i kinda gave up on this, so u don’t even have an intro for this comic, huh. So the context - Lila’ve been telling everyone a rumor about her having a date with Adrien and Felix needs Marinette to stop hate him for his evil benefits, so he offers her a deal:
F: “What about we making a deal? I’m getting rid of your worst enemies, you - become a friend of mine. “
M: “Why would I have a deal with you knowing you only need me by your side for your evil plans?”
F: “Because it’s worth it.”
M: “Even the time i waste on listening to you is no worth it.”
F: “Right, I also prefer to get down to business right away” .. “now let me do my part”
Marinette was processing what had happened in the last few, eventfulminutes in a private corner of her own, because a, she was trying to run away from her so-called old friends and b, she reallyneeded the time to process this or she was going to explode.
Unfortunately, her seclusion didn’t last long because, in a few seconds, Nino and Kim were rushing up to her, begging for her forgiveness.
“Marinette,” Kim yelled, as he came to a stop in front of her. “Marinette, I’m so, sosorry, words can’t express how sorry I am, pleaseMarinette-”
On top of his voice, Nino was alsovoicing his apologies, “Mari, how can I make this up to you? I swear to always believe in you; I’m sorry I’ve been such a bad friend-”
All in all, it was sounding like a mess, and Marinette was beginning to back away from Nino and Kim.
Marinette laughed nervously, which, surprisingly shut the two of them up (she was expecting some more drastic measures to be taken). “So, um, I don’t really know what to say, because you know, I’ve made my feelings pretty clear before. We’re not friends anymore.”
Nino and Kim looked at her with devastated eyes that did nothingto sway her decision.
An awkward silence descended on the trio of the once childhood friends.
Marinette looked around furtively, looking for an exit.
Spotting the hallway behind her, Marinette took the opportunity to escape. “So, because things got really awkward here, I’m just going to pretend I got a superimportant text and go somewhere that’s not here, so…bye!”
The last word echoed lightly off the walls as Marinette raced down the hallway.
Looking behind her every now and then to make sure they weren’t following her (you could never be toocareful), Marinette didn’t notice the orange girl until she practically barreled into her, the two of them stumbling.
Marinette opened her mouth to apologize profusely, but when she saw whoshe bumped into, she closed her mouth with an irritated snap.
What a lovelytime to run into her oneenemy that probably wants her deadby now.
Lila Rossi felt her anger burn beyond its limitations as she set her gaze on the baneof her existence.
Marinette Dupain-fucking-Cheng.
As Lila’s gaze rested on the ‘innocent’ girl, every second made her anger burn brighterand more insane.
By this point, Lila was practically snarlingin anger and the urge to just endMarinette’s miserable existence was naggingLila painfully.
“You,” she hissed poisonously, her eyes flashing with hatred. “You little bitc-”
“Idon’thave time for this.”
Dupain-Cheng’s voice was icy and emotionless, and it made Lila feel a thousand times smaller, though she tried to hide it.
Feeling her anger spark even more, Lila resorted to more..physicalmeans,attemptingto shove Marinette back.
“I’ll make you pay, you little home-wrecker,” Lila pulled her arms back to shove Marinette.
She even wouldhave, had Marinette’s own hands not gripped her arms to the point of pain.
This time, when Lila looked at Marinette’s face, she was properlyintimidated.
“Listen up here, Rossi,” Marinette hissed, her nails digging into Lila’s skin. “Let me make this clear. Against me, you are nothing. Believe me, in your time at our school, I could have killed you a hundredtimes over, so be gratefulthat you’re even alive.”
“You’re lying,” Lila said, although the tremor in her voice bellied her true feelings.
“I can assure you,” a frosty voice said, one that Lila recognized very well, having been the one to expose her, “That she is very much telling the truth. I have seen her do it herself. Do not underestimate her, as you did before, Ms. Rossi.”
Damian Wayne looked at Lila with nothing but disdain and anger in his eyes, and suddenly, Lila felt like shrinking and falling into the ground because goddamn it, these two were scary.
“Now,” Damian said clearly, gently prying Marinette’s hands from Lila’s now-crushed sleeves. “Let me be perfectly clear. You will notlie from this second forward about me, Marinette or anyother member of my family. If you do so, Wayne Enterprises will sue you for your entire worth - which is quite meagre by the way - multiplied by a hundred. By the end of it, your life will be ruined permanently and you’ll be spending the rest of it rotting in a jail cell.”
Safe to say, Lila was terrified of Damian now.
But maybe she could salvage the situation? Damian said only the Wayne family…
“And,” Damian continued. “I dosuggest not lying about any celebrity, because, Ms. Rossi, currently, I believe you are 'trending’ and your parents are being floodedwith lawsuits.”
Lila’s jaw dropped open in shock.
“Do what you will with that,” Damian smirked at her one more time before grabbing Marinette’s hand and walking away dramatically.
Lila stood there in silence for what felt like hours, until her sharp ringtone cut into her subconscious.
Well actually, a better word would be that he was enraged, and on the verge of mutilatingthat little liarwho thought she could pawn herself off as hisboyfriend’s girlfriend.
What a - pardon his language - harlot.
And she even had the audacityto say that Damian, himself was fightingwith his belovedover a pathetic specimen like her?
So it made Damian feel particularly victorious when Adrien ignored the liar when she beggedhim for help.
But obviously, for a furiousassassin like him, that wasn’t enough.
So,obviously, Damian couldn’t resist Tim’s offer to be the one to inform Lila’s parents of her actions.
If they werein fact, aware of Lila’s actions (but they probably weren’t, considering the fact that they were two well-known government figures, not foreign diplomats), Damian would have great pleasure in slaughtering them verbally if not physically.
He even flew down to Paris with Adrien (certainly not making out on the way, in celebration), with a clear, unedited video clip of Lila’s exposure in front of everyemployee in WE, as proof of what he was going to inform them of.
Although, Alya’s blog did more than enough.
Damian smirked cruelly as he watched Lila’s father’s face slowly turn purple with anger and her mother’s hands start to shakewith fury.
“Lila!”
Her mother’s voice shrieked shrilly and scarily through the house.
After a few long moments, the girl came down the stairs, eyes cast down low as a failed attempt to look innocent and demure.
“Yes,mama?” she asked, still not looking up.
“Your father and I have a visitor here, mio caro,” her mother said with false sweetness. “He says his name is Damian Wayne.”
Lila’s head shot up, panic evident in her eyes.
If Damian put his assassin skills to use and listened hard enough, he could hear her heart beating muchfaster than normal.
“He showed us an…interestingvideo and website, shall we say,” her father picked up from there. “I think it’s time we had a chat.”
As Damian slipped out of the room, hearing Lila’s parents scream at their daughter, he didn’t forget to put a littlebug on their sofa.
He could come and collect it later, and keep it for personaluses, obviously.
Certainly not to spread it to everyone who was involved in the planning of Lila’s exposé and have a laugh about it later.
Even the mildly disapproving Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle over it.
That made Damian feel even better about himself, no matter how much Bruce tried to stop it.
serendipity | +3.9k | lila salt, adrien salt, alya salt
summary: the last time damian al-ghul saw marinette was when they were twelve. he didn’t think he would see her again. so, it’s a huge surprise when he stumbles upon her in WE while exposing the liar of the class from France.
the confrontation | +0.8k | lila salt, mild class salt [part 2 to ‘serendipity’]
summary: what a lovelytime to run into her enemy that probably wants her deadby now.
soulmate au | +1.8k | lila salt, adrien salt, alya salt
summary: tradition says that your soulmate will have another tattoo, something that relates to you. when they meet you, it is said that the tattoos start glowing a bright gold.
summary: he was a handsome man, she would give him that, but according to her father - the one of the most important lords of the kingdom - he was extremely stand-offish and cold. she didn’t know if she would get along with him.
summary: damian glared at her fiercely and she shrunk back. “i can assure you, lila rossi is most definitely not my soulmate. perhaps you should check everything she has said on google. it does exist you know.”
summary: tim and marinette attend marinette’s class reunion.
