#also before anyone starts to say anything i am well aware that ms swift has many problems

[menlove]

it's also like. a lot of these people have made being The Most Progressive Moral Leftist a goal and marker of true social clout. and they have thus made leftism a personality trait rather than a political stance. so you see takes on here (usually from teenagers lmfao) equating leftism with having sex, having friends, going to clubs, not liking "cringey" things, dressing cool, etc while conservatives/liberals are everything But that (i.e liberals are all asexual steven universe fandom moms and conservatives are all straight white men who go to church on sunday)

when the reality is like..... literally anyone can be anything. there are people who you would think are cool and awesome (i.e they're queer, they go to clubs, they have sex, they dress in modern fashion, they have an alternative appearance) and then they open their mouths and it turns out they voted for trump or think the holocaust was fake. there's tay//lor swift fans who went to jail for dodging the draft in israel. and people with fandom blogs who spend every weekend volunteering at their local homeless shelter and rioted during the george floyd protests/riots. or any combination of literally any trait w any political ideology

like you genuinely cannot tell someone's morals or political stances based on their appearance or social activities and it's really weird to conflate the two. it's not a popularity contest ykwim?

[thecrownedlioness-archive]

Michael has several meetings that day to start scheduling out the day of the actual Apocalypse, which is a wildly complicated thing. It lasts well into the night, so they don't see each other.

Kitten wakes up the next morning excited to greet the day. She puts on her regular old denim shorts and her slouchy black shirt, and steps into her boots. Maybe she can spend the day just continuing to explore the building, to see if there are any departments she'd like to work in. She doesn’t want to just be arm-candy if she can help it!

But before she can even get out the door, there's a swift knock. She makes a confused face and goes to open it. 

Two security guards are standing there. They look very unfriendly. 

"Yeah?" 

"Ms. Sanchez, we've been told to escort you to the board room immediately." 

"What's the board room?" 

"Please, come with us." 

Kitten shrugs. It can only be Michael summoning her, so she follows willingly.

They take her to the elevator and, to her surprise, press the down button instead of up towards Michael’s office and executive suites. She shifts her weight uncomfortably, but says nothing; these guys don't look like they're in the mood to fall victim to her charms. 

Finally, the elevator opens, and she finds herself in an extravagant underground portion of the Cooperative headquarters—the Cooperative headquarters itself, which she has never seen.

The security guards continue walking, and she follows with little clicks of her boots on the marble to a set of doors. When they open and let her inside, what Kitten sees nearly makes her urinate on herself in horror. 

The doors close behind her and she's frozen to the spot. 

Nearly three dozen people, dressed all in black, are sitting along a giant silver table. They are wearing silver masks, all of them. There is not a single human in that room that she'd be able to recognize, and they all turn to "stare" at her... at least that's what she thinks they're doing beneath their masks. 

"Step forward, Ms. Sanchez," comes a voice from somewhere in the pack of wolves waiting to feast on her flesh. 

She wrings her hands and does so, her golden eyes wide, in her denim shorts and her slouchy black shirt. She feels positively naked.

The underground headquarters is in a Neo-Gothic style, looking exactly how one would expect a secret society to look. Ancient, intimidating. One silver-masked hooded figure steps out from the pack, the designated spokesperson for this event. “Ms. Sanchez, we have heard rumors.”

"R-Rumors suck," is the first thing she blurts out.

The room is silent but she gets the feeling that a few are stifling laughter. “They do indeed. Would you help us to clear a few of them?”

"I'll do what I can!" she chirps, putting her hands behind her back so they won't see her winging them. 

The spokesperson folded their hands together, “Perfect. A few of us are going to step forward and ask you questions. Please answer them to the best of your ability.” Their tone is condescending. “First—what is your relationship to Michael Langdon?”

She hesitates, then remembers exactly what Michael told her to say. Kitten lifts her chin. "I am with the King."

A few turn to each other to murmur. “With? Could you elaborate on that?”

She hesitates. She'll have to be clever here. "No."

"And why not, Ms. Sanchez? Is the nature of your relationship to Mr. Langdon shameful?”

She narrows her eyes, but she's trembling anxiously. "No. It's just that..." Kitten chews the inside of her cheek. "... we're together. I can't be any clearer."

They nod, “I see. Let’s move on then.” Another steps from the crowd, as if they are going to name each one of her sins. Though they won’t be as kind as Michael. 

“Before you came here, were you either a stripper, prostitute? And bear in mind, I mean: did you take money for sex either for yourself or others?”

Kitten thinks hard about the question, tries to figure out any way out of it. But every ounce of her street-smart cleverness is no where near the capacity of their brutal, (literally) evil intelligence and ruthlessness. "N-Not usually money. Favors sometimes. Goods sometimes. Alliances..." She realizes she might be digging herself a deeper hole in trying to hedge. "Yes."

“Thank you.” It’s said with the slightest hint of disgust. 

The next comes forward. “How long have you been a devoted Satanist? What work have you done in his infernal name?”

Kitten hesitates again. It's obvious to them that she's trying to figure out how to deflect, but the way they're asking their questions makes it impossible. "I'm not a devoted Satanist and if I'm honest I ain't got the slightest clue what it means to be one. I believe in Michael Langdon and I know how to say Ave Satanas. I did figure out the other day that nema is just amen backwards and to be honest I think that's a little hokey but that's y'all's business."

“I see.” 

Another. “Is your relationship to Mr. Langdon sexual in nature and have you received or been offered anything because of it?”

"Why? Does Mr. Langdon seem like he needs a prostitute?"

The retort seems to offend everyone in the room. “Answer the question, Ms. Sanchez.”

She thinks about his offer to buy her new clothes so she can fit in better around here and swallows hard, getting confused and panicked. "Y-Yes to both?"

“Is Mr. Langdon aware of your past?” The implication being: if he doesn’t know, how disgusted would he be to find out? If he does know, what possessed him to choose you?

"He reads minds," she answers dryly.

“What makes you qualified to be here?”

"Because Mr. Langdon says so."

“Why does he say so? In what way have you proven your worthiness as the rest of us had to do? Or was it your sexual relationship that sweetened the deal?”

"I didn't spend millions paying my way in like all y’all, if that's what you're asking," she snaps.

“It’s not and you’re not so stupid to think it is.”

"He... he's never really said why. You'll have to ask him that."

Another steps out. Her sins are growing as her judges step forward. “Why should you be with Michael Langdon?”

"He's with me for the same reason anyone is with anyone. Because that's what he wants. I ain’t gonna speak for him.”

“Let’s switch gears.” Another member joins the group at the front. “Was your precious employer a drug-lord and kingpin of Miami and were you also sexually involved with him?”

She can't help but tremble in fear. Not for herself. For Michael. They'll all know how unworthy and disgusting she is and it'll reflect poorly on him for choosing her. "Yes."

“As I thought. You seem to enjoy putting yourself in the beds of men in power. Was your father also a kingpin... and were you sexually involved with him?”

Kitten wants to vomit, shaking her head, the panic setting in. "It... it wasn't like that!"

“You didn’t have sex with your father?”

Tears prick at the corners of her eyes, but she tries to keep the weakness out of her voice. "I did, but—"

“Your father hired many of his sons, did he not? Did you have sex with your half-brothers?”

"I... It's... I didn't... you don't understand!" She sways on her feet, her face pale as a sheet.

“I think we understand perfectly well, Ms. Sanchez,” the spokesperson says, “We understand your type.”

"And what type is that?" she asks, wishing like hell she had anything to lean on, to physically hold onto that might keep her from crumbling to the floor.

“A junkie whore,” one of them spits venomously. They’ve all gathered against her. 

If she glanced behind them, she’d see a hint of golden hair suddenly appear among the sea of black. 

“One last question,” Michael says, causing them all to gasp and stiffen, or back away from him entirely. The atmosphere is ominous. “Why wasn’t I invited to this party?” It’s obvious they chose a time when they thought he wasn’t going to be around for this nonsense. 

"Sir," one of them says, pointing a condemning finger at her as she stands there about to be sick with humiliation. "This... I hesitate to even say woman... isn't worthy to be here, much less to be with the Antichrist." 

"Do you know anything about her?” another says. “Have you even read her file?" 

"Sir... if it's female company you need, there are many devoted Satanist women who would be honored by the opportunity to serve you. But resorting to a prostitute—”

Michael lifts his hand, poised in a flicking motion, his face indicating he’d have no issue killing them right then.

Everyone falls deadly silent, except for Kitten, who is sniffling pitifully.

He slowly puts his hand down and begins walking towards her, the crowd parting as if even touching him would kill them. He reaches up and cups her tearful face, his blue eyes kind and loving.

She blinks, and the tears that had been clinging to her lids finally streak down her smooth cheeks. Her golden eyes shimmer with fear and sadness. "I tried. I’m sorry."

He kisses her forehead, “You passed your tests a long time ago, my only. They’ve done nothing.” He puts his hands back behind his back, “Could you lift one of your hands for me?”

She slowly does as he asks, fingers shaking.

He turns back to the Cooperative, “Do all of you see her hand?” It’s not rhetorical.

"Yes, sir," they all quietly answer, practically in unison from behind their masks.

“Good. It is stained with the blood of hundreds of men. The difference in our ability to kill lies not in talent or ferocity—but in fractions of seconds.” He starts to prowl around them. 

Kitten does not lower her hand. The Cooperative members glance at each other and then at her slight, trembling form incredulously.

“Do you require proof?” He demands, “Bring the strongest man from the Sanctuary and she will decimate him,” he stops and stares down one of the members, “Or would you like to volunteer yourself?”

None of them do, not even the young men with enough money for boxing and wrestling and fencing lessons in their free time—rich bastards—afraid that he will blow their heads up during the fight to make a point. It's not her they're afraid of. It's still him.

“I didn’t think so. But I think I’ll still make my point.” He looks at Kitten, “Choose one of them and break their wrist.”

