No Way Out

A Stoppable Team, Kittens, and A Late Night

Marinette sat at her desk, furiously scribbling some edits on the computer screen in front of her. She was way behind on finishing this particular design for a very important client, so she bit her lip as she rushed through it.

Across the room, Nathalie silently entered with a tablet in hand and shut the door behind her. Then she began speaking without waiting for any acknowledgement from the designer. "In twenty minutes you have a Zoom meeting with the new cotton representative from Marseilles. After that, you need to head downstairs to the sewing room to oversee the new lines. Then Gerald from accessories needs a minute to discuss the photoshoot on Wednesday."

Marinette internally groaned. "What does he want this time?" she asked, trying not to express her annoyance too clearly.

"He seems to think that the sandals you chose are too distracting. Something about the rhinestones." A moment passed before Nathalie saw a news alert pop up on her screen. She skimmed the words before lowering the tablet down with a frown and continuing. "Now it seems that there's an emergency on Rue Saint Honoré. Some sort of scaffolding accident."

This time the groan was audible.

Nathalie quickly offered a solution. "I'm sure that your better half can handle it."

"Adrien's at home with the kids today," Marinette said, slowly rising from her seat but still desperately attempting to finish the design. "He has the whole weekend off before heading back to the office on Monday to prepare for the Givenchy photoshoot."

"Well," Nathalie murmured, thinking of other options. "I'm sure that Alya or Nino could..."

"The baby has colic," Marinette interrupted. "I guess it's bad, and they're probably so sleep deprived at this point that they're more likely to create a problem rather than fix it."

Nathalie wasn't going to give up. "There's always Chl..."

"She's in Greece," Marinette interrupted again.

Her eyes narrowed as confusion came over her. "I thought she and Stavros got back on Sunday."

"They did, but they already went back to Greece. I'm shocked that they haven't officially moved there yet. It would save them a lot of time and money on going back and forth. But I suppose the shopping is better here in Paris than it is in Athens."

Out of options, Nathalie sighed. "I guess the unstoppable team was bound to break up eventually."

Marinette nodded and hit a few more buttons. "Okay, I'm done with this piece," she finally said, closing the program. "Can you send it out while I'm gone?"

"Why don't I go?" Nathalie offered as a last resort. "I'm confident that I can manage it."

She smiled as she made her way around the desk. "That's nice of you to offer, Nathalie, but I don't think that it's a good idea for Mayura to show up after all of these years. The people of Paris are finally starting to forget about all of that."

"I could change the costume. It's been done before. The only thing that people would do is assume that you finally picked a holder for the Peacock Miraculous."

Marinette wanted to hug her. Nathalie wasn't only the best assistant she could ask for; she was also a true confidante and friend. "Even with a new costume, it will make people nervous. Plus, it's my responsibility. I might be insanely busy, but I'm still Ladybug, and I'm still the Guardian of the Miracle Box."

With another sigh, Nathalie relented. "Fine. I'll send out the design, and I'll move the meeting with the representative to three o'clock. You should be back by then, right?"