Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything happened so fast.

One moment Sabine and Tom were busy in the bakery, the next, they were summoned to the school because there was a serious situation that needed immediate parental attendance.

They rushed to the school, only to find Marinette sitting downcast, in one of the two chairs across from Principal Damocles, silent and fuming. Her eyes rimmed red, her cheeks flushed and splotchy.

Sabine had to wrestle her overwhelming mama bear instincts to hunt down whoever made her daughter hurt, but she took a deep breath. She needed to keep a calm head and remain logical about the situation or it wouldn’t help anything. She would get to the bottom of this situation and she was going to get to the bottom of it now.

The only others in the office were an angry looking Principal Damocles and a softly sobbing teenage girl with brunette hair.

Strange… the other girl’s parents weren’t here. Why was that? Surely if Marinette had committed whatever acts against this other girl, shouldn’t they be here too? It was a curious detail Sabine filed away for later.

“Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng,” Principal Damocles greeted stiffly.

Tom got straight to the point. “What exactly is our daughter being accused of, Principal Damocles?”

“It is quite the serious situation sir,” Principal Damocles began, lacing his fingers together in front of his chest in a move that had clearly been practised in front of the mirror, “But we’ll get this started from the source, Ms. Rossi, if you please?”

The Dupain-Chengs tried to hold their composure as the other girl—Lila Rossi—pointed the finger at their daughter for a long laundry list of heinous deeds: Marinette cheated on a test and then accused Lila of planting the evidence, Marinette purposefully bullied Lila and tried to turn their classmates against her, Marinette pushed Lila down the stairs when they were sent to the principal’s office.

Only Sabine’s grip on Tom’s arm kept him from really getting angry. She loved that about her husband, he was so slow to anger, but when he did—it was a sight to behold. But she could recognize that anger wouldn’t help here, not when Marinette was being accused of all these terrible incidents.

“My daughter is not a thief!” Tom protested indignantly when the final nail in the coffin finally pushed his patience over the edge, Lila accused Marinette of taking her grandmother’s necklace.

Sabine was right behind him. “Why should we believe any of this? You’re accusing her without any proof!”

All the while, Sabine watched Ms. Rossi carefully. She watched as the girl, who was sobbing mere moments earlier, far too calmly stated: “Oh, I have proof.”

They had no choice but to follow Lila to the student locker room.

Principal Damocles followed closely behind them, keeping a close eye on Marinette like she would try to make a run for it at any moment. It rankled underneath Sabine’s skin, but she bit her tongue.

There were far more teenagers in the locker room than Sabine anticipated as Lila confidently led them to Marinette’s locker.

Marinette and Lila’s classmates stared in blatant interest as they all came to a stop in front of her locker.

“Open your locker please.” Principal Damocles commanded.

Marinette did so without hesitation. Her locker door swung wide open, and her eyes widening in horror as something fell out.

Lila was already crouching down, her eyes wide.

“My grandmother’s necklace!” She gasped, cradling the necklace close.

Marinette gasped, mirrored by everyone else in that room.

“She’s making up his whole thing! It wasn’t me; I swear!” Marinette looked pleadingly at her parents, who looked just as shocked as she was. By now, a sizeable crowd had been drawn in by the commotion. “You know Lila’s lying, don’t you Adrien?”

She looked desperately towards Adrien, who was standing wide-eyed behind the Principal. He hesitated for only a moment before starting, “Mr. Damocles I don’t think—”

But Principal Damocles was far beyond listening and cut right across him, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are expelled from this school!”

The next few moments happened so fast; it was a blur. One moment Sabine was in a haze of anger and disbelief—her daughter would never do something like this! And the next, there was an explosion of red butterflies and that all too familiar creeping sensation sprung up and she could hear Hawkmoth’s voice whispering dangerous promises in her ear.

Just as soon as it happened, it was over. Hawkmoth’s voice faded abruptly, and Sabine regained her awareness enough to clamp down on the negative emotions bubbling just beneath the surface. She looked immediately for her daughter, who looked horrified and pale.

“I think it’s best if we go finalize the paperwork in my office.” Principal Damocles said a moment later, his voice trembling slightly from the close call.

Marinette drew in on herself, head down, not looking at anyone—not even her parents.

Despite the close call just now, Sabine recognized the feeling niggling in her gut—something wasn’t right about this. It was too easy. If Marinette really had stolen the necklace, why would she have been foolish enough to keep the evidence around? Why had Lila been so confident that it would be there?

Something wasn’t right.

Sabine watched her daughter carefully as they began the long walk of shame back to the principal’s office.

Marinette’s eyes never left the floor, as she walked a few paces ahead of her parents. By the trembling of her shoulders, Sabine knew that she was trying hard not to cry. Expelled and then very nearly akumatized—it it was not something she ever wanted her little girl to experience.

Lila, meanwhile, seemed to be walking with an extra spring in her step as she accompanied them back to the office.

Sabine’s eyes narrowed.

Of all the things Sabine imagined Marinette could do when she got a little out of hand, bullying someone had never crossed her mind. Her daughter was someone who knew firsthand what it was like to be bullied. For years she’d been maliciously picked on by that insufferable Mayor’s equally insufferable daughter and the school let it happen. Something wasn’t sitting right in Sabine’s gut about this whole situation. She knew Marinette could get carried away, particularly when it came to her crush on Adrien (something Sabine had been meaning to talk to her daughter about, because there was something to be said about healthy crushes).

However, one thing was for certain: Marinette was no bully.

Just before they headed back into Principal Damocles’ office, Sabine pulled her daughter aside.

“Marinette, I need you to tell me honestly, did you do any of the things that Ms. Rossi is accusing you of?”

“Maman, I didn’t. I promise.” Marinette pleaded, voice cracking. Sabine’s heart lurched, Marinette looked about five seconds away from a breakdown and she quickly gathered her daughter into her arms, holding her tight.

“Shh,” Sabine soothed gently as Marinette stifled a sob, “I believe you.”

“You do?” Marinette asked pitifully, voice muffled against her mother’s chest.

“I know you would never bully anyone.”

“Everyone else believed her.” Marinette choked, bitterly.

Sabine knew they’d have to talk about this later, but right now there were more pressing things to handle. “Right now, we will focus on setting this situation straight. If your friends truly are your friends, they will apologize to you. It will be up to you whether you accept it or not.”

Marinette looked surprised for a moment, like it never occurred to her that she didn’t have to not accept someone’s apology.

“Okay maman.” She agreed, taking a deep breath.

Sabine and Marinette re-entered the office, where Principal Damocles was clearly impatient to get this over with.

“We will get your paperwork in order today, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. You will have until the end of the day to clear your locker.”

Marinette’s shoulders slumped, but before she could look any more defeated, Sabine decided enough was enough.

“I understand theft is inexcusable, but where is your proof that Marinette did the other things that she was accused of?”

Principal Damocles looked at Sabine in disbelief. “Madam, you cannot seriously think that after the proof of the stolen item—”

Sabine was so done with this man. She cut him off sharply, “you reviewed the security footage and are in fact, certain that it was Marinette who pushed Ms. Rossi down the stairs, Principal Damocles?”

“Well I thought Lila’s injuries were enough of a testament to that--”

“So let me get this straight,” Sabine said smoothly, cutting across the Principal, “you had two students come to you with two entirely different stories, and you just outright believed one student over the other without checking the video footage that could put an end to this question?”

Lila blanched, not liking where this line of reasoning was heading to.