Kitten's tearful eyes clear up and flash dangerously. "Which one of them called me a junkie whore?"

He looks over the crowd. “Amelia Harper.” 

The woman begins to tremble, but walks forward anyway. “Please, Your Majesty, I was only thinking of you! You deserve someone better!” 

“I defy you to name one better than her,” he says, “Kitten.”

Kitten steps over to the woman calmly. She reaches up with a speed no human eye could follow and rips off her silver mask, revealing her face, a pretty blonde wincing in shock that this whore would have the audacity— 

"I'm not sorry," Kitten snarls.

She lashes out again, snatching the woman by her wrist and spinning around, twirling her at the same time. The redhead reaches back and grabs her by the back of her neck, and uses the momentum of both their bodies to flip her over her back and slam her right down onto the floor, hard enough to knock the wind out of her. 

The blonde lays there, shocked and gasping, and as an afterthought, Kitten reaches out and takes the woman's hand, turning it on its side and giving her whole arm a very precise, simple flick. There's a loud crack, and Amelia wails, grabbing her wrist once Kitten tosses her arm back. The Cooperative stands there, stunned.

Michael smiles. “I have deemed her worthy because she is worthy. If you have doubts, bring them to me yourself. Don’t hide behind your masks,” he offers his hand to Kitten, stepping over Amelia’s still whimpering form.

Kitten takes his hand, looking out over the little assembly. She knows this isn't over. They'll only despise her more after this, and see her as even more of a threat; they'll spread rumors that the Antichrist is affectionate towards an incest-loving prostitute. But this first altercation is over, and it's unclear who won.

“Return to your duties, ladies and gentlemen. You’ve wasted enough time.” He leads her out of the room, back into the hallway and towards the elevator.

[starxiddraws]

Your Guardian Angel Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Backstabber

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Tagging @princessaurax @cassiopeia-barrow @sketchy-characters-in-progress   @mystical818 @angieisacutedemon  @snowypinkbunnies

Marinette couldn’t locate her her usual pink jeans in her pile of clean clothes, she swore she could have washed them a few days ago. The only thing she could find was a pair of pink shorts and a navy blue skater skirt with pink embroidery cat prints she designed a month ago. She hasn’t shown it off to everyone yet so might as well do it now that everyone has their attention on her. She put on a white tank top with the same design as her usual t-shirts, and a pink denim jacket over it, not changing up her usual color scheme but switching it up a bit. Black leggings, a pair of pink “ballet” flats, and black earrings were a final touch. She placed her finished homework in her backpack and put it on, ready to deal with whatever today will bring. A lot happened yesterday, and a lot more is going to happen today, something bad. She can feel it in the chilly wind that has been going on since last night. She felt like she needed to prepare a little more. Her instincts told her she needed to take chocolate chip cookies in her purse so she kept that in mind as she placed a few more things in her backpack, like some rope she likes to have as backup and some heavy duty tape. Now she felt like she could take on the world a bit, or at least try to be helpful in some way. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and headed downstairs to have some breakfast. She froze on the last step of the stairs when she realized who was sitting on the couch in the living room. Chloe sat nervously on the largest couch, with Chat Noir leaning up against the wall nearby, wearing the black hoodie again. They both looked up as Marinette cautiously approached.

“Ch-Chloe?” Marinette gave Chloe a slow once over as Chloe stood up abruptly, trying to hide the troubled look on her face with a snooty one. Marinette and Chat Noir give each other a knowing look.

“Dupain-Cheng,” she tried to say in her usual condescending voice, but it wavered. She tried to pout to hide her feelings, but she relented, walking up to Marinette, grabbing her shoulders. “Marinette, there is a crowd of people surrounding the school today.”

“What?!” Marinette ran to one of the windows facing the school to peek through and a large crowd has accumulated at the entrance of the schools, causing a commotion with students trying to get through so they could get to school, forcing them to go through the crowd to get to the front door. Police began to arrive started setting up barricades to make a path so students could pass through. Marinette was mortified at the display. All of this because she was exposed and displayed on the news where she went to school. It appears that a lot of people were holding up signs and some were wearing Ladybug merch. They were celebrating her. At the same time though they were causing mayhem and blocking people from going to school. Marinette buried her face in her hands and let out a desperate cry. “This is a disaster.”

“You need to go as Ladybug and tell them to leave,” Chloe demanded, peeking through the gap Marinette was looking through. Marinette tensed up and slowly looked at Chloe with a grimace.

“I-ah- gave back the miraculous to the Guardian of the Miraculous.”

“You did what?! Are you stepping down as Ladybug?!” Chloe stepped back and crossed her arms. “Why would you do that? Hawkmoth could strike at any moment and Ladybug would be needed to stop him”

“I gave it back so that he can pick another Ladybug!” No one noticed as Chat Noir tensed up. He was suddenly reminded of the Ladybug miraculous currently hiding in his hoodie pocket, ready to be given to a chosen Ladybug. “One who is more trustworthy and wouldn’t get exposed like I did. Wouldn’t you agree with that, Chloe?” Chloe was taken aback. “You have always said I wasn’t worthy of anything.” Chloe’s eyes watered as she remembered calling Marinette not worthy, especially not worthy of Adrien. The words crushingly bit her and she regretted what she told Marinette at the party.

“A bit too late though,” Chloe thought. She needed to apologize for what she has said. But there was so much that has happened between the two of them. All of the bullying Marinette endured because of her. Chloe harbored resentment towards Marinette for who knows what, but yesterday had put everything she believed about Marinette to a hard stop. She’s been at odds with herself and she just needed to talk to Marinette about it all. “What does that matter now? You’ve been a reliable Ladybug for a while now! Don’t stop now!”

“Oh, now that you know that I was Ladybug, you want to respect me? Even though you haven’t given Marinette the same courtesy?”  Marinette stood to her full height, glaring at Chloe. She looked away and held her arm, ashamed of everything she’s done to Marinette. The scene before her made Marinette’s anger falter. Chat Noir stared tensely at both girls and was prepared to to interrupt in case a big argument ensued.

Chloe hated this. She hated knowing Ladybug was Marinette. She hated that everyone knew that she adored Ladybug and started questioning her about her feelings about this conundrum. She hated how some teased her about it and how others think she’ll just respect Marinette now because she was Ladybug. She hated that she had to spend all night staying up, figuring out how she feels and what to do next. She then realized one thing she really needed to know and see where it takes her from there.

“Why me…?”

“What?”

“Why did you choose me as Queen Bee? We don’t like each other. Obviously I messed up when I first found the Bee miraculous. But you gave me second chance. Why?”

Marinette’s answer was swift, “Because I know you can do better. And I feel with the influence of Pollen, Chat Noir and I as Ladybug, you can change for the better. Also you seemed to be the perfect candidate at the time when your father was Akumatized. You don’t fall easily for power.” Chloe stared wide eyed at Marinette and nodded.

“Well of course I don’t fall for those in power, I am Chloe Bourgeois,” she flipped her ponytail and struck a small pose, causing Marinette and Chat Noir to roll their eyes and smile.

“I mean, you are impressed by Ladybug’s power though, and I was Ladybug, so I guess you can say you were impressed by me,” Marinette teased, giving Chloe a sly smirk. Blushing, Chloe looked away, pouting while crossing her arms. “I– I wanted to start treating you with a bit of respect after choosing you. Ms. Bustier did tell me that you struggled with being kind and that we need to guide you to that path. However, I can’t change you, Chloe. You have to decide if you want to change or not. I did– do want to change my attitude towards you. But sometimes you are still so mean and disrespectful towards me, it makes it hard.” They held eye contact for a moment, and Chloe broke it, for once dropping the arrogant facade she always has on.

She muttered something but Marinette and Chat Noir didn’t hear anything.

“Come again?” Chat held his hand to his ear so he could listen better.

“I said I’m sorry! For being a jerk to you. It’s hard to admit that I did wrong, but I’ve always been catered to and anyone who refuses is always on my bad side. Slowly I’ve been realizing that being like that hurts others but sometimes it’s hard to not do that, you know?”

“I know it is Chloe,” Marinette placed one hand on Chloe’s shoulder, “You have to understand that change doesn’t happen immediately, and sometimes you will regress. That happens to me too, especially with how I act around–”

“Adrien?” Chloe gave her a sly smirk as Marinette blushed and gave her a glare. Neither of them noticed Chat’s face turn beet red as he stood still, hoping they wouldn't notice.

“Sigh, yes. I’m still a stuttery mess around him and it drives me nuts.– Chloe.”

“What is it?”

“Thank you. I accept your apology.” Marinette gave Chloe a small smile and Chloe reciprocated. Chat watched with a wide grin as two important girls in his life began to make up.

“Well, if you aren’t Ladybug anymore, and there is a gigantic crowd waiting for you at school, what will you do know? It’ll be hard to get to school.”

“I don’t know, everything is hard to process right now.”

“Would you like for me to carry you to school, my lady?” Chat knelt down in front of Marinette so she can climb onto his back. Marinette blushed profusely and waved her arm dismissively. Chat pouted but relented. “Whatever you want, Bugaboo.”

“Ew, you still give her the gross nicknames?” Chloe scrunched up her nose and pouted. Chat rolled his eyes and gave her a smirk.

“Aw don’t be jealous, Queenie. You’ll have someone give you some icky nicknames at some point.” Chloe gave Chat a look, but he just laughed it off. Marinette giggled and sighed.

Suddenly, her parents entered the living room from the stairs leading to the bakery, and they had a look of concern on their faces.

“Marinette, sweetheart,” Sabine said, taking a quick peek outside. “We think it’s best if you don’t go to class today. It’s too crowded outside and Hawkmoth will attack you at any moment. We’d rather keep you here to be safe.” Chloe, Marinette, and Chat exchanged glances and nodded.

