrs. Cheng asked.
“Well, she detransformed right in front of me about thirty minutes ago, so make of that what you’d like,” Chloe said in mock cheerfulness, examining her nails—which were under a layer of magic spandex, but it helped her make her point.
Chloe watched the emotions run over Marinette’s parents’ faces. They were so expressive, the complete opposite of Audrey’s constant sneer of displeasure or Daddy’s appeasing smile. Surprise was first, which gradually turned to acceptance as they pieced the puzzle together in their heads. After acceptance was a shining moment of pride—Chloe’s stomach twisted a little—but that quickly morphed into what Chloe had been expecting: fear.
Mr. Dupain’s expression was troubled when he opened his mouth, but Chloe put up her hand again, cutting him off. “Don’t. If you’re going to ask why saving Paris from supervillains is Marinette’s responsibility, the answer is I don’t know. She probably doesn’t know either, but the fact of the matter is that it is. Had you caught her and figured out what was going on at the very beginning, you might have had some say, but you don’t anymore. Marinette is Ladybug. It’s part of her identity. Trying to protect her by getting her to retire or even to cut back is just going to hurt her even more than she’s already hurt, because being Ladybug is not something she can give up. She’s not a child anymore, not really, and as much as you want to, you cannot protect her from this. I know you’re scared, that’s what makes you two good parents, but trying to protect her is just going to hurt her more, no matter what angle you take it. So as I see it, you have two options: you can try to get Marinette to stop and push her even farther away from you than she is while she continues to be Ladybug with your disapproval, or you can support her being Ladybug, be her cheerleaders and a shoulder to cry on and there to make her feel safe and loved at the end of the day.” Chloe’s chest was heaving, and she suddenly realized that she had just lectured Marinette’s parents. As she felt the heat creep across her cheeks, she finished, “Two choices.”
Then she fled, darting up the stairs to Marinette’s room. As soon as the trap door was closed behind her she burst out, “Buzz off!”
As Pollen spun into the air Chloe rounded on her, exclaiming, “What was that?!” She knew only the minimal—minimal—amount about familial relationships, much less healthy familial relationships, and she managed to deliver an entire lecture?! Where had that come from???
Pollen was . . . bouncing. She looked like a bouncy ball bouncing in midair, which contrasted with the serene smile on her face.
Chloe stared at her in befuddlement.
Marinette’s kwami giggled from up by the bed. “It looks like you’re a Bee through and through, Chloe.”
“What does that mean?” Chloe snapped.
“It means that you’re perfect to be my holder, my Queen,” Pollen said cheerfully.
“That still doesn’t explain what just happened!” Chloe exclaimed, folding her arms.
Marinette’s kwami floated down to them, her expression eager. “Each miraculous holder has a different role when multiple are activated at once, but only those holders who actually are suited to their miraculous will fulfill that role well,” she explained. “For example, the Ladybug will always be the leader, and the Black Cat will always be the Ladybug’s right hand. They’re responsible for leading the group. But when it comes to the other miraculouses, things are a little bit more varied.”
“The Turtle is always the group medic,” Pollen offered. “They can tell when one of the others is hurt and know instinctively how to help. Ours, though, is more special. A Queen Bee’s role is to keep everything running smoothly in the hive.”
“Which means?” Chloe asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Relationships,” Dupain-Cheng’s kwami supplied. “You instinctively know when important relationships have big issues, and what’s needed to help heal those relationships—or to terminate them, if needed.”
Chloe stared at them. “Relationships? Seriously? I’m about the last person who should be consulted about relationships!”
“But that’s only due to your lack of experience, my Queen,” Pollen said cheerfully. “Otherwise, you’re perfectly suited for the role: you know how people work, you’re not afraid to speak your mind, and you care.”
Chloe scoffed. Care? About Marinette? As if.
. . . Fine, maybe a tiny bit. She was Ladybug, after all.
And when the frick had she become ‘Marinette’ in Chloe’s head??
“So what, I’m gonna start magically knowing what to say to people to help their—” she faked a gag, “—relationships?”