“R-really, it’s not necessary.” She said pleadingly, tears springing to her eyes. “I really should have never even brought it up, I didn’t really want to get Marinette in trouble and make her hate me more.” Her voice warbled pitifully by the end of the sentence and Marinette looked about ready to jump out of her chair, her face an unhealthy shade of pink. It was Tom who lay a firm, but comforting hand on Marinette’s shoulder immediately some of the tension bled from her shoulders and he dad kept her anchored enough not to lose her head.

Sabine ignored that little pitiful display, her iron gaze never wavering from the Principal. She kept a cool head. Yes, she was rightfully angry on behalf of Marinette, but a cool head always prevailed… and also didn’t attract an akuma.

“I fail to see what the problem is here Principal Damocles.” Sabine said sweetly, but the underlying current of steel sent shivers down the principal’s spine. “It is a win-win scenario. If Ms. Rossi is correct, and our daughter did do such a heinous act as pushing her down the stairs, we can all rest easy knowing that Marinette will be expelled, as well as properly punished at home.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Principal Damocles looked rightfully chastised.

Marinette was looking at her mother with a mixture of hope and relief so palpable that for a moment Sabine wondered how long this… situation might have been going on between Marinette and this new student. Sure, their business kept them very busy a lot of the time, but Sabine vowed silently there and then to make sure to keep a little closer eye on her daughter.

Lila grew paler and paler by the moment, her eyes darting around the room as if searching for an avenue of escape.

It took a minute for the Principal to pull up the correct day, and they sat there patiently as he rewound the footage to the approximate time this allegedly serious incident occurred.

“Ah,” he let out a noise of affirmation, before letting the screen play out. Sabine watched; hawklike eyes trained on his face as he watched the footage. Not even a moment later, his eyebrows shot nearly into his receding hairline. He scrambled for the mouse and Sabine only had to guess he was replaying the footage.

Once.

Twice.

Each time, his face grew somehow paler and yet increasingly flushed at the same time.

“MS. ROSSI.” Principal Damocles finally snapped, “I think you have some explaining to do.”

Lila flinched, her eyes wide and the waterworks were prepped to go. “It’s not what it looks like, Principal Damocles! I wouldn’t--” She looked desperately around the room, looking for any support, but only found Sabine’s scorching gaze. She quickly looked away, pointing at Marinette, “it's all her fault!”

The Principal stood abruptly; face flushed as red as Ladybug’s signature red suit. “You purposefully made it appear as though Ms. Dupain-Cheng pushed you down the stairs when she did nothing!”
“No—I—”

“I think, Principal Damocles,” Sabine cut across Lila without so much as a look at the girl, “it is high time you call Ms. Rossi’s parents in.”

If possible, Lila went even paler.

“That’s really not necessary, my mother is an ambassador you see and very busy—”

“In fact, it’s a little strange you haven’t already called them in by now.” Sabine’s tone hardened.

Principal Damocles seemed to deflate just a bit. “Er… right, right.” He cleared his throat, “I didn’t want to bother such an important ambassador at first…”

It was the wrong thing to say.

“And yet you decided to pull us away from our business, forcing us to close shop for the day and costing us potentially hundreds of euros?” Tom piped up, his tone warning.

Principal Damocles went a shade of puce that no one realized was achievable. He didn’t want to dig his grave any deeper and made a smart move by pulling out a large ledger, scanning through it frantically until he found what he was looking for. Ignoring Lila’s protests, the Principal dialed the phone number.

His brow knit together. “Must have been a misdial.”

He hung up and dialed again.

Lila had gone strangely quiet and looked to be shrinking in on herself to avoid drawing any attention to herself. It didn’t work.

“Ms. Rossi, you’d better explain as to why your listed phone number is not working. Or provide another that we can reach your mother at immediately.”

Lila sunk lower into her seat, “my uh… she’s out of town! That’s why. She’s on an important diplomatic mission in Achu.”

No one bought it.

“I will simply call the embassy in the meantime,” Principal Damocles said icily, “I’m sure they can connect me to her.”

“While we wait, I think it would be best if you heard Marinette out from the beginning, as it seems you denied her the chance, without Ms. Rossi.” Sabine’s fingers curled into her palms and she forced herself to take a deep breath.

“But I—Marinette will try to twist everything—” Lila tried again desperately but was ignored completely.

“Ms. Laurent?” Principle Damocles called on the intercom, “Ms. Rossi will be sitting in the office with you until I come to get her. Do not let her out of your sight.”

“Yes Principal Damocles.” Ms. Laurent’s pleasant voice sealed Lila’s fate.

“You are to wait with Ms. Laurent until I am able to reach your mother, Ms. Rossi.” With perfect timing, Ms. Laurent appeared at the door.

There was nothing left for Lila to say. She snatched her bag from the ground and shot Marinette a poisonous look before she was escorted out by Ms. Laurent.

Even with just Lila leaving, Sabine could see some of the tension in her daughter’s shoulders bleed away, but it wasn’t over.

“Now Marinette,” Sabine said gently, touching her daughter’s hair soothingly, “can you please tell us what happened today, from the beginning?”

“Okay, maman.” Marinette agreed softly.

And so Marinette told them everything. From the time the test answers were “discovered” in her bag because of an anonymous note, to Ms. Bustier telling Marinette that she couldn’t just accuse someone without evidence (Tom looked particularly upset at that, but reigned it in), to Lila’s threats as they were on the way to Principal Damocles’ office and then the “supposed” push. They’d all seen what happened at the locker room, and the question of the necklace was quickly solved with a cursory look through the footage, damning evidence of Lila herself putting the necklace into the locker. There was no talking her way out of this one.

Once Marinette was finished talking, there was only one unanswered question left.

“Thank you.” Sabine squeezed her exhausted looking daughter’s shoulder in comfort, hating that she had to push just a little further, but it was for the good of her in the long run. “Do you know why Lila felt she needed to do these things, Marinette?”

Marinette looked torn for a moment, her eyes flicking back and forth between her parents. Sabine couldn’t help but hold her breath, recognizing that their daughter was making a decision--one that Sabine could not make for her and one that if her and Tom had done what they could, Marinette would feel comfortable telling them.

“She was… making good on her threat.”

Sabine’s blood ran cold. Beside her, she felt Tom stiffen.

“What?” Sabine was unable to keep all the anger from bleeding into her tone.

“She threatened you?” Tom asked, keeping his voice calm despite the uneasiness in his gaze.

Marinette bowed her head but nodded.

Sabine wanted to ask, “why didn’t you tell us sooner?” But realized that this wasn’t the time or the place to talk about this and all that really mattered was that Marinette was telling them now.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Tom asked gently, recognizing Sabine was unable to find her voice at that moment.

And so Marinette began all over again, from the true beginning to explain how Lila had come to dislike her, how she constantly lied about having several injuries or medical conditions, she told them about how the class had moved her seat all the way to the back by herself without even asking her, and how anytime she tried to call Lila on her lies it only backfired on her further.

If Sabine didn’t think she could get any angrier, she was wrong when Marinette’s story came to a head about how Lila had cornered her in the bathroom and threatened her. Even Tom had to remind himself to breathe deeply when Marinette admitted that she’d nearly been akumatized twice now because of Lila. Twice.

What scared Sabine the most was those threats had almost come true and would have come true had she and her husband not stepped in. The thought left her with a cold anger simmering beneath her skin.

Once Marinette was done telling the story, her parents hugged her tight.

Tom gave her a gentle kiss on her temple and Sabine wanted to hold her exhausted daughter for as long as she needed, but it wasn’t over yet.

“In light of… this new information,” Principal Damocles cleared his throat nervously, “Marinette’s expulsion of course, is null. I apologize, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”

Anger flared beneath Sabine’s skin, but she clamped it down, hard. Between one upset Marinette, two upset parents and whatever that girl was out there, it was a miracle Hawkmoth hadn’t sent an akuma yet.