“Okay, I feel like it’s best as well,” Marinette took off her backpack and rummaged through it, pulling out the homework due. “Chloe, can you do me a favor and turn these in to Ms. Bustier?” Chloe hesitated at first but then she grabbed the folder Marinette was holding out to her, putting it in her bag. Marinette turned to Chat Noir. “I’ll have to call Alya and tell her about Lila. Hopefully she and Nino will believe me.”

“Wait, what about Lila?” Chloe raised an eyebrow. Marinette and Chat looked at each other and nodded.

“Well to keep it short, Lila threatened me a while ago and she was the one who exposed me, recording me as I transformed from Ladybug.” Chloe’s jaw dropped and immediately went red. Sabine and Tom looked angered, but they decided to let the kids talk, planning on talking to their daughter later.

“Lila did that? Ugh! I knew she was no good. Her stories are way too extravagant! There is no way she would catch a prince’s eye, especially if I’m around.” Again, Marinette and Chat Noir exchanged glances and shrugged. “I swear if I had the Bee miraculous on me, I’ll bee stinging her bony little a–”

“Chloe, that wouldn’t solve anything. That’ll probably akumatize her and we all know how she’s after me. I’d rather avoid that and just let karma take its course,” Marinette stated. Chloe and Chat stared at her incredulously, wondering why would she not want justice. “Trust me, as much as I want justice, right now would not be a good time for it.”

“If you say so, Dupain-Cheng. But I will definitely not treat her nicely. I’m leaving now, I have to get to school. Good luck today.” Chloe walked off and Tom followed so he could walk her out of the bakery.

“Thank you Chloe!” Marinette called out as the door closed.

“Your dad and I decided to close shop for today just in case anyone decides to try to invade our privacy,” Sabine winked at Marinette.

“Thank you, maman, anything helps in this crazy time."Marinette sighed and rubbed her temples. "I’m heading upstairs to clear my head. Chat, you coming?” They both headed up and Sabine watched, proud of her daughter for doing her best in this trying situation. The best she can do now and hope that it’ll get better, and to protect her daughter at all costs.

Marinette stared at her phone nervously, staring at Alya’s name. “Why am I nervous? She’s my best friend! She’ll have to believe me.” Marinette was about to press Alya’s contact when suddenly the phone began to ring, with Alya’s name displayed on screen. With shaky hands, Marinette answered, “Alya!”

“Marinette! Where are you girl? We need to talk about what needs to be done about this whole situation. The school is crazy, and if we don’t work fast, it will only get worse.”

“Alya, I returned my miraculous to the guardian.”

“What?! Why?”

“Because one way or another, I’d still be in danger of Hawkmoth. He wouldn’t believe it if we made a video trying to disprove it. So I feel like it’s better to step down as Ladybug and make him start from the beginning. That’s the more important part. For him to never get the Ladybug miraculous.”

“If you say girl. Since you aren't here, does that mean you’re not coming to school to avoid the crowd?”

“Yeah, my parents think it’s better this way and so they can make sure I stay safe. Chat Noir is also here, so that helps as well.”

“Okay, so you have protection regardless, that’s good. Do you want Nino and I to come over today to figure stuff out?”

“Maybe, let’s see how today turns out.” Marinette stayed silent for a moment, collecting her thoughts before speaking again. “Are you, Nino, and Adrien together right now?”

“Nino’s here, but Adrien hasn’t showed up yet. What’s up?” Chat flinched at the mention of his name, but Marinette didn’t notice.

“Can you two go somewhere more private? I have something to tell you.”

“We’re sitting at a corner alone, is everything okay?”

“Alya, Nino, please believe me when I say I know who revealed me.”

*    *    *

Alya was shaking in anger. The mere fact that her best friend had to beg for her to believe her when she told her who exposed her was very telling at how much of a trustworthy friend Alya was towards Marinette regarding Lila.

“I know it may sound preposterous to you but it’s Lila Rossi. Remember yesterday when she was in the bathroom with me? She actually wasn’t comforting me, she was admitting to me that she was the one who recorded the video. I’m more than certain she also distributed to it too, sending it to your blog.”

“How can you be so sure? I know you don’t like her, but lying like that?” Alya heard Marinette sighing and Chat let out a lout "tsk" sound.

"Alya please, thinki about it. You know I don't like her, why would I be best friends with her as Ladybug if I don't like her?"

"I-I don't know. Perhaps you're just jealous of her and just--"

“Wow Alya, do you really think that way about your best friend?” Chat’s tone was terrifying. "Thinking she'd be that petty?"

“Chat you wouldn’t know eith–” Nino was interrupted.

“Believing a girl you hardly know over your best friend? How low do you think of her?”

“Chat Noir, please–”

“No, it’s not fair to you, Marinette. You do so much for everyone and they just toss you aside. And now that everyone knows that you’re Ladybug, and still treat you like this?”

“Just because I was Ladybug, that doesn’t mean I have to get special treatment–”

“But they are supposed to be your friends.” There was silence on the other side of the line. Alya and Nino exchanged glances but they continued.

“So you aren’t lying about her?”

“No, I’m not. You know I don't lie and you know I don’t like her. Why would she claim we are best friends when I can’t stand her?”

“She’s got a point Alya,” Nino stated. Alya still didn’t get it. She didn't want to get it. Lila just seemed like such an extraordinary person. Even the impossible was possible for her, with all of the connections she claims to have...

“Why don’t you like her?”

“She lies, she’s a compulsive liar. She knows what to tell people to get them on her side. She lied to Adrien about being best friends with Ladybug. If you see him, ask him about it. She doesn’t like me either.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she told me. She doesn’t like me because I am not afraid of exposing her lies. She actually threatened me on the day she turned into Chameleon. She threatened that she’ll turn all my friends against me if I go against her.”

“WHAT?!” Their screams were loud and simultaneous that some students glanced at them with concern. “Did she seriously say that?!”

“Yes. I was going to be the one akumatized but I had to let go of my anger in order to avoid doing that. She ended up being akumatized.”

“Why haven’t you told us sooner??”

“Because no one would believe me. People think I dislike Lila because I’m just jealous. Yo admitted that you think I'm jealous. I’m not. She’s a liar who will say anything and do anything to get what she wants.”

“But she doesn’t lie though–”

“How can you prove that? How can you prove that she doesn’t embellish everything she says? How can you prove she isn’t manipulating everyone? For god’s sake, she claims to be Ladybug’s best friend, but no way in HELL have we ever been best friends. You are a journalist, aren’t you the one who says that we should check facts first?” There was silence on both ends of the line. Alya and Nino were staring at the phone, astounded at how angry and disappointed Marinette sounded. “I have to go, I have to talk to Chat Noir. Bye.”

“Marin–” The line suddenly cut off

“Alya, please calm down, you don’t want to be Akumatized,” Nino reluctantly reached over her shoulders and squeezed her in a side hug. She glanced at him with tears in her eyes, then she buried her face into his neck.

“What kind of friend am I?” Her voice was muffled and she sniffled a few times.

“What kind of friends are we? We both didn’t believe her.” Nino rubbed Alya’s back, leaned his head on her’s and looked around for any akumas.

“How can we make it up to her?” She and Nino made eye contact and thought.

“I guess we can start by believing her and letting others know what happened.”

“Yeah… That’s a good start.”

The school bell rang and everyone headed to their classes, with Nino and Alya planning on telling their classmates what just happened. It was going to tough convincing them, but for Marinette, they were going to, they had no other choice.

Most of their classmates were already seated, talking to each other, the only ones missing were Marinette, Adrien, and Lila. Perfect. Chloe was standing by the desk, placing a folder on top. Marinette’s name was written neatly on top, and immediately, Alya went into defence mode.

“Why do you have Marinette’s homework?” Alya demanded, Nino grabbing her arm in case she was ready to pounce.

“I was just turning in her homework, like she asked me to,” Chloe crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

“Why did she ask you, of all people, to turn in her homework?”

“Because unlike you two, she finds me trustworthy. Trustworthy enough to tell me everything that has happened between her and Lila,” she flipped her ponytail and turned her head. Nino and Alya gawked at her.

“She told you? When?”

“Earlier, I went to her place to–” Her eyes widened and then she dropped her pose, nervously biting her lip, then muttered, “To apologize to her for being a jerk, and to ask her why she chose me to be Queen Bee…” Their jaws remained on the floor as Chloe tried to recuperate from her embarrassment.

“You, apologize to Marinette? I don’t believe that,” Alya crossed her arms, and glared at Chloe.

“I don’t care if you believe me. But you two wouldn’t believe your supposed best friend either apparently,” Chloe glared back. The class went silent, but the two feuding girls didn’t notice. “She told you, right? About what Lila did?”

“Of course she told us!”

“Did you believe her immediately or did she have to beg for you guys to believe her?”

“We– I–”

“Just as I thought. You two are the same as the rest of the class. Dumb and easily manipulated.”

“Hey!” They finally noticed that the class was listening in and looked at Alix, who was the one who cried out. “What do you mean by that? And what do you mean by ‘what Lila did’?”

“I meant what I meant. Oh, I don’t know if I should tell you what Marinette told me about what Lila did. You wouldn’t believe it.” Chloe started inspecting her perfectly manicured hands as the class protested. Chloe wanted to laugh in their faces, but she held it back.

“If you won’t tell them, we will,” Alya turned to face the class. “Lila was the one who exposed Marinette as Ladybug.” Some classmates gasped but others just scoffed.

“Lila wouldn’t do that! She’s too nice!” Rose replied, with some classmates agreeing. Both Alya and Chloe scoffed at the insinuation.

“She may be nice to you–” Chloe started.

“But she’s not nice to Marinette,” Alya finished, the both of them crossing their arms.

“Marinette isn’t nice to her!” Kim stated. Alya and Chloe glanced at each other, and burst out laughing.

“Do you really think Marinette has zero reason for disliking Lila?” Chloe placed her hand on her head.

