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Chapter Text

Marinette sighed as she set her diary back in her lock box. “I can’t believe Maman just let Sabrina walk right up here and take my diary.” She leaned back in her desk chair as her chest tightened. “She could have found out I was Ladybug. Now that would have been a disaster.”

Tikki floated around Marinette’s head. “That diary is a bad idea.”

“But I need to get it out somehow,” Marinette argued. “Or else I might explode from keeping Ladybug a secret!” She mimed her head exploding before collapsing against the back of her chair. Exhaustion crept around the edges of her body, but she ignored it.

Tikki hummed before zipping to sit on top of Marinette’s computer monitor. “Maybe you could write it in code. That way your secret stays safe, and you still get it out.” Tikki giggled. “Without exploding.”

Marinette leaped up. “That’s a great idea, Tikki! But what code would I write it in?” She paced around the room, her hands waving to express her thoughts. “Do I make up one? Or…”

Marinette’s eyes lit up, and she plopped back down into her pink desk chair. “I know! I could write it pretending to be a spy! And if anyone ever does come across it, I’ll just tell them it’s a fun writing project I’m doing!”

Tikki zoomed over to Marinette and hugged her cheek. “That’s an amazing idea, Marinette!”

Marinette grinned as she grabbed a new notebook and pencil. The notebook was an old navy colored one she’d never used before. “Now, let’s start at the beginning.”

Mission Log:

Chapter Text

Alya tapped her foot as she leaned against the wall outside the locker room. Marinette was supposed to meet her there half an hour ago, but so far, she has been a no-show. She did that more and more lately; just flake out on stuff and then make up lame excuses. Alya should be numb to it by now, but it still stung at least a little every time.

Alya sighed as she scrolled through news footage on her phone. Apparently, there was an akuma at the Louvre that attacked forty minutes ago. She would have gone to film it, but she promised to meet up with Marinette.

“Where is that girl?” Alya scanned the school courtyard for a glimpse of her elusive bestie. “Maybe she thought we were supposed to meet in the locker room?” She knew she was grasping at straws, but she really didn’t want to think her bestie flaked out on her again.

Alya shoved open the wooden doors to the locker room. “Marinette!” Her gaze darted around the empty room before she sagged in defeat. As she turned to leave, her gaze snagged on something navy peeking out from under one of the benches.

Curiosity being Alya’s driving force, she strode over to the bench and bent down. Pulling it out from under the bench, she plopped down to examine the curious notebook.

“I wonder whose this is?” Alya mulled it over in her head without coming to any conclusion. “Only one way to find out.” She went to open it, then snapped her eyes shut. “Nope. That’s an invasion of privacy. Nino’s been nagging me about being more considerate of others’ boundaries, and I shouldn’t do this.” Alya cracked her eyes open. “But… I’ll never know who this book belongs to if I don’t open it up. Plus, Nino’s not here.” She grinned and flipped the notebook open.

Mission Log:

Day 1

Finally! After four long years as a Sleeper Spy for the agency, I’ve been activated.

“Spy!” This could be the biggest scoop of her life.

I wish I could say it was under better circumstances, but that’s not the case. A terrorist has attacked Paris. He’s calling himself Hawkmoth.

Name: Unknown

Age: Middle Aged

Gender: Male

Status: Magical Terrorist

Alias: Hawkmoth

Appearance: Unknown

Skills: Turning anyone with negative emotions into monsters called Akumas.

Weapon: Butterflies.

Luckily, Paris has two new superheroes to defend it. They go by Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Name: Unknown

Age: Teenager

Gender: Female

Status: Magical Hero

Alias: Ladybug

Appearance: Black hair tied in pigtails, blue eyes, and wears a red and black spotted onesie.

Skills: Creating any object out of thin air and reversing damage caused by Akumas.

Weapon: Yo-yo

Name: Unknown

Age: Teenager

Gender: Male

Status: Magical Hero

Alias: Chat Noir

Appearance: Blond hair, green cat eyes, and wears a black, leather onesie.

Skills: Destroying any object.

Weapon: Baton

I should probably start at the beginning of my story.

Today was my first day back at Françoise Dupont and I was the furthest thing from excited. Civilian school seemed boring to me. The only challenge it presented was that of keeping my identity as a Sleeper Spy a secret. To do so, I had to act like a kind, oblivious, and forgetful girl in front of my classmates.

“So, the spy is a girl,” Alya noted aloud. “Interesting.”

To start my day off, I rescued an old man from being run over by a car. Then to keep my cover, I did it clumsily, which caused me to spill my stuff onto the sidewalk, and almost made me late for school.

At school, I let myself be bullied by a stuck-up snob, (Codename: Brat) I could easily defend myself, but what better cover than the girl who can’t stand up for herself. Though instead, a new girl stood up for me and I decided she would make a good ally, (Codename: Ally)

Stoneheart struck during lunch break while I ate at home. That’s when my communicator lit up and they activated me.  

Name: Ivan Bruel

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Status: Akumatized Villain

Alias: Stoneheart

Appearance: Huge, muscular gray rock golem with glowing yellow-green eyes.

Skills: Super strength and grows with every blow.

Weapon: Muscles

Thanks to all the helicopters in Paris at the time, no one noticed the one over my house. Or the red-headed woman lowered from it. She introduced herself as my new handler (Codename: Agent Tikki). She told me my main mission was to find Hawkmoth, take him down, and subtly help Ladybug and Chat Noir from the shadows (they would also occasionally send me on some side missions). I was to observe every Akuma battle, as well as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Tikki then mentioned I would have a partner.

“A partner! Two spies! I wonder if this partner goes to Françoise Dupont too!”

So, I geared up and headed towards Stoneheart. On the way, I crashed into my new partner (literally). He apologized and introduced himself as my partner, (Codename: Agent Shade) My first impression of him: flirt. Seriously! The first thing he said to me was, “Well, hey there, nice of you to drop in.”

Alya furrowed her eyebrows, “That doesn’t sound that flirty though?”

Uuuuh! I get a flirt as a partner! I silly, really cute partner! Who has this stupid, suave smirk! Uuuh!

“She has a crush on him and is totally in denial!” Alya wiggled in excitement. “This just keeps getting better and better!”

Anyway, we then headed to the stadium to observe Ladybug and Chat Noir in action. Shade almost blew our cover like five times and I almost let him. There was also this reporter girl who stood filming on the sidelines! What, did she want to get killed?! Yes, I know the Miraculous Cure fixes everything, but she didn’t!

Alya flushed. “Oops.”

I felt so nervous; it was my first time out and I shook like a leaf. What if I messed up? What if I wasn’t cut out to be a spy? I almost wanted to puke at one point.

Soon, Ladybug cast the Miraculous Cure, and the dark akuma flew away. Chat Noir left the scene first, with Ladybug following behind. Then, after the stadium cleared, Shade and I split ways.

I sat on my living room couch watching the news when Nadja Chamack announced that new stone beings had popped up all over Paris. I dove for my communicator and hurriedly called Tikki. I asked her, “What’s going on?”

Tikki sighed and asked me, “Did you make sure Ladybug captured the akuma?”

I started freaking out and gasped, “So, I failed.”

Tikki tried to protest, but I wouldn’t listen.

“This is all my fault; I never should have been a spy,” I moaned. Then I told Tikki she should find another spy for this mission and a better partner for Shade. I hung up on Tikki and held my head in my hands.

I hate first days of school.

Agent Ruby

“A spy! A real-life spy in my school!” Alya’s heart might actually explode out of her chest from excitement.

The Miraculous Cure washed over Paris, and Alya snapped back to reality. She needed to get home before someone found her snooping. She leaped off the bench and darted out of the school, just barely missing the red blur landing in the locker room after her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ladybug landed in the school’s locker room with a pink flash as she detransformed. She bounced on her toes, and Tikki dove into her bag. “Please still be here.”

Marinette dashed over to the locker room door and peeked out. “Alya!” She called. When she received no answer, she sagged against the doorframe, holding her head in her hands. “Alya is so going to kill me.”

Tikki peeped out from Marinette’s purse. “Don’t worry. Alya’s your friend. She’ll understand.”

“But this is the third time this week I’ve had to run out on her because of an akuma.” Marinette bit her lip as her stomach twisted. Tikki just patted her leg in an attempt at comforting her.

After a minute or two, Marinette sighed. “At least I’ll have something interesting to write in my diary about.”

Tikki giggled. “Another one of your Agent Ruby Adventures?”

“Yep!” Marinette chuckled as she strolled out of school.

Chapter Text

Alya practically skipped to school on Monday. She had stayed up all weekend reading the diary and felt ready to catch herself a real-life spy. Arriving at the school, only a few students were there due to how early it was. But she knew Nino liked to jam in the classroom before class. Alya practically flew up the stairs and into her homeroom class.

Nino sat in his seat, bobbing his head until Alya went barreling into the classroom. She vibrated with excitement, and he lowered his headphones. “Babe?”

With that question, the floodgates opened. “Nino! You’ll never guess what happened! It’s incredible! You’ll never believe me! Even I can’t believe it! Well, I can. But it’s so cool! Just the fact that I know is incredible! Oh my gosh! It’s amazing!”

“What is?”

Alya flushed when she realized that Nino had no idea what she was talking about. But she shoved her embarrassment aside and dropped the diary on his desk. “Just read this!”

“Okay?”

Alya eagerly watched Nino flip through the diary. His face grew more and more shocked with every page he turned. “This can’t be true. It’s a joke. It has to be! There’s no way a spy goes to our school!”

Alya shook her head and grinned. “Nope. It’s not a joke.”

Nino leaned back in his seat to look up at Alya. “Babe, how do you know? How can you be so certain?”

Alya’s grin grew wider, and she yanked the diary from Nino’s grasp. Plopping down next to him, she flipped to a specific page and read aloud.

Luckily, I was already at the museum for research with Ally when Pharaoh attacked. So, when he put people in time bubbles, I dove behind a pillar and informed Tikki of the situation. As I peeked out from behind the pillar, Ladybug arrived on the scene right before the bars lowered in the doorway and began taunting Pharaoh. She then threw her yo-yo at him, which backfired, and he swung her into the wall.