Tom normally was content to sit back and let Sabine handle these kinds of situations, but something didn’t sit right with him and so he voiced his opinion next.

“You expelled our daughter in front of her peers, giving her no privacy. I expect you to rectify the situation by making just as public an apology for this misunderstanding that could have been avoided if you had fairly listened to your students beforehand.” Tom added, not even letting the Principal off with that much.

Principal Damocles looked like he’d swallowed a lemon but agreed. “Yes, of course.”

Judging by the way Marinette looked at her dad like he’d just hung all the stars in the night sky, he figured he’d done something right.

“That girl maliciously tried to smear my daughter’s reputation into nothing and nearly caused her to be akumatized—twice. I expect all her misdeeds will come to light in this very public apology in order to set the record straight. If not, I will be going directly to the Board of Governors, do I make myself clear?” Sabine demanded, somehow towering above the principle despite being a good foot shorter than him.

It was times like these when Tom got to be reminded why he fell so hard for Sabine Cheng. There was nothing more beautiful to him when his wife got that sharp look in her eye and the extra proud set to her shoulders, ready to take anyone down. He swooned a little and had to remind himself to pay attention. He was here to support his wife and especially daughter, in any way possible.

“Marinette, sweetie.” Sabine turned towards her daughter, only love in her eyes, “why don’t you take the rest of the day off from school and go get an ice cream with your father? I’m sure Principal Damocles will excuse your absence for the rest of the day due to this unfortunate and completely avoidable situation.”

Principal Damocles gulped, pulling at his tie uncomfortably. “Of course, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I will inform your teachers that I have excused your absence.”

Marinette rose from her chair at her father’s prompting, looking understandably dazed by the abrupt change of tide. It was not forty minutes earlier she’d been very publicly expelled after all.

“Will you be joining us, dear?” Tom asked cheerfully, already knowing the answer to the question.

“Oh no,” Sabine practically purred, “I think I’ll stay here and continue our enlightening conversation with Principal Damocles about why our daughter was expelled at the drop of a hat with no concrete evidence to do so. But you two go on, enjoy yourselves.”

She pressed a kiss to each of their cheeks and waved them out of the office as Principal Damocles sank low into his chair.

Tom happily led Marinette out of the office just as Sabine rounded back on the Principal.

It was just as they came out of the office that they were ambushed by a very stressed looking Adrien.

“Marinette!” He burst out desperately, “I came as soon as Bustier would let me go. I’m going to talk to the Principal and tell him everything I know.”

Marinette was too shocked to speak.

“I’m so sorry.” Adrien apologized, so shamefaced that Tom was certain someone must have kicked a puppy right in front of him, “it’s all my fault. I didn’t think Lila would ever—if I had known—”

The poor kid was working himself into a right state and Marinette was so exhausted she wasn’t even able to respond.

“Whoa, whoa,” Tom said gently, “slow down there son. What’s your fault?”

Adrien seemed to notice Tom was there too finally, clearly having had tunnel vision for just Marinette. He gulped, but there was a flicker of determination behind his gaze.

“I knew Lila was a liar and I told Marinette that her lies weren’t hurting anyone…but I was wrong.” Adrien hung his head, fists clenching at his sides. “I never thought she’d lie like this. I’m sorry Marinette, but I’ll do everything I can to help you get unexpelled.”

Marinette was staring at Adrien like he’d grown a second head, and Tom recognized his daughter had reached her limit for today.

“Look, Adrien,” Tom began kindly, “that may not have been the best advice to give. Letting others lie to your friends is never a good thing. I’m not saying you coming forward would have helped the situation any, but you can’t sit back next time like this and not speak up for a friend.”

With each of Tom’s gentle, but firm words Adrien deflated more and more.

“But it looks like you realized it was wrong. I’m sure when Marinette has some time to rest and recover after today’s upsetting events, she’ll talk to you about it. The good news is Marinette isn’t expelled anymore. We got that all straightened out.”

Relief splashed across Adrien’s face.

“T-thanks for coming to support me, Adrien.” Marinette said softly, finally having recovered from her shock to say that much.

Adrien nodded, looking sad. “Don’t thank me Marinette, I should have come to my senses sooner. I’ll talk to you about it when you’re feeling better though, okay? Right now, I’ll go talk to Principal Damocles about Lila too.”

Tom nodded approvingly at Adrien.

They bid Adrien a quick goodbye, before setting out once more.Tom was careful to lead Marinette straight out of the school. If any of her other classmates looked like they might want to approach her—he made sure to give them a look that kept a clear berth around them.

They stopped very briefly at the store, stocked up on good ol’ rocky road ice cream before heading home. Marinette very briefly went upstairs to change into her pajamas, and when she came back down, Tom already had all the blankets out on the couch and two big spoons for the ice cream.

They chose a funny movie that they both had seen many times before; it was one of Marinette’s favourites and Tom watched with approval as Marinette slowly drifted off into a nap.

She was still napping when Sabine finally got home a few hours later.

It warmed her heart seeing her daughter and husband, curled up and cuddling on the couch, Marinette passed right out.

“How did it go?” Tom asked quietly, doing his best not to stir Marinette even as he made room for Sabine on the couch too.

Sabine settled in beside her husband, cuddling right up to his other side and practically melting into him. What a day it had been.

“As good as it could have gone.” Sabine sighed. “They are going to publicly apologize to Marinette during an assembly on Friday, which she doesn't have to attend if she doesn’t want to.”

“And what about Ms. Rossi?”

Sabine’s lips turned downwards, an expression that seemed out of place on her normally kind features. “Ms. Rossi’s mother was quite shocked to hear what her daughter had been up to all this time. Apparently, she’d told her mother that the school had been closed for several months due to akuma attacks and Mrs. Rossi never bothered to follow up. If they didn’t expel her for the truancy, the bullying was the nail in the coffin. She will be forced to explain herself at the assembly to all her peers, but they will be returning back to Italy.”

Tom let out a breath of relief and held his wife a little closer.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Sabine admitted honestly, “but it needed to be done. I’m just sorry Marinette felt like she couldn’t come to us sooner.”

“At least she felt comfortable enough to tell us today, or who knows what might have happened.” Tom said soothingly, neither parent wanted to imagine the alternative.

Marinette would have to decide if she wanted to forgive her peers for jumping so quickly to conclusions, but they would be here to support her, no matter what she decided.

That’s what they were here for.

Sabine and Tom cuddled a little closer, content to spend a relaxing night with their daughter.

…

Chapter Text

Dear Parent/ Guardian,

This email is to inform you of a serious series of incidents involving bullying, harassment and intimidation that resulted in the wrongful expulsion of a student of Collège Françoise Dupont. Once the allegations came to light, the situation was rectified and the student at fault is now no longer welcome.

There will be an emergency assembly held tomorrow at 9:30AM in order to address this incident with the student body and reiterate that Collège Françoise Dupont has a zero tolerance bullying policy.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Regards,

Principal Damocles
Collège Françoise Dupont
+33 1 xx xx xx xx

...

The day of the assembly dawned bright and early, though not nearly as bright and early as the Dupain-Chengs.

The morning bakery prep was Sabine’s happy place, despite how chaotic it could be. The delicious smells wafting from the ovens, Tom’s quiet humming as he worked and the timers going off every now and again were the pleasant soundtrack of their mornings and Sabine cherished it.

This morning they were making something extra special to kick off the day.

“They’re nearly done, I’ll go get Marinette up if you keep an eye on the frying pan.” Sabine gently kissed her husband’s cheek.

“Good luck!” Tom joked, knowing how difficult Marinette could be to get out of bed.