“She’s jealous that Lila got to sit next to Adrien for a while,” Max said as a matter of factly. A few people nodded their heads. Alya got furious.

“What– What an absolute petty thing to say! Marinette, the girl who has helped each of us individually, in and out of class, expecting NOTHING in return, and this is what you guys think of her?” The class stayed silent as the weight of what Alya said settled over them. Some looked ashamed and others just looked at each other sadly. Alya was breathing heavily and Nino lay a hand on her shoulder to help her calm down. “She also told me something else. On the day Lila was akumatized into the Chameleon, remember when Marinette was trying to disprove her lies over and over again? Lila trapped her in the bathroom and threatened– yes, threatened– to turn her friends against her. That day, Marinette almost got akumatized. Imagine how disastrous that would have been if Marinette, our Ladybug, was akumatized? Lila did that.” Everyone, some with mouths wide open, exchanged glances, some muttered, and others just held their head between their hands. The door opened and in entered Miss Bustier and Lila, who looked like she was enjoying her day. Everyone glared at her, causing her to stop mid step and look around her.

“Hello everyone, what’s up?” No one responded and it made her uncomfortable. Miss Bustier clapped her hands and ordered everyone to sit down in their seats. They obliged but everyone continued to glare at Lila as she walked up to her seat. Miss Bustier picked up the folder on her desk and asked why it’s there.

“Oh, Marinette can’t come to school today. It’s too chaotic for her to come to school because someone,” Chloe glared back at Lila, “exposed her identity. Her parents believe it’s best is she stayed home, safe and sound.”

“Okay that makes sense, what about Adrien, has anyone heard of him?” Everyone looked around, Alya and Nino gave each other nervous glances.

“Miss Bustier, Adrien’s dad has said that he doesn’t want Adrien to associate with Marinette, so it’s likely that he’s making Adrien stay at home,” Nino answered. Everyone gasped, but a giggle escaped someone and everyone’s heads snapped immediately to Lila, who had her mouth covered, pretending to be shocked.

“What?” She asked as everyone continued to stare. Nathaniel pointed at her.

“You giggled,” he said, glaring at her.

“I gasped, didn’t you hear?”

“I am literally sitting right next to you, Lila. You giggled.” Everyone, including Miss Bustier was staring at her. “Why did you giggle?”

“I swear I didn’t giggle!”

“We all heard you giggle, Lila, don’t lie,” Alya stood up and faced Lila. Lila also stood up and held her hand to her chest, in apparent disbelief.

“Everyone calm down. What’s the matter, Alya?” Miss Bustier asked, slowly making her way up to Alya.

“Miss Bustier, Marinette told me that it was Lila who exposed her identity. She also threatened to turn everyone against Marinette,” Alya pointed at Lila accusingly.

“Why would I do that? I have nothing against Marinette. She’s probably lying to you because she doesn’t like me.” Lila started walking down towards Alya, with the intent to hopefully fix whatever misunderstanding was happeneing.

“You’re right Lila, she doesn’t like you,” Alya stood her ground as Lila stopped right in front of her. She shrugged off Lila’s hand when she placed it on her shoulder. Lila pulled her hand back, looking concerned. Alya noticed how horrible her acting was. “You said that you and Ladybug were practically best friends. But how can that be when she can’t stand you?” Alya took a step forward, causing Lila to step back towards the front of the class. Miss Bustier and the class watched with bated breaths. Lila held her hands together.

“It’s probably because she really wanted to hide her identity. It’s clever of her, isn’t it?” Lila continued to back away.

“Oh really? Okay then,” Alya took a moment to think wondering how she can disprove her lies. She suddenly got an epiphany. “How did you get your tinnitus cured?” Alya grabbed her tablet and started to quickly type in something. Lila stuttered.

“L-like I said, when miraculous Ladybug, it was when it was cured.” Lila glanced around nervously, hoping for someone to come to her rescue.

“Actually, Lila,” Alya turned over her tablet to reveal a medical journal talking about tinnitus, “There is no cure for it. You can only have some relief for it, but it can’t be completely cured. Also, Miraculous Ladybug only restores things that were destroyed during an akuma attack, verified to me by Ladybug herself.” Lila’s face went pale, Alya smirked as she continued to look through her tablet. “Hey Max, are you able to lookup an IP address from an email?”

“I wouldn’t be able to exactly pinpoint the location, but it does give me the name of the computer, let me just–” Max took Alya’s tablet from her and began to quickly go through a process. Alya turned back to Lila.

"That's excellent Max. Rose, are you sill in contact with Prince Ali?" Alya faced Rose, who took out her phone.

"I actually still am! Let me contact him, hopefully he'll answer. I feel bad for doing this, but if it's for the truth, then I will."

"Thank you Rose, that's very thoughtful of you." Alya turned to face Lila again. Lila was progressively looking more and more nervous.

"According to this IP locator, the computer from which this email was sent from is called 'Rossi's-Computer'." Max went to hand Alya her tablet as smirked at Lila.

"Interesting, isn't that your last name, Lila?"

"That's my f-family computer, it could have been any of us really--"

"Prince Ali just told me that he's never met a Lila, at least one from Italy," Rose piped up, looking up from her phone.

"I-It's because I d-didn't tell him where I'm from," Lila laughed nervously as she began to look uncomfortable, with a small bead of sweat rolling down her face. Alya didn't by it and she approached Lila, who then hid behind Miss Bustier.

“Alya, please stop,” Miss Bustier plead, “Nothing good will come out of this. Please calm down.”

“Miss Bustier, she was the one who threatened and exposed Marinette,” Alya gestured towards Lila, who then gave her a glare in which everyone noticed.

“Yes I know, but nothing good will happen by ganging up on her like this, let us adults handle this,” Miss Bustier said, trying to protect Lila.

"Adults? Even Mr. Damocles eats up every single one of her lies! Tell him to contact her mother and ask her about her absence, may be then you'll--"

"Alya, that is enou--"

“No, Miss Bustier, let Alya say what’s on her mind,” Lila did a complete 180 and her face looked ominous. Everyone got shivers down their spines at the malice emanating from her. The classroom phone began to ring. Miss Bustier looked from the girls to the phone and back before deciding to not answer the phone, she didn't want thing to escalate. “Yeah, you are right, I did threaten Marinette. She was getting in the way, I had to do something to get her to stop. And when I had the chance to expose her as Ladybug, of course I took it. Getting back at her is all I want in life. Getting back for ruining my chances with Adrien by exposing my lie in front of him.” Lila began to laugh ominously. The phone rang again, and it was ignored again. “And I did get back to her! Adrien’s dad doesn’t want him to see her again? Oh that’s perfect! I can get close to him.”

“There is no way that Adrien would want to get close to you,” Nino exclaimed, standing up and banging his fists on the desk. “When we tell him what happened, he wouldn’t want to get within ten feet of you.”

“Oh, Nino, Nino, Nino… He’ll have no choice,” Lila smirked as everyone got quiet, confused what she meant by that. The phone rang a third time and Miss Bustier just decided to put it on speaker so that she can remain between the girls. Mr. Damocles' voice came through, but his announcement meant for the teacher shook all of the students to the core.

"Miss Bustier, I'm afraid that I have just received a call from Gabriel Agreste's assistant stating that Adrien has gone missing since last night. They have tried contacting everyone he may have known, including Alya, and Nino's parents, but unfortunately, they don't know of his whereabouts. Please speak to your students and ask if they know anything. I'll leave you to your students," the phone hung up before Miss Bustier was able to utter a response and the class remained silent. Alya covered her mouth and Nino pulled off his hat and ran his hand through his hair, sweat suddenly running down his face. Lila, looked around to her classmates and saw their stunned faces. Their stupid faces, it angered her to no end. How dare they question her? She had them wrapped around her finger, but that was undoing all because of Marinette.

Marinette. That name left a rotten taste in her mouth. Oh how she hated that little bitch passionately. If she could, she'd throw her off the Eiffel tower. At that moment, Lila noticed something hitting the window panes by the door, and she knew exactly what she should do.

“What?” Lila exclaimed. Everyone looked at her. “How much you want to bet it was Marinette. She has him hidden in her place because she can’t stand the thought of him not seeing her!”

“Lila, shut up! She would never do that and it is in horrible taste for you to say something like that,” Alya yelled. Lila stepped closer to the door and smirked.

There was a gentle tap on the window near the door that caught everyone’s attention, and an akuma was fluttering against a window pane, attempting to get in. There was a collective gasp, and some students even shrieked. Lila placed her hand on the door handle, and opened the door as Alya, Nino, and Chloe cried out a loud “no” but it was too late. The akuma touched the pencil Lila was holding, the mask of her face went red and the outline of a butterfly surrounded her eyes. They couldn’t hear what Hawkmoth was telling her, but black clouds consumed her entity, and then finished her transformation into her villainous form. Her skin was tainted red, and her hair was a deeper red, fading to black at the tips of her hair. The two shorter strands by her face also faded to a different color, but one was black and the other was white. A mask covered her face with a jagged design splitting it in to colors, black and white. The white of her right eye was completely red while the iris what white. Her left eye was normal except her iris was red. She wore what looked like a grey pant suit, but the pants were actually high-waisted shorts with a lighter grey cuff. The lapel on the jacket were exaggerated and sharp looking, colored black while the rest of the jacket was two varying shades of grey. The shoulders were also sharp and the tie she wore was black fading to white. A jagged design similar to the mask were on her knees and ankles and they alternated black and white. She wore a black glove on her right hand, and a white glove on her left, and the shoes she wore were platformed with a jagged wing design at the heel and they each had alternating grey, white, and black colors. Her pencil turned into a completely black dagger.

“I am the Backstabber! Everything I say, you all will believe,” she exclaimed as she stabbed Miss Bustier in the back, causing her to cry out but suddenly stand up straight with a blank expression on her face. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug and she is the most villainous person ever, she kidnapped Adrien Agreste! She and anyone on her side needs to be taken care of.”