After that, Pharaoh used super strength to pull the bars apart, letting Chat Noir in. Though it wasn’t just Chat Noir who snuck in, Shade slid in behind him. He slunk over to me, and the first thing he said to me when he reached me was a pun.

My stare deadpanned, and I turned Shade’s head back towards the fight, where Ladybug tried to get Chat out of the sarcophagus. Pharaoh kidnapped the Ladyblogger, who -once again- put herself in danger just for her blog. I’m impressed at her dedication, but not her survival instincts, which appear to be non-existent.

Nino interrupted. “You realize she’s insulting you, right?”

“She’s also complimenting me!”

After Ladybug left to find Pharaoh and Chat Noir to recharge, we swiftly chased Ladybug into the lobby, where she ran right into a time bubble. Shade took out his dagger to free her…. And got stuck in a time bubble.

I facepalmed before chuckling at the sight of my partner stuck in a time bubble. We didn’t have time to waste and needed Ladybug free to defeat Pharaoh.

Alya set the diary down on the desk. “See.”

Nino just blinked at Alya. “Um, I still don’t get how this proves this ‘Agent Ruby’ is a real spy, babe?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “You see, no one could have known all that about what went down, unless they were there!”

“They could have just been watching your livestream.”

“Then how would they have known about Ladybug getting caught in a time bubble?”

Nino fumbled for a counterpoint. “Um…”

Alya smirked. “See. And there’s more just like that throughout the whole diary.” She glanced around before lowering her voice. “And she knew exactly what Ladybug said to me when she gave me the fox miraculous. Heck, she knew my kwami’s name.” She flipped to a specific page and cleared her throat.

Agent Ginger and I flipped up to crouch on top of the carousel as Ladybug approached the Ladyblogger with the fox miraculous. It was Ginger’s first time in the field, and she grinned like a madwoman.

Ladybug held up an ornate box and told the Ladyblogger, “Alya Cesaire, here is the Miraculous of the fox, which grants the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good. Once the job is done, you will return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?”

“That is exactly what Ladybug told me!” Alya’s eyes shone as anticipation built in her chest. “Word. For. Word.” She didn’t wait for Nino’s response; she just flipped to another section in the diary. “And if you still don’t believe me…”

Agent Forest and I pressed our backs to the chimney as we eavesdropped on Ladybug and Nino’s conversation. Forest clenched his fist and whispered, “Hurry up, dudes,” under his breath. Ginger (Forest’s girlfriend) got stuck in one of Anasi’s webs, and he itched to jump in and beat up the akuma.

Ladybug stood in front of Nino as she said, “Nino Lahiffe, this is the Miraculous of the turtle, which grants the power of protection. You will use it for the greater good.”

After the kwami, Wayzz, appeared, Ladybug told him, “Once the job is done, you must return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you?”

“You bet, Dudette!” Nino replied.

Alya set the diary down again and grinned as Nino’s eyes blew wide. “That enough proof for you?”

“Dude, that… Dude,” Nino stumbled for what to say before he mumbled, “There’s a spy in our school. There’s a bona fide, real-life spy in our school.”

Alya laughed, riding high on her excitement. “Yep, and we’re going to catch her.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The lunch bell rang ten minutes ago, and Alya peeked into the cafeteria with Nino behind her. She narrowed her eyes as she scanned the room, “Someone in here is a spy, and until we can prove who it is, everyone’s a suspect.”

Nino nervously rubbed the brim of his baseball cap. “Everyone?” He questioned.

Alya nodded before thinking, “Well, not everyone. You see, Agent Ruby has been at every akuma attack. Which means-”

“She’s never been akumatized,” Nino interrupted. When he saw the exasperated look on Alya’s face, he ducked his head. “Sorry, Babe,” He apologized.

“Yes, well, I’ve figured out a way to narrow it down,” Alya gestured to her bag, which held the diary. “Her diary has a lot of clues hidden in it. We just have to figure out a few and-”

“The rest will fall like dominoes,” Nino finished before flushing under Alya’s stare. “Sorry.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Follow me.” She grabbed Nino’s hand and dragged him into the cafeteria and over to one of the tables. She pulled a few sheets of paper out of her bag and laid them out on the table. “There are 43 girls in tenth grade -not counting me- 38 in ninth grade, 48 in eleventh, and 29 are seniors. So, that’s 158 girls -excluding me- in our school.”

“Babe, how are you going to find one spy in 158 girls?” Nino asked as he pulled his bag out and searched for his lunch money.

Alya grinned, “By using the process of elimination.” She picked up a few sheets of paper with almost every name crossed out on them. “Now, I narrowed Ruby down to our grade.” She showed Nino how she had crossed off every name in the seniors, juniors, and freshmen lists. “You see, Ruby talks about being bullied by a girl, Codename: Brat.”

“Let me guess, Babe. Chloe?” Nino asked.

“Got it one,” Alya grinned. “And Chloe never bullies the seniors, so Ruby can’t be a senior.”

“And the freshmen and juniors?” Nino questioned.

“They both had a joint class trip to the Louvre a few months ago. And on the same day, Ruby complains about an akuma interrupting her math test,” She pointed out.

Alya picked up another sheet of paper. “This is a list of every girl in our grade. Since Ruby has never been akumatized, she can’t be anyone in our class since everyone’s been akumatized.”

“Not Marinette.” Nino pointed out. “And how did you even get that?”

Alya waved Nino off, “It’s Marinette. She couldn’t possibly be the spy.” She smirked, “And I have my ways of getting information.”

Nino raised an eyebrow, “Then why didn’t you tell her about the diary?”

“Because I can’t cross her off the list yet, since she’s never been akumatized before.” Alya rolled her eyes like it was obvious. “I’ll just tell her after I cross her off.” She snapped her fingers, “So, am I a genius, or what?”

“Or what usually.” Marinette snarked as she approached their table with a lunch tray.

Alya swiftly brushed all her papers into her bag while Nino asked, “What’s up, dudette?”

Marinette giggled as she sat down next to Alya, “Nothing much. What are you working on?”

“Just a school project, nothing to worry about, girl,” Alya brushed off Marinette’s question.

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows and opened her mouth to speak when her phone buzzed. Her eyes widened, and she checked her phone. Then her eyes darted around before landing on her food with a pout. “Hey, I’ll be right back. I just realized I left my homework assignment back in Ms. Mendeleiev.”

Nino winced, “Yikes, better get it quickly, dudette, before Ms. Mendeleiev finds out.”

“Yeah, I better,” Marinette chuckled. She swiftly stood up with her tray and skidded over to the exit.

Alya’s phone went off with an akuma alert, and she narrowed her eyes at Marinette, “Is it me, or is Marinette acting weird?” Marinette dropped her tray into the trash as she darted out of the cafeteria in one smooth motion.

“Nah,” Nino shook his head. “Babe, Marinette’s always like that. She’s kind to a fault, but man, is she forgetful, oblivious too.” He stood up, gripping his lunch money, “I’ll be right back, babe. I’m going to grab lunch.”

Alya stiffened, “What did you say?”

Nino furrowed his brow, “I’m going to grab lunch?”

“No,” Alya shook her head violently. “About Marinette,” She prodded.

“I said she’s kind, but a just little forgetful and oblivious,” Nino repeated. “Is somethi-”

Alya leaped to her feet and snatched Nino’s hand, effectively cutting him off. She dragged him out of the cafeteria and down the hall. Marinette just went down. Alya’s head spun. Marinette couldn’t possibly be Ruby, but then again, all her odd quirks would suddenly make much more sense. “Babe, wha-”

“Shh,” Alya shushed Nino as she stopped and pressed her back to the wall. Then she peeked around the corner to see Marinette dashing right past Ms. Mendeleiev’s classroom and around the next corner. Alya snuck behind her and hurriedly whispered to Nino, “Agent Ruby wrote in the first entry that she acts kind, forgetful, and oblivious. Marinette is all those things. Plus, she makes the weirdest excuses and flakes out of stuff a lot.”

“And you think Marinette’s Agent Ruby because of that? Alya, my dude Adrien fits that description too. So, do a lot of people.” Nino whispered as Alya peeked around the next corner. “Weren’t you the one just saying that Marinette couldn’t possibly be the spy?”

Alya huffed, “Well, I changed my mind. And you’ve got to admit it adds up.”

Marinette shoved open the bathroom door and darted in. Alya motioned for Nino to follow her as she trailed her before scooting to a stop in front of the bathroom door. “See, why would Marinette go to the bathroom when she said she was going to Ms. Mendeleiev’s classroom?”

Nino shrugged as Alya pushed open the bathroom door, “To use the bathroom.”

“Maybe,” Alya mumbled as she stalked into the bathroom, leaving Nino out in the hallway. She cupped her hands over her mouth, “Hey, Marinette!”

No one answered.

Alya furrowed her eyebrows. “I saw you come in here, Marinette!”

Still no answer.

“I know you’re in here.” Alya started shoving open the stall doors. When she reached the last one, she found it empty with a high window hanging open. “She’s not here.” Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. “Marinette is Agent Ruby.”

Chapter Text

Alya flopped backward onto her bed with her phone to her ear. “I’m telling you, Nino, Marinette is Agent Ruby.”

“Babe, that’s crazy. Like you said before, it’s Marinette, she couldn’t possibly be the spy.”

“But Nino, it all makes sense now,” Alya sat up, “Her flimsy excuses, constantly flaking out, disappearing whenever there’s an akuma attack, and the fact I once saw her do a front layout.” She stood up, “Granted, she tripped. But still!”

Nino’s sigh flittered through the phone speaker, “1. Marinette’s excuses aren’t that flimsy. 2. She has a lot of responsibilities and is forgetful. 3. Lots of people are scared and hide during Akuma attacks. 4. As for the layout, Marinette used to do gymnastics.”