Sabine chuckled and headed up the several flights of stairs, bypassing the living room and up, up, up to the attic. She knocked gently on the door, as she did nearly every morning.

This morning, of all mornings, she was surprised when Marinette called, “come in!”

Sabine wasted no time, popping open the attic door and poking her head up into the room. Marinette sat at her desk, in her pajamas, but clearly having showered and gotten ready for the day.

“Good morning maman,” Marinette greeted, placing her brush down.

“Good morning sweetheart,” Sabine returned the greeting, “you’re up early.”

Marinette shrugged. “I wanted to make sure I was ready for today.”

Sabine nodded approvingly. “Well, we made your favourite this morning—so whenever you're ready, come down and eat.”

Marinette perked up. “Pancakes? Really?”

Pancakes were normally reserved for special occasions, on the rare slow Sunday mornings when they could take their time and relax. Today wasn’t a special occasion, but Tom had wanted Marinette’s day to start off on a good foot because it was sure to be exhausting.

“Really.” Sabine smiled.

“I’ll be down in just a minute.” Marinette promised, “I just want to get my bag ready.”

Sabine nodded and gently closed the door, making her way down the staircase and all the way back down to the bakery kitchen. She’d just reached the counter when there was a knock at the back door.

Sabine and Tom exchanged a startled glance. Who could be knocking at the back door so early? It was hardly seven!

Tom placed the tray he was carrying down and headed to answer the door, no less surprised to see Alya standing there.

The normally confident young woman radiated nerves, not helped by Tom’s surprised face.

“Good Morning Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng.” Alya greeted, wringing her hands, “Marinette said I could come over this morning?”

It was Sabine who recovered from her surprise first. She certainly hadn’t been expecting Alya, and Marinette had made no mention… with how exhausted her daughter was yesterday it wasn’t a surprise.

“Good morning Alya, I’m not sure…”

At that exact moment, Marinette came racing down the stairs, startling all three of them.

“Maman,” Marinette began before she fully realized they had company, “I forgot to mention, Alya said she’d drop…” Finally she caught sight of her friend standing nervously at the door. Her lips formed into a wordless “oh.”

“Hey girl.” Alya said shyly, half heartedly waving.

Marinette blinked the last remnants of sleep out of her eyes. “Morning Alya. Let’s head up to my room, if that’s okay?”

Alya nodded, glancing at Tom, who smiled and stepped out of the way to let her by.

Sabine and Tom watched the girls disappear up the stairs, much quieter than they’d usually be. It wasn’t until their footsteps faded that Tom felt it safe to talk.

“Alya’s here awfully early. Do you think it has something to do with what happened yesterday?”

Sabine hummed in affirmation. “I think so. Marinette mentioned that Alya wasn’t akumatized… How she saw that in all the chaos I have no idea. From what I understand, Alya didn’t believe Marinette about Ms. Rossi.”

“Hopefully she’s here to apologize.” Tom said hopefully.

As tempting as it was to go and try to eavesdrop at the attic door, Sabine resisted. Whatever happened between the two girls was up to them.

Between putting the pancakes in the oven to make sure they didn’t get cold, and the usual morning preparations, it felt like no time at all passed before there was the telltale thumping of multiple someones coming down the stairs. How two fairly lithe teenage girls managed to sound like a pack of elephants when they came down the stairs, she’d never know, but what Sabine was most focused on was the sound of happy giggles and talking as the two girls approached.

“Is that my daughter and her friend coming down the stairs, or a rhino?” Tom asked in an over the top, loud voice. The two girls finally appeared at the base of the stairs.

“Sorry, dad.” Marinette apologized, not looking sorry at all.

“I’ll meet you at the front gates, okay?” Alya said earnestly, her hand hesitating ever so slightly as she touched Marinette’s arm.

Marinette nodded. “I’ll see you soon.”

Alya bid Sabine and Tom a quick goodbye, leaving the Dupain-Cheng family alone once more.

“Everything okay with Alya, sweetheart?” Sabine asked gently, though by the two girls’ demeanors, she already knew the answer.

“We’re good.” Marinette let out a breath, but she was still smiling, “Alya never believed that I could do any of that stuff. That’s why she wasn’t akumatized… but she didn’t believe me at first that it was Lila.” Marinette subconsciously wrinkled her nose at the name.

“You told Alya she threatened you and she still didn’t believe you?” Tom asked, shocked. That didn’t seem at all like Alya, who was normally fiercely protective of Marinette!

Marinette quieted for a moment, and Tom and Sabine exchanged an uneasy glance.

“No.” She admitted finally, “Alya didn’t know. I didn’t tell anyone about Lila’s threat.” Sabine’s grip on her rolling pin tightened, but Marinette carried on.

“Alya and Nino thought I was just jealous about A-Adrien.“ Marinette scowled, “and then Adrien told me that I shouldn’t expose her before I had a chance to tell anyone about what she did so…” Marinette trailed off with a shrug, her parents knew the rest of the story now anyways.

“I know how much Alya means to you. Did she apologize?” Sabine asked after a moment, reaching over and squeezing her daughter’s hand.

“She did,” Marinette squeezed back, “and we’re good now. Alya was really shaken up once I told her about Lila’s threat. I had to make her promise not to murder Lila today, because I didn’t want my best friend in jail.”

“Are you sure you want to go to the assembly, Marinette?” Tom asked seriously, leaning down so he was eye level with her, “you can change your mind. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You just need to say the word.”

Marinette smiled softly, but shook her head, resolute in her decision. “Thanks dad, but I want to do this.”

Tom patted her shoulder, smiling approvingly. “And we’ll be right behind you...Now who’s ready for pancakes?”

...

“Hey girl!” Alya greeted Marinette when she reached the front gate of the school ten minutes before school started.

“Hey Alya.” Marinette greeted happily, feeling lighter than she had in weeks.

“I just have to stop at my locker, then I’m good to head to class.” Alya explained as both girls began their way to the locker room. “Did you happen to catch the new—”

Marinette chatted happily with Alya, and it wasn’t until they reached the stairs when someone whispered loudly:

“Didn’t she push someone down the stairs?”

Marinette stumbled over air.

Luckily Alya had a subconscious Marinette instinct honed at this point and reached out to steady her without even thinking. Judging by the grimace on Alya’s face, she heard them too.

“Ignore them.” Alya said loudly, shooting a venomous glare over her shoulder at the random student. She snaked her arm around Marinette’s shoulders and pulled her close.

Marinette nodded shakily and let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. It was that moment she realized the majority of the students in the courtyard were staring at her blatantly, pointing and whispering. Her shoulders slumped further and it was only Alya’s unwavering presence and strength that carried her to the locker room.

Her parents told her about the email the school had sent out late last night, but it looked like not a lot of parents had either gotten around to reading their email, or hadn’t informed their kids. No wonder her schoolmates were gawking at her like an animal in the zoo!

The two girls just reached the locker room door when Marinette inexplicably tensed.

Alya stopped, concern written all over her face. “Are you okay?”

Marinette nodded slowly. Right. It felt like forever ago, but it was just yesterday when she’d been humiliated by Lila and Principal Damocles.

“Just… a lot.” Marinette smiled weakly.

Alya’s eyes widened in comprehension. She groaned and slapped her forehead. “I’m so stupid, I shouldn’t have asked you to come with me here right away!”

Marinette shook her head, feeling the normalcy slowly bleed back into her. “I had to come to my locker sometime.”

Maybe one day she’d be able to joke about what happened, but that time was a long ways off.

“I’ll grab my stuff and we’ll get out of here fast, okay?”

“Okay.” Marinette agreed.

Tikki stirred in the purse on her hip, pressing against her comfortingly.