“Marinette must be destroyed.”

“Anyone you guys touch will believe me as well!” Miss Bustier turned to look at Alya and began to approach her rapidly, with the same blank expression on her face. Alya quickly dodged her teacher and stood by the door. There were a few screams as the Backstabber stabbed a few more classmates in the back and they went blank. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug. She works with Hawkmoth to akumatize people so she can get glory and fame. She has kidnapped Adrien Agreste! She needs to be stopped before he gets seriously hurt.”

“Marinette must be stopped.” All of those stabbed began to walk towards the door. Nino and Chloe ran to Alya at the door and they all ran out, closing the door just in time before the students caught them.

*    *    *

Marinette shivered as she stared out at the school, the crowd was still blocking the school entrance. She could faintly hear the bell ring and she could only hope everyone got in safely and on time.

“This is my fault,” she gazed out at the skyline of Paris, her eyes settling on the Eiffel Tower.

“Marinette, stop blaming yourself. No one blames you. At all. What good come from you blaming yourself?” Chat stared at Marinette’s stoic face.

“Look at how much it has blown up. How can I fix this?” Chat Noir pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, not wanting to let go. Marinette hesitated but then held him back, letting herself relax in his embrace.

“Marinette, you don’t have to do this alone. Now that your friends know what happened, I’m sure they’ll do anything to help,” Chat pulled away and cupped her now crying face, “I’ll do anything to help you, Bugaboo.” He reached for her hand and held her pinky with his pinky. “I promise.” I have promised you before, and I’ll do it over and over, and I’ll keep it until the day I die. The gesture caught Marinette by surprise but she still didn’t connect the dots. Chat was counting on that. Marinette’s eyes lit up when she had an epiphany.

“That’s it! Kitty, you are a genius!” She stepped away and reached for her phone.

“Why thank you my lady, I know I am a genius, but uh, what did I do?”

“Master Fu, it’s me, Marinette. I have a favor to ask you–” She spoke on her phone for a few minutes, her back towards a very confused Chat Noir. When she finished her call, she faced Chat and got very close to his face, causing him to blush. “Chat, it’s time for you to meet the rest of the team! Go to Master Fu and take the fox, turtle, and bee miraculouses to their holders. He’ll tell you who they are!” It took a moment for Chat to process what she just told him and he went from confused, to excited, then to concerned.

“But my lady, who’ll guard you? What if Hawkmoth attacks when I’m gone?” Marinette placed a finger on his lips and quietly shushed him, causing his face to redden again.

“The sooner and faster you go, the sooner you can come back. Bring the team here. If anything, I’ll fight if I have to. But go, hurry Chat!” Chat nodded and leapt off her roof onto the next one, rushing to Master Fu’s. Marinette watched for a second or two before she went back inside her hatch and grabbed the rope from her backpack, tied one end to the hatch and looped it once around the railing and tied it to the last post of her stairs. She then headed downstairs to be with her parents to keep an eye on the news for akumas. Tom and Sabine were waiting patiently for her.

“Marinette, we wanted to talk about what you told Chloe about Lila threatening you,” Sabine patted the cushion next to her so that Marinette could sit beside her. Marinette sat down and faced her parents, who both watched with concerned looks on their faces. “Why didn’t you tell us that there was a girl causing you trouble?” Marinette stared at her hands and played with the hem of her skirt.

“I was hoping I would be able to resolve everything if I exposed her in due time,” Marinette finally answered, glancing up at her parents.

“But she threatened you with the loss of your friends, that’s technically bullying, why didn’t you come to us?” Tom asked again, reaching to hold his daughter’s hand and gently squeezed it. Marinette stared at her father’s hand and sniffled a bit.

“Because-- Because I also thought that you wouldn’t believe either. Everyone seemed to not believe me when I tried to expose her lies,” she looked away from her parents wiping at her watery eyes.

“Honey, you’re our daughter. Of course we’re going to believe you over a classmate who we have never met in our life!” Sabine confirmed, placing her hand on her husband’s hand holding Marinette’s. Marinette gave her parents a wide grin and she hugged them tightly.

“I love you, maman, I love you papa.” They held their embrace for a few moments when the phone rung them out of their happiness. Tom reached over to the side table and answered the phone.

“Hello?” There was pause. “No we have not seen him since he left. We have been dealing with certain circumstances. We don’t know where he could be staying. Have you tried contacting his friend Nino or Alya? Their parents said they haven't seen or heard anything?” Marinette jumped upon hearing her friends’ names. Tom looked at Marinette wide eyed as he bid the caller good bye and hung up. “Honey, I have some… unfortunate news. That was Nathalie, Gabriel Agreste’s assistant. She called to see if we knew of Adrien’s whereabouts.” The blood drained quickly from Marinette’s face as the implication of what he said settled.

“H-he’s missing?” Marinette clutched her chest as her father nodded and she began to cry. “No… That can’t be… This must have been Hawkmoth’s doing!”

“She did say he and his father did have an argument when they got home after being here, maybe he ran away?”

“Nino didn’t mention Adrien at all when I spoke to them, so I don’t think he went to him—,” Marinette started to pace and attempted to think, but the thought of Adrien missing ate up at her and she only thought of blaming herself. “This is all my fault! If I was careful about transforming, this wouldn’t have happened! Ugh, why did I have to give back the miraculous? I could have gone looking for him as Ladybug and and–”

“Marinette, breathe,” Sabine stabilized her now shaking daughter, and did a slow breathing exercise with her to calm down. The shaking was less violent, but the tears still threatened to spill.

“Maman, I have to find him, what if he’s in trouble?”

“Then we can go looking for him. Together.” Marinette shook her head.

“I can’t have you do that. You’ll be in danger. I’ll– I’ll just have to get the miraculous back and look for him myself.” Marinette turned on her heel and headed up to her bedroom so she can make a call to Master Fu. As soon as she closed the hatch to her bedroom, a malicious, feminine voice voice came from a corner of her room.

“Hello Marinette.” Marinette quickly recognized the voice and spun around to face the akumatized version of who she recognized as Lila. Marinette prepared herself to fight, regardless of being out of uniform. “Cute outfit! Who put it together, a child?”

“Lila! How did you get in here?” Marinette looked around to look for a possible weapon, but Lila cackled and began to walk towards Marinette, holding up a fully black dagger.

“Call me Backstabber. I noticed that your hatch was tied up, but I managed to cut the rope enough for it to break and let me in. Pretty smart of you to tie it up. But not smart enough. ” A butterfly outline appeared around her eyes and Hawkmoth voice instructed her to bring Marinette to him at the Eiffel Tower. “Got it boss.” Backstabber gave Marinette a malicious smirk and lunged at Marinette with the dagger, but Marinette quickly dodged, grabbing the parasol from her lounge chair and held it out like a sword. Backstabber just laughed. “Please, you only know how to use a yoyo. What use is it to wave a parasol around like you know how to sword fight?”

“I’ve dabbled in fencing,” Marinette assumed the guard position and they both just circled each other, waiting for the other to attack. Backstabber lunged first, aiming for Marinette’s chest but she blocked with the parasol and whacked her arm. They exchanged blows for a few minutes before Backstabber just decided to grab the parasol and yank it out of her hands, she then proceeded to use it to knock Marinette out, and she fell with a loud thud. The door to Marinette’s bedroom slammed open and in came Tom, with a bread peel in his hands, ready to defend. When he saw that his daughter was knocked out on the floor, he began to raise his weapon to attack Backstabber, but she was too agile and instead she went behind him and stabbed him with her dagger.

“Marinette needs to go see Hawkmoth now. Carry her over to the Eiffel Tower.” Tom’s expression went blank and he gently picked up his daughter, and began to head downstairs. Sabine saw her husband coming down the stairs with their unconscious daughter in his arms and an akumatized girl behind him. Sabine grabbed the spare peel and she held it like a staff and was ready to fight.

“What did you do to my daughter and husband?” Sabine demanded, swinging the peel at Backstabber. Backstabber just blocked the attack with her arm, and swung her dagger at Sabine who dodged it swiftly. Backstabber grumbled and continued to swing at Sabine, but Sabine just dodged and blocked every attack, once in a while landing hits on the villain.

“Take her now!” Backstabber yelled, and Tom just continued heading towards the door leading downstairs.

“Tom, stop!” Sabine begged, but Backstabber landed a kick to her chest that sent her stumbling backwards into the kitchen, landing hard on her back.

“You are an excellent fighter, it would be great to have you in my army,” Backstabber lifted her dagger, but the butterfly outline appeared on her face.

“Forget the mother, get Marinette here fast before Chat Noir arrives!” Backstabber scoffed, and walked away from Sabine, leaving her on the floor. As soon as the door slammed shut, Sabine began to sob on the floor, feeling helpless.

*    *    *

Chat Noir arrived on the roof of Master Fu’s apartment and transformed into Adrien, rushing inside and running to his apartment, knocking desperately on the door. Wang opened the door and quickly let Adrien in.

“I was wondering when you were going to arrive. Here,” Wang walked away from a deeply panting Adrien and began to open the Miracle box to retrieve the miraculouses. He handed three boxes to Adrien. “It’s time you know who your team members are.” Adrien and Wang held eye contact for a moment. “Nino and Alya are the other miraculous holders, both chosen by Marinette. Take these to them and Chloe, and with the new Ladybug, go protect Paris.” Adrien, gasped at the mention of his friends names. Marinette chose them to be Rena Rouge and Carapace. She continues to choose them despite what happened earlier, because she trusts them completely. Adrien nodded and began to head outside. Wang stopped him. “I’m sure you felt that chill outside, right?” Adrien nodded and Wangs face looked grim. “Something big is coming, please be safe Adrien. Keep Marinette and Paris safe.”

