Missing Sneak Peak (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
The truth is out about Marinette's predicament, and to everyone's surprise, Chloe calls Ladybug:
"I need a favor."
It was a standoff.
Ladybug had faced down akumas, false heroes, monsters of man and magic, and even Hawk Moth himself. And not once had she ever backed down or given up.
But Chloe Bourgeois was nothing if not stubborn. She was long used to getting what she wanted.
And she wasn't going to let something as simple as facing an opponent with a mask and superpowers deter her.
“Look, I worked with you before. That has to mean something, right? I helped you before! Against my Dad and against Hawk Moth on Heroes Day! You…you owe me.”
Ladybug looked unimpressed. “The Miraculous do not entitle you to anything, Chloe.”
“No, hear met out!” Chloe insisted. “You trusted me to help you. And I did! I put my life on the line as your teammate. So…so that warrants something, doesn’t it? I deserve something! A wish. An ask. Just one request.”
The hero frowned. But Chloe was undeterred.
“So look, just…bring her back already. Bring back Marinette Dupain-Cheng and every stupidly good and positive thing she brings with her, and I’ll…I don’t know. I’ll find some way to return the favor.”
Ladybug simply stared at her. Blank. Unfeeling.
“I can pay you! Even superheroes need money, right?”
“Chloe….”
“I’ll be better! No more akumas, I promise!”
“Chloe.”
“I’ll be nicer! I’ll stop bugging my Dad for things and stop causing problems!”
“That's not—h”
“I'll donate my wardrobe to charity!”
“I can't just—"
“I’ll stop making comments to my classmates! I’ll just shut up completely! I’ll get voice surgery if I have to!”
“Chloe, that’s not how it works—”
“NO! It HAS to work!” She shouted, cutting her off. Because she refused—she refused to accept any other answer. “You’re Ladybug! You always make it work! So you can just make this work, too!”
Silence.
“Please.” Chloe begged. “This is the one good thing I have. I don’t want to—I can’t give it up!”
Ladybug simply looked at her, almost pityingly.
“Please." Chloe repeated. "Just this one thing. That's all.”
Ladybug simply shook her head, leaving Chloe feeling hollow.
And without even a word, Ladybug turned away.
Chloe just stared after her in shock.
Because Ladybug was Ladybug. A hero. THE hero. Always there. Always helpful. Always caring.
So why…?
Why didn’t she care now?
Then…
…it hit her.
And Chloe laughed.
How could she not?
“Of course.“ She laughed mournfully. “Of course she had gotten to you too.”
Because of course even Ladybug would be different.
Because of course if anyone could have helped make a Ladybug into the great hero she was today, it would be Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
----------------------------------------
“Chloe?" Adrien called out as he entered her room, worried and unsure. "Is everything okay? You were crying on the phone and…”
He froze, seeing Chloe curled up next to her Bee signal.
“Chloe?”
She didn’t move or answer immediately. He was worried she didn’t even realize he was there, given how blankly she seemed to be staring into nothing.
“Chloe?” He asked as he approached.
Silence.
Unsure of what else to do, he sat next to her and waited.
Chloe had gotten like this before. A long, long time ago.
She would have these times where she'd get quiet and small. And he would sit next to her, just barely touching. Close enough that she'd know he was there and could decide from there if she wanted to lean on him or push away. He always left it up to her. Always waited. Because Chloe never pushed him away. And with enough time, she would voice her feelings, just loud enough that he could hear.
...and sure enough...
“My Mom forgot my name today.” She whispered.
Adrien paused.
He knew how much that had to hurt her. Chloe’s Mother was everything to her. Everything she idolized and admired. Everything she wanted and wanted to be. He’d never seen her happier than when her Mom settled back in Paris and returned to her life.
It had meant everything to her. And to lose it again…
“I’m sorry, Chloe.” He said, leaning closer to her. “I thought things were better.”
“They were.” She sniffed, trying to hold back the hurt. “They were better. And do you know why?”
She laughed, startling him with how bitter it sounded.
“Chloe?”
“It was because of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Because of course it was!" She started off lowly, but her tone grew angrier the more she spoke. "Because of course she is! Because of. Freaking. COURSE if ANYONE was to get my Mom to do better and treat me like I’m actually family and just be a mom, it would be stupid perfect Marinette!”
