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Redemption	By : Cat_Eyes Category: +M through R > Miraculous LadyBug Views: 2815 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. Miraculous Ladybug is the intellectual property of Thomas Astruc and released by Zag studios. No profit was made writing this story.

Chapter List
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Marinette arrived at school on Monday to a much different scene compared to the previous week. A group of students gathered around a figure huddled in the far corner of the courtyard, taunting and throwing garbage at him. With a start, Marinette realised the students must have overcome their fears and were now lashing out at Adrien as he covered his head with his arms.
Marinette jogged to the base of the steps and stopped, her hands fluttering uselessly in her indecision and uncertainty.
Chloe stood to the left of the steps, buffing her nails and feigning disinterest, while Sabrina stood meekly at her side.
'Aren't you going to stop them?' Marinette asked.
Chloe looked up and sneered. 'Why would I?'
Marinette's jaw dropped. 'I thought he was your friend.'
Turning her full attention on Marinette, Chloe clenched her fists by her sides, crushing her emery board. 'He stopped being my friend the moment he became Chat Noir.'
Marinette took a step back, astonished. 'You realise you're doing to him what Sabrina did to you. He needs you right now.'
Chloe's lips pulled back. 'This is nothing like that. He was an actual supervillain,' she snarled. 'If you're so concerned, why don't you put a stop to it? See what good it does you.'
Marinette was about to retort when she was distracted by a pained yelp. Forgetting Chloe, Marinette ran to the cluster of students, one of whom had lifted a foot, drawing it back, as the others continued hurling insults.
'What do you think you're doing?' she demanded as she barrelled into the boy with the upraised leg.
'What does it look like?' he responded, regaining his balance and indicating Adrien as he curled into a ball. 'We're getting payback for all the things he's done. It's what he deserves.'
Marinette gaped in horrified astonishment. 'You think this is the right thing to do? Two wrongs don't make a right. Besides, beating him up will only get you in trouble.'
A boy behind her laughed, scornfully. 'You really think the teachers will punish us? They don't want him here either; they're as scared of him as everyone else. They just tolerate him 'cause that's their job. No one actually cares what happens to him.'
Marinette felt like the breath had been punched out of her. Drawing herself up to her full height, she squared her shoulders and looked each of them in the eyes. 'I care,' she declared.
The group regarded her dubiously for a moment, before breaking down in helpless, mocking laughter. Ignoring them, Marinette strode forward and grabbed Adrien's wrist. He looked up at her in stunned amazement as she hauled him to his feet, but bowed his head again as she led him to their classroom. The taunts of the mob followed them, echoing around the courtyard.
Marinette slammed the door behind them and turned to face Adrien. He slumped into his seat and stared at his lap.
'You shouldn't have done that,' he muttered.
Marinette put her hands on her hips and moved to stand in front of his desk. 'What, stop them from beating you up?'
He sighed. 'You heard what they said. No one wants me here, no one cares. You're only risking your own social standing by associating with me.'
Marinette had nothing to say to that. Her ire faded and her shoulders sagged as she sat in her place. 'Where's your guard, anyway? He should've been here.'
Adrien shrugged. 'Some parents complained. Said their kids felt threatened by his presence,' he explained with a bitter laugh. 'Thank you,' he added after a brief silence. 'You didn't have to do that, but thanks.'
'You're welcome,' Marinette murmured.
The bell rang and the class came in, casting hostile glances toward Adrien, and unsure looks at Marinette. She met each of their gazes steadily, silently daring them to speak. No one held her gaze for long.
'What happened?' Alya demanded as she sat down.
Marinette shrugged and told her, her tone hushed, and face stony.
Alya looked worried. 'I'm not sure you should've done that.'
Marinette stared back, aghast. 'Would you expect me to do nothing?'
Alya held her hands up in a hopeless gesture. 'Well, yeah. Do you want to be an outcast?' she asked when Marinette continued to stare.
Marinette frowned. 'It's more important that we do the right thing. Tormenting him isn't going to make anything better, and it certainly doesn't make us better people. He's already lost everything, isn't that enough?'
Alya was still sceptical, but then Caline entered, putting an end to the conversation. Marinette was glad for the interruption; she had never felt so disappointed in Alya before.
At the bell, their classmates filed out for the lunch break, studiously ignoring Adrien. Marinette glared after them until Alya tapped her on the shoulder.
'You go one ahead,' Marinette urged. Alya hesitated, but finally chose to leave, casting a worried look over her shoulder as she rounded the doorway.
'Do you have any plans for lunch?' Marinette asked, casually, as she pulled her bag straps over her shoulders.
Adrien turned to her as she walked to stand in front of his desk. 'You don't have to hang out with me, you know.'
Marinette nodded, 'I know. So, do you have plans?'
Adrien looked away. 'Only if you can call a court order a plan. The only places I'm allowed to go are school, home, and to my therapy sessions. If I want to go anywhere else, I have to submit a form a week in advance and see if it'll be approved,' he explained.
'I see. That would make things difficult.'
'Not really. No one wants me to be their friend, so I've no one to hang out with. I couldn't even walk down the street without people staring or screaming, anyway. So, it's probably for the best.'
'But, isn't it lonely?'
Adrien stilled for a moment before getting up and walking out, apparently having no answer for that. Marinette watched him go, her heart going out to him.

Marinette came in the next day to hear another concerned parent screaming in Principal Damocles' office.
'Who is it, this time?' she asked Rose.
'Chloe's dad. He's threatening to pull her out of school,' she answered.
'Also to cut off city funding if he doesn't get rid of that Agreste boy,' added Juleka.