the recording | +1.5k | little angst, fluff, salt; [part 2 to ‘an…interesting reunion’]
summary: the recording (can be read as a stand-alone)
the gala | +1.6k | lila salt, adrien salt, alya salt, class salt [platonic]
summary: timothy drake-wayne was not happy. he had to lead the (according to dick at least, and he was inclined to believe him because he had never seen dick so unhappy) class of dimwits from france because it was his turn. He had put it off all week and now he had to do it as the CEO of WE.
summary: “you really should have sat down,” sighed anarka. “lad, your father is bruce wayne.”
no pairing
oneshots:
the exposé | +5.3k | lila salt, adrien salt, alya salt, class salt
summary: lila was having the time of her life at WE. the class was fawning over her, ready to do her bidding whenever she wanted, however she wanted. she could spout out a ridiculous lie and they’d believe it; they were completely and irreversibly under her spell. but then, of course, things hadto go wrong.
summary: marinette wakes up in a hospital, paralyzed.
what a liar! | +1k | lila salt, class sugar, fix-it fic
summary: lila rossi mentally prepared her plethora of lies as she entered her new class. the only thing was, she wasn’t aware they possessed brain cells.
summary: “i mean,” marinette says frustratedly, ready to tear her hair out - you will never believe the number of rants she has told chloe and kagami and the nights she has spent obsessing over it, “i’m in love with both of you!”
summary: damian glared at her fiercely and she shrunk back. “i can assure you, lila rossi is most definitely not my soulmate. perhaps you should check everything she has said on google. it does exist you know.”
Said girl stirred a little, mumbling, “5 more minutes, maman.”
“Marinette!”
Yet she did not respond, rolling over to cover her ears with the pillow next to her.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, if you do notwake up right now you are going to miss your flight to New York!”
Sabine Cheng stifled a laugh at her daughter’s high-pitched shriek.
**
Marinette grumbled as she picked herself up from the ground.
Amazing start to the day, rolling off your bed and falling down.
“Cheer up, Marinette!” Tikki said, unfailingly happy in the morning (as always). “You’re going to go on your America tour today!”
Her chosen brushed her teeth faster, while simultaneously trying to make sure she had everything ready. “Tikki, am I missing anything?” she asked frantically.
While looking at the list Marinette made, Tikki smiled fondly at her chosen, hoping that the Rossi girl and Marinette’s ex-friends didn’t ruin the trip Marinette had worked so hard to organize.
Since Bustier couldn’t be bothered to, it fell onto Marinette to plan the senior trip. It was supposed to be educational and fun, in a way, since they would be required to write an essay about their trip. It counted for more than 50% of their grade.
With help from her friends (Alix, Kim, Max and Chloe), in no time, Marinette had developed an outline of what places they could visit.
Theoriginalplan (before it was presented to the class) was to go to New York, Metropolis, LA and then finally California.
But nooo, Lila Rossi just hadto see her so-called soulmate, Damian Wayne (“Marinette, how could you?” “How could I what?” “How could you just exclude Gotham because I want to see my soulmate?”), billionaire Bruce Wayne’s son.
Despite Marinette’s warnings, Mdm. Bustier forced her to change the itenary so that Lila could see her ‘soulmate’ (“Marinette, please change the locations.” “But Mdm. Bustier, Gotham is one of the most crime-ridden-” “I will not stand for your petty grievances, Marinette. Change it at once.”) and so the list had become:
California, New York, Metropolis and thenGotham.
Nevertheless, Marinette beamed as she waved to her parents, feeling excited.
“You can stop waving now,” Chloe remarked dryly, filing her nails. “They’re out of sight.”
**
You might be wondering, what happened to elicit such a changebetween their relationship.
Lila.
That was one thing Marinette had to thank her for. She showed Marinette who her realfriends were, a.k.a Chloe, Alix, Kim and Max.
Chloe didn’t believe Lila from the start (“Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Does she expect meto believe that Jagged Stone, the one who lives in my hotel every monthowns a cat? Everyone knows he’s allergic to them!”) but Max was disillusioned when some of the things Lila said didn’t line up – “I got tinnitus from saving Jagged Stone’s cat from an airplane!” “You would’ve become deaf. Not suffer from tinnitus.” “Don’t be silly, Max!” – case in point.
Kim and Alix, on the other hand, came to know when Lila mixed her names up (“I know Michael Phelps – he’s such an amazing skater, Alix. I could give you some tips from him!” “Michael Phelps? Isn’t he a swimmer?”) and (Marinette snorted when she heard that) said Michael Phelps was a skater.
That certainly didn’t earn her any points with thosetwo.
In the end, Marinette could say she would take her life right nowthan the one before because until Lila came, she never really noticed how whinythe class was.
She shuddered when she remembered the never-ending requests they had – and they expected herto do it for free.
Thank god she got away from them.
**
In response to Chloe’s statement from earlier, Marinette mock-glared at her. “I know,Chloe. I was about to stop.”
“Sure, Mari,” sniffed her best friend.
Marinette protested feebly. “Really!”
“Uh-huh,” Chloe continued to file her nails, completely uninterested.
Before Marinette could retort, the door burst open and two balls of chaos rolled into the car with one poor Max.
“Ha! I won, Kim, you owe me 30 Euros!” Alix crowed triumphantly.
Kim, as expected, disagreed. “No way, pipsqueak! Iwon.”
“I did.”
“No, I did.”
“I did.”
“Can you both pleasesit properly?” Chloe pushed them with a surprising amount of strength. “You’re wrinklingthe car leather.”
In response, the two of them stuck their tongues out.
Marinette snickered at the expression on Chloe’s face – exasperation, pureexasperation.
Maxfinallyup righting himself, stood up unsteadily as he walked to the only empty seat next to Marinette.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Kim said, pulling Max onto his lap.
Max squeaked, his cheeks turning a fiery shade of red.
Alix cackled, “Poor Max. Kim, you reallyshouldn’t do that. You’re going to give the poor boy a heart attack.”
Marinette sighed happily for her friends. She was honestly elated that Kim and Max had found their soulmate in each other. They were just adorable!
She fairly beamed when Marinette saw the love-sick smile on Chloe’s face. It meant she was talking to Kagami.
Alix hadn’t found hers yet and according to the girl herself, she wasn’t really bothered by it either because she was ace.
Marinette just wished she could find hersoulmate.
Soulmate bonds – in their world – came in different types. For example, Chloe and Kagami’s bond was the word bond. Each had a word or a phrase written circling their wrists (“Excuse me, you dropped your phone.” “Thank you”) and whoever said those words was their soulmate.
Kim and Max had the string-bond – one of the strongest bonds in existence. The bond only surfaced when it decided whether the two people were readyto become lovers.
Marinette had the aura bond – one of the most difficultbonds to find your soulmate with. Basically, her aura and her soulmate’s aura – when they meet – would touch each other and glow.
It was extremely rare to witnesssuch a bonding and even rarerfor someone to find their soulmate with it.
She often wondered whether she would ever findher soulmate. At first, she thought her soulmate was Chat Noir, after all, wasn’t he her other half?
But their auras did not connect when they met.
“Marinette?” She snapped out of her thoughts when Chloe shook her arm. “Come on! We’re at the airport!”
**
After checking in – and successfully avoiding Lila’s attempts at sabotage (“Oh my gosh, Marinette! Your ticket is ripped to shreds, you can’t come!” “Well, it’s a good thing I made two copies then, isn’t it? Just in case I lost mine.”) – Marinette sighed and resigned herself to listening to Lila’s bullshit for the next few hours.
Unfortunately, she and Alix had gotten the seats rightbehind her and Alya.
“-and then Prince Ali took me out on a date!” Lila was babbling.
Alya gasped theatrically, right on cue. “Oh my gosh, girl! How did it go?”
“Well-”
Marinette groaned and resisted the urge to throw herself out of the window. “Kill me now,” she said tiredly, “Please.”
Alix didn’t look like she was faring any better and glared at the idiots in front of them. “Why did we have to get stuck with them?”
“I don’t know,” Marinette banged her head on the table in front of her. “But what I doknow is that the next few hours are going to be torture.”
**
By the time the plane landed, Alix was eyeing the knife in her hand murderously, clearly plotting Lila and Alya’s murder, and Marinette had scribbled uselessly on 2 clean pages of paper because Lila’s voice was interrupting her inspiration.