“The magic definitely helps, but most of it does come from you, my Queen.”
Chloe nearly growled in frustration. “So again, where did all of that come from?” She pointed back down at where Marinette’s parents were.
Marinette’s kwami offered quietly, as if she were hesitant to say it, “A lot of what you said probably came from what you’ve thought about your own parents, Chloe.”
Oh. That—that was actually true, Chloe realized. Not so much the ‘being Ladybug’ part of the lecture of course, but the rest of it . . .
Chloe folded her arms with a huff. “Ridiculous,” she muttered, glaring at the ground. This just wasn’t fair. “Utterly ridiculous.”
The trapdoor lifted behind her and she squeaked, moving a few steps away—and having to catch herself from stepping on the edge of a bowl.
Mrs. Cheng was the first one up, biting her lip as she took in Marinette’s room. Mr. Dupan was right behind her, sucking in a sharp gasp as soon as he could see the mess.
Neither of the kwamis had hidden at their entrance, so Chloe wasn’t surprised when Mrs. Cheng noticed one with a startled gasp. “What—”
“We’re kwamis,” Marinette’s kwami explained smoothly, Pollen zipping next to her with a wave. “We’re what make the miraculouses magical. My name is Tikki; I’m Marinette’s kwami.” Great, Chloe actually had her name now.
“I’m Pollen, and I’m my Queen’s kwami,” Pollen introduced brightly.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “She means me.”
“So you’ve been with Marinette since she’s become Ladybug?” Mrs. Cheng asked.
“24/7,” Tikki confirmed. “Most of the time I ride in Marinette’s purse.”
Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Dupain exchanged a look.
“Well, at least we know that Marinette hasn’t been completely alone,” Mr. Dupain said soberly.
Mrs. Cheng climbed up to Marinette’s bed, sitting next to her daughter. Mr. Dupain remained at the bottom of the stairs with an anxious expression—the steps probably weren’t sturdy enough to support the large man. Tikki had flown up with Mrs. Cheng and floated near the end of the bed, where Mr. Dupain could still see her. Pollen, meanwhile, returned to Chloe, settling on her shoulder.
“How did this happen?” Mrs. Cheng asked. Chloe couldn’t see, but she imagined that Mrs. Cheng was cradling Marinette’s head or holding her hand or some other. “It’s—” she took a deep breath, “It is because of her being Ladybug, isn’t it?”
When Tikki hesitated, Chloe decided to jump in. “I mean, if you want to get into the technicalities, sure. But the reality is that if Marinette’s life hadn’t become such a wreck and put an insane amount of stress on her, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“Are you saying that this is our fault?” Mr. Dupain asked, audibly upset.
Chloe hesitated, then decided to be blunt. “In part.” Both Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng flinched. “The rest of the blame goes to her classmates.” Chloe paused, realizing something. “Including me, I suppose, considering that I haven’t done anything to help before now.”
“Why are you helping now, if you weren’t before?” Mrs. Cheng asked.
And wasn’t that the question? The answer was fairly obvious, though. “I found out that she’s Ladybug,” Chloe answered, shrugging as if it wasn’t a big deal. It didn’t change the fact that the words were sour in her mouth. “And Ladybug’s my idol. A stupid reason, I know, but that’s me: Chloe Bourgeois, Paris’ spoiled brat.” And wow, that came out a lot more bitter than she’d meant it to.
Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Dupain exchanged glances, then looked back at Chloe with expressions of—was that pity? Chloe looked away, glaring. She was not someone to be pitied, thank you very much!
Tikki explained again that Marinette was in a magical stasis, and had apparently stabilized, which was good. It explained why the kwami had seemed less upset when Chloe had come back upstairs.
“So she’ll be fine when she wakes up,” Mrs. Cheng confirmed.
Tikki nodded. “Yes.”
“And how long is she going to be asleep, again?” Mr. Dupain asked, head craning in an attempt to see Marinette.
“Two or three weeks,” Tikki answered. “Maybe a tiny bit longer, but less than a month.”