Alya bolted off her bed, “Marinette used to do gymnastics?! And I’m just hearing about this now?!”

“Yeah? She was good at it, too. Won gold or silver in almost all her competitions. I believe she also took martial arts.”

“See!” Alya started pacing, “This is further proof that Marinette is Agent Ruby! I mean, if she’s that good at gymnastics and took martial arts, why is she so clumsy?” She froze, “The only explanation is that she’s faking it. And if she’s faking it then we have a way to catch her.”

“Babe? What are you planning?”

Alya smirked as her gaze landed on the diary, “I’m planning to trap a spy.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Alya furiously flipped through the journal at her desk behind Nino. He winced and wondered how much more the journal could take before it decided to call it quits. Luckily, the classroom was near empty this early in the morning except for them, Alix, Kim, and Max, who sat in the opposite corner of the room, no doubt planning their next bet. “Babe, you’re going to wear a hole in it if you keep this up.” Nino turned to stare at Alya with concern written all over his face.

“But how could I not have seen this before. The evidence was literally under my nose!” Alya threw her hands up in frustration, and Nino understood. He was still kicking himself over not seeing how spy-like Marinette was.

“Evidence of what?” Adrien asked and tilted his head questioningly. Nino jumped and wondered how long Adrien stood there before speaking and how he snuck in so quietly.

“Alya’s new theory,” Nino told Adrien, who set his stuff down on the desk.

Adrien sighed, “What’s the theory this time?” He sounded tired, like he had already gone down this road one too many times. Nino kind of understood where Adrien came from, considering he had been the sounding board to a lot of Alya’s wild theories.

“It’s actually a pretty sound theory, Dude,” Nino admitted. “I actually think she’s right on this one.”

“Hey,” Alya objected as her eyes narrowed. “All my theories are very sound and believable.”

Adrien smiled, and Nino thought he meant it to look kind, but it came across as condescending. “Chloe as Ladybug,” Nino deadpanned.

Alya flushed and dropped the glare. “Well, some of my theories are sound,” She corrected, and Nino nodded.

“So, what is this new theory of yours that Nino says is correct?” Adrien asked.

Alya smirked and whispered, “Marinette’s a spy.”

Adrien blinked before exploding, “You think Marinette's a spy!” His jaw dropped, then he burst into laughter.

“Shh! Keep it down,” Alya whispered and glared at Adrien.

Nino glanced at the back of the classroom to see Alix, Kim, and Max staring at them. “Too late, Babe,” He sighed.

“You think Marinette’s a spy?” Alix darted over to their desk, “Why?”

“Yeah?” Kim echoed right behind Alix. “I mean, I can picture it. But it’s not really Marinette’s style.”

Alya smirked and picked up the diary, “Just listen.” Then she began to read.

I scaled up the side of my house as hordes of animals rampaged through the streets. Shade and I looked down at them from my balcony. “Ladybug and Chat Noir have to stop Animan before he turns Paris into a jungle,” he said.

I nodded and checked the tracker I stuck on my classmate, Sneakers, when he wasn’t looking. “Follow me,” I ordered. Then I climbed down into my room and hoped Shade wasn’t smart enough to figure out it was mine and not just a random girl’s.

Together, Shade and I slid down the stairs to the living room, where my parents, Sneakers, Ladybug, and Chat Noir watched the TV. Nadja talked about the animals invading Paris. Ladybug asked Sneakers for his wristband and took it to the ground floor with them.

Nino glanced over at Kim, whose jaw dangled loosely. “B-but… Marinette wasn’t even there!” He stuttered. “Let me see that,” He yanked the diary out of Alya’s hands and read.

Alix shook her head, “No way. It’s not possible?” Her sentence came out more like a question than a denial.

Max pushed up his glasses, “Considering her clumsy nature, forgetful demeanor, and how she’s terrible at lying, there’s only a 24.648% chance that Marinette is, in fact, a spy.”

“Dude, are you forgetting Marinette’s numerous gold and silver medals in gymnastics. Plus, the martial arts classes. And anyone can fake being clumsy and having terrible lying skills. In fact, it’s even more suspicious that Marinette’s clumsy because she should have more grace after all those competitions.” Nino crossed his arms and leaned back as he watched Max go over his calculations again.

“Make that an 89.9374% chance,” Max corrected.

The diary slipped from Kim’s grasp and clattered on the steps, “No freakin’ way. Marinette really is a spy!”