“FINALLY!” Alix screamed, running around like a maniac. “FINALLY, WE GET TO LEAVE THOSE-” Yelling some extreme profanities, she continued, “BEHIND!”
Even though the attendants were eyeing the two of them like they were crazy, Marinette didn’t care because finally.
How did anyone believe Lila anyway?
**
The next day, Marinette argued with Chloe the better color for her new sketchbook at one of the gift shops near the Statue of Liberty. “Red it better because it’s so bright but not toobright. That way, if I don’t know where it is, I can just look. For. RED!”
Snatching the yellow one off the shelves, Chloe held it in front of Marinette’s eyes. “NO! Yellow! Red would just mergeinto your room because it’s pink, while yellow would be more obvious!”
“But yellow is too brightfor the night!”
Offended, Chloe gasped. “How dare you-”
Seeing as they were dragging the attention of other customers, Alix snatched both the books from their hands and put it on the counter. “Both of them, please.”
As they walked out of the stationary shop (Chloe and Marinette still arguing) the three of them spotted Lila, Alya, Mylene and Rose walking out of a boutique loaded with bags.
“I can’t believe they’re going shoppingwhen we’re supposed to be taking notes for the essay.” Alix muttered glaring at them with disgust.
Chloe smirked icily. “It doesn’t matter because when they fail the essay, it’ll be theirfault.”
Marinette and Chloe agreed to disagree in favor of scorning Lila and her cronies.
**
California was the funpart of the trip. With its beaches and just right weather, Marinette and crew set up their site somewhere on the beach.
They spent most of their days running around, playing games and in Marinette’s case being completely oblivious to the boys flirting with her.
Nevertheless, she couldn’t help wonder whyHawkmoth wasn’t striking. It had been 3 days now and yet there was no akuma. Perhaps he was giving hera break since Chat Noir didn’t show up to half the fights anyway.
It certainly wasn’t because Gabriel Agreste was frantically planning for his spring line of which the developments got delayed due to his…terrorizing activities.
They were in Metropolis now and Marinette was currently stuck inside a sideways bus.
How, you ask?
She saved a young girl from being the hostage of the villain. Unfortunately, because she wasn’t Ladybug then her reflexes weren’t as fast and now Marinette was stuck inside the bus being the villain’s hostage.
Just a regular day for her.
Along with Chloe, Alix was yelling, “Mari, what is wrong with you?”
“Marinette, is her name?” asked the terribly-dressed villain (seriously, was he color blind or something?), “Alrighty then! Superman!” he bellowed suddenly.
Superman appeared almost immediately and distracted the villain.
While,Superboypulled Marinette out and set her beside her friends where she was promptly pulled into a bone-crushing hug.
“Guys,” she gasped, exaggerating only slightly(read:a lot), “Can’t….breathe…need…to…breathe!”
Finally, they let her go and just before Superboy was about to take off, Marinette called out, “Thank you!”
In reponse, he merely tipped an imaginary hat.
**
Marinette muttered angrily while Kim and Alix rough-housed with each other blow some steam.
How could they? She fumed. How f*cking could they?
Their ‘class’ had left them behind in Gotham Park. And Mdm. Bustier (someteacher) hadn’t even bothered to do attendance to check if everyone was there.
Marinette would even go as far as to bet that Lilawas the one to engineer this.
“Look OUT!”
Yelping, Marinette tumbled down laughing when a Great Dane came jumping on her, licking her face.
Giggling, she ran her hands through his fur making no move to get up.
“Marinette!” Chloe gasped, running to her, “Are you okay?”
Still playing with the unnamed dog, Marinette giggled out a “Yes,”.
“Ms, I am sosorry,” a masculine voice gasped, evidently from running. “Titus, no. Bad-”
Marinette sat up slowly. “It’s fine, your dog – Titus, is it? – is really very cute.”
“Cute?” Surprise laced his tone. “Most people describe Titus as scary. I haven’t seen him take to someone so fast.”
Standing up with Chloe’s help, Marinette brushed her outfit and made eye contact with the man.
Her breath suddenly whooshedout of her chest.
And slowly, slowly but steadily, her pinkish red aura reached out and merged with his dark emerald one.
As Marinette watched in wonder, the two of them slowly formed a beautiful, breath-taking gold turning brighter and brighterand then it was gone.
The only sign it had been there was a little heart made out of a puff smoke – one side red, the other green.
“Oh my god, Mari,” Chloe breathed. “I think that’s your soulmate!”
You think?
◇─◇──◇─◇
When Damian went to walk Titus that afternoon, he expected it to go normally.
He certainly didn’t expect Titus to run off and then meet his soulmate all in one go.
Nevertheless, he swallowed thickly and introduced himself, “My name is Damian Wayne.”
His soulmate’s friends looked at him in shock but his soulmate didn’t have any such reaction. If she was surprised, she was doing a damn good job of hiding it. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”
“Marinette,” her glasses friend said, “Don’t you know who that is?”
She turned to him curiously. “He’s my soulmate, Max.”
The girl – familiar from somewhere, he thinks – slaps her forehead and pulls Marinette to her side while whispering something in her ear.
“Oh!” Marinette’s cheeks suddenly colored and she said, “I didn’t know you were theDamian Wayne, I just-”
Suddenly feeling nervous, Damian interrupted her. “It’s fine,” he said slightly harshly. “It was actually kind of refreshing to meet someone who didn’t know who I was.”
She started blushing all over again and he distantly thinks, it’s cute.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Damian moved forward to try and dispel the awkward silence that had descended upon them. “I’ve never seen you here.”
“Well,” Marinette stutters, “We were actually on a school trip, but our teacher acci-”
“Since Mari’s too nice to tell you it objectively,” Her blonde friend interrupts, “I will. We were left behind by our teacher. Chloe Bourgeois.”
Chloe holds out her hand, eyes threatening and Damian takes it, equally cold.
Somehow sensing the tension between them, Marinette continues, “And we were supposed to go to WE but because they left us behind-”
“-we’re stuck here,” finished a pink-haired girl. “Alix Kubdel.”
Nodding towards her (she certainly seemed better than Chloe), Damian sends a small smile to his soulmate (his heart beat faster at the thought that he found his soulmate). “I can take you to WE if you want. But how did your teacher just forgetyou existed?”
Exchanging looks with her tall friend, Marinette gestures towards him and says, “Kim will tell you.”
**
By the time they have reached WE, Damian is fumingresisting the urge to go and murder this Lila Rossi and Adrien Agreste and the rest of their idiot classmates.
Whotells someone letting a pathological liar, lie and lie is taking the ‘high road’?
What kind of friends ditch someone who did so muchfor them just like that?
And the liar. Damian seethed at the thought of her. How dare she, how dare she targethissoulmate.
“Woah, Damian, man,” said Kim – the tall one, “You might want to calm down. You’re scaring the people.”
Breathe Damian. Breathe.
Inhaling with great difficulty, Damian said, “I am going to murderyour class and teacher. And I won’t even make it look like an accident.”
Chloe finally looked at him with something other than wariness as she murderously said, “I’ll help you.”
Marinette panicked looking at their serious expressions. “No! You guys can’t do that!”
“Watch me,” Damian snarled.
◇─◇──◇─◇
Richard Grayson considered himself to be a good person.
So,whothought he deserved this?
This being a class (and teacher) without braincells because they believe every damn word out of a patheticliar’s mouth. Seriously, hadn’t they heard of something called Google?
Oh, and as if thatwasn’t enough, the teacher had forgotten about 5 students and stated, “They are troublemakers anyway, we can start without them,”
Was she insane?
She was a goddamnteacher! Didn’t she know it was her jobto make sure they straightened out?
Gritting his teeth, he said with a patience did notfeel, “Mdm. Bustier, we cannotstart the tour without your missing students. You will have to findthem and get them here.”
So, here he was.
Waiting for the idiot of the teacher to try and get her students to WE.
Needless to say, he was elatedwhen the WE doors slammed open and Damian came striding in (even though he looked like he was about to murder someone).
“Lil’ D!” Dick yelled, hoping Damian saw the pleading in his eyes, “Come meet the class we’re touring today!”