“Always,” Adrien said, and left without saying another word. Master Fu locked up tightly, and proceeded to move the Miracle box to a very well hidden spot.

Back as Chat Noir, Adrien rushed to the school to give his friends their Miraculouses, only to arrive at complete chaos happening. There were students running away from other students, who looked like they were being mind controlled, others went into hiding in classrooms. Chat began crawling slowly on the rooftop, trying to avoid being seen. He then saw Alya peeking out of a door, but upon spotting a mind controlled student, she hid back inside. He knew exactly which room she was hiding in, and crawled to it through the outside, not wanting to deal with the others. He peeked through the window and saw Alya, Nino, Chloe, and surprisingly Kagami hiding in the locker room. He gently tapped the glass, startling some them, but everyone looked relieved once they found out Char Noir was looking back at them. Nino quickly scrambled to open the window for him to enter.

“Quite a welcoming party we have here, huh?” Chat said, looking around at everyone’s faces.

“Chat Noir, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Nino said, high fiving Chat.

“What happened?”

“Nino, Chloe, and I revealed to everyone that Lila is a liar and, well…” Alya nervously laughed, “she was akumatized into the Backstabber who stabs people in the back and everything she tells them, they believe.”

“We’ve been playing a game of cat and mouse to keep Backstabber from leaving, but she suddenly left,” Nino said, “We’re worried that she may have gone to Marinette’s house and there’s nothing we can do.”

“Kagami, can you please keep an eye on the door to make sure no one comes in?” Chat asked, Kagami hesitantly agreeing and turned her back to them.

Alya wanted to say that there was no way that they can transform into their superhero identities, when suddenly Chat Noir pulled out the boxes with their miraculouses inside. Chat gave them a very serious look.

“Despite what happened between you and Marinette, she still trusts you guys. Personally, I wouldn't give you these, but to me, what she says goes. You should find it a privilege that she still chooses you two. Go out the window and meet Marinette at her place, hopefully she’ll be waiting,” Chat whispered, quietly handing each and every one of them their box. Chloe stared at Nino and Alya with her mouth gaping open, surprised at the fact that they are the other two members. “Please go quickly.” The trio nodded and headed out the window, making sure that the coast was clear and ran quickly across the street to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, hiding between buildings to transform. Chat Noir turned to face Kagami, who was still facing the door. he took a moment to think about his pondering last night. Fully capable, and very sharp. He hopes that he's making the right choice. He pulled out the box holding the Ladybug miraculous and was about to speak up when Kagami spoke.

“Alya told me that Marinette stepped down as Ladybug. Is that true?” Kagami turned and face Chat wearing an expressionless face. Chat met her stare with his and didn’t like the feeling he was getting.

“She did step down,” He confirmed. Kagami scoffed and shook her head.

“Figures she’d run away from responsibility. Marinette was never worthy of holding the title of Ladybug.” Chat’s skin prickled and he gave Kagami a glare that she either didn’t notice or just ignored. She looked at the box Chat was holding in his hand. “Were you tasked in finding a new one?”

“Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t.”

“Might as well choose me. I am not clumsy and I am more capable than Marinette will ever be. I wouldn’t run away from my duties.” Kagami began to reach for the box, but Chat suddenly placed it back into his hoodie pocket shaking his head.

“I was considering you, but now I’m sure that you aren’t right for the job.” Kagami stared at Chat as he glared back. “First of all, no, Marinette is not running from responsibility. She thought it was best to step down so that Hawkmoth would start from square one again. She also deemed herself unworthy, just like you did, but I beg to differ. She is more than worthy, and she humble, unlike someone here. She would never run away, ever. She blames herself for all of this, and was working hard to figure out how to fix things. It was my duty to pick who the next Ladybug is, and thanks to you, I know now who I’m going to pick.” Chat abruptly turned around and walked to the window, leaving Kagami perplexed. “Stay put, and stay safe.” He leapt out of the window and using his pole, he launched himself towards Marinette’s balcony.

He landed delicately on the balcony and noticed that the hatch was wide open, but no Marinette in sight. He quietly went through the hatch, landing on her bed quietly and looked around, but there was no one present. He noticed her bedroom hatch was also wide open and dread began to slowly creep up to his chest as he noticed her parasol on the floor, the peel her father uses to bake, and cut rope dangling from the stair railing. He climbed down the stairs from Marinette’s bedroom and almost met a yellow spinning top to the head, but he just dodged before it can make contact. Queen Bee gasped and pulled back her top. Chat looked around and saw Carapace and Rena Rouge kneeling by the couch where he can see Sabine lying down, looking forlorn.

“Chat!” Queen Bee called. “Get down here now! You need to know what happened!” Chat hurried down the rest of the stairs and knelt beside Sabine.

“Mrs. Cheng, what happened?” Chat inspected Sabine.

“An akumatized Lila knocked out Marinette and stabbed Tom. They’re taking her to to Eiffel Tower, probably to Hawkmoth. I tried to stop her, but she knocked me down, injuring my back,” Sabine’s eyes started to water, and she grabbed Chat’s hand. “Chat Noir, please save my daughter.” Chat squeezed her hand and promised her that he’ll get her back safely no matter what. Chat stood up and faced the team.

“It’s time guys. This will probably our toughest battle yet. Tougher than Heroes’ Day. We don’t have Ladybug with us, so we have to figure out how to do this without one.” The team nodded in unison and gathered around to come up with a plan to save Marinette. “So what I have seen and what Carapace and Rena have told me, Backstabber has accumulated quite an army by stabbing them. She has taken Marinette to the Eiffel Tower to Hawkmoth, I presume. For what, I don’t know, possibly to lure the Guardian of the Miraculous so that he can give Hawkmoth the Ladybug miraculous and save Marinette. We have to get to them before that happens so that the Ladybug miraculous doesn’t end up in his hands.”

“What do you suppose we should do?” Queen Bee asked. Chat Noir thought for a moment before speaking up.

“We should head over there and asses the scene before we do anything.” Agreeing to that, everyone stood up and were about to leave, but Chat stayed behind to bid Sabine a farewell. “Don’t you get up until we can get your husband back–”

“Oh, Chat Noir, don’t worry about me, I’ve dealt with back injuries before. Just make sure to get my husband and daughter back safely.” Chat nodded and bid her goodbye, leaving with the rest of the team.

They ran along the Parisian rooftops and stopped short of the Eiffel tower, surveying the area. To their surprise, they expected a large crowd of brainwashed people to surround the tower, but the plaza was empty. Not a single soul in sight. It gave Chat a bad feeling.

“That’s not a good thing,” Chat stated, perched up on a chimney. “It’s so quiet.”

“Isn’t that the ideal situation? No one to get in the way,” Queen Bee joined Chat on the chimney and looked out. “We should go now and get rid of them for good.” Chat Noir shook his head. “Huh?”

“It’s easy, way too easy. It’s a trap.” As soon as he said that, a hulking figure began to walk form the Eiffel Tower to the center of the plaza and collapsed in the center. Chat immediately got up, gasping. “That’s Mr. Dupain!”

“We have to go help him!” Rena was about to go down to him, but Carapace had to stop her.

“You have to remember that he was stabbed by Backstabber. Who knows what she told him to do,” said Carapace, also looking concerned.

“I know, but what if he’s hurt? We can’t just leave him on the floor like that!”

“You both are right. Crap,” Chat got down from the chimney and began to pace, wondering what their next step should be. A light flicked on in his mind. “Rena, can you cast an illusion of me to check up on Mr. Dupain. If he doesn’t do anything, you can drop the illusion and take him to safety. Carapace, you go along to give her back up.”

“You got it boss,” Carapace and Rena leapt off the roof towards a building nearby Tom.

“Queen, you and I are going to try to sneak our way to the top. So we can’t come in swinging. We have to make sure they don’t hurt Marinette.” Queen Bee nodded, and they both looked around for a good chance to sneak up to the Eiffel Tower. There really wasn’t an easy way to sneak in without there being a crowd or it being dark. Darkness… Chat pulled up the phone on his baton and called Rena. “Rena, do you think instead of casting an illusion of me, can you cast an illusion of darkness over the plaza?”

“I can certainly try, but it will take a huge toll on me.”

“Please try it. You two check up on Mr. Dupain after the illusion is cast.” Chat then turned to Queen Bee. “Okay, if Rena is able to make an illusion of darkness, we can run to the tower and make our way up.”

“Wow, look at you, making plans on the fly. Looks like Ladybug has rubbed off on you,” Queen Bee flipped her ponytail behind her. Chat smirked and shook his head.

“Those are very big shoes to fill. I don’t think anyone can ever fill them. Especially when they’re Marinette’s.” Suddenly, everything went dark around them as if night time fell in a matter of seconds, and that gave the both of them the cue to head to the tower. They had five minutes tops, maybe less since the sudden darkness most likely alerted the enemy of their presence. As they approached one of the legs of the tower, they heard a scream coming from where Tom was, and then heard Carapace cry out “Shell-ter!” The sudden darkness was lifted as they saw Rena lying on the floor and Carapace lifting her as a green force field protected the both of them from the surprise attack. “Queen! Go help them! Stop Mr. Dupain!”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be fine, I can defend myself. Go help them!” Queen Bee began to run off to their direction, preparing her Venom to sting Tom paralyzed. Chat used his baton to reach the next level of the Eiffel tower. As soon as he landed on the platform, a group of expressionless people began to corner him against the leg. He readied his baton to launch himself to the next level, but someone shot it out of his hand, possibly a brainwashed police officer. He had to resort to climbing up on the leg until he reached the next level. There was more shooting from other police officers. Chat ascended swiftly so that he could avoid the bullets, however he noticed officers coming up on the lift. He didn’t want to keep dealing with them and waste more time, so he did what he thought was necessary. “CATACLYSM!” He placed his hand on one of the tracks guiding the lift, causing it to stall. Now only had five minutes to make it to the top, but then realized it wasn’t ideal to have transformed back as Adrien when he needed to be Chat more than ever in this fight. So Chat ran to the next lift and ascended, transforming back to Adrien.

