Lost and Found

Present and Past

Marinette wasn't scared in the slightest by Lila's threats. She knew that if her friends cared about her and trusted her like she believed they did, they would believe her about Lila. So, she marched right out of that bathroom and grabbed each of her friends before leading them to a quiet place behind the school that they often used as a meeting place.

Everyone was kind of confused as to why Marinette grabbed them, so she decided to jump right on it.

"Guys, Lila is lying about everything, and she threatened me in the bathroom when she realized I don't believe her." Their reactions were mixed.

Alya: "What? No, she wouldn't do that. Why are you saying this stuff about her?" She looked kinda hurt.

Nino: "That is not cool bro." Acceptance. Good, Nino believed her.

Adrien: "Her lies are harmless, we shouldn't rock the boat." God, this boy was naive. Lies are very much so harmful, and they should do something about these ones before someone gets hurt.

"Yes, she did Alya, I don't know why you don't believe me," Marinette said, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.

"You just don't like her because she took your seat," Alya countered.

"No, my seat doesn't matter, she was lying all day, I even texted Jagged to make sure my suspicions were right before I said anything," Marinette was feeling a little hurt now. Why wasn't Alya believing her?

"Whatever!" Alya exclaimed and then left.

"Alya, wait!" Nino called after her, but she didn't, but to no avail. She just ignored him and continued walking away. He sighed. "Adrien, we do need to say something," he said, turning toward Adrien, "we can't just let our friends be misled, what if she starts lying about bigger stuff?" There was an unspoken 'it already happened.'

Adrien begrudgingly nodded. None of them could deny that Lila had already done some damage.

—--

The next day, Marinette was almost more nervous for school than she had been the prior morning. Now she didn't have middle school to worry about, but one of her best friends. Did Alya even see herself as Marinette's best friend anymore? Marinette didn't want to think about it, just the thought made her sick.

Unfortunately, the reality that waited for her back at school was somehow worse. Alya didn't even acknowledge her when Marinette entered the classroom. Lila shot her a triumphant smile when she sat down. Honestly it was closer to a sneer. Did seriously no one else notice? Marinette was almost ready to run to the bathroom and fight off an akuma or something when Nino came in.

He bypassed his seat and went up to sit next to her, sending her a kind smile when he did. Alya seemed to be avoiding him also. They sat and made quiet conversation, trying to avoid the inevitable topic of 'what about Alya?'

Then Adrien entered the classroom he had a choice to make. Nino and Marinette sat in suspenseful silence, waiting. It seemed like Alya might have been too, but they would probably never know. Adrien, like Nino, bypassed the front desks, and sat with Marinette and Nino. They weren't supposed to sit three to a desk, but when Mrs. Bustier looked up and saw them, she just told them not to talk during class or they'd be moved.

That made them smile.

Class went on, and the group made sure not to be disruptive. The first half of their day had been history and language arts classes. They weren't assigned much homework, but Marinett still made sure to take notes in case the class went to something she hadn't yet learned. She had yet to encounter something in school (excluding history class and most of her elective classes like art or cooking) that she hadn't already learned in the league. Thinking back to that time was weird. It had been a majority of her life, but it felt so far away now. And she would always end up thinking about Damian.

Marinette grasped her bracelet and smiled, thinking about all the times they would sneak around the League compound at night, they would spar together, and sneak into the armory, stealing anything they thought they could hide away in their room.

She remembered all the stories Mother would tell them every night when she was mending their injuries from that day's training. Marinette's favorites had always been the ones about the Dark Knight of Gotham. Their father. She never told them if he had a name, or what it was, but now Marinette knew he probably did. He probably had a secret identity. Marinette had never had the heart or bravery to look into Batman's actions or what he was like. She was afraid to find something there that might bring up painful memories, or even to see if he was injured or killed. She didn't want to watch from across the ocean as her last known living family member died or got seriously injured. Or even if he was arrested.

She wouldn't do that. But Marinette was so lost in thoughts about her family she didn't even hear the bell ring for the start of lunch. So Nino had to tap her shoulder as they left the room. Marinette was slightly disoriented from the sudden action, that she kinda just blindly stumbled out of the classroom.

Then Mrs. Bustier called her over. Not the best time really, but Marinette still went over.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I hate to ask this of you, but could you run this to the art room before you head down to lunch, I have a meeting in two minutes?" She was holding a stack of papers.

"Sure," Marinette replied, the job seemed easy enough.

"Thank you Marinette, you're like an angel," she said as she handed Marinette the stack and ushered her out of the room.

Marinette froze for a minute. The only person who ever called her angel was Damian. She was really having a sentimental day, wasn't she. She smiled to herself as she brought the papers to the art room. She had finally passed the stage of violently sobbing everytime she was reminded of her twin, although she would probably cry later, she was content with feeling good about it right now.