Growling, Damian walked right passed him and glared icily at the class. “Which one of you is the liar?” he hissed, glaring at everyone.
When no one responded, Dick volunteered himself, “That one.”
Damian shot him a slightly thankful look and advanced to her. “You,” he spat. “Lie about my soulmate one more time and I’ll end you.”
Turning her nose up at him, she sniffled theatrically. “How dare you say that to me? My soulmate is Damian Wayne and he’ll have the Wayne lawyers on you in seconds.”
By now, everyone (employees included) had frozen, watching the drama eagerly. But when Lie-la said that.
Most people burst out laughing immediately, and Dick would have too, had she not said Damianwas her soulmate. “What do you mean, Mdm. Rossi, that Damian is your soulmate?”
Smirking triumphantly, her olive-green eyes sparkled maliciously as she said, “Damian Wayne is my soulmate.”
Woah.Shereallyhadn’t done her research. “Mdm. Rossi,” Dick said coldly. “Damian is not your soulmate.”
“And how would you know that?” An ombre-haired, glasses-wearing girl glared at him.
“Because,” he said coolly, “I am his brother andyou do realize that Damianwas the one to tell you to stay away from his soulmate?”
Lila paled and Dick felt satisfaction course through him.
But then he registered what Damian said. He had found his soulmate.
“Wait, Damian,” Dick asked turning to him, “Just whois your soulmate?”
“I am,” a female voice said. A short blue-haired girl with pale skin walked next to Damian and held out her hand. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng,”
Dick smiled at the girl and shook it firmly. “Dick Grayson.”
“But that’s not possible,” cried out the glasses-wearing girl, Alya. “Lilais Damian’s soulmate!”
Damian glared at her fiercely and she shrunk back. “I can assure you, Lila Rossi is most definitely notmy soulmate. Perhaps you should check everything she has said on Google. It doesexist you know.”
Alya quickly pulled out her phone and was probably searching up everything Lila told her.
The rest of her class watched her in tense silence and then backed away slowly as they saw the unbridled fury grow in her eyes. “You.” Alya hissed. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!”
◇─◇──◇─◇
Marinette jumped when she felt a hand touch her elbow.
It was Adrien. “Marinette,” he hissed, “What are you doing? Why are you exposing Lila?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Adrien,” she said loudly, drawing the attention of Damian. “Maybe it’s because she’s been lying about me?”
“But she wasn’t-”
“Hurting anyone?” Marinette glared at him coldly. “She was, Adrien. Me.And you and your ‘high road’ bullshit can go and rot in hell for all I care.”
“Wait,” asked Nino, hurt evident in his expression. “Adrien knewall this time?”
Chloe smiled icily. “Yes. He didn’t wantto expose Lie-la because she wasn’t ‘hurting anyone’,”
And then suddenly, the entire class was rounding on Adrien, who was frantically trying to explain his actions.
In the chaos, no one noticed Lila advance closer and closer to Marinette.
She jumped onto her and screeched, “MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG,I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
Lilaattemptedto try and choke Marinette but said girl was quicker, stronger and smarter.
Marinette quickly backed away and flipped her onto her back, pinning Lila’s wrists together.
“Let me go!”Lila was thrashing around trying to get out of Marinette’s hold.
“Mdm. Rossi, you are under arrest for assault and attempted murder,” came the cool voice of an unfamiliar officer.
As one of his men handcuffed Lila, Damian wrapped Marinette into a warm hug. He opened his mouth to say something but Alya interrupted him.
“Marinette!” she called. “I’m so sorry! Can you give me an interview with theDamian Wayne?”
Marinette goggled at her, unable to process what she said. Turning to Chloe, she asked, “Did she actually just saythat?”
“Well?” Alya tapped her foot impatiently and Marinette glared at her.
“No,Alya, I will notgive you an interview with Damian,” she hissed.
Alya looked gobsmacked. “But…why? I’m your best friend!”
“Best friend?” Marinette laughed. “Best friends don’t leave each other when the next shiny thing comes around. Best friends don’t ditch other. Best friends don’t believe a liar over each other. And besides,” she added sweetly. “Youare not my best friend. Chloeis.”
Chloe beamed at her.
“Alright,” Dick clapped. “I know this must be a nasty shock-”
All Marinette wanted was onenight of relaxation. Was that so hard to ask?
Her phone buzzed with a text from Adrien, once againbegging for her forgiveness, apologizing for his actions, promising to make it better.
It was the same story everyday since the day she caught him kissing Lila in Marinette’sapartment.
◇─◇──◇─◇
Marinette hummed along with the song playing in her earbuds, carefully clutching onto her sketchbook so that it didn’t fly away.
She may be older now, but that didn’t mean her clumsiness wasn’t prone to show up now and then.
The song paused when an incoming call from Chloe flashed across her phone, and Marinette picked up immediately.
“Hey, Chlo!” she said, cheerfully. “What’s up?”
“Mari. Mom says you can go to-”
She cut off abruptly and the distinct sound of phone-wrestling was heard.
“Marinette,” Audrey Bourgeois’ cool, confident voice was heard. “You are going to be going to the USA as an ambassador for our partnership with the Waynes. My assistant will forward the details to you.”
The call was cut, leaving Marinette staring at her screen open-mouthed.
The USA? To form a deal with the Waynes?
Marinette phone, for the second time in the last few minutes, flashed with an incoming call from Chloe.
“Sorry about that Mari,” She sounded out of breath as if she had just yelled at someone.
Marinette laughed nervously. “It’s alright. But…what did Audrey mean about a deal with the Waynes?”
A man bumped into her and Marinette stumbled.
“Watch it,” he hissed and Marinette rolled her eyes, nervousness momentarily forgotten.
She started walking towards her apartment in favour of standing in the middle of the street.
As Chloe explained, Marinette fumbled with her keys, opening the door to her apartment.
The scene she saw made her jaw drop and her keys fall.
Adrien and Lila were tangled up together on the couch, vehemently kissing.
They hadn’t even noticed her coming in.
◇─◇──◇─◇
Marinette thanked the flight attendant with a polite smile and pulled her suitcase through the airport.
As she emerged through the sliding doors, Gotham looked every bit of the gloomy and dark place it was described to be.
Rain poured down in torrents, sliding over cars.
Marinette, thankfully, got out of the rain unscathed and as she stepped into the limo that Audrey provided her with, Marinette gaped at the luxuriousness of it.
The female Bourgeois’ fortune never failed to shock her.
“To the hotel, ma'am?” asked the American driver, looking at her through the rear-view mirror.
Marinette cleared her throat and nodded. “Yes.”
The car started to move and curiously, Marinette looked outside the window, watching as the buildings flew by.
One, in particular, stood out, looking particularly grand and elegant compared to the other flashy buildings next to it.
On the building, a big ‘W’ was stamped upon it, and Marinette assumed it was the esteemed headquarters of Wayne Enterprises.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when the car came to a standstill, in front of a grand building, adorned with bright lights giving it a certain flair.
Marinette stepped out of the limousine already seeing some very harried-looking people hurrying to her.
“Welcome,welcome, Madame Dupain-Cheng,” A moustached man said exuberantly with a prominent french accent.
Marinette assumed he was french so she smiled at him politely and said, “Bonjour, Monsieur.”
Quickly, he took her single bag and directed her to her room, and Marinette had to say Audrey Bourgeois went all out on this one.
The room was luxuriously decorated with chandeliers and sparkling bottles of champagne in ice.
“Please do call if you need anything.”
Marinette nodded, still in shock as she shut the door behind him.
As soon as she did, her phone began to ring and Chloe’s name flashed across the screen.
Marinette sighed as she picked up. “Do you have some superpower?”
“I know I’m special Mari, you don’t need to remind me.” Marinette could practically hear the smugness in her voice.
“Sure, Chloe,” she drawled, walking into her room. “So, what’s up?”
“Two things,” Chloe said, suddenly business-like. “First, Adrien is taken care of. He doesn’t know you’ve gotten a new phone number, so he can’t call you anymore.”
Marinette felt some of the tension in her shoulders flow out of her. “Thanks, Chlo. What would I do without you?”