“Adrien what are yo–” Adrien shoved a slice of Camembert to Plagg to shut him up and steadily rose up.

“I have to take the stairs the rest of the way, or else they’ll hear me come up on the elevator. It would be inconvenient if I suddenly transformed back to myself. So I’d rather run the rest of the way and for you to regain your energy.” Adrien’s face was serious and Plagg realized he dare not to speak against him, Instead he opted for filling his gob with delicious, smelly cheese. They reached the next level, and it was empty. Adrien rushed to the stairs and quickly went up, making sure he was silent. He was panting quietly as the never ending staircase led him upwards to where he hoped Hawkmoth had Marinette. He heard voices as he approached the top, and slowed down his pace. He recognized Lila’s and Hawkmoth’s voices. Suddenly he heard a scuffle and it caused the fire within him to rise dangerously high. Then he heard Marinette’s voice whimpering, and it about boiled over and he rose the rest of the stairs when what he saw next made his stomach drop severely and the blood drained from his face.

*    *    *

Marinette awoke to the sight of Hawkmoth standing over her, holding something in his hand and shaking in rage. The bright blue sky was a stark contrast to his dark getup. Marinette realized that the ground felt very hard, very metallic, and was very warm from the sun. It took Marinette a moment to realize she was at the very top of the Eiffel Tower. Hawkmoth threw what he had in his hands to the ground and made a small tinkling sound. They were the black earrings Marinette put on earlier.

“These are not the Ladybug miraculous!” Hawkmoth bellowed. Backstabber approached the little earrings and lifted one up.

“Clever girl,” She muttered, glaring at Marinette, who was now sitting up holding her head. Hawkmoth grabbed Marinette by the collar of her jacket and lifted her up from the ground.

“Where is the damn Ladybug miraculous you little brat!” Spittle dribbled out from his mouth as his rage was going beyond its limit. Marinette, albeit a bit dizzy, smirked.

“I threw them in the river.”

“You WHAT?!”

“I threw them in the river. So that you can never find them. So that they can’t be found by anyone EVER!” Hawkmoth dropped Marinette hard to the ground, causing her to whimper. Little did he know that Marinette was actually not telling the truth. As long as Hawkmoth was around, Ladybug needed to be around to stop him. She just needed to get him off the Ladybug Miraculous’ trail for a little bit in order for a new one to arise.

“I’ll have my army look for them. I have hundreds if not thousands of citizens doing my bidding. I’ll make them look for the earrings even if it kills them.” Backstabber walked up to Marinette, grabbed her by the neck, causing her to whimper even more, and lifted her off the ground with terrifying strength. Marinette tried to fight back, but all she did was flail her legs that hit Backstabber a few times. Backstabber then approached the railing and dangled Marinette over it, threatening to drop her.

“I hate you with every fiber of my being, Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Backstabber’s voice dripped with icy contempt and her eyes smouldered with passionate hate. Hawkmoth, albeit angered at Marinette, slowly approached Backstabber.

“Backstabber! Stop!” Hawkmoth demanded. “You don’t need to do this–” It was too late.

Backstabber released her grip from Marinette's neck, and watched her fall with a cold smirk plastered across her face.

Yes, a cliffhanger.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it took way too long to write.

I’m a bit interested in what you guys think Backstabber looks like. I have her all drawn out, but I would love to see your guys’ variation of her.

[ethicallysourcedhumanmeat]

Practically Impractical 33

[ < ][first][ > ]

[Masterpost][AO3]

Jaehee having a date was an excellent distraction to the slow deterioration of her mental health. An excellent excuse to hang out in the basement with a bottle of wine or two and try on a bunch of ridiculous dresses she’d only ever worn once.

“Where did you even get this one?” Jaehee throws a one sleeved, obviously very fitted, sequin gown on the bed and looks aghast.

“What!” Callie gasps and clutches her wine glass to her chest. “I’m offended that you don’t recognize this monstrosity.”

“Mr. Han definitely did not buy that for you.”

“He definitely didn’t” Callie laughs, “and he really hated that I had to wear it.”

“Mr. Chairman didn’t—”

Callie snorts she’s laughing so hard. “Absolutely not! That, my taffeta covered princess, is the infamous tango dress, given to me by the Oil Prince himself.”

“Oh my god,” Jaehee holds it up again. “Is it custom made.”

“Shit I hope so. Needless to say I am keeping it forever and never wearing it again.”

Callie pours them both another glass of wine, emptying the bottle and hangs the sequined torture device back in her closet. “You know,” she smiles at her friend, “if this goes well, you’re welcome to my closet any time while you’re house sitting, shoes jewelry, anything that fits. Think of it as a bonus or an apology for whatever nonsense Jumin gets up to without us.”

“God Callie, I think having a whole house to myself without upstairs neighbors stomping their feet or downstairs neighbors hanging art at all hours of the night will be more than enough.”

“Ok but promise if this date goes well you’ll take advantage of some of these, tailor them so they fit, I don’t care. Look, everything on a purple hanger makes Jumin uncomfortable, remember that for if her gets shitty.”

“You organize your closet by what makes Mr. Han happy?” Jaehee scrunches up her face and starts looking through the dresses on purple hangers.

“God no, but I mean, you know the way he gets about some patterns, I just keep them separate. If we need to appear like a couple or he’s taking me somewhere I try not to wear them, but if my main goal is to flirt with investors I can’t have Jumin all over me so I wear my Han repelling diagonals.”

“Han repelling Diagonals, we could market that in the office.” Callie cackles.

“You know you do a lot for Mr. Han, I’m not sure he deserves you.”

Callie shakes her head. “I don’t do that much, no more than I’ve done for you or Zen, or anyone in the RFA.”

Jaehee frowns. “No I disagree.”

“The things I do for Jumin are just more, I don’t know substantial isn’t the right word,” Callie flexes the fingers on her injured hand.

“I think it’s an appropriate word.”

She shrugs. “Maybe it is but Jumin does a lot for me, he doesn’t expect me to do most of the things I do. I mean you of all people should know how much he’s done for me.”

Jaehee shakes her head. “I don’t, he sends everything to do with you to another department.”

“Really?”

“Conflict of interest,” Jaehee shrugs.

“Wow, I’d never considered, I thought he took care of it all.”

“Yes anytime someone emails me about you now I have to forward it to Soo-geun Lee.”

Callie is quiet for a moment before she starts to laugh. “Well let me tell you how that could get complicated.”

*

Lunch with Jumin’s father was not supposed to go like this. She had agreed with the assumption that Jumin would respect her privacy in the same way she respects his. Instead here she was in the middle of the day, drinking scotch and trying not to argue with the father son tag team across from her.

“I don’t think it would be out of the question—” Mr. Han starts.

“It’s so far out of the question. I don’t want to sound ungrateful—”

“Well you do,” Jumin says bluntly.

Her vision flickers and she tips back the last of her scotch, acutely aware that it’s too early to feel as unsteady as she does right now. She flexes her fingers inside the brace and takes a deep breath.

“I accept that you both think I’m stupid for saying no. Believe me I understand what you’re offering, and I respect that you support Jumin’s offer to help Mr. Han but I really need to do this myself. C&R pays me well enough I can afford a decent lawyer.”

“Is decent really enough?” Mr. Han inclines his head in a way that immediately puts her in mind of Toby being condescending.

“Honestly a free lawyer would be enough. All anyone you offer to pay is going to do is speed the process up.” Callie sighs. It’s been the same argument with Jumin for the last week and a half. Saeyoung had taken up the chorus briefly but at the very least he’d known when to give in.

“Which is why I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to accept my offer,” Jumin almost raises his voice. His fist falls to the table with a dull thud.

Her vision flickers again and she glances around the room.

He doesn’t want her to leave, not for as long as this could take, and part of her knows it. Saeyoung and Saeren were going with, they could work from anywhere and Jumin had to stay. Even if he could have come with them, it wouldn’t have exactly been subtle.

She asks for water when the waiter comes back to check on them and Jumin orders her a coffee instead. They finish their meal in tense silence. She knows she should accept the offer, she knows her refusal is an issue of pride but she’d hoped if Saeyoung could accept it that at least one of the two men at this table could understand that.

But Jumin’s pride was also hurt. Her decent lawyer had suggested that her and Saeyoung be married before she had to be in court, and Jumin had been pouting since he had signed as a witness. He’d had opinions since, increasingly aggressive opinions.

Mr. Han takes her hand when she reaches for her coffee, another flicker in her vision. “What a lovely ring Ms. Miller I don’t think I’ve seen you wear this one before.”

“It’s Mrs. Choi now,” Jumin mumbles into his wine glass.

Callie pulls her hand back and glares at him. “No, it’s still Ms. Miller.”

“Are you married now then?” Mr. Han asks, intrigue distracting from the earlier disagreement.

It’s Jumin’s turn to tip his glass up.

“Saeyoung and I have been engaged for more than a year, my lawyer suggested that if we were married it would help my case, at least regards to being financially capable.”

“Can Luciel’s income even be tracked,” Jumin snorts.

Another flicker, Callie takes a deep breath. Jumin has been trying to fight with her all day, and the rational part of her brain screams at her not to take the bait from somewheredeep beneath the pile of anxious thoughts wrestling around in her head.

Jumin has pulled his phone out and she excuses herself. She’s going to have a very public fight with him if she sits here next to him in this mood and she needs to gather herself before she has a panic attack in the middle of this restaurant. Mr. Han takes her hand briefly as she passes and when she turns to look at him she can see the apologetic look on his face. She shrugs as another flicker catches her.

This time though, she can see the source. Not her pending panic attack but a woman a few tables away, a familiar woman that Callie has been catching glimpses of since before she left the hospital.