Marinette snorted. 'That's silly. If he pulls Chloe out, there'd be no reason for him to cut off the funds. He can't have it both ways.'
'Except, it would seem his email, and mayoral office, have been inundated with furious parents all demanding Agreste be taken out of school, and sent into juvenile detention,' Max interjected.
Marinette gulped. 'I see.'
The backlash following the ruling on Adrien's case was gaining momentum, and was spearheaded by the families of pupils who attended Françoise Dupont. Alya and Nino joined them, then.
'Is that guy even a threat anymore?' Nino asked. 'Does he have whatever gave him his powers, or did he lose it? Either way, guy's not done anything to indicate he's still dangerous.'
'How did his powers even work?' Rose added.
'Well, Ladybug got her powers from her earrings,' Alya replied. 'Papillon kept going on about them, and the spots beeped and vanished after she used her powers. Maybe Chat Noir and Papillon had magic earrings, too.'
'So, where is Ladybug now, and why doesn't Papillon use his powers to get free?' Kim asked as he wandered over.
'If Papillon still had his magical items, he wouldn't still be incarcerated, so we can surmise that he's lost his,' Max proffered, to a round of nods.
'Maybe Chat Noir lost his during the fight,' Alya suggested.
Max shook his head. 'That seems unlikely. Such careless wasn't part of his modus operandi.'
'Maybe Ladybug took them,' Juleka said.
The others agreed this was the most likely scenario, but Marinette turned away, pressing her lips together with her eyebrows furrowed.
'But this doesn't explain where Ladybug disappeared to,' Rose pointed out.
'Her work here was done. Maybe she left to fight injustice somewhere else,' Alya said.
The others agreed, hoping to see reports of a woman in red and black surface somewhere else.
The door to Principal Damocles' office slammed open.
'Chloe,' called André Bourgeois. 'Pack your things. You're leaving.'
During the course of their conversation, they had wondered off the topic of André and Chloe Bourgeois. Marinette had forgotten he was even in the school.
Chloe pushed away from the post she had been leaning against. 'What?'
'I'm going to send you to a very prestigious, and well respected, girls' school in Belgium, far removed from this riff raff. Come, come, hurry up.' He clapped his hands.
Chloe gaped up at him. 'But Daddy - '
'No "buts" Chloe, dear. Let's go.' He descended the stairs, Principal Damocles trailing after him, begging him to be reasonable, for Chloe's sake as well as that of the school.
André shepherded Chloe out the door and into a waiting town car, the staff and students left dumbstruck as they were driven away.
'This is all your fault,' Sabrina shrieked at Adrien when he arrived, pointing an accusatory finger at him.
'I'm sorry,' he replied, automatically.
Sabrina tried to say more, but choked on her own sobs as she cried into her hands. Marinette caught her when her knees gave out, handing her to Rose and Mylene, and indicating they take her into the girls' room where she could collect herself in peace.
Turning back to the courtyard, she saw everyone staring at Adrien with open hostility. Adrien had lowered his head, accepting their accusations without even knowing what he was taking the blame for, his body turned slightly with one shoulder hunched up to his ear, as if he expected a physical attack.
Marinette stomped her foot. 'Are you serious? None of you even liked Chloe. I've heard almost all of you complain about her, and wish she were gone. Now she is, so don't act like you're sorry, or sad to see her go. You're all being massive hypocrites, right now. You realise that, right?'
There was a chorus of protests as people shouted her, and each other, down. The bell for class rang, but no one noticed. Finally, the teachers had to break them up, threatening detentions and letters home to their families if they didn't calm down and get to class.
The feeing in the air was more hostile than ever. During class, Kim threw balls of paper at Adrien's head, not even trying to be subtle. Caline saw him do it, but said nothing to stop him.
Sabrina sat in the middle of her bench, huddled into a ball and sniffling, occasionally throwing a dirty look at Adrien with red rimmed eyes.
Nino perched on the very edge of his seat, as if he were afraid of being contaminated. Other than that, he ignored Adrien completely, unflinching, even when Adrien ducked under the desk to retrieve a fallen pen.
Marinette had no idea how to fix this. She'd had a herculean job to begin with, just getting people to tolerate Adrien's presence. She sighed, wishing she still had Tikki around for guidance.
When everyone departed for lunch, Kim, Ivan, Alix, and even Nathaniel made sure to knock their shoulders against Adrien. Each time, he would smother a sigh and crouch down to gather his things from the floor. Marinette fumed, her temper rising with each occurrence.
She was still peeved when she stepped out of the bakery after her meal with Tom and Sabine. She stopped, however, when she saw Nadja Chamack standing on the other side of the road, microphone in hand, standing before a camera.
'In an unexpected show of solidarity, Mayor Bourgeois has pulled his daughter out of the school now attended by the criminal, Adrien Agreste, following a spate of visits from terrified parents.'
Marinette circled Nadja in a wide arc, but just when she thought she was clear, the microphone was thrust under her nose.
'Marinette Dupain-Cheng, as a student of Françoise Dupont High, do you feel like Adrien Agreste is a threat to your safety?'
Marinette's fists clenched and her face turned a dangerous shade of pink. 'No, I don't, and if you even think of airing this story, then you'll have to find a new babysitter.' Marinette stormed off without waiting for a reply.
Angry tears stung her eyes as she wove around students returning to school. Marinette headed straight to her classroom, ignoring Alya when she called out to her. Once she was inside and at her desk, she lay her head in her arms, and concentrated on her breathing.
'Tikki, what do I do?' she whimpered into her sleeve.
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Redemption