“Probably shrivel up and die.” Chloe sniffed haughtily but Marinette knew she was touched. “But anyway, two, I’ll be coming to Gotham the day after tomorrow, but you have a meeting with the Waynes tomorrow itself, so you’ll have to meet them on your own.”
Marinette groaned. “Seriously? Can’t you come tomorrow?”
She could hear the smirk in her best friend’s voice as she said, “Nope. You know I can’t. I still have to deal with the fall of the Gabriel Empire. Mom says there’s a lot to be taken care of and I can’t leave before that.”
Only sighing in response, Marinette flopped onto her bed. “I take back what I said before.”
Chloe cackled and Marinette was struck with a sense of dread. This wasn’t going to end well.
“You, Mari,” she said, “Are going to hate me even more after this.”
“Chloe-” Marinette started but said girl interrupted her before she could say anything.
“You,” Chloe paused dramatically. “Are going to be going on a night out. To themost famous club in Gotham.”
Marinette groaned. “Chloe, no.”
“Chloe, yes.” The girl cackled again. “I told you, you were going to hate me after this.”
Marinette sighed, this was a conversation they had somany times before.
It was always the same thing; Chloe thought Marinette should go and find more fish in the sea (especially after Adrien) and Marinette didn’t agree.
She was perfectly fine on her own.
“Marinette,” Chloe said, and this time, said girl knew she meant business. “It’s been agessince you’ve had some fun, especially with the work Mom’s putting you under. Now, you’re not even dating Adrien, so you can hook up with people. C'mon Mari, you’re in your twenties, live a little.”
Marinette sighed, already resigned.
“You’re lucky I brought some dresses with me.”
Marinette was already regretting her decision to listen to Chloe.
The club was loud, ridiculously loud and Marinette was already starting to get a headache from the volume.
She needed a drink.
It was most definitely a bad decision, but Chloe said to let go, and that was exactlywhat Marinette was doing.
Striding to the bartender confidently, Marinette asked for the strongest drink they have.
She settled herself on a barstool, sipping her drink, content with watching the writhing masses of the people.
“What’s a pretty lady like yourself doing alone?” A sleazy voice crooned.
Marinette cringed.
She turned around, only to see a mucholder man, smirking at her, clearly leering at her body.
“None of your business,” Marinette said shortly and turned her back to him.
“Aw, don’t be like that, love.”
Shuddering in disgust as she felt his hand on her arm, Marinette stood up.
And promptly stumbled over her feet.
So maybe she had had too much to drink.
“Get away from me,” she yelled over the loud music.
The man ignored her protest as he tightened his grip on her arm.
Marinette was getting ready to kick him right where it hurt when the man’s hand was ripped off her.
“I think,” a voice said casually, “She said to get away from her. I suggest you do that before things get messy.”
Marinette turned around to see a veryhandsome dark-haired man defending her honour.
She would be lying if she didn’t say she wasn’t attracted to him.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when her assailant stepped forward and tilted his head in a way Marinette assumed he thought was intimidating.
Spoiler alert: it wasn’t in the slightest.
Her 'knight in shining armour’ smirked. “Are we seriously going to do this?”
Marinette snorted. “Clearly.”
Shooting her a look that screamed danger, Marinette’s assailant stepped forward with his fist cocked.
Any bystander would have assumed that it was for the man standing next to Marinette.
Instead, his fist came flying to her and Marinette’s Ladybug instincts kicked in.
She ducked and shoved him back as hard as she could.
Marinette may or may not have underestimated how much strength she had.
He went flying and slammed into one of the chairs behind him.
“Oh my god,” the man whose name she stilldidn’t know, gaped.
Marinette stifled her laugh as all the people near them turned and gaped at him, assuming it was himwho caused the commotion.
“What the hell is going on here?’ A burly bouncer stood in front of them, arms crossed.
Marinette blinked her eyes open slowly as they adjusted to the light.
Where was she?
Light was streaming through the large windows of whatever room she was in and the sheets under her were as soft as silk.
Marinette tried to remember how exactly she ended up here.
◇─◇──◇─◇
As Marinette’s assailant was being kicked out of the club, her knight turned to her.
"So,” he said charmingly and Marinette cursed herself as her heartbeat sped up. “I wasn’t expecting that, but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome. Maybe it’ll teach him something about consent.”
Marinette shrugged lightly. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“It was one,” he responded humorously.
Marinette decided it was time she got his name.
“So,” she started casually. “Who ismy knight in shining armour? I think I deserve to know.”
He bowed. “Dick.”
Marinette reared back. “What?Is that supposed to be a joke?”
“No, no, no,” he said frantically. “My actual name is Richard, but you can callme Dick.”
“Oh.” Marinette felt her cheeks warming up but hopefully, Dick wouldn’t notice. “Well, my name is Marinette.”
◇─◇──◇─◇
After that, things got fuzzy and Marinette vaguely remembered dancing with him.
And then kissing him.
And then coming home with him.
Marinette sat up suddenly, muttering, “This was a terrible decision, I should never have done this, I’m such an idiot-”
She fell silent as the sheets rustled beside her.
Turning around, she saw the man of the night himself stretched out all over the bed, smirking at her. “I didn’t think I was thatbad.”
Marinette rolled her eyes at him. “Cocky much?”
“Well,” he leaned forward, and Marinette willed herself to not look down. “I dohave some good comments and, if I do say so myself-”
He was cut off abruptly with Marinette throwing a pillow at him. “Ever heard of too much information?”
Dick held up his hands in apology. “But seriously, was it good?”
Marinette’s cheeks stained a light pink as she muttered, “Yes.”
He smirked.
“But,” Marinette said, to stop his ego from inflating. “Don’t let it get to your head.”
Obviously, her statement didn’t do anything.
Marinette stood up, picking up her clothes. “Is there anywhere I can change?”
“Already leaving?” Dick pouted and it was adorable.
Marinette had to fight the urge to not melt then and there. “Well, I do have places to be and things to do. So, yes.”
His face fell exaggeratedly and Marinette almostfelt bad.
Almost.
While he was getting out of bed, she fought to keep her gaze on his face only.
It took her a few seconds to realize he was pointing at something.
Feeling her cheeks turn scarlet, Marinette said, “Thanks!” and raced off to the safety of the bathroom.
Dick was left behind, and Marinette could practically hearhis smirk.
◇─◇──◇─◇
“Youwhat?” Chloe screeched. “Oh my god Mari, I’m so proudof you!”
Marinette paused. “That was not the answer I was expecting.”
“I can’t believe yougot laid, that’s amazing-” Chloe sounded like she was about to ramble on and on, so Marinette cut her off.
“I know, and you can rant about it later, but right now, I need your help in getting ready for the Wayne meeting.”
Chloe grumbled but she complied anyway.
◇─◇──◇─◇
Marinette straightened her back as the receptionist let her into the meeting room.
As she entered, Marinette subtly gaped at the luxuriousness of the room. It was beautiful but there were some improvements required.
Her internal rambling was cut off with a veryfamiliar laugh; one she had heard multiple times in the last night.
summary: lila rossi mentally prepared her plethora of lies as she entered her new class. the only thing was, she wasn’t aware they possessed brain cells.
As Lila Rossi stood outside her new class, she mentally prepared her plethora of lies. She could literally taste the victory she was going to feel. After she wooed Adrien Agreste (he was going to fall head over heels in love with her), she would rule the class.
Lie No. 1: I must sit in the front with Adrien because of my tinnitus. I got it when I saved Jagged Stone’s kitten from an airplane. It nearly died! Because Jagged loved his kitten SO much, he wrote a song about me.
Lie No 2. I’m besties with Ladybug! We met at an akuma attack and-
“LILA! Are you even listening?” asked her mother.
Lila almost glared at her for interrupting her. Almost. “Of course I am Mama, I just zoned out a little because I was so nervous.”
Her oh-so-gullible mother’s expression softened considerably. “Don’t worry mio caro, your teacher her, Ms Bustier-” The lady beside her waved at Lila, “says that the children in her class are absolute angels. You’ll get along great!”
Lila smiled with the utmost glee - not that her mother could see it - the class would be so gullible, they’d be at her beck and call! “Of course Mama.”
“Now Lila,” said her new teacher - she seemed to be a pushover, “Why don’t you go inside and introduce yourself. I’m sure my class will welcome you with open arms. I will just talk to your mother for a few seconds.”