Luckily the locker room was fairly empty, only a few students lingered and most of them either didn’t notice her or didn’t care. True to her word, Alya moved at lightning speed, dumping everything she needed into her bag in fifteen seconds flat.

They resumed their walk to the classroom, Marinette shrinking under the questioning or outright glares she received from the other students. It was only Alya’s presence beside her that kept her from turning tail and she was immensely grateful for it.

Just as they reached the classroom door, Alya stopped and squeezed Marinette’s hand. “Are you ready?”

Marinette took a deep breath and smacked her cheeks with just enough force to reinvigorate herself. “I’m ready.”

Looking somehow both amused and concerned, Alya nodded and opened the door to their classroom just as the bell rang.

The lively chatter in the classroom immediately died when Marinette and Alya entered. Marinette didn’t bother to say good morning to Ms. Bustier, who gave a weak smile, allowing Alya to lead her to their old seat. After yesterday’s debacle, Marinette wasn’t sure how to feel about their teacher’s bullying policies anymore.

In her absence it seemed the class had reshuffled itself back into their previous seating chart, out of habit she scanned the classroom for the familiar blond head of hair, but Adrien’s seat was empty.

Marinette barely settled down in her seat when Chloe’s grating voice cut across the classroom.

“What’s Marinette expelled-Cheng doing here?” She asked loudly, looking down her nose at Marinette despite being seated on the floor level of the classroom.

“Back off, Chloe.” Alya snapped, eyes blazing.

Chloe’s face twisted into a satisfied smirk, “Rossi’s not here either, did you finish her off Dupain-Cheng?”

“Chloe, that is enough.” Ms. Bustier finally stepped in, tone sharp.

Marinette’s heart thudded in her chest and she did her best to stay calm despite her knee jerk reaction to rip Chloe’s head off. That wouldn’t help today, and Marinette just didn't have the energy to deal with it.

Chloe shot Marinette and Alya a smug smile before turning around in her seat.

Ms. Bustier gave Marinette an apologetic look, but Marinette just looked away. She was too tired to deal with Ms. Bustier’s habit of stepping in only after Chloe had gone too far.

“Class,” Ms. Bustier began after an awkward pause, making sure to cut off any potential talk, “this morning there will be a special emergency assembly at nine-thirty regarding a serious incident of bullying at our collège.”

Ms. Bustier either pretended not to notice (or just ignored) how nearly the whole class turned towards Marinette, interest piqued.

“The entire school is required to attend in order to clear up Marinette’s wrongful expulsion. That is all I will say on the matter for now, please bring out your workbooks.” Ms. Bustier said sternly.

A flare of surprised whispers exploded in the classroom, but Marinette ignored them despite how her cheeks burned. She wasn’t quite ready to deal with her classmates yet, and instead dutifully pulled out her workbook and began to work.

…

Sabine and Tom arrived at the college gates at precisely 9:20AM, almost at the exact moment Gabriel Agreste and his son Adrien were getting out of their sleek vehicle.

“Hi Mrs. Cheng, Mr. Dupain.” Adrien greeted politely, clearly nervous.

“Hello Adrien, it’s nice to see you again.” Tom greeted, his friendly manner clearly putting Adrien at ease. “It’s good to see you as well Mr. Agreste.”

“Likewise.” Gabriel said stiffly.

“I take it you’re here for the assembly?” Sabine asked.

“Yes.” Gabriel sighed, “I was asked to attend. I was unaware Ms. Rossi lied her way into my household to see Adrien, among other things.”

“Well, let’s get inside shall we?” Tom prompted.

Gabriel nodded wordlessly, Adrien following behind him dutifully as the group made their way towards the school.

Marinette practically ambushed them at the door to the gym.

“I’m so glad to see you.” Marinette said in lieu of greeting, before realizing her parents weren’t alone.

“Oh, hi Adrien.” Marinette greeted with barely a stammer, “hello Mr. Agreste.” She greeted the fashion mogul shyly.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng.” He gave her the barest nod in return, which was practically a full on fist bump when it came to the scale of Gabriel Agreste’s greetings.

“How are you, Marinette?” Adrien asked once his father was finished exchanging pleasantries. They slowly walked into the gym. Most of the student body was already there, mulling around in groups and talking.

“I’m okay.” Marinette said truthfully, “I’m looking forward to getting this over with.”

Adrien nodded understandingly, he opened his mouth to say something, but that was the exact moment Principal Damocles cleared his throat on the stage into the microphone.

Sabine watched Marinette’s shoulders tense as she looked to the stage and saw Lila standing with two people who could only be her parents. Lila looked sullen and pale, and didn’t make eye contact with anyone but the floor.

“Good morning students,” Principal Damocles began without further ado, the excited chatter of the entire student and faculty body died out abruptly, eyes trained curiously on the stage, “yesterday we had a very serious situation occur at our college.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the gym as nearly a hundred pairs of eyes swiveled to find Marinette. The devil may work hard, but nothing worked harder than the school rumor mill.

Everyone had heard about yesterday, how Marinette supposedly shoved another girl down the stairs and everyone wanted to know what happened.

“Yesterday a student was expelled due to some serious allegations that came against her. We quickly got to the bottom of…”

Sabine couldn’t help it, she made a face.

It was a terrifying face, one that Principal Damocles saw immediately (and may forever see in his nightmares) causing his words to die in his throat.

“I was perhaps a little bit… hasty,” He began again, his voice a few octaves higher, “Ms. Rossi maliciously bullied and then proceeded to frame Ms. Dupain-Cheng for several serious incidents. As a result, I expelled Ms. Dupain-Cheng in error, and a great misdeed was unfortunately permitted to happen. For that, Ms. Dupain-Cheng has my deepest apologies. Now, we will listen to Ms. Rossi, who will apologize now for her actions before she leaves the Collège Françoise Dupont.”

There was a surprised rumble of whispers and low voices that swept the auditorium as people turned to their neighbor in surprise or shock. A good number of her peers turned again to stare at Marinette, who watched the front stage unflinchingly.

Adrien was used to being scrutinized by so many people at once, and simply stood at his father’s side, face carefully blank.

Lila walked towards the microphone not unlike someone about to be sentenced to their demise. Her shoulders were slumped, eyes red and she gave one last imploring glance at her parents, as if asking, do I really have to do this?

Her parent’s faces hardened into stone, and finally Lila turned back to the microphone, fuming.

It was an interesting mix, trying to watch someone admit all their wrongdoings while trying to appear vulnerable and innocent all at the same time. Every word that came out of Lila’s mouth was set in the bizarrely innocent “I didn’t do anything” tone even as she detailed every single little lie she’d ever told.

Lila didn’t know Jagged Stone, and certainly didn’t save his kitten from a runway.

Lila didn’t have tinnitus, a wrist injury, or any other kind of ailment.

Lila didn’t know any famous manga artist, Clara Nightingale or any other famous persons.

Lila knowingly snuck into the Agreste mansion and deceived Mr. Agreste’s staff and Mr. Agreste himself.

Even by the time Lila finished going through her outrageous lies, the audience’s reactions were mixed. Many of Marinette’s classmates looked shell-shocked, while the majority of the rest of the school seemed confused and bewildered. Some of the lies were so outrageous, why were they even believed in the first place?

“And then I talked to Marinette in the bathroom—”

“Lila.” Her mother’s warning tone was pure ice, making Lila stammer.

“I mean, I threatened Marinette in the bathroom.” She tried to breeze over the word “threatened”, but there was an audible gasp that ran through the assembly, people’s heads whipping around towards Marinette, eyes wide.

Her classmates were suitably horrified, Rose’s eyes already shining with the telltale wetness to her eyes that said she was close to tears at any moment.