She curled in on herself with a sob.
“Not…not me.”
Despite her efforts, the tears began to flow.
“And…and now—”
She hiccuped, forcing herself to speak.
“I heard it, you know. They're saying that Marinette got hit by that akuma and now not only did she disappear, but everything—everything connected to her is disappearing, too. Like…how? How does that even work? How does one person affect that much? She was just…just a little nobody! She didn’t matter!” Chloe lowered her head. “At least, she didn’t use to.”
Adrien frowned, wanting to argue, but forced himself to not speak.
Chloe filled the silence instead.
“And it was scary learning she was fading, because that could happen to you or me or anyone, but it was like no big deal, right? Because yeah, she’s done some things and helped some people but it's not like she did that much, right? So her being gone wouldn't matter that much. Surely she didn’t impact me.” Her eyes clenched shut. “But she did, and now it’s hitting me in the face just how much of what I had was because of her and…and…”
She tried to wipe at her eye, only for more tears to trail.
“And now just like that! It’s all gone! Just back to how it was before. Like—like it never happened! Mom caring about me? Loving me? Yeah right! When did that ever happen? It wasn't me being awesome or a good daughter or following in her footsteps that got my Mom's attention!" She smiled falsely, tears falling from her eyes in a sad show of her true feelings.
"Nope! It wasn't anything about me! It wasn't even about Mom realizing she loves me! Everything we got to have was all only because of Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” She exclaimed with a wild waving of her hands. "Isn't that lovely? Isn't that awesome? Isn't it great how she just fixed everything and brought us together into the happy little family I'd been wanting for years?"
“Chloe…”
She shook her head, showing a bitter smile.
“And now because of stupid akumas and stupid magic, Marinette isn’t here. And because she isn’t here, she wasn’t there. And because she wasn’t there, it didn’t happen. And because it didn’t happen, everything’s just…poof! Gone! Just like that! Just like magic!”
She clenched her fists, her smile falling. “And now I know it never would have happened on its own. Not with just me. Not without her. It was only because of her that I had my Mom back at all. And now that she’s gone, I’m gonna lose that too and…and…”
She sobbed.
“It’s not fair.”
It wasn’t, he agreed internally because what could he actually say?
He understood her feelings about her Mom. It was hold he felt with his own Dad. Never feeling enough. And to have someone else come in and fix that…he wasn’t sure whether he would be grateful or hurt. He was even less sure how he would respond.
…he would feel sad. He knew that much.
“And the worst part? Ladybug is just the same. Harsh sometimes, but not like that. Never like that.”
Silence.
A breath.
“What does that say?” Chloe asked. “When her being gone makes that big of a difference? With my hero AND with my Mom. Not me. Not anyone. No. It's because of Her.”
Adrien stared in surprise. He'd known Ladybug was off, but even Chloe had noticed a difference? It was jarring.
“Ladybug is?”
Chloe wiped her tears. “She's different. You've noticed, haven't you?” She paused, before shrugging. “Though maybe you haven't been around her enough to. But she's different, too. Everyone is different without her. Ladybug. My Mom...I get why. I remember what happened to start it, but still...”
He had as Chat, but he couldn't tell her that.
“And I hate it!” She suddenly exclaimed, anger rushing through her. “I hate it because it means it was nothing about me that made it even happen or made me worth it in the first place but it was everything about her and I hate that but I’m so selfish because—yeah okay, I hate it but I’ll still take it if it means I get to have this and it’s still better than not having Mom at all even if I only got it this way but now I can’t even have that much anymore and soon I never will have had it at all and it'll be like it never happened and it’s not fair!” She ended up shouting, slamming her fist into the ground.
“Chloe!”
“I’m not good, but it’s not fair!”
He hesitated for a moment.
But it was only a moment before he drew her into his arms and let her cry.
He wanted to speak and reassure her. Insist that she was wrong and she was more than enough. It was the right thing to say. The kind thing.
But he was still learning and growing and still so very scared of saying the wrong thing.
Nino had helped him. Listened to him. Helping him without even saying a thing.
Because it was what he needed…because sometimes people needed to make their voices heard more than they needed kind words.
And Adrien could do that much.
So he sat by her, waiting in solidarity and support. The friend and listener she needed as she cried.