Lila nodded dutifully. Mrs Rossi pulled her into a hug and said “Addio mio caro!”
Addio indeed.
◇─◇──◇─◇
Lila stepped into the class. All the chatter inside suddenly ceased. There were about 10-11 students looking at her curiously. She could see her ticket to money and fame - Adrien Agreste - sitting at the front. Time to rule the class.
She pasted her sweetest, fakest smile and said “Bonjour! My name is Lila Rossi! I have just joined. My mother is the ambassador so I have joined late.”
Most of the students smiled and introduced themselves, while one - the one sitting behind Adrien - said “Bonjour Lila! My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, why don’t you sit next to Nathaniel in the back?” Nathaniel waved at her.
Lila’s smile became a little fixed. Dammit, she had to sit next to Adrien! “Actually,” she simpered. “I hate to cause an inconvenience, but I suffer from tinnitus so I can’t hear properly from the back.”
The brunette beside Marinette said “Oh? How so? I mean like if you want to tell me of course.”
Lila smiled. Finally someone was falling into her trap!
“Oh no of course not! I got tinnitus by saving Jagged Stone’s kitten! It ran under an airplane and I went to go get it out because, well, obviously, I couldn’t let it die like that! As a thank you, Jagged wrote a song for me! And then Ladybug heard about that and came to meet me. We became besties just like that!” she bragged.
The rest of the class was speechless. They were totally going to fall for it. Hook, line and sinker.
“That’s like…wow dudette.” said Nino.
Lila cackled internally.
Hook.
“That is so cool, Lila!” said Alya.
Line.
Lila didn’t notice the glint in Alya’s eyes though.
Wait for it….aaaaaand…
“What a LIAR!” cackled Alix. The class burst out laughing with her.
And sinke- wait…what?
Lila forced her eyes to fill with tears. “What are you guys talking about? How could you say that to me?”
Kim rolled his eyes at her. “Stop with the crocodile tears Lila, we don’t believe you.”
Alix chimed in with her own input. “Everyone knows that Jagged Stone has Fang-”
Lila, seeing an out, said “That was the kitten’s name! Fang!”
The class stared at her. “Who is a crocodile.” Alix finished.
Oh.
“And no airport security is so lax that it would let a kitten go onto the runway, let alone a girl.” says Adrien. Her ticket to fame.
“And, there is a reason the airport people wear earmuffs on the runway Lila.” said Max.
“I’m NOT lying, you guys.” said Lila, stamping her foot like a 3 year-old.
“Oh because it’s totally legal for a 35 year-old man write a song about a minor.” said Mylene sarcastically.
Well shi- Lila didn’t think of that.
“And anyway Lila, even if we believed your pathetic lies, we wouldn’t even care,” said Rose.
“We’re all successful people Lila, and we have our own connections too. We don’t need your fake ones.” said Juleka smoothly.
“Say for example, Juleka and Adrien. Those two are models. Adrien for Gabriel and Juleka for MDC.” says Marinette. “Rose has Prince Ali on speed-dial. Kim and Alix have several sports figures looking for them as interns. Max has created one of the best AI’s and tech companies are fighting for him.”
Chloe adds her own bit. “Not to mention my daddy’s the mayor. And Sabrina’s daddy is the Chief Police Officer.”
“Me and Mylene are getting known in movies!” says Ivan excitedly.
“I’m the co-owner of the Ladybug and Chat Noir comics, and me and Marc are almost sold out!” adds Nathanial.
Nino grins smugly and says “DJ Nino at your service. I got chosen over XY.”
“Plus Alya is the creator of the Ladyblog. Everyone knows she’s the closest thing to a civilian best friend Ladybug has. Chat Noir is her best friend.” said Adrien.
Lila finally sees someone they missed. Marinette. She smirks at them and says “And what about Marinette hmm? She doesn’t have any connections.”
Adrien surprised her by laughing. “Oh you know nothing. Marinette has more connections than anyone of us.” Said girl was blushing tomato red. “Let’s see..” said Adrien, counting off his fingers. “She’s Jagged Stone’s personal designer. Designed his famous glasses and album covers you know? Then, she designed for Clara Nightingale and Prince Ali and did you know? She’s the M to the DC that’s taking over the fashion world. She’ll be ruling it by the time she’s of age.”
Still blushing, Marinette smirked at her. “So you see Lila, your lies mean nothing to us.”
That was when Ms Bustier entered the classroom. She smiled kindly at the class and asked “I hope the class gave you a good welcome Lila?”
The class nodded at her. “Oh yeah,” said Alix smugly. “It’s one she’ll never forget.”
◇─◇──◇─◇
At the back, was when everything processed for Lila.
At her realization, her heart stopped beating for a minute.
Lila shifted nervously next to Marinette. Sabine and Izzy shouldn’t be taking this long. Maybe she’d decided to leave. That it wasn’t worth the problems. Izzy was twenty three, almost twenty four, what would she want with the responsibility of taking care of a teenager? Let alone one with as many problems as she had.
“Breath Lila. I’m sure they’re just talking. Maman probably wants to make sure she understands everything that’s going on.” Sabine was probably trying to convince her to stay. Or trying to figure out how to tell Lila that her sister didn’t want anything to do with her. She started when Marinette reached over to squeeze her hand. “Everything will be fine.”
Before she could argue they heard footsteps on the stairs. It sounded like two people, and Mr. Dupain had much heavier steps. She still let out a sigh of relief when Izzy stepped through the door after Sabine. It was one of the few truths in her life that Izzy never lied to her. She didn’t know what she’d do if that changed given there was nothing else she could count on.
“I’m going to make tea, why don’t you all sit.” Sabine headed towards the kitchen while Izzy came over to the couch. Lila didn’t realize she had a death grip on Mari until Izzy frowned at their joined hands.
“If you don’t want to do this right now, we don’t have to. I’ll need to talk to Sabine about the best way to keep you away from your mother, but we can figure everything else out when you’re ready.” It was an out. She could sit back and let the adults take care of things and she’d admit it was tempting.
“I want to know.” Know what exactly she wasn’t sure. At the same time she wanted to understand what was going to happen to her, even if it wasn’t what she wanted. Izzy sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her. Marinette gave her hand another squeeze before letting go and Lila moved to sit gingerly on the couch. Izzy pulled her closer and kept an arm around her. She burrowed into her side on instinct. She’d forgotten what it felt like.
“First things first. Do you want me to call you Lila or Riley?” She felt her face scrunch up at the thought.
“Riley.” It just felt wrong, and sounded wrong for Izzy to call her anything else.
“What about everyone else?” She just shrugged. She’d been Lila for so long it didn’t bother her to be called that, but she didn’t think she’d have an issue if they called her Riley either. “Think about it. When you’ve decided we’ll make sure that’s the name you’re registered under at your new school.”
“You don’t want to take me with you?” She winced as soon as the words came out. She didn’t want to seem too clingy. Izzy hugged her tighter.
“I was actually planning on moving here so you don’t have to deal with even more change. Not to mention I could use some distance. That way you have more choices on where to live as well. Sabine told me they offered to let you stay here, and that’s perfectly fine if it’s what you want. I would still want to be close so I can be there when you need me.” She didn’t know what to say to that. Having someone who was willing to move across an ocean to be closer to her was a bit overwhelming.
“We’ll be happy to help you find a place that’s close to Lila’s new school.” Sabine set the tea tray on the table before sitting herself. “You’ll just have to give us an idea of price.”
“Money isn’t an issue. I emptied out my trust last year to make sure my Grandparents couldn’t pull something and put it into various investments. I’ve been living off the dividends but I can pull out whatever I need to for the move.” Sabine was frowning at Izzy but Lila wasn’t certain why.
“You’ve mentioned your Grandparents a few times. I take it you don’t have a great relationship.” Izzy just gave an amused snort.
“My mother’s parents. They hated our father and when he died did everything they could to erase him from my life. They even tried to change my last name but I threatened to shave my head and they decided it was a battle they didn’t want to have. I confronted them when you called me about Riley and found out they’ve been paying her mother to keep her away from me. I have no intention of seeing them ever again at this point.”