Alix glared at Kim, “Oh, please. It’s probably a joke.” She bent down and snatched the diary off the ground, “I’m not going to believe it without some hard proof.” She waved the diary around, “And this is not hard proof.” Alix slammed the diary down on Alya’s desk before stomping out of the classroom.

~~~~~~~~~~

Alix stalked down the halls of Françoise Dupont with a determined glint in her eyes. She had known Marinette since Kindergarten and refused to believe that she led a secret double life that Alix didn’t know about. They may not be as close as they used to be, but she still wanted to believe that she knew Marinette better than that. She whispered to herself, “How would Marinette even become a spy anyway? It’s not possible.” She stuffed her hands in her new jacket’s pockets as she rounded the corner.

Alix plopped down on a bench and pulled out her phone. She needed to tell someone the ridiculousness of this situation, but she didn’t know who she could tell. Alix made a split-second decision and clicked on her Twitter app.

Skate Through Time @Sk8erQueen

guys my friend thinks other friend is a spy??? another day of jumping 2 conclusins lol

#misunderstandings #notpossible  #jumping2conclusions #absolutlyNOTspies #lol

leilei_meadows and 9 others retweeted

Alix lost track of time after she decided to get off the bench and walk around school, lost in her thoughts. Then the bell rang, and she swore under her breath, “Ugh, I’m going to be late.” Luckily, she was already on the second floor and just needed to run around to the other side of the balcony.

Alix prepared to rush back to class when a clang overhead caught her attention, and as she glanced up a quick burst of red light flashed on the rooftop across from her. Alix lunged forward to grip the railing and shivered as the cold metal bit her palms. Then Marinette’s signature gray blazer came into view, and she froze before mechanically pulling out her phone and taking a video.

Marinette flipped down from the roof to land on the metal railing across from Alix and use it as leverage to vault into a front flip that landed in a roll to break her momentum. Alix’s eyes blew wide as she watched Marinette dart into the classroom like it was a normal Tuesday.

Alix swore and replayed in her head Marinette’s stunts. “She really is a spy.” Then she stopped the video and slipped her phone back into her pocket. She dashed around the balcony to the classroom and slammed open the door.

Everyone gaped at Alix with wide eyes, and Ms. Bustier whipped around, “Marinette, I tol-” She froze when she saw Alix standing in the doorway and Marinette sitting at her desk. “A-Alix?” She stuttered before straightening up and coughing, “W-well don’t be late a-again.” Ms. Bustier appeared thrown off by Alix being late instead of Marinette.

“Sorry,” Alix shrugged, her gaze fixed on Marinette. As she walked up the stairs, she turned to Alya, sitting on the other side of Marinette, and told her, “You were right.” Then she plopped down in her normal seat next to Mylene, leaving a smirking Alya, a frozen Adrien, and a confused Marinette in her wake.

>Skate Through Time @Sk8erQueen

Replying to @Sk8erQueen SHE WAS RIGHT!?!?! #ABSOLUTLYspies (video attachment)

it’saMARSworldafterall and 268 others retweeted

~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien couldn’t believe it. Sweet, kind, and clumsy Marinette is a spy?

This is totally a prank.

But Adrien started thinking harder and remembered how she stood up for what she believed in and didn’t back down. He remembered Evillustrator and Darkblade, how calm under pressure she acted. Her quick thinking really saved the day. The more Adrien thought about the idea of Marinette being a spy, the more sense it made. A warmth blossomed in his chest as he thought about all the amazing things Marinette had done since he met her. She was one of his greatest friends.

Nino bumped Adrien’s shoulder and snapped him out of his musings. “What’re you thinking about, Dude?” He asked.

Adrien realized he had been standing with his locker half closed for the past five minutes. He shoved his locker fully closed with a bang and responded, “What Alya said earlier, you know, about Marinette being a spy.”

“Ah,” Nino nodded in understanding as they made their way out of the locker room, “You don’t think it’s possible.”

“No. Actually, it makes perfect sense,” Adrien corrected.

Nino whipped his head toward Adrien so fast he almost sent his glasses flying. “Wait, seriously, Dude? It usually takes a lot more convincing and evidence before people believe.”

Adrien shrugged. “Marinette’s amazing,” He stated it as if it were a universal fact. “It’d be foolish to think she couldn’t be an awesome spy. I mean, at first, I didn’t believe it. But the more I looked, the harder it was to deny the fact that Marinette might be a spy. She is already so amazing, what’s one more thing to add to the list?” He shrugged.

Nino gaped at Adrien before questioning, “Is this a real list or a metaphorical one?”

Adrien flushed as he thought about the papers shoved in the back of one of his drawers that listed all the remarkable things about Marinette (He had shoved a similar one about Ladybug in the same drawer (funnily enough, the lists were almost identical)).

Fortunately for Adrien, Alya chose that moment to run up to the boys and interrupt, “You guys ready to help me prove Marinette’s a spy?”

“Sure, Babe,” Nino tucked his hands into his jeans’ pockets, “Where would we start though?”

Alya grinned and whipped out the navy diary, “Well, I was thinking we start with catching her doing something spy-ish like sneaking out or talking with her handler,” She rambled. “Maybe we could find her communicator-”

“What handler?” Adrien interrupted.

Alya paused, “Oh, right. You guys haven’t read the diary cover to cover like I have. Well, the basics are Marinette’s codename is Agent Ruby, she has a partner named Agent Shade, her handler's name is Agent Tikki…”

Adrien froze as the name Tikki bounced around in his head. It couldn’t be. He thought he had to be imagining things, or maybe it was just a coincidence. He rubbed the back of his neck and asked Alya, “What about this Agent Shade’s handler?”

Alya paused her rant on Marinette’s secret double life and flipped through the pages of the diary. “Well, it usually doesn’t talk much about Agent Shade’s handler except for this one part.” She started reading:

I dashed away from Reflekdoll in my new Reflekta outfit with all the other innocent victims. I needed to find Tikki quickly so she could use her Guardian-issued magic earrings to turn me back to normal and get my gear. Regret flooded me as I wished I had never left my communicator in the car.

“Shade!? Shade!?” I heard a male voice call out. I glanced around, and my eyes landed on a familiar black-haired man with green eyes. He noticed me staring and rushed over with a gear bag slung over his shoulder and his Guardian-issued ring in hand.

“Agent Plagg?” I questioned.

“You’re not Shade,” Plagg sounded surprised.

My eyes widened, “What are you doing here? Has Shade lost his communicator? Have you seen Tikki?”

Plagg said, “It’s a long story, Ruby, uh…”

I told him whatever and said, “There’s no time.” I grabbed the ring from Plagg’s hand and put it on. The magic washed over me as I returned to normal and grabbed the gear bag from Plagg. It was Shade’s stuff, but I geared up with it anyway.

A million thoughts swirled through Adrien’s head as Alya stopped reading. Could it be? Then he remembered Multimouse and thought it couldn’t be. But then he thought of the Fox Miraculous, and his thoughts jumbled up again. He needed to talk to Marinette, “Oh shoot, I was so distracted about the spy thing, I left my homework in Ms. Bustier’s class. I’ve got to run and grab it.” Adrien started backing out. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Okay, Sunshine Boy. We’ll meet you in the cafeteria,” Alya tilted her head at Adrien before shaking it and facing Nino.

Adrien quickly darted out of the locker room and straight towards Ms. Bustier’s classroom, where he last saw Marinette. His thoughts were all muddled, and he needed answers. And the only way he was going to get them was to ask the source.

Adrien burst into the classroom to find it empty, all except for Marinette, who looked lost in her sketchbook. But her head shot up as he slammed the door behind him. “A-adrien?” She questioned.

“H-hey, Marinette.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck as he grinned awkwardly. He didn’t know how to ask his great friend if she was the love of his life without being weird. “So, are you Ladybug?” Apparently, that was the best he could produce on the spot.

“W-wha?” Marinette jumped up with her arms flailing in circles, “N-no no. I couldn’t possibly be Ladybug. What makes you say that? I mean, she’s awesome and a hero and everything I’m not. I’m just plain old clumsy Marinette!” She frantically tried to dispute.

Adrien chuckled as Marinette frantically flailed about. Her nose crinkled up cutely just like Ladybug’s did when she tried to figure out her lucky charm. And her pigtails seemed to bounce with a mind of their own, and he imagined twirling them between his fingers. She waved him off with a high-pitched giggle that he wanted to hear again and again. Then Marinette slipped. With all her flailing, she had become unbalanced and tipped over the stairs.

Adrien darted over as everything seemed to move in slow motion. Then a warm weight hit his chest, and he clasped his arms around Marinette to steady her. When she gazed up at him with her bluebell eyes and a cute flush over her cheeks, he knew.

“Looks like you’re finally falling for me M’lady,” Adrien smirked as his inner Chat showed through. “I knew it’d happen one day.”

Marinette’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Then her mouth opened and closed several times before Adrien asked, “What? Cat got your tongue?”

“C-chat?” Marinette stuttered.

“In the flesh. This time without the leather, though,” Adrien grinned down at Marinette, and he realized that he still had his arms around her while she was pressed against his chest. He blushed, and so did she as she realized their position. She quickly scooted back but didn’t let go of Adrien as her hands stayed on his arms. He didn’t complain, though, as his hands clasped around hers. It was as if they were both afraid that if they let go, the other would disappear.

“How did you figure it out?” Marinette whispered.

Adrien winced, “Alya found your diary and showed it to me.”

Marinette’s eyes blew wide. “She what?!”

“I have to admit, it was genius. Writing down your adventures as Ladybug, as a spy’s adventures. I wish I had thought of that.” Adrien wistfully smiled as he remembered all the times he wanted to explode from keeping such a huge secret.

“How did you figure out I was Ladybug from it?” Marinette wondered as she tilted her head, and Adrien stared at the curve of her neck.

Adrien cleared his throat and shifted his gaze back to Marinette’s eyes. “Well, Alya figured out that you were ‘Agent Ruby’ and she told me about your ‘handler,’ Tikki. Then she told me about how you met ‘Agent Shade’s’ –great name by the way– ‘handler,’ Plagg, during Reflekdoll.”

Marinette flushed, “I guess I never considered Chat Noir would be reading my diary.”

“Marinette,” Tikki said as she flew up from Marinette’s purse, “I think you’re forgetting the most important part. Alya has your diary.”

“Oh no,” Marinette’s eyes darted over to Tikki as she floated next to her shoulder. “What are we going to do?”

“We?” Adrien smirked, and Marinette flushed.

“Well, I say you have some fun with it,” Plagg said as he floated out of Adrien’s bag. “Nice to see you again, Pigtails.”

“You too, Plagg,” Marinette nodded to the kwami before turning to Adrien with a whisper, “You really are Chat Noir.”

“Yeah,” Adrien winced, “I hope you’re not disappointed-”

“No!” Marinette interrupted with a glare, “I could never be disappointed that the love of my life is also my best friend and partner. You mean a lot to me, Chat, and I already knew you were amazing, but to find out you’re Adrien makes you twice as amazing. I could never, ever be disappointed that you’re Chat Noir.”

Adrien flushed as his eyes softened on her, and he could have sworn he saw little hearts dancing around her face for a second. Marinette’s words seemed to have caught up with her as she turned into a tomato before burying her face in his shirt and groaning.

“Love of your life, huh?” Adrien couldn’t help the grin that stretched across his face and the butterflies dancing in his stomach.

“I midn’t ‘ean to ‘ay dat,” Marinette’s words were muffled by Adrien’s shirt and he chuckled.

“Blegh, all this mushy stuff is making me lose my appetite,” Plagg snarked.

“Plagg!” Tikki glared. “I have waited so long, listened to so many rants, watched so much pining, sacrificed so much time to these two oblivious idiots that I DESERVE MY FLUFF!”

Everyone just blinked at Tikki as Plagg flew around the other side of Adrien and away from her. After some awkward silence, Marinette turned to Plagg, “Um. So, I heard you say something about fun?”

“M’lady, Plagg’s idea of fun is never a good idea,” Adrien jumped in.

“After spending millennia with that Stinky Sock, I can agree,” Tikki echoed.

Plagg pouted, “You goody-to-shoes’s aren’t any fun. Besides, I was only going to suggest messing with the Ladyblogger girl a little.”

“Like how?” Marinette smirked.

Plagg stopped pouting and grinned, “I like this bug of yours.” He flew over to Marinette, and she backed up a little. “She thinks you’re a spy. Well, prove her right.”

“What!?”

“Plagg!”

Marinette and Plagg ignored Adrien and Tikki’s outburst as Marinette hummed, “We make Alya think I really am a spy more than she already does. We get her to inform everyone. Then we explain that the diary was a fun writing project I tried, and once I found out that she had it, I turned it into a prank, and we’ll do it in front of everyone. She’ll feel so embarrassed.”

Plagg smirked and sat down on top of Marinette’s head, “Tikki, can we trade chosen’s?”

Adrien gasped and made choking noises. Tikki narrowed her eyes at Plagg, “You know the rules, and Marinette’s mine.”

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnneeeee,” Plagg sighed.

“M’lady, I’ve got to admit your plan does sound like fun,” Adrien smirked.

Marinette smirked back, “Then let’s have some fun.”

Chapter Text

Marinette fought back a smirk as she gripped her purse strap to keep her hands from shaking in anticipation. She had dragged Adrien back to the bakery to plan the prank after their reveal. Her feelings were a bit of a jumbled mess with the realization that Adrien was Chat Noir, and Chat Noir was Adrien. But she ignored them for now in favor of focusing on the prank. They planned out everything, and she was ready to cause some chaos. Plagg was very thrilled when planning out the prank with her and kept cackling, much to Adrien and Tikki’s dismay. They had decided to swap Kwami’s for the first stage of her plan because Plagg felt much more open to the prank than Tikki.

Marinette took a calming breath as she walked up the courtyard stairs and readied herself for the first stage of her plan. Adrien had gone on ahead with Tikki to get Alya and Nino in position on the second floor, and Plagg was eagerly waiting in her purse for her signal. Her gaze narrowed onto the faces of her friends standing outside the classroom door, and she fought back another smirk.

Marinette pretended like she hadn’t noticed them yet, while out of the corner of her eye, she saw their heads snap towards her. She tugged on her purse strap twice to signal Plagg to press the button on her phone. Seconds later, a red light started flashing in her purse.

Marinette felt her friends’ gazes on her as she froze, and her hand darted into her purse. She slipped out her phone with a new, shiny black case. She had switched out her old phone case with the black one at home so that it appeared like an entirely different phone. Hopefully, Alya would mistake it for her ‘communicator.’

Marinette pressed the screen to stop it from flashing and turned on her heel while holding it up to her ear. She could feel Alya’s stare digging into her back as she fled back down the stairs. Nathaniel stood about halfway up the stairs, and Marinette internally smirked at the opportunity. As soon as Nathaniel stood within earshot, she made her tone dead serious and said, “Don’t worry, Tikki, I’m on my way. Shade is tied up presently, but he’ll be there too.” She strode past Nathaniel as if she didn’t even see him there and watched out of the corner of her eye as he glanced over at her with confusion written over his face.

Marinette strode out of school with a smirk forming on her face. “Stage One: Phase One. Complete.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien fought back an amused smirk as he watched his lady strut out of school. Alya’s gaze never strayed from Marinette’s back as Nino glanced over at Adrien, and he quickly mirrored his best friend’s confused expression to hide his smirk.

“Now, where is she going?” Alya muttered before striding towards the stairs. Adrien and Nino scrambled to catch up with the determined girl. Her gaze latched onto Nathaniel walked up the stairs with his sketchbook clutched tightly against his chest. “Nathaniel!” Alya calls, and Adrien winces in sympathy as the poor boy startles back.

“Alya?” Nathaniel questioned.

Alya strode up to Nathaniel and stopped inches away from the poor boy, who leaned back, “Did Marinette do anything weird when she passed you?”

“W-wha, why?” Nathaniel stuttered with wide eyes and stepped back.

Alya leaned into Nathaniel’s space, narrowing her laser-focused gaze solely on him, “You heard me. Now, what did you see?”

“I-I didn’t see anything,” Nathaniel curled in on himself a bit, “But I did hear Marinette tell a ‘Tikki’ that she was on her way and that a ‘Shade’ would be there soon.”

Alya grinned sharply, “I knew it!”

Nathaniel flinched back, “Knew what?”

Alya studied Nathaniel before nodding, seeming to come to a conclusion about him, “Come with us.”

Adrien internally smirked as he started Stage One: Phase Two. Fiddling with his messenger bag strap, he plastered on an obviously fake smile while shifting his weight from foot to foot. Then he visibly tensed his muscles and then forced them to relax. “Oh, guys, sorry, but you’re gonna have to talk to Nath without me. I just remembered that my father-”

“Scheduled a photoshoot?” Nino finished with a knowing smile, “No problem, Dude. I know your old man is very demanding. I’ll let Ms. Bustier know.”

Adrien relaxed his muscles, but not fully, while strangling his messenger bag strap, “Thanks, man.” He darted down the stairs in the same direction Marinette had headed just minutes earlier. Then he called over his shoulder, “You’re the best.” His gaze snagged on Alya’s suspicious glare, and once he rounded the corner, he smirked.

Then something caught Adrien’s arm and dragged him around the side of the school’s outside staircase and into the bushes. He turned and came face-to-face with a grinning Marinette who had her back pressed against the side of the stairs. He couldn’t help but notice how close they were, and it would only take a little bit of motion to close the distance between their lips. I wonder if they’re as soft as they look.

“So, did you do it?” Marinette’s soft voice snapped Adrien out of his thoughts, and he took note of the mischievous lilt playing in her tone.

Adrien smirked like he would when he was transformed, “Stage One: Phase Two. Complete.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette leaned against the art room wall and took a deep breath while counting the seconds. 326. 327. 328. 329. Nerves and excitement danced a jig in her stomach as she thought about the next stage of the plan: Introducing Agent Shade. Adrien had propped his feet up on a craft table, the one she used for her designs, and was flipping through a random magazine that she used for inspiration for her sunhat piece. They were alone and patiently waiting for Rose and Mylene to ‘stumble’ upon them. Because, at this time every day for the past week, Rose and Mylene had been coming to the art room to work on a ‘secret’ project. But Marinette kept track of everybody’s whereabouts in which classrooms, and at what times, to make sure she could easily detransform without anyone seeing.

Adrien sighed, “Are they here yet?” He tossed the magazine back on the table.

Marinette glanced out the class windows and into the hallway, “Not yet, but they should be any minute.”

“Why does it have to be Rose and Mylene? Why can’t we find someone easier for this stage of the plan?” Adrien pouted before starting to play with Marinette’s unfinished sunhat.

Marinette rolled her eyes, “’Cause we need to expand the circle of who knows about the spy thing so we can make the prank impact bigger. So far, Alya, Nino, Kim, Max, Alix, and Nathaniel know or suspect. If Rose and Mylene find out, they’ll tell the rest of the class who doesn’t know. Plus, they’ve been avid Adrienette supporters along with Alya, so she’ll obviously be the first one they tell.”

Marinette snatched her sunhat out of Adrien’s hands, and he pouted. Then they heard a bit of shuffling outside the door accompanied by a muffled squeal of delight. Since Marinette’s back was to the door, Rose and Mylene were no doubt behind She let a smirk slip before raising her voice so they could hear her better, “Stop playing with my hat, Sunglasses, I’m still working on it.”

Adrien caught on, and Marinette saw the mischief playing in his eyes as he whined, “Awwww, but you let me touch your last hat, Gem.”

Marinette rolled her eyes even though Rose and Mylene couldn’t see her face, “That was for the hat contest, which you were the model for.”

Adrien stood up, “So? You know I totally rocked it.” He started posing like he was on a runway and strutting around the room.

Marinette burst out laughing, “Yeah, you really are great on the catwalk.”

Adrien’s head whipped around to stare at Marinette with his eyes shining. Then he strode over to Marinette, who blinked at him with furrowed eyebrows. This wasn’t part of the plan. Adrien stopped in front of her for a second before sweeping her up in his arms. Marinette let out a surprised squeak as he spun her around. Then she let loose and laughed while wrapping her arms around his neck. “I didn’t know a simple pun would make you so happy, Shades.”

Adrien smiled at Marinette, and her breath caught in her throat as his eyes softened, “Only when you tell them my Gem.” Their eyes locked, and it felt like an eternity before a squeal broke them out of their trance. Adrien dropped Marinette’s legs while keeping one arm around her waist to steady her and whispered, “Rose and Mylene are definitely going to come in now to question us. Do you have a plan, M’lady?”

Marinette scanned the room for a solution and her eyes locked on a slightly ajar window before traveling back to Adrien’s emerald stare. “Yeah, I do, Kitty,” she whispered back. Adrien followed her previous line of sight to the window and subtly nodded. Then he used the arm still around her waist to launch her over the craft table, and she flipped out of the arc, landing in a crouch by the window. Adrien leap-frogged over the craft table behind Marinette as she shoved open the window and perched along the edge.

A commotion sounded behind the two fake agents as Marinette held out her hand to Adrien, who took it with no hesitation. Then she pulled him up on the second-story windowsill next to her, and they locked eyes. Leaping out the window, they heard a shout behind them before they hit the ground, nearly silent from years of superhero training. Then they broke off in a sprint over to the next building, where they blended into the shadows of the nearest alley.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rose squealed as she bounced on her toes. She couldn’t believe her Adrienette ship had finally sailed after all this time. It was a little strange, though. Marinette appeared so comfortable around Adrien, and she had never seen Adrien be such a jokester before. Plus, where had all the nicknames come from?

Rose pulled out her phone to film the scene as later proof for Alya, while Adrien stood up and said, “So? You know I totally rocked it.” Then started strutting around the room.

Mylene excitedly shook Rose’s arm with a large grin on her face. Rose returned the grin as Adrien and Marinette kept talking. This was so great! She returned her focus to the scene as Adrien was spinning Marinette around in the air. It was so sweet that Rose thought her face would get stuck that way if she kept grinning any wider.

“I didn’t know a simple pun would make you so happy, Shades.” Marinette laughed.

Adrien’s eyes softened, “Only when you tell them my Gem.”

The scene before them looked so adorably cute that Rose couldn’t help the squeal that escaped her mouth. But that seemed to break them out of whatever trance they were in as surprise showed on their faces. As they whispered something too low for Rose to catch, she marched into the room, planning on asking them all about what happened. Then Marinette freaking did a FLIP OVER THE TABLE with Adrien VAULTING OVER SAID TABLE RIGHT AFTER HER. Only for Marinette to shove open the second-story window with Adrien coming up behind her.

Rose and Mylene darted across the room, knocking over various items in their hurry to stop the couple from doing something stupid. Then the couple JUMPED OUT THE WINDOW! Rose’s phone was still recording the whole thing as she leaned out the window, praying not to see splatters of her friends on the ground. But the crazy couple was nowhere to be seen as Rose frantically scanned the surrounding area.

Rose stopped the video as she pulled back from the window to see Mylene’s confused expression mirroring her own. What was going on?

PinkFluffyUnicornsDancingOnRainbows @RoseGold

MY SHIP SAILED ONLY TO JUMP OUT A WINDOW!!?!?!?!???? (video attachment)

#whatTheHeckIsGoingOn #whythewindow  #MYSHIP #soCUTE #twoIdiotsInLove #Adrienette

Sk8erQueen and 126 others retweeted

                >Skate Through Time @Sk8erQueen

                Replying to @RoseGold SPYS! Adrien has to be one too! This is mor prof! he and mari are both spys #ABSOLUTLYspies

                >King Of Competition @KimPossible

               Replying to @Sk8terQueen hate to say this but @Sk8terQueen has a point. even tho she clearly has no spellcheck

               #ABSOLUTLYspies

               >The No Longer Evil_Illustrator @NathArtist

               Replying to @Sk8terQueen u need autocorrect. but your right #ABSOLUTLYspies