Marinette didn’t notice any of this however, too focused on the stage.

“I’m...sorry for… everything, Marinette.” Lila looked as though each word cost her the equivalent of getting a tooth pulled.

No one said a word.

In fact, Sabine was certain no one so much as breathed in the stunned silence that followed the apology, however, Principal Damocles had one more surprise up his sleeve.

“Marinette,” Principal Damocles surprised them by addressing Marinette directly, “do you accept Lila’s apology?”

Several hundred pairs of eyes turned as one towards Marinette expectantly.

If Sabine were Chat Noir, she would have had kittens right then and there.

How dare he.

This hadn’t been discussed, how dare he expect Marinette to publicly accept this girl’s apology? The Dupain-Chengs weren’t stupid. The only thing Lila was truly sorry for was because she got caught.

Sabine was approximately .01 seconds away from verbally and maybe even physically snapping the idiotic man in half when she was interrupted by a strong, self assured voice cutting across the silent auditorium.

“No.” Marinette said simply.

There was a very long, very awkward silence.

“N-no?” Principal Damocles stammered, completely bewildered.

Even Lila looked dumbstruck, probably the first honest emotion to cross her features.

“No? As in… you don’t accept Lila’s apology?”

“Do I have to, Principal Damocles?” Miranette asked, her voice barely wavering, but the fire in her gaze burned bright.

“Well—I—in the spirit of things—”

Marinette gave the Principal a look so frosty it would have frozen hell over. He stammered to a stop and tried again.

“Er… well, I don’t suppose you have to…” He adjusted his tie nervously, finally caving under the withering gazes of all three Dupain-Chengs, “with that, we will conclude today’s assembly and…”

Lila glared hotly at Marinette from her position on the stage, cheeks a strange ruddy red colour. Wherever Hawkmoth was today, it was a miracle he seemed busy because otherwise they could have had a seriously powerful akuma on their hands. As it was, Hawkmoth clearly had other things to do today.

Marinette returned Lila’s glare with an unreadable look. She didn’t know what Lila wanted or expected, but she wouldn’t give it to her. No reaction, no nothing. She turned her back to the bully.

It was over.

Lila shuffled off the stage with her parents, avoiding anyone’s gaze, shoulders slumped.

They wouldn’t see her again.

Sabine tuned out the Principal’s closing remarks, only having eyes for her daughter. Marinette had chosen one hell of a moment to exercise her right not to accept an apology and Sabine couldn’t be any prouder. Her daughter was so brave.

Tom too, looked extra proud, his chest puffed out and when Marinette glanced up to both of her parents, Tom was unable to hold back his beaming smile any longer.

“We are so proud of you.” Sabine kissed her daughter’s forehead lovingly, before Tom caught his wife and daughter up in a fierce bear hug. He only let them down once Marinette’s face went bright pink (presumably from the lack of oxygen).

“Do you want to head home, sweetheart?” Sabine prompted gently. It was something she and Tom had discussed prior to the assembly, knowing it would be a very draining experience for Marinette (and if Principal Damocles had a problem with it, he could bring it up with her).

Marinette mulled it over for a moment before shaking her head, determination burning in her gaze.

“No thank you, maman. I want to stay the rest of the day.”

Sabine nodded. “If you want to come home earlier, just let us know.”

“Okay.” Marinette agreed, smiling.

Tom and Sabine barely bid Marinette goodbye before her classmates quite literally swarmed her.

“Marinette we’re so sorry!”

“Dudette—”

“Can you ever forgive us—”

Apologies flew at Marinette left, right and centre in an overwhelmingly chaotic cacophony that would make anyone else dizzy.

Sabine and Tom slowed their departure, glancing nervously at each other as their daughter looked momentarily overwhelmed. Just as Tom was about to step in, there was a subtle shift, and suddenly Marinette’s stance changed.

She planted her feet, her spine straightened and there was an unmoveableness to her form that was eerily familiar, but neither Tom nor Sabine could place.

She held up a hand and immediately the class quieted, individual apologies dying on their lips.

“Thank you, everyone, for your apologies.” Marinette began quietly but firmly, and immediately the relief surged through the class, but that quickly changed with her next words.

“I can’t pretend it didn’t hurt, because it did.” She frowned, the truth slapping the rest of the class across the face. “Everyone doubted me so easily, or brushed off whatever I said as jealousy.”

Everyone in the class immediately knew what Marinette was talking about in relation to who she was jealous of exactly, only Adrien didn’t grasp what she meant by that, but she continued. “ Lila was a good liar, and part of the reason why I love this class so much is because you all are so trusting and kind. You had no reason to doubt her, and I wouldn’t have either unless I had seen her steal Adrien’s book. I never asked you to blindly believe me instead of Lila… I just wanted you to do your own fact checking.”

By now everyone in the class looked shamefaced. Perhaps they’d expected an immediate forgiveness, and maybe if things had turned out differently Marinette would have given it to them.

“I forgive you, but it’s going to take time to rebuild our trust.” Marinette smiled kindly.

The class was subdued for a moment, but it was Nino who eventually spoke up for the whole class.

“We understand, Marinette. Thanks for giving us another chance.”

With that, the solemn nature broke and some of the tension bled away. While Marinette had accepted her classmate’s apologies, it was clear she had boundaries and had drawn the line.

Tom and Sabine thought they couldn’t be any prouder, but they were wrong. They watched as their daughter blended back in with her classmates as the assembly dispersed, teachers leading their wound up charges back to class.

Sabine reached up and grasped her husband’s chin in her hand, pulling him gently closer for a kiss to the cheek. He surprised her by turning his head at the last moment and sneaking in a kiss on the lips.

“Shall we head home dear?” He asked, smiling.

“In just a moment, I need to have a little word with Principal Damocles. It won’t take long.” Sabine said sweetly, but the underlying steely glint in her gaze said otherwise.

“Yes dear.” Tom sighed happily, watching his beloved wife march off in the direction of the cowering principal.

He was one lucky guy.

…

Chapter Text

Caline Bustier prided herself in being a good person and a good teacher.

She was attentive to her students, strove to always be positive and kind and right now, it was coming to a huge shock to Caline that this was apparently not an opinion shared by Sabine Cheng.

In the aftermath of that awful assembly, Sabine had demanded to speak once more to Principal Damocles. Caline had kind of invited herself along for the conversation (Marinette was her student after all!) Damocles was far too cowed to even notice her attendance to the meeting and it was quite a sight to behold the small woman metaphorically tear a limb off of Damocles for expecting Marinette to accept Lila’s apology at the assembly.

Caline didn’t exactly agree with Sabine’s reasoning, sure, they’d made awful mistakes with Lila, but Marinette not accepting Lila’s apology was just wrong! Surely Marinette should have accepted the apology. It would have helped her and Lila grow as people.

The words were leaving Caline’s mouth before she really took a moment to consider if it was a good idea or not.

“Accepting an apology is a good thing, if I may, Madam Cheng.” Caline piped up once Sabine seemed thoroughly finished with Principal Damocles, “wouldn’t it be best for Marinette to be the bigger person and accept Lila’s apology?”

Her hopeful words were met with stunned silence. Principal Damocles seemed to just notice her presence and Sabine’s incredulous look at the words that had just come out of Caline’s mouth made the young teacher shrink in on herself a little.

Sabine studied Caline for a long, uncomfortable moment.

“You should seriously consider your future as an educator before you let another child down like you did mine.”

It was said without a lick of maliciousness, which was the worst part. Sabine Cheng might as well have slapped Caline straight across the cheek. It was said without malice, but the cold disappointment in Sabine’s eyes spoke volumes.