She drops Mr. Han’s hand and moves towards the woman; a waiter jumps out of her way and the woman scrambles out of her seat when she realizes she’s been made. She holds her phone out and brandishes at Callie. “I’m recording this!”

“Good,” Callie flexes her fingers in her brace. “Are these for Toby or are you going to sell them?”

“What?”

“Don’t act dumb, you were a worse PI than a Paparazzi but it’s worked out for you. Are these pictures for sale or are you sending them Tobias Kreiger?”

“I’ve got plenty of evidence you know,” the woman shouts at her. The entire restaurant is staring at them and Callie feels like she can’t breathe. The woman shakes the phone in her face and Callie slaps it away instinctually. “Break that phone, I don’t care,” she keeps yelling, “I have backups of all the pictures I’ve taken, not just todays.”

She can feel Jumin’s eyes on her back and she knows she needs to remove herself but she just can’t pull herself away. “What evidence? What is he paying you? I don’t even care, you don’t have anything I just want to know who is paying you to stalk me?”

The woman bends and picks up her phone. “How many lovers do you need,” she snorts, “and to have them all around your child, what kind of a mother are you? I hope your ex-husband takes her far away from you.”

The thought that she probably shouldn’t hit this woman in the middle of a fancy restaurant is just ending when she looks down at her bleeding knuckles. “Shit,” she whispers and covers her mouth with her bloody hand.

She stands in the middle of the room vaguely aware of the commotion around her. Jumin is touching her shoulder gently and from somewhere in the swirl of thoughts in her head she realizes she might be crying. Security seems to be escorting the woman she hit from the building but Callie can’t tell if she’s actually injured her.

Mr. Han seems to be taking care of everything, she glances around the room while Jumin holds a napkin to her bleeding knuckles, he appears to be responsible for the woman’s swift exit, and the fact that everyone has simply gone back to their meals, as far as the hurricane in her brain is concerned Jumin’s father is the hero of the hour. He puts a hand on her shoulder and nods at her in a way that brings her own father to mind.

Jumin lifts the napkin from her hand and she notices that she’s shaking. Mr. Han sits his untouched scotch down beside her. She flexes her fingers inside her brace.

“That was impressive, if inappropriate Ms. Miller, another secret talent?” Mr. Han says softly.

It takes a minute for her to form words. “No,” she inhales, “just a Dad in the service, you know?”

“She’s lucky you’re not left handed,” Jumin scolds, “and so are you, she wouldn’t have walked out of here if you’d hit her with your right hand.”

Mr. Han pats Jumin on the shoulder and the two share a series of looks that Callie can’t quiet decipher. She reaches for the scotch and then changes her mind. The C&R security guards have come back and they help her stand, Jumin takes her in hand, his face grim but his body language changed from earlier. She leans on him as they make their way to his big black Sedan.

“Please take us to my doctor,” Jumin asks Driver Kim.

“No thank you,” Callie says. “Take me home please Mr. Kim.”

“Calliope you need stitches and antiseptic, look at your hand, her teeth cut you.”

Callie pushes her big bag towards him with her foot. “There are steristrips and rubbing alcohol in my first aid kit. I’m going home.”

“Calliope—” he starts the tone seeping back into his voice.

“Jumin, use the fucking first aid kit, I need to go home.”

For the first time in weeks, Jumin Han does what he’s told. When he finishes with her hand he takes the brace off her arm and she freezes for a moment while he pulls and tugs.

“Callie, Relax,” he says softly. “The rate you were drinking at lunch you shouldn’t have any of your medication for at least another hour.”

“Shows what you know,” she snorts.

With her arm free he pulls her closer to him, the seat belt making it difficult to really hold her the way he’d like to, and she gives in a little, he’s stiff, frustrated with her still,she wishes she had a good reason to refuse his offer. Something that would satisfy him, quantify the value of her pride in a way he could grasp.

Instead she laughs. The tightness in her chest squeezing until she finally gives in and it bubbles up and out of her mouth as a choking, cackling, doubled over, tears in her eyes laugher. Jumin pats her back and waits for the moment to subside.

“We’re fucking idiots,” she manages, between wheezes.

“I can agree to at least part of that statement,” Jumin says dryly.

“You know I thought it went without saying,” she starts, taking a deep breath, “but maybe you need to hear it. If we get there and we have to go before a judge, and he’s completely fucking unreasonable, I will be happy to accept your offer.”

She’s still doubled over, hugging her knees. She hates having to say it out loud almost as much as she hates not having said it sooner. She can feel Jumin tap his fingers thoughtfully along her spine.

“Would it not have saved both of us a lot of hurt to have said that sooner?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugs, “I mean it hurts to say it out loud, I just kept hoping you’d, I don’t know, trust me, or something.”

“That’s foolish, you sound like Zen, why would it hurt you to accept someone’s help, especially considering you’ve accepted conditionally.”

“Yeah, I grasp that,” she snorts. “It’s just, I get why it’s such a big deal to you. Don’t act like is altruism, neither you or your father want to pay that much money for an American lawyer because you’re just that nice. You want me and Saeyoung and Max back here as soon as possible.”

“I’ve never pretended this was anything less than selfish on my part, I simply assumed our goals were the same.”

“I mean they are but,” she sighs again as they pull into her driveway. Letting the conversation drop until they get in the house. Saeyoung isn’t home yet and Max has been in the States with T for 3 days now, as much as she hates her being this far away. Max calls her first thing in the morning, and right before bed every night, she emails her whenever she can. Callie and the Twins will be leaving in less than a week.

“I hate the idea of leaving all of this for more than just a visit,” she drops her things by the door and kicks off her boots before she trudges through to the living room and flops on the big plush couch.

“Then let me help,” Jumin implores her. He kneels next to her and presses his forehead to hers. “I’ve accepted that we can’t be married, Saeyoung is a better husband than I am. But please let me help you with this, for all of us, Max included.

She brushes his hair out of his face. “I thought when he left me, that was it, you know? I was so far gone that I just accepted it. I thought ok we can just live together as roommates, we’ll rent another house and parent and just be different, and then other people pointed out that that was weird. I started to get that it wasn’t really an even arrangement, so I moved out.

“Then I thought that was it, I mean we could be friends, he’d visit until he got orders, and he did, and he called and I accepted less than Max deserved because we’re nice people and I could just ask if something came up. And then other people pointed out that seemed like a bad idea, wouldn’t having something on paper be good for both of us? Then something came up and it wasn’t a good time, and then something else came up and it was a very bad time, and then there was an emergency and he was in the middle of getting orders closer and absolutely not.

“So when everyone said I needed to just get the piece of paper, because if he’s such a good person what’s the paper hurt, I did it, I mean I drug my heels, I let it take forever but I did it. And I told him, because they’re right. And you know what?”

“He was mad,” Jumin says and kisses her palm.

“Livid, angry, pissed the fuck off. No more working together and you know what I learned? I was fucked up. Faced with all his bullshit I realized I was this unhappy ball of tightly wound feelings. Feelings I hadn’t let myself feel since before Max was born, and through it all I never let Max know, never once put blame on him.

“I sucked it up, I clawed my way back to some version of me that was closest to the one I remembered, closest to the me I missed being, I saw a doctor and dealt with the fallout of his abuse, I dealt with him. And every step of the way I did it on my own. I proved to him and myself that I didn’t need him. And he left us alone, and as much as it hurt to see Max lose faith in her Daddy it was a relief to be done.”

“And now it’s not,” he says.

“It’s not and I can feel myself twisting into that person again, packing away all the feelings I can’t control until I’m that small vibrating ball of anxiety again and I appreciate that you want to help but I need to at least try to do this alone. Maybe it’s pride, probably it is, but he knows I’m doing well here, his support was just adjusted again to reflect that and when he ultimately asks me if you paid for my lawyer, I want to be able to say no, I did.”

Jumin sits on the edge of the couch. “Why would he assume I paid for your lawyer? Why would he even concern himself with those details.”

She sighs. “Because he’s petty, because I threatened him once with your lawyers, because he continues to undervalue Saeyoung, because you are the person who worries him.”

Jumin crinkles his nose. “Why would I worry him?”

She laughs. “I don’t know, I think at first when he saw us together that day in the park he thought you’d be validation.”

“For what?”

“He likes to tell people that I am and always have been the root of his money problems, I think he thought that seeing me with the rich guy on the magazine covers and a pile of shopping bags would prove that but, just like when we were married it was almost all for Max, I didn’t even know about the one bag of things for me.”

“But at that point he’d already hired the woman you hit today.”

“I don’t know. Today was stupid. I’m going to have to email my lawyer. How bad was it?”

“I think I remember you telling Hyun that it never seems stupid in the moment.”

“Well that was a fucking lie because I was telling myself how stupid it was while I was hitting her,” she laughs. Jumin shakes his head. “She appeared to have a split lip and security said she complained of a loose tooth. I’m sure father will take care of it, he is fond of you.”

“Is this going to fuck me, Jumin? I should just suck it up and accept your help, after today what am I even doing?”

“You’re doing your best,” he smiles and kisses her on the forehead. “Use your decent lawyer for now, as you’ve said he has no grounds, he’s simply trying to make your life difficult. If you need my help, you just need to ask.”

“I’m sorry I’m like this,” she scrunches up her face and looks away.

“I’m not,” he smiles and smoothes back her hair. “I’m sorry I let my feelings about these things get the better of me. This is your life and I shouldn’t feel entitled to any part ofit, I shouldn’t have forced this information from you.”

“Jumin, it’s fine. I should have just explained.”

“You shouldn’t have had to, I was jealous and I felt helpless and that is not your fault, I’m sure your family will have enough to say about your choices, you did not need me acting childish.”

“God Jumin, you weren’t childish, you had every right to feel the way you felt.” She sits up and wraps herself around him. “Not everyone is T, it’s hard to remember sometimes.”