~~~~~~~~~~

Alya scrolled through her blog, looking at the different videos she had posted of akuma fights over the years and hoping to catch evidence of Marinette lurking in the background. It was the end of the school day, and Ms. Bustier had already left. Alya had asked her earlier if she could use the classroom after school for a very important meeting. She wanted to gather everyone in the class to tell them the news of Marinette being a spy and figure out how they should proceed from there. Like, could they help Marinette or maybe become spies themselves? That would be so awesome! Alya got excited just thinking about it and grinned as she swiped to another video on her blog. First, she wanted to tell everyone in her class to see if they had any more evidence she could use, and if they would help her confront Marinette. ‘Cause you know, strength in numbers.

Alya glanced around the room at everyone already gathered. Alix perched on the edge of her desk with Kim standing on the stairs. They made bets about whether Marinette could beat them in various things. Max sat in Alix’s seat, furiously typing on his computer, probably doing the same thing as Alya, scanning footage for more evidence. Nathaniel sat at his desk in the back, sketching. He glared at his paper before sharply erasing what he had drawn. Rose, Mylene, and Juleka huddled together by the windows. Rose was literally bouncing up and down in excitement about whatever they were talking about. Ivan sat near the group of girls and scrolled through his phone. If Alya had to guess, she’d say he was looking at photos of Mylene.

Nino leaned over from his seat beside Alya and pulled off his headphones, “Are we ready to start yet, Als? Looks like everyone’s getting antsy.”