Mrs. Cheng sighed. “Right. We’ll, um,” she wiped her eyes, “we’ll have to tell the school.”
“Tell them what, exactly?” Mr. Dupain huffed. “That our daughter is Ladybug and in a magical coma?”
“Tell them that she’s visiting family in China,” Chloe said. “You thought that it’d be good to remove her from Françoise Dupont’s environment for a little while, perhaps.”
“Why not tell them that she’s sick?” Mr. Dupain asked.
Chloe sighed. Wasn’t it obvious? “Because unless you want word getting out that she’s in a coma but also not at a hospital, we can’t have anyone attempting to see her or contact her for any reason. If she’s in China and you’d confiscated her phone before she left, then she’s out of reach. All we’d have to worry about is people trying to sneak into her bedroom.”
“Why would people sneak into Marinette’s bedroom?” Mrs. Cheng asked, alarmed.
Chloe shrugged. “Our entire class hates her; it’d be a great opportunity to get blackmail on her.”
Both parents looked horrified.
“Your classmates would actually do that?” Mr. Dupain asked.
“I’ve had Sabrina do so for me in the past,” Chloe admitted. “And I hate Marinette the second least out of everyone in the class, so yes.”
Mrs. Cheng shot Chloe a look that said we’re going to talk about that later. Chloe suppressed a flinch, raising her chin in defiance.
“Right.” Mr. Dupain ran a hand over his face. “So Marinette’s going to China. But what do we do about the situation at the school?”
“We can’t let that awful girl get away with what she’s done to Marinette,” Mrs. Cheng added.
“I agree,” Chloe said. “Which is why you’re not going to do anything. In fact, if any of our classmates come to the bakery, you’re going to act like you’re still disappointed in Marinette.”
“What?” Mr. Dupain exclaimed.
“Whyever would we do that??” Mrs Cheng asked.
“Because Lila is powerful,” Chloe explained flatly. “Very powerful. She got the entire school wrapped around her finger within twenty minutes of showing up on her first day, and now she has all of that power at her disposal—and need I remind you, the children of many of the most influential people in Paris go to Françoise Dupont. If she gets any hint that you’re on Marinette’s side, she’ll drop a few “rumors” she heard, and next thing you know your bakery is apparently full of cockroaches, or Mrs. Cheng has made deals with a few unsatisfactory people to get a leg up in the Parisian business world.” Chloe winced as she said the last part, but they needed to understand how dangerous Lila was. “Even I haven’t dared go against her. Lila’s word is truth, after all, and Lila herself is the epitome of good intentions and innocence.” Chloe was scowling. Mrs. Cheng looked horrified, but Mr. Dupain looked murderous—probably because of what Chloe had insinuated Lila would paint his wife as.
“So what, we just let her get away with it?” Mr. Dupain growled.
Chloe shook her head. “I’ll handle her myself. Even if I haven’t dared go against her before, I’m the best suited to do so—everyone already hates me, after all, and Daddy will always listen to me over her, which covers the majority of my life. Not to mention that people will actually listen to me if I scoff at a “rumor” about me—I’ve never hidden my faults.”
Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng glanced at each other again.
“If you’re sure,” Mr. Dupain relented unhappily.
“What about Ladybug?” Mrs. Cheng asked. “You and Chat Noir can’t fight akumas and sentimonsters without her.
Chloe froze. Right, that was a problem too.
“. . . I’ll figure it out,” she finally said.
There was silence for a few moments.
Mrs. Cheng sighed as she looked down at her daughter, then turned to Chloe with a small smile. “Thank you, Chloe.”
Chloe’s brain stuttered. Why were they thanking her? “I haven’t done anything yet?” It came out as more of a question than she meant it too.
“On the contrary,” Mr. Dupain said. “You’ve done a lot.”
Chloe couldn’t fight the blush that crept over her face, but she also couldn’t ignore the warmth that blossomed in her chest.
Pull yourself together, Bourgeois, Chloe instructed herself. She nodded stiffly, looking away.
“Well,” Mr. Dupain said after a few moments, “what now?”