“They don’t like me.” It wasn’t a question and Lila started playing with Izzy’s shirt button. She wasn’t sure why but she remembered it helped calm them both down.
“They are old southern money and dad was a first generation Greek immigrant that was just dark enough skin wise to offend their sensibilities. It was never about you, it was about controlling me and turning me into what they wanted. You don’t want people like that in your life anyway.” Maybe they knew what she was and wanted to protect Izzy from her. “I can hear you over thinking. They tried, multiple times, to get custody of me before you were born, before your mother was even dating dad. Their stupidity has nothing to do with you.”
Lila just shrugged. It made sense, but she couldn’t help but wonder anyway. It seemed like everyone was trying to keep her contained. When she was little her parents hadn’t let her out of the house by herself. She remembered Izzy arguing with their father about sending her to preschool. They didn’t want her out of the house without one of them with her. That was when Izzy started teaching her to read.
“Now that I know you’re alive, they won’t be paying your mother anymore so we need to keep you away from her. I… you need to know some things about her to understand why. But I’m not sure you’re ready.” The way Izzy held her tighter, almost too tight, she knew it had to be bad.
“She never wanted me.” It was a thought that had been circling her head for a while. It really was the only thing that made sense. Izzy let out a tired sigh.
“No, she didn’t. You were a tool to get what she thought was our father’s money. When that didn’t work the way she wanted it to she came up with a different plan. Are you sure you want me to tell you what happened?” Lila just nodded. Not knowing was worse. She’d spent most of her life wondering why her mother disliked her so much. She didn’t think it would hurt more to have a reason.
“Lila, are you certain?” Sabine’s concern was obvious, even to her. She just nodded again and the woman sighed. Izzy gave her a comforting squeeze
“When my mom married dad, her parents disowned her. When they found out she was pregnant, they set up a trust for me so that I could be raised in a manner befitting my breeding.” The amount of sarcasm in Izzy’s voice was impressive. “After mom died, dad started over compensating, spending everything on me in addition to the payments from the trust. Your mom saw a nice house and a doting father and decided the best way to get access was to have a kid with him. She didn’t know that most of the money he was spending on me he couldn’t spend elsewhere until it was too late. I heard them arguing about it constantly. It was probably the only thing he stood up to her about.”
“Why didn’t she leave?”
“I don’t know. It would have been better for all of us if she had just left you with us and gone. I don’t know why she stuck it out but I do know she found a way to get to my trust.” When she stopped talking Lila looked up at her to find Izzy glaring at the ceiling.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“You deserve to know. You deserve to understand why everything that happened wasn’t your fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault either.” That got Izzy to look at her. She didn’t know what that look was but it hurt.
“Maybe not. But it was my trust fund that caused all of this. She found out that if I died as a minor, the trust would be paid out to my legal guardian.” Sabine sucked in a sharp breath and when Lila looked over at her and Mari they both looked pale.
“You think she started the fire. But… if that was the case, she needed our father alive.”
“He wasn’t supposed to be there that night. He was going to visit his sister but she called him while he was driving to tell him she had to leave for work and wouldn’t be able to see him. He got back to the house just before emergency services got there. When he realized we were still in the house he just ran in. My door was locked from the outside and she’d had bars installed on all the windows a month before. I didn’t put it together until years later. That might also be why she got so insistent that you not sleep with me anymore. You were her tether to our father so she’d be certain to get access to the money. She must have decided she could keep him without you, at least long enough to figure out how to get the money some other way.”
Lila considered what she remembered and everything Izzy said made sense. The fact that her mother still seemed to ignore her entirely unless she was causing problems for her certainly added credence to the theory. It should… hurt or something to know that her mother was willing to kill her, or at least let her die. But after everything else she couldn’t even bring herself to be surprised.
“You think she might try to get rid of me now that I’m not profitable.” Izzy just hugged her tighter.
“I think she’ll do anything to keep you from me since I’m the reason she’s no longer getting paid. In her mind I’ve always stood between her and what she wants.”
“So I was just a tool. Something to be used when needed and discarded and forgotten when not in use. It makes sense.” Sabine and Mari both looked horrified though she wasn’t certain why. Izzy didn’t react at all.
Isadora Dimakos was generally thought to be a calm person. Everyone who knew her would tell you it took a lot to get her upset and it was almost impossible to make her lose control of herself. Hugging her little sister for the first time in ten years she was about two seconds from committing murder over what had happened to Riley, or Lila. She really needed to ask what she wanted to be called.
“I’m so sorry. I never should have believed them when they told me you didn’t survive. I should have looked into it myself.” She still couldn’t believe the lengths her maternal grandparents had gone to to try and keep everything related to her father out of her life after he died. The only way she’d be talking to them again was through lawyers. “No matter what happens I won’t ever leave you alone with that woman again.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You were still a kid too.” Izzy hugged her sister tighter for a moment before pulling back to look her in the eye.
“I haven’t been for five years now and I never once questioned the story I was told. You deserve better from me.” Riley dropped eye contact to stare over her shoulder. A lot of people wouldn’t notice the shift, but she knew how much effort it was for her to look someone in the eye. It was honestly a bit scary how little she’d changed. “Why don’t we go somewhere a little less public so we can talk?”
“I don’t want to talk.” Her eyes shifted to the floor and her shoulders hunched.
“You don’t want to talk or you don’t want to listen?” Riley’s eyes jumped to hers for a moment before going back to the floor as she processed the question. Izzy just waited. She knew that it was harder for her sister to verbalize what she actually wanted instead of what people heard.
“Just talk.”
“Okay. Then I’ll talk and if there’s anything you don’t want to hear you can tell me and I’ll stop. Sound good?” She nodded but she was still staring at the floor. So something was still wrong but not with what she said. “Do you want someone else there too?” There it was, full eye contact. Izzy looked up to Sabine.
“Lila, why don’t you go up and grab Mari. We’ll grab some food and be up in a minute.” It physically hurt to watch her just turn and walk out. She still reacted to everything like it was a command. Granted part if it was Sabine’s tone, but most of it was conditioning by her mother to not question anything. She had so much damage to undo. “You’re really good with her.”
“Someone had to pay attention and it wasn’t going to be them.” She took a deep breath when she realized how bitter she sounded. She couldn’t talk like that around Riley. Not if she wanted to let her make up her own mind about everything. “It might not be a great idea to have your daughter there for this conversation. I have to tell Riley some things that are more than a little upsetting.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” While she was happy someone was protective over sister, she didn’t need a lecture.
“She deserves to know the truth. She deserves to know exactly how dangerous it is for her to stay with that woman. Especially now that my Grandparents know I found out she’s alive.” She shouldn’t have confronted them but she hadn’t known exactly how much trouble it would cause. One more mistake in a life full of them. “She’s smart and she can look at things more objectively than any of us if given the chance.”
“You can’t be sure of that. You haven’t seen her in ten years.” God she hated that tone. It was the same one her Grandparents used when they thought she was being an idiot. Which was pretty much all the time.
“And she hasn’t changed at all in those ten years. It’s honestly depressing how much her mother has completely stifled her growth.” She didn’t expect the woman to aid her in any way but it was obvious that she’d done so much worse. “Do you know what it was you said to me that made me actually hope you really had my sister here?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with-”
“It was when you said she remembered calling me Teddy.” She couldn’t stop the wistful smile that came over her face. “She figured out how to get out of her crib when she was eighteen months old and would always come to sleep with me. About six months before the fire her mother suddenly decided that was unacceptable and got on our father to get her to sleep in her own room. He tried everything he could think of including a stuffed bear that was bigger than he was. It was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. He told her that it would protect her at night and keep all the bad things away. Riley got all thoughtful and quiet and he thought he’d finally managed it. The next morning she was back in my room with me. When he asked her about it she said that anyone that was really dangerous would know the bear wasn’t real, but my snoring would frighten away anything that got close so I was a much better Teddy.”
“It’s a cute story but I still don’t see your point.”
“Even at four years old she reasoned through the problem and came up with a logical decision. Treating her like a child will only deprive her of the right to choose her own path. She’s already had enough taken from her, I won’t do that.” Sabine was studying her again but Izzy stood her ground. She wasn’t about to fail her sister again.