Alya did a quick scan of the room, “Adrien’s not here yet. I wanted to wait for everyone.” She turned to fully face Nino and narrowed her eyes at him, “You did tell him about this meeting, right?”

“Whoa, whoa. Of course, I did, Als,” Nino reassured. “But he said he had something else he had to do.” He scowled, “I bet his old man scheduled another photoshoot. Mr. Agreste is running my dude ragged.”

Alya nodded before standing up and marching to the front of the class. “Now, I bet you’re wondering why I gathered you all here today.”

“Classic way to get all of our attention, Alya,” Alix sarcastically rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, Alya. Why are we here?” Kim asked.

“And why aren’t Adrien and Marinette here?” Rose questioned.

Alya pointed at Rose, “That, dear Rose, is a good question.”

“Adrien couldn’t make it,” Nino said.

Alya swung her finger around towards Nino, “Correct. But as to why Marinette isn’t here, it’s because this meeting is about Marinette. And her secret past.”

“Secret past?” Mylene repeated. “What are you talking about?”

Alya pulled out Marinette’s notebook. “Marinette is a spy.” She quickly tacked on, “And I have proof if you don’t believe me.”

“Actually, that makes a lot of sense,” Nathaniel said.

“Wait, really?” Alya was taken aback. “I was not expecting you to jump on my theory that quickly.”

Alix fished her phone out of her jacket pocket, “Kinda hard not to after seeing this.” She showed everyone the video she posted on Twitter.

“Whoa.”

“Wait, that’s Marinette?!”

“HOW.”

“Dude, that’s crazy.”

“I wonder if I could do that.”

“Why did you tweet that?”

“Sick.”

“That is just further evidence for my theory,” Alya grinned triumphantly after getting over her shock. She flicked open the notebook, “This is Marinette’s Mission Log. She was a sleeper agent, codename: Ruby, for years, but was activated when Hawkmoth appeared to help Ladybug and Chat Noir from the shadows. She has a handler named Tikki and a partner named Shade, an-”

“Wait, Shade?” Ivan interrupted.

“Yes,” Alya confirmed before tilting her head, “Why?”

Ivan fiddled with his phone before clearing his throat and speaking, “Well, I just overheard a weird conversation between Marinette and Adrien and, yeah…”

“Dude, what did you hear?” Nino asked.

“We also heard a weird conversation between Adrien and Marinette,” Rose piped up and gestured to the rest of the girls in the trio. “You go first, Ivan.”

“Well,” Ivan started, “Marinette and Adrien were talking in the hallway. Then the Akuma Alert went off, and they quickly ducked into another hallway. I was curious, so I went to ask them what they were doing. But I stopped when I heard more voices than Marinette and Adrien’s. I didn’t recognize the new voices, but one was a woman and the other a man. I remember them saying something about needing to get to the akuma, and Marinette called Adrien, Shade. I think Adrien responded by calling her a gem. But I felt bad for spying on them, so I was going to leave them alone. But then I heard a crash, so I ran around the corner to help them. They weren’t there, though. They had just disappeared into thin air.”

After a pause, Alya’s jaw dropped and she started grinning, “Adrien is Shade. Adrien is a freaking spy. Adrien is Marinette’s spying partner!!!!!!”

Mylene hummed, “Adrien and Marinette’s conversation in the art room makes much more sense now.”

“What conversation?” Max asked.

Rose pulled out her phone and scrolled through before flipping around to show everyone the screen. They all crowded around her to see better before she pressed play.

“So? You know I totally rocked it.”

“Yeah, you really are great on the catwalk.”

 “I didn’t know a simple pun would make you so happy, Shades.”

“Only when you tell them my Gem.”

Alya pulled back after the video ended with a dazed look on her face as everyone started talking over themselves. Both Marinette and Adrien were spies, and she had missed it. What kind of best friend did that make her…. On the plus side, Adrienette had finally sailed!

Soon, the noise in the classroom reached an unbearable level, and Alya shouted, “EVERYONE BE QUIET!” They all quickly settled down, and she continued, “We need to find Adrien and Marinette and confront them if we want answers.”

“How are we supposed to find them?” Kim questioned.

“Maybe they’ll find you.”

Chapter Text

“Maybe they’ll find you.”

Alya startled as two shadows dropped down from the ceiling. She dropped the notebook in her hands and pulled out her phone to record. The recording only caught the two figures landing before they stood up to reveal Marinette and Adrien wearing matching smirks.

“Spies!” Kim hissed as he pointed at the two smirking teenagers.

Marinette and Adrien burst out laughing as everyone stared at them in shock. “Gurl, why didn’t you tell me you and Adrien were freaking spies!” Alya exclaimed.

Marinette giggled as she bent over and picked up the notebook Alya had dropped. “Well, Alya, for your information.” She flicked open the notebook and started skimming through the pages. “We’re not spies.”

At that statement, most of the class scoffed or rolled their eyes. “Not spies? Dude, you just dropped down from the ceiling like a freaking ninja.”

Adrien shrugged. “As cool as that would be, I agree with Marinette. We aren’t spies.”

Alix crossed her arms. “Yeah, right. Then how do you explain the nicknames, the disappearing, the stunts, and the general sense it all makes?”

Marinette closed the notebook with a loud snap. “Easy. This notebook is mine, but it’s not a mission log. It’s a creative writing assignment of mine. Which I could’ve explained earlier if Alya had just come to me when she found it.” Marinette raised her eyebrow at the blogger.

  Adrien draped his arm over Marinette’s shoulder. “This is where I come in. After you shared your theory with me, I actually went to Marinette to clear up the situation. She then explained the whole writing assignment, and I was going to tell you guys when Marinette came up with a genius idea.”

“A prank,” Marinette smirked. “To teach you all not to jump to conclusions.” She shook off Adrien’s arm as she walked forward and pointed at Rose and Mylene. “I knew you two were there, and the scene you saw was just acting.”

Kim laughed. “You had us going there for a bit, didn’t you? For the record, I totally knew you two weren’t spies the whole time.”

Alya narrowed her eyes at Marinette; something was off. For one, she wasn’t blushing or tripping over her words in the proximity of Adrien. For two, the explanation didn’t add up…......... Unless it was just a cover story.

“No way was that stunt I saw you pull just acting. For one, it was before you could have possibly known.” Alix dug her phone out and flipped it around to show the video of Marinette flipping down from the roof.

Alya narrowed her eyes as Marinette paled slightly before chuckling, “T-that was just because I was late for school, and that way is faster. I took gymnastics. That means nothing.” She waved off Alix’s concerns.

“Or,” Alya started, “the whole ‘creative writing assignment’ is a cover story your supervisors told you to use.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. While I’d love to be a spy, I’m absolutely NOT a spy.”

“By my logic, that’s exactly something a spy would say to divert suspicion. Therefore, only making you more likely to, in fact, be said spies,” Max stated.

Marinette’s eyes widened, and she glanced over at Adrien before turning back to the class. “We’re not spies.”

“Say what you will, Gurl. But you two are absolutely spies.” Alya grinned.

Superheroes For Life @Ladyblogger

My bestfriend, @PrincessFashion, and @AdrienAgresteOffical are #ABSOLUTELYspies. I will now support my claim with the attached powerpoint presentation. (video attachment). [video features Alya with a pointer and projector screen and she’s switching between calmly stating the facts and ranting]

#sPiEs #ABSOLUTELYspies #whybestiewhy #Adrienette

KimPossible and 563 others retweeted

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette sighed as she scrubbed the glass display case in her family bakery. Over the last few days, Alya had been insistent that she and Adrien were spies. She was starting to think that maybe the spy prank hadn’t been such a good idea because of how close to the truth it actually was. Marinette had tried complaining to Tikki only once before she couldn’t take the repeated ‘I told you this was going to happen,’ and ‘you never should have written in the diary,’ anymore. Usually, Tikki acted pretty helpful in situations, except in situations where she had ‘told her so.’

The tinkling sound of the doorbell alerted Marinette to the customers entering the bakery. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes with the back of her free hand as she stuffed the cleaning cloth in her apron pocket. Then she swiftly made her way over to the register stand before grinning at the two young customers. “How may I help you?” She asked the older of the two kids.

The girl couldn’t be older than 12 at the most, and she wore the dirtiest clothes Marinette had seen since Alix dared Kim to roll in a mudpuddle, then he didn’t change his shirt all day. The girl twirled a lock of her dusty pink hair between her fingers as she stared at the floor. “Ummm…. What is the cheapest thing you’ve got?”

“Mac’roons!” The hyper little boy holding the pre-teen girl’s hand shouted. A big grin was plastered across his face, showing off his dimples.  

Marinette laughed. “Well, bread is generally the cheapest thing we sell. We sell it in full loaves and half loaves. The half loaves are the cheapest.”

“Mac’roons!” The little boy shouted again.

The girl blushed and mumbled, “No, Breton. We don’t have enough for macarons.”

“Mac’roons.” Breton pouted.

“Well, you’re in luck. Today we happen to have a sale going on. With every half loaf of bread a customer buys, they get a free macaron with any flavor of their choosing,” Marinette made up on the spot. She couldn’t help it. The two kids looked so adorable, and she couldn’t help but be worried about them with the state their clothes were in. They clearly weren’t the right size and were filthy.

“Mac’roons! Mac’roons!” Breton bounced up and down and looked up at the girl. “Mac’roons, Gigi!”

“Thank yo-” Gigi glanced up at Marinette for the first time and just blinked. “Wait, you’re the girl the Ladyblogger outed as a spy!”

Breton’s jaw dropped as he stared up at Marinette. “You’re a spy?”

Marinette could feel Tikki facepalming from her perch on top of one of the cabinets, “Wel-”

“Can you find us a safe ‘ome?!” Breton’s pleadingly hopeful tone broke Marinette’s heart.

“Breton!” Gigi's scolding had a panicked edge to it. “I’m sorry, just ignore him.”

“Hey!” Breton complained.