“Good day, Principal Damocles.” Sabine nodded curtly, not even acknowledging the devastated woman she left in her wake.

“You should return to your classroom, Caline. Your students are waiting for you.” Principal Damocles cleared his throat a minute later when Caline still had not moved from her spot. Truthfully, although irked Caline had witnessed that terribly embarrassing scolding, he was secretly glad she’d inadvertently taken some of the heat off of him.

“Oh! Y-yes! Of course.”Caline startled, scurrying out of the Principal’s office, accidentally shouldering the doorway on her way out in her haze of shock.

Damocles watched her go and sighed heavily. He and Caline had learned a particularly hard lesson today: hell hath no fury like Sabine Cheng scorned.

__________

Somehow Caline made it through the rest of the school day and then immediately underwent three of the five stages of grief within twenty four hours and she was exhausted.

- Denial -

Her first response was immediately to want to shout and defend herself because how dare this woman tell her that she wasn’t doing a good job? Sabine Cheng clearly didn’t know what she was talking about! Caline always strove to perform her absolute best for her students. She cared deeply for them, was always willing to listen whenever they needed an extra ear...

Soon, the outright denial phase gave way to the second and most potent:

-Anger -

Didn’t parents understand how hard it was to be a teacher? Their kids weren’t always the little angels they made them out to be--oh no--nothing could be further from the truth! Sabine should get in her classroom and walk a mile in Caline’s shoes before she had the right to say something so heinous!

Caline kept a close clamp on her emotions so she didn’t become a tempting akuma bait, but she bustled around her small flat in righteous fury, stress cleaning had always been Caline’s go to when she was upset and right now she’d beat all her rugs within an inch of their lives.

It wasn’t until she’d finished aggressively dusting her sconces the next morning that a poisonous thought penetrated her subconscious:
Was Sabine Cheng...right?

-Bargaining-

All the righteous fury that had fueled Caline’s Friday night vanished instantly. She sank slowly into her favourite chair, sweaty, feather duster cradled close as an even worse thought followed.

Had she... let Marinette down?

Caline prided herself more than anything on being a good teacher. She strove to be the nice, kind teacher she always wanted when she was in lycee. She took care to encourage her student’s interests and always tried to make time for them when they needed a listening ear.

But… Caline had to admit, when it had come to Lila, she’d really dropped the ball. Never in her wildest imagination did Caline believe Lila could be lying about her injuries or illnesses! What reason could she have to lie about that?

But Lila did lie.

Lila Rossi had lied a lot.

And Caline had helped enable it by not following up on all the claimed illnesses and injuries.

But… it was always good to believe in the best of people! Caline sat up, feeling a bit better, but that feeling slipped away when she thought about how Lila’s lies had hurt a lot of people, Caline included, but the one to suffer most was Marinette. What good was Caline if she could not protect her students? Had she been going about this all wrong?

Caline realized she had to talk to someone. She wasn’t sure why yet, was it to confirm that she was a good teacher? To confirm her doubts that maybe she wasn’t as quite an awesome teacher as she thought? To clear her conscience?

What Caline needed was honesty. She didn’t need someone to try to help her feel better (at least not this moment). She needed to know.
That left one contact in her phone. With a glass of wine in hand, Caline debated for over an hour before she finally steeled herself.

Ms. Mendeleiev, if you are not busy tomorrow morning, could you please meet me for coffee?

Tipsy texting Ms. Mendeleiev was not Caline’s proudest moment, but she had to do it while she had the liquid courage. She hit send on the text.
Caline waited only one agonizing minute before her phone dinged.

I am available. 10:00 AM at the La Belle Cafe. Sincerely, Ms. Mendeleiev.

Caline let out the breath she’d been holding and quickly texted her response back.

I will be there. Thank you.

She finished the last sip of her glass of wine and decided that was quite enough for her tonight. She would retire early to bed, though it was sure to be another sleepless night.

--------

Caline arrived five minutes early to Le Belle Cafe, but Ms. Mendeleiev was already there, reading a book with coffee in hand.

Ordering her own coffee at the counter, Caline quickly joined Ms. Mendeleiev.

“Thank you for meeting with me, Ms. Mendeleiev.” Caline said awkwardly. As much as she respected Ms. Mendeleiev as a colleague, she could honestly say she’d never pictured having a Sunday morning coffee with the stern woman.

“My pleasure,” Ms. Mendeleiev said in a tone that implied she was merely saying it out of politeness, “now why have you asked me here today, Caline?”

Caline winced. Ms. Mendeleiev never was one to beat around the bush. She’d been hoping to ease into the conversation a little more tactfully, but she should have realized that Ms. Mendeleiev was not one for faffing about.

“I need to ask you a question, and please give me your most honest answer.” Caline began shakily.

Ms. Mendeleiev raised an eyebrow, clearly taking offense that she would answer any question within anything but brutal honesty.

“Do you think I am a good teacher?” Caline asked, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could lose courage.

Ms. Mendeleiev’s lips tightened. “I take it this is about the Ms. Rossi incident.”

“Among other things, yes.”

“I believe you are a good person, Caline, but your teaching style is… not adequate.”

Caline blinked in surprise. She had expected a lot of things, but to hear how her colleague believed that her teaching style was not good enough?

“You would have me be more like you?” Caline shot back, indignancy rearing its ugly head

Ms. Mendeleiev looked unsurprised by the burst of pride, taking a brief sip of her coffee as Caline collected herself, shamefaced.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. Please continue.”

Ms Mendeleiev nodded curtly. “Caline, I can appreciate that you only want what is best for your students, but you give them too much responsibility over holding each other accountable. You are the teacher. You are the one who should be holding your students accountable for their actions.”

“What do you mean?” Caline asked, startled.

“Take, for example, an incident you told me about a while ago now. On your birthday, the entire class was kind enough to present you with thoughtful gifts, until a certain incident led to your akumatization.”

Caline’s shoulders slumped. She hated being reminded of her failure.

“The akumatization was not your fault, Caline,” Ms. Mendeleiev said sharply, “I am not focusing on the acts of a terrorist taking advantage of your very human emotions. I am talking about the events preceding your akumatization. When you stated that the entire class had prepared those thoughtful gifts for you… except Chloé Bourgeois.”

“Yes?” Caline said quizzically, not really understanding Ms. Mendeleiev’s line of thought.

“Did you ever have Ms. Bourgeois apologize to Ms. Dupain-Cheng for vandalizing her work?”

“Vandalizing?” Caline gasped, “I wouldn’t go that f--”

Ms. Mendeleiev’s diamond hard stare cut her off.

“Chloé’s act was not a contribution done out of the goodness of her heart. It was a malicious act designed to cause Marinette upset. Instead of confronting Chloé about her actions, you told Ms. Dupain-Cheng to forgive her bully, when she’d done nothing to earn that forgiveness.”

“Chloé apologized!”

“To you, Caline.” Ms. Mendeleiev barked, out of patience. “How do you think Marinette felt when you prioritized her bully’s feelings over her own?”

Caline gaped, unable to say anything in her defense. She’d opened this can of worms and Ms. Mendeleiev seemed determined for her to see it all through because she kept going.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng must have put a lot of thought and time into her gift for you. You counted Chloé’s malicious act as a part of the gift, and yet again held Marinette to a standard higher than that of Chloé. As far as I understand, you even pulled Ms. Dupain-Cheng out of class not to reprimand her, but to reaffirm that Chloé’s “contribution” was a good thing and that she should just do a better job at being patient. Do not think no one else has noticed the bullying that Ms. Bourgeois has plagued Ms. Dupain-Cheng with for years. I always assumed that you were doing your best to negate the bullying, and after this conversation I see that you were only enabling it.”