“If she gets uncomfortable and doesn’t want to listen anymore?”
“Then I’ll stop. She’s already agreed to let you get her away from her mother and so long as she doesn’t change her mind the rest could technically wait. At the same time she’s blaming herself for things that she had no part in and she needs to understand that she’s not the one at fault.”
“Seems like she’s not the only one.” Izzy could only let out a huff.
“Yeah well, I’m the oldest. It’s kind of in the job description.”
Lila made it to the bottom of the stairs but froze before she got to the door to the bakery. She wanted to do this. She needed to do this. She absolutely couldn’t walk through that door. It just got worse the longer she stood there. Her mind was running through all the worst case scenarios. She couldn’t come up with any that ended well. Her thoughts were broken by the chime sounding from the bakery door, but she still couldn’t bring herself to move.
“Good afternoon, what can we do for you?” Sabine’s voice was it’s normal cheerful tone but there was a pause from the other person.
“I was just…” Lila could practically hear their confusion. “I’m looking for my sister and this is where I was told to go.” It suddenly felt like her chest was being squeezed in a vice. Was this what a heart attack feels like?
“Of course, it’s so nice to meet you in person. I’m Sabine.” There was a pause, she assumed to shake hands or something. “I’m so happy you came all this way, but we told your sister we’d do this at her pace so it may take her a bit to work up to meeting you.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” The woman’s tone turned slightly panicked and Lila could only imagine the look Sabine was giving her. “I just mean it would be better to get the first meeting out of the way, after that it can be entirely up to her. It’s just… if this really is my sister she always had problems with uncertainty. It would be best to make sure you’re right about this and let her know that I still care about her and I’m not going anywhere. If not she’ll just work herself into a panic. She’s very good at coming up with possible outcomes and it tends to cause her a lot of stress.”
Lila wasn’t certain what to do with that. It was kind of nice to know that this was something she’d done her entire life. It was strange having someone who knew her that well when she didn’t know them at all. She was confused about the fact that the woman seemed unsure if they were in fact sisters, but she supposed it was best to be cautious. Sabine had said that she thought Lila had died close to ten years ago so maybe she just didn’t want to get her hopes up. Or maybe she wanted an out it case Lila wasn’t good enough.
“Are you okay?” She started and realized that Sabine was crouched in front of her. When did that happen? She just nodded. “She makes a good point about just ripping the bandaid off, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Like she had any clue what she wanted. In the end though, the woman was right. She was just going to keep worrying about it until it happened.
“It’s okay.” Sabine gave her another searching look before reaching out to grab her hand. When they stepped into the bakery she saw Tom talking to the woman. She was lighter complected than Lila, but darker than Tom. Her hair was a dark brown, almost black, but seemed to have hints of red in it. Her eyes were the exact same shade as Lila’s. Sabine cleared her throat and Lila started. The hands on her shoulders gave a comforting squeeze.
“Hi I’m…” The woman sucked in a sharp breath when she saw Lila and seemed to lose her train of thought. She had no idea what to do with the way the woman was looking at her. “Riley?” That name… it sounded so familiar. Suddenly it seemed like a dam broke in her mind. Memories of her father, their home and her sister all seemed to overwhelm her.
“Izzy?” She didn’t even realize she said it out loud until the woman let out a strangled sob and nodded. Oh god, this was really happening. She had a sister. She had one more person to be nothing more than a disappointment to. Why had she thought this was a good idea? There was no way she could live up to her expectations. No way she’d be good enough.
“Ry, you need to breathe.” The woman was in front of her now. She looked concerned but how long would that last? She felt a flick on her forehead. “Stop thinking about what ifs. Do you remember when you took apart my computer?”
“Mom was mad.” She let out an annoyed scoff.
“Your mother was mad about everything, it had nothing to do with you. What did I do?” Lila just blinked at her, sorting through the deluge of memories that had surfaced.
“You asked why I did it, and when I said I wanted to see how it worked you bought me books on building and programming computers.” She frowned in thought. “Mom was mad about that too.”
“Yes she was. She never wanted to admit your potential. That’s why I was the one that helped you learn to read and write because she wanted you to be ‘normal’ and Dad had no spine where she was concerned.”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with anything.” The woman’s expression softened.
“You destroyed a two thousand dollar computer including a hard drive with all my school work, all my pictures, and all my personal projects.” Lila just became more and more horrified as she talked. She couldn’t imagine losing her computer. Her entire life was on there. “At no point did I think you did it maliciously. At no point did I value that hard drive more than you. At no point did I wish you weren’t my baby sister. And at no point will I ever abandon you.”
Her immediate reaction was to look for a reason to deny that, but when she sorted through the memories she couldn’t find one. Izzy was the one person that was always there. The one person that explained things. The one person that had never lied to her. Even she couldn’t find a reason to not believe her.
“It was my fault.” Izzy just looked confused. “If I hadn’t been in your room, he wouldn’t have died.” That got a glare.
“You listen to me. I know exactly who to blame for what happened and it’s not you. Not to mention, your room was further down the hall. The only thing that would have changed is that you actually would have died along with him. I’m much happier about this outcome.” Lila felt a burning behind her eyes and a tightness in her chest again. Then there was another flick to her forehead. “Hug?” She automatically fell into the embrace. In that moment she finally remembered what home felt like.
She looked and saw an open mouth Chat Noir and was surprised to see him there already but then saw everyone looking towards a nervous looking Lila and a girl she didn’t recognise. “Wait, you’re not Milady? Did you use the Mouse Miraculous to multiply yourself or something? Please tell me this wasn’t a lie!” Chat Noir demanded and Marinette demanded someone explain what was going on.
“The new student is Sara and she is Lila’s best friend; they had been telling us that she was you.” Sabrina spoke up and Marinette had her mouth wide open and was growing angry. This had gone far enough…
“Then why won’t you help the class,” asked Adrien. Lately, he’d been on Lila’s heels. Her former crush was another name on a long list of betrayals.
“It’s simple, I’m always willing to help my friends. Now, please leave, I’m busy.”
They left the art room, her words sinking in. Oddly enough, it was Nathaniel who broke the news. Telling Alix, who told Kim, who told Max, and so on and so forth until it got to Alya.
Marinette shook her head, “Fifteen thousand dollars of work you were going to get for free, gone.”
Most of her classmates’ faces had drained of color at the price, at realization of how big of a screw up they made. They had no idea just how much work Marinette did.
Lila was seething because it would be too hard to turn this around.
“What’s your best friends name? And can you describe them.”
Marinette froze and stayed silent. Tikki suddenly felt a strange twist in her tummy. Sabine and Tom looked at their daughter uncertainly. Finally after a long pause. Marinette spoke with a strained laugh.
“I uhh dont remember having one sir.” Sabine felt her stomach suddenly drop, hidden away behind a plant Tikki felt the same thing.
“I suppose there’s nothing left to say then.” She told them, before she turned away from them, heading to the back of the class. She sat down and refused to speak for the rest of the class despite the confused looks she got and the annoyed ones. Even a few hurt ones.
OH MY GIRL - LIAR LIAR плотно засела в моей голове, поэтому изначально я насткетчила Лилу, а потом посмотрела перевод и подумала, что Маринет сюда тоже подходит так-то:D
меня веселит кадр с очками, пусть это будет новым мемом аминь
Nathalie: now that we plan on giving Miss Rossi one of the stolen miraculous, should we inform her about some of her classmates having been among Ladybug’s allies.
Gabriel: we could, but I think it would be funnier we kept her in the dark about it. 100 euro says she’ll try to impress Alya by claiming to have been Rena Rogue.
Nathalie: Nah, I bet she’ll try to make Luka jealous by claiming to have dated Viperion.
Gabriel: Bold of you to assume these scenarios are mutually exclusive.
Suddenly I am hoping that season 5 will have a running gag where Lila unintentionally exposing herself to her classmates 1-by-1 by having claiming to have been the various heroines unaware that she’s doing so while having a 1-on-1 conversation with the very person who actually used to be the very hero Lila is claiming to have been.
Then she unintentionally exposes herself to her male classmates in similar manner by privately claiming to be in secret relationship with 1 of the male heroes (again unaware that’s she’s saying this to the very hero she’s claiming to date).