Marinette bit her lip, then, in a few seconds, she had made her decision and a Ladybug-esque plan. “Oh, it’s fine. What would you like?”

“How much is a half loaf?” Gigi asked.

“0.10 euros,” Marinette replied.

“We’ll take two then.”

“What macaron flavors would you like?”

“Two chocolates, please.”

“Coming right up. Hold on one moment.” Marinette darted back into the back room where her parents were working. Then she made her way over to the pantry and went to grab two half-loaves for the kids.

Then Tikki flew down to Marinette out of view from her parents and whispered, “Those poor little kids are clearly homeless. Marinette, we have to help.”

Marinette placed the freshest loaves she could find in a basket and replied, “Oh, I have a plan. Can you quickly go up and grab my butterfly trackers for me?”

“Sure, Marinette,” Tikki darted up through the ceiling, and Marinette continued to get the kids’ orders ready. Soon, Tikki zipped back down. “Here you go. But what are you going to use them for?”

“Just wait and see.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Ring.

Riiiiiiing.

Riiiiiiiiing.

“Hello.”

“Hey Adrien, I need your help with something.”

“Be right there, my Lady.”

Click.

~~~~~~~~~~

Gigi gulped as she stepped out of the cop car that had escorted her and her little brother, Breton, to their new home. It had only been two weeks since she met the spy lady at that bakery, and her life had changed a lot because of that meeting. But the main thing that changed was that she and Breton had been adopted by this sweet couple and finally had a home.

Breton hopped out of the car behind Gigi and clutched her hand as he bounced on his heels. She chuckled at how excited he was. Then she glanced up, and her eyes snagged on figures leaning against the shadows of the apartment building. It took a moment for Gigi to recognize the spy lady, then she smiled at her and the guy beside her, who had to be her spy partner.

The spy lady smiled back at Gigi, then, in the blink of an eye, both of them were gone as if they’d never been there in the first place.

“Thank you,” Gigi whispered.

Just Joined The Twitter Community @Giggles

Me and my littl bro just got adopted thanks to @PrincessFashion and her super secret spy conections. and we just wanted to say thank you! to you and the @Ladyblogger for telling us about you. loving my new parents! #ABSOLUTELYspies

#ThankYou! #adopted #offthestreets #spiesareforreal

Ladyblogger and 675 others retweeted

>Mari Nettle @PrincessFashion

Replying to @Giggles Yay! You’re welcome! I’m so glad it worked out for you. And me and @AdrienAgresteOffical are not spies. I just knew the couple that used to babysit me have always wanted kids but couldn’t have them. So, i just put 2 and 2 together.

 

>Superheroes For Life @Ladyblogger

Replying to @PrincessFashion Uh-huh…right… And just how exactly did all the bureaucratic paperwork get pushed thru so quickly??? It’s almost as if you had connections on the inside. #DENIAL #ABSOLUTLYspies

 

>Skate Through Time @Sk8erQueen

Replying to @Princess Fashion the mor u deny it. the truer it seems. #ABSOLUTLYspies

 

>Adrien Agreste @AdrienAgresteOffical

Replying to @Sk8erQueen You and @Ladyblogger are grasping at straws. Neither Marinette nor I are spies, and nothing will prove we are, because it is not true.

~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien Agreste @AdrienAgresteOffical

The rumors that both one of my classmates and I are, in fact, spies is baseless and false. I ask that @Ladyblogger cease with these vicious lies at once or face a cease-and-desist order.

AdrienStantheGreat and 13 758 retweeted

>Chillin’ in my Shades @A_DrienArrest

Replying to @AdrienAgresteOffical Cuz that’s totally how a teen boy talks……. blink twice if youre an old grandparent from the agreste PR department

 

>That One DJ Dude @NiNO_YOU_DIDN’T

Replying to @AdrienAgresteOffical Wow…. these PR dudes pretending to be the real Adrien just keep getting worse. No wonder my dude created a secret twt acc.

 

>Adrien Agreste @AdrienAgreste

Replying to @NiNO_YOU_DIDN’T I am Adrien Agreste. I am NOT a PR representative and I do not have a secret Twitter account… If I did, what account do you think is mine?

               

> That One DJ Dude @NiNO_YOU_DIDN’T

 Replying to @AdrienAgresteOffical Nice try dude.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jacqueline Badeaux @TiredMommy

My abusive husband is finally in jail and can’t hurt me and my kids are safe! I’m so happy and relieved and crying my eyes out right now. It’s all thanks to my little girl, Kiki, and the spy lady she asked for help. Thank you @PrincessFashion and @AdrienAgresteOffical and you too @Ladyblogger. I know you’re going to deny being spies but thank you anyways for watching over us. Kiki calls you her guardian angels now. #ABSOLUTLYspies (picture attachment) [picture features a cute little girl pointing at two silhouettes on the roof top. The shorter silhouette is feminine with pigtails. The taller one is harder to make out because the masculine figure is leaning against a chimney.]

Ladyblogger and 5 729 others retweeted

 ~~~~~~~~~~

“Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news. Nadja Chamack here covering a story you won’t want to miss. It’s a story of secrets, spies, and a twisted love square that has just been revealed to us, even though it’s a story years in the making.”

“The first glimpse we caught of this story unfolding was through a simple tweet sent by a high schooler who goes by Sk8erQueen on Twitter.

 [Image of the tweet appears onscreen]

“guys my friend thinks other friend is a spy??? another day of jumping 2 conclusins lol.”

  “That tweet was soon followed up by another. It being the first tweet to coin the now trending hashtag ‘ABSOLUTLYspies.’”

[Image of the tweet appears onscreen]

“SHE WAS RIGHT!?!?! #ABSOLUTLYspies (video attachment)”

[Video plays, featuring a girl flipping down from the rooftop and vaulting off the metal railing, into another flip, which the girl rolls out of and darts into a classroom. The video ends with the whispered words, “She really is a spy.”]

“That video was the first we’d seen of the spy, but not the last. Through a series of tweets, each with increasingly more proof, we see the spies and their antics thrust into the spotlight.”

“But who are these spies? And what have they been doing? Well, folks, we find the answers to the who, what, why, when, and hows in Alya Césaire’s, aka. The Ladyblogger’s, PowerPoint presentation detailing what she had discovered about the spies.”

“Ms. Césaire reveals that none other than the Sunshine Boy of Paris, Adrien Agreste, and the hard-working angel that is Marinette Dupain-Cheng are spies with the code names Agent Shade and Ruby, respectively.”

“We don’t know how the pair came to be spies, but we do know that they were unaware of each other’s identities. Creating, as Ms. Césaire put it in this clip of her presentation, a love square.”

[Video plays, featuring Alya Césaire standing in front of a projector screen with her hair half up in a bun while the rest of her hair is sticking out everywhere, and her glasses are cracked in one lens and sitting askew on her nose. She is panting heavily and whacks the projector screen with her cracked pointer, then she half screams through gritted teeth, “And that is the utter ridiculousness that is the Love Square those two oblivious idiots trapped themselves in.” Then the pointer fully broke, and the top half of it fell to the floor.]

“After Ms. Césaire posted the video presentation, Twitter went crazy. Multiple people started posting about the weird spy things they had seen the pair of spies do throughout the year, some with pictures and video evidence.”

“According to twelve confirmed stories, people had gone to one of the two spies asking for help, and mysteriously, their problems were fixed. Examples include a little girl whose dad abused her and her mother. The father was literally thrown into prison the next day and quickly convicted with all the new evidence that had suddenly come to light.”

“A drug trafficking ring was shut down in Paris. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen two figures at the scene doing impossible stunts, one of whom was wearing Ms. Dupain-Cheng’s signature hairstyle. Police report that Mr. Agreste was the one to give them the tip about where to find the drug traffickers.”

“Whether or not you believe that Mr. Agreste and Ms. Dupain-Cheng are spies, I sure am convinced. Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news.”

Marinette shut off her computer with a grimace. “This got so out of hand,” she groaned.

Tikki shook her head. “I told you that diary was a bad idea.”

Chapter Text

Manon stumbled back a step as one of the older boys from the big kid class loomed over her. She fidgeted with the red belt of her new overalls. Marinette had made it just for her because she wanted a spy outfit just like hers. Though Marinette refused to show Manon her own official outfit, she asked her to make them matching spy outfits. It took a lot of convincing, and she even had to pull out her Baby Doll eyes, but in the end, Marinette had made her one. Now, Manon wore ruby red overalls with a black flower pattern and her white undershirt. She had an awesome black jacket with rolled up sleeves and black boots she had begged her mom to buy her. Manon looked totally cool and spyish if she did say so herself, which she did, repeatedly.

“Do you want to say that again, you little, lying brat?” The older boy demanded, glaring at her.

A girl from Manon’s class, Camille, gasped before whispering to her friend, Lena, “Noah said a bad word!”

“I-I’m n-not lying.” Manon glared up at Noah while trying to look scary. Marinette once said that people don’t want to mess with scary-looking people, and she was right because Noah was definitely scary. He had curly black hair, dark brown eyes, and was about two feet taller than her.

“Ha.” Noah scoffed while crossing his arms. “Then why are you telling everyone at recess that you’re friends with the spy lady that everyone’s been talking about? There’s no way you are.”

Manon’s glaze narrowed, and she ground her teeth. No one ever believes her just because she’s only six and three-quarters. Hopefully, once she’s seven then people will actually start to believe her. “I am too! Marinette’s my babysitter!”

“Yeah, right, and I bet she also taught you how to fight, too?” Noah mocked, and the other kids watching started giggling.

Manon huffed while trying to glare Noah into submission. She didn’t like him trying to embarrass her. Well, it wouldn’t work because Marinette did teach her a few fighting moves after Manon begged her to teach her. She wanted to be a spy when she grew up, too. Though Marinette made her promise not to use any unless she was in danger. “Yeah, she did teach me!”

Noah laughed in Manon’s face before smirking, “Prove it.” Then he grabbed one of her pigtails and yanked.