Caline gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in horror, completely at loss for words.

Ms. Mendeleiev took a deep, calming breath before she continued. “This is where it comes back to responsibility. You are the one who should be holding your students to a high standard, Caline. Instead, you’ve foisted that duty off onto your students, particularly Ms. Dupain-Cheng. You have held her at a higher standard, while not expecting the same from her bully because it’s her responsibility to set a good example... Isn’t that what you told me?”

The tone was challenging Caline to disagree, but she did not take the bait. Instead, she sat there in a stunned, horrified silence.

Ms. Mendeleiev’s face softened just a fraction, realizing how hard this must be to hear, but it also needed to be said.

“Your intentions are good, Caline, but you are their teacher, not their friend.”

Finally, Caline sucked in a harsh breath and stood a little wobbly on her feet. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Mendeleiev. You have…you have given me a lot to think about.”

Ms. Mendeleiev didn’t try to stop Caline, who looked as though she’d seen a ghost. She’d given Caline exactly what she’d wanted after all, brutal honesty. It was up to her what she did with it now.

-Depression-

The walk home was a blur. Caline vaguely remembered stumbling up her steps and unlocking her apartment door and it wasn’t until she was home and ensconced in the safety of her favourite chair that she finally let loose and cry.

Not petite, quiet sobs either. Caline wailed. Ms. Mendeleiev’s words burrowed themselves through her heart. She’d failed her students. Ms. Mendeleiev was right. Sabine Cheng was right.

She let herself mope around the apartment for the better part of the day, not even her favourite telenovela could cheer her up today. It was just after dinner when Caline realized enough was enough.

-Acceptance-

She could do better. No. She would do better.

All the moping in the world could not change her past mistakes, but she could take steps to learn and grow and hopefully never let something like this happen again. She would start by apologizing to Marinette and go from there.

-------

It turns out, the first step is more familiar than Caline imagined.

The instant Chloé Bourgeois walked into the classroom that morning, Caline could tell she was in one of those moods.

Chloé complained loudly about Sabrina being late this morning, how her driver didn’t drive quite fast enough for her liking and finally, her sights narrowed in on her familiar and favourite target: Marinette.

Marinette had just walked into the classroom with Alya, completely absorbed in their conversation.

“Ugh,” Chloé groaned loudly, drawing Marinette and Alya’s attention, “school was going to be so much better without you Dup—"“

“Chloé,” Ms. Bustier interjected sternly, “that is enough.”

She wasn’t sure who looked more gob smacked, Chloé--who gaped at her like a comically large black and yellow fish, or Marinette, who stared at the teacher as though she’d never seen her before. Even the rest of the class looked startled.

Caline’s stomach sank.

When did that happen? When did they realize they couldn’t count on her?

How long had she needed this wakeup call?

Caline decided to push those thoughts aside for now and focus on the issue at hand instead.

“What--”

“Sit down, Chloé. One more word and you’re out to the principal’s office.”

Chloé sat. Like a very confused, scolded puppy she sat down into her seat, unsure of what else to do.

Ms. Bustier did her best to smoothly turn back to the board, but she couldn’t help but sneak a look at Marinette out of the corner of her eye. Gone was the completely shocked look, and in its place was a quiet wariness that looked so out of place on a child her age.

It wounded Caline that Marinette’s response was so guarded, but she was quick to remind herself that it was entirely her fault. As a teacher, she was in a unique position of authority, but one that should come with earning the trust and respect of her students. She should be a pillar on which they could rely, she was here to uplift not only their education, but their confidence and spirits.

And she had failed. Miserably.

Caline could not change her past actions. What’s done was done, but she could change now. She would be a lot more careful in monitoring Chloe’s actions. She was sure to get an earful from the mayor later (judging by the sour look on Chloé’s face), but somehow Caline preferred that. She was done letting Chloé throw temper tantrums and bully her students.

"Alright class," Ms. Bustier began, "let's go ahead and get started..."

At the end of the day, Caline asked for a moment of Marinette’s time.

“Marinette, may I have a word?” Caline asked once most of the class had left for the day. It was only Alya, Nino and Kim who remained.

Alya gave Marinette a look, searching for her okay to leave them alone. Marinette nodded just slightly.

“I’ll wait for you in the courtyard.” Alya, Kim and Nino shot Caline a curious look before leaving the classroom.

Marinette turned around, and yet… Weirdly, Caline didn’t feel like it was Marinette in front of her. While her facial expression was carefully blank, Marinette’s shoulders were squared and her posture strong, immovable, and powerful and nothing like the normally shy, timid Marinette.

“How can I help you, Ms. Bustier?” Her tone was polite but wary, and Caline could not blame her.

Caline cleared her throat nervously. Her heart felt as though it would beat itself into oblivion, but she had to do this.

“I am sorry, Marinette.” For the first time, Marinette looked thrown off. “My actions have been inexcusable for a long time, and I have utterly failed you as a teacher. I held you to a level of responsibility above those who hurt you, and I was wrong to do that. I can only try to express to you how sorry I am, I see now how my actions or inaction was hurting you too.” Caline’s wavered a little at the end, but she powered through. There would be no tears from her, she had to be professional about this.

“I want you to know I am going to do my absolute best to never ever let something like this happen again.” Even if Marinette did not forgive her, Caline wanted her to know that she was going to do her best to never let this happen again. And in truth, Caline did not feel deserving of forgiveness even if offered.

And forgiveness was not offered.

Marinette was quiet for a long moment before saying, “thank you for your apology, Ms. Bustier, but I trusted you for so long and I don’t know if I can do it again. At least not now.”

Oh. It was the most horrible, crushing mixture of disappointment and hope that Caline had ever experienced, but she appreciated Marinette's honesty.

“I understand, Marinette.” Caline meant every word.

“Is that everything Ms. Bustier? I really should get to Alya.”

“Yes, that’s everything. Have a good afternoon, Marinette.”

Marinette nodded and left the classroom, leaving Caline to her hurricane of mixed emotions.

Her apology was out there and Marinette hadn’t accepted it, and that was okay.

Caline finished tidying up her classroom and headed to the teacher’s lounge, she had work to do.

----

It was nearly 7’ o clock by when Caline decided to take a break and brew a pot of tea.

As expected, the mayor had a lot to say to Caline for her “inexcusable treatment of his darling daughter” today, but Caline had held her own.
Surprisingly, Principal Damocles had her back in the matter, though she did expect it was because he feared Sabine Cheng more than he feared the mayor, which… fair.

She’d been using the computer in the staff room for hours after the meeting with the mayor, searching for various learning opportunities and teacher training. There was a lot out there, but she wasn’t sure where to start. A part of her was tempted to sign up for all of it, but the wiser part of Caline realized this would be how she would burn out.
\
Caline had just sat down again when the staff room door opened, and Ms. Mendeleiev appeared.

“Oh, Caline, I didn’t realize you were still here.” Ms. Mendeleiev said in lieu of greeting.

“I had a few things I was working on.” Caline explained, gesturing to the computer screen. Ms. Mendeleiev’s gaze lingered on the screen for a moment, nodding thoughtfully.

“Thank you again for meeting with me, yesterday.” Caline said.

Ms. Mendeleiev waved off her thanks and instead fished something out of her pocket and held it out to Caline.

It was a pamphlet.

“I’m attending a seminar next weekend that offers training for teachers on recognizing and preventing bullying in the classroom, among other interesting topics. I thought it may be something you would be interested in attending. We can carpool.”

Caline recognized an olive branch when it was offered.

“I would like that very much, Ms. Mendeleiev.”

She had a long way to go, but Caline was determined to uphold her promise.