Manon screamed because her head felt like it was on fire, and tears welled up in her eyes. She glared up at a laughing Noah with burning eyes before she unleashed the moves Marinette taught her. She used her left hand, because Noah had her right ponytail, and jabbed his throat. In his surprise, he relaxed his grip on her ponytail, and Manon took the opening to slam her right palm into his nose. Marinette had taught her how to throw her energy into it correctly so that it hurt a lot.

Noah collapsed, and Manon thought he might’ve blacked out for a few seconds before he started crying. Blood poured out of his nose faster than the tears from his eyes. The kids who had been crowded around them quickly scooted back while gaping at Manon.

A teacher who had heard the screaming finally made it over in time to see the commotion. She looked at 10-year-old Noah’s bleeding nose and 6-year-old Manon standing over him and demanded, “Miss Chamack, what on earth did you do?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Manon glowered down at the carpeted floor of Principal Elisa Laurent’s office. Her feet dangled off the edge of the chair, but she didn’t feel like swinging them like she would normally do. Her mom had a death grip on the back of her chair while trying to avoid Noah’s mom glaring a hole in the side of her head.

“Madam Chamack, I have called you here today because your daughter thought it was appropriate to punch Mister Roussel in the face for a bit of playground teasing. After she was caught lying about her association with a celebrity by Mister Roussel.” Principal Laurent’s face was pulled into a frown as she listed off what Noah told her.

 Manon’s head snapped up. “I wasn’t lying!”

“Manon!” Mom scolded.

“Miss Chamack, please stop. This is serious.” Principal Laurent narrowed her eyes at Manon, which only made her more frustrated at the adults in the room.

“The little brat obviously needs to be expelled! Look at what she did to my poor Noah!” Madam Roussel gestured towards Noah, who held a bloody tissue and ice pack to his rapidly swelling nose.

“He told me to!” Manon pointed at Noah.

“Please stop lying, Miss Chamack.” Principal Laurent glared down at the unruly girl.

“Manon, please,” Mom pleaded. “Don’t make this worse.”

“Call Marinette,” Manon demanded. “She’ll fix everything.”

Madam Roussel scoffed. “You really want to keep up your lying charade.”

Mom’s heavy sigh made Manon sit up straighter, “Wait. Are you telling me this whole thing started because Manon said she knew Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the spy?”

“Yes. And what a ridiculous lie to tell.” Madam Roussel rolled her eyes.

Mom started muttering under her breath as she pulled out her phone. Turning around in her chair, Manon grinned as her mom dialed Marinette. She put her phone on speaker, and Principal Laurent tried to object. “This is a very serious matter, Madam Chamack. What are you doing?”

Ring

Nadja Chamack looked the principal dead in the eye. “Calling Marinette.”

Click

“Hello?” The confused voice of a teenage girl filtered through the phone.

“Hello, Marinette. This is Nadja Chamack speaking.” Jaws dropped around the room at Mom’s words.

“Madam Chamack? What’s going on? You don’t usually call me at this time.” Then everyone in the room jumped as what sounded like a gunshot rang through the phone.

“Umm, I’m sorry, Marinette. Did I call at a bad time?” Mom asked with concern, lacing her tone as she bit her lip.

“Ugf… Umm no. Not at all. Just uh playing a video game.” Thump. “What do you need?”

Mom’s eyes widened, and she froze for a second. Then Manon jumped in. “Noah kept calling me a liar and a bad word that started with B.” Mom glared over at Madam Roussel, whose eyes widened, and she glanced down at her son. “He started mocking me ‘cause he didn’t think I was cool enough to be friends with a real-life spy, and now everyone thinks I’m a liar.”

Bang. Bang. Bang. “M’lady….. use…. OVER HERE PLEASE!” A faint, panicked male voice called out.

“……….. I also punched Noah in the nose ‘cause he told me to prove you’d actually taught me spy moves,” Manon admitted. She wondered what was going on with Marinette.

“Manon, can you hold on for one sec?” The creepily calm and steady voice of Marinette asked.

“Sure?” Manon hesitated before her eyes lit up. “Are you on a real-life spy mission!?”

Crash. Bang. Bang. Thump.

“Gah! M’lady!”

Slam.

“Hold on!”

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

“SUCKERS!!!!”

BOOM.

Marinette coughed a couple of times. “Okay, I’m back. Do you need me?”

Mom cleared her throat. “Ummm, that’s not necessary, Dear. We’re just in the principal’s office for Manon’s school and were hoping that proving Manon wasn’t lying about knowing you would help her not get expelled. Are you okay?”

“…………….. I’ll be there in 10 minutes. And it’s just a video game.”

Click

Silence blanketed the room as tension rose. Noah had completely frozen along with his mom while Mom and Principal Laurent's eyes were blown wide. Manon sat up straight with a smug grin. “I told you so.”

~~~~~~~~~~

A glowing light lit up the alley next to an elementary school, and curses that shouldn’t be uttered near an elementary school filled the air. Marinette propped herself up against the wall as Tikki scolded her, “Marinette, you don’t need to help take down mafias. That’s the police’s job. And you could’ve at least used the Cure to heal yourself! Also, was that explosion really necessary?”

Marinette groaned. “I’m sorry, Tikki. But ever since Adrien and I were ousted as ‘spies,’ people have been coming to us needing help. I couldn’t turn them down. Also, I didn’t use my Lucky Charm, so I couldn’t use the Cure.”

Tikki sighed. “I’m sorry, Marinette. I know that, but I’m just worried about you.”

Marinette smiled. “Thank you, Tikki.” She pushed herself off the wall with a grimace, “Come on. Manon needs our help.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The tension-filled silence that layered the office for the last ten minutes was broken by the door swinging open with a bang. A teenage girl with lopsided, midnight pigtails and bluebell eyes stormed into the office. The surprising thing about her was the fact that all her exposed skin was smeared with dirt, but her clothes were perfectly clean. It was like she had just changed her clothes but didn’t have time to fully clean up.

“Is this proof enough for you?” The scary girl pinned Elisa with a glare that made her regret becoming a principal.

“Marinette!” Manon leaped out of her seat and rushed her.

Marinette’s face softened as she leaned down to hug Manon. Madam Roussel had gone deathly pale while Noah openly gaped at the girl the media had declared to be a spy. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, Marinette.” Madam Chamack tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “A-are you alright?”

Marinette stood back up with a grimace. “I’m fine. But I’d like to know what’s going on here. Why on earth would Manon be expelled?”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at Elisa, and she gulped. “W-well, umm, Miss Chamack punched Mister Roussel in the nose.”

Marinette raised an unpressed eyebrow at Elisa, and even though she had to have been half her age, Elisa still felt intimidated by the teenage girl. Then Marinette turned to Manon. “Why?”

“Does it matter why?” Madam Roussel sputtered. “That brat punched my baby in the face. She deserves to be expelled!”

Marinette turned her glare onto Madam Roussel, who shrank back under the force of it, “You mean to tell me that you don’t want to know why a little 6-year-old girl punched out a 10-year-old boy who’s twice her size? You don’t find it suspicious at all?” She crossed her arms. “Because I certainly do.”

Manon bounced on her toes as she recounted what happened to Marinette, who looked increasingly angrier the more Manon talked. Noah had started shaking at that point, and once Manon finished talking, Marinette turned to him. “And do you have anything to add to her story, Noah?”

Noah shook too much to speak, and Marinette strode over to his chair despite his mom’s protests. She kneeled down in front of him and softly told him. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t blame you for not believing Manon. It’s a pretty unbelievable story.”

“I didn’t want her lying to my friends,” Noah whispered.

Marinette nodded. “And that’s very admirable of you. I’ve done the same thing.”

Noah’s head popped up as his eyes widened. “You have?”

“Yep. There was a girl in my school who wouldn’t stop lying to my friends about the famous people she knew. So, I called her out on it. But the difference is that I 100% knew she was a liar because I checked my facts.” Marinette sighed. “It’s good to be suspicious of stories like that, but instead of resorting to violence and teasing, you should’ve asked Manon to bring proof or told an adult.”

“I didn’t mean to pull her hair that hard. I just wanted to give it a bit of a tug to let her know it’s not okay to lie,” Noah mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

Marinette shook her head. “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to Manon. She’s the one you humiliated and hurt.”

Noah stood up and walked over to Manon. “I’m really sorry, Manon. I shouldn’t have teased and pulled your hair. That was mean of me.”

Manon smiled. “Thanks, Noah. I forgive you. I’m sorry too. I was a meanie to punch you in the face.”

“It’s fine. Plus, I attacked you first.”

Marinette clapped. “Well, now that that’s resolved, I do not believe an expulsion is in order. Maybe a three-day suspension for both kids? Also, Noah should probably get checked by a doctor because his nose might be broken.”

Elisa nodded before clearing her throat. “Umm, yeah, yeah. Three-day suspension for both Miss Chamack and Mr. Roussel.”

“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my ride is here.” Marinette’s words were followed by the roar of a motorcycle. Turning on her heel, she strode out the door and down the hallway.

Manon rushed out after Marinette, which led to everyone following her outside, where most of the student body was hanging out. They were just in time to see a guy, dressed in leather with a black and green motorcycle, pull up to the school. Realizing that was Agent Ruby and her partner, everyone gaped at Marinette as she strutted over to the guy who tossed her a red helmet. Before she put it on, she turned around and waved to Manon, yelling, “See you later, Manon!” Then she hopped on the motorcycle behind someone who had to be Agent Shade, and they drove off.

Everyone’s gaze swept over to the smug little girl in red overalls, and she grinned sharply at everyone who had doubted her. “Told ya so.”

Chapter Text

Hi everybody!

Many people have asked me to continue with this story and I'm pleased to announce that I have decided to continue it. Typically, I will wait to post any new stories until they are complete, but I do not know where I am going to go with the sequel. Therefore I will be updating as I complete chapters. However, I usually take either a really long time to complete chapters or an extremely short time. There is no in-between. So, I apologize in advance if it takes forever to complete.

So, I introduce to you;

The Beginning of a Spy!

Thank you,
Leia Meadows