Bug Bites

Chapter | Ten

The day was busy for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who spent most of it inside her office on the thirteenth floor of Style Queen. Her sole focus had slowly honed in on finishing the suit for Lucas as the weeks gone by. His measurements were pretty easy to work with, and to her surprise it was nearly done. 

Her main concern for the whole commission was running out of time for the suit as a whole and rushing to finish last minute. Yet she once again had surprised herself with being ahead of the game and ahead of her deadline. The suit itself was basically done, really only needing a final fitting for final adjustments. 

Let's set up a day and time to make the final adjustments on your suit. -Marinette

She pressed send as she stepped onto the subway to head home for the day. This was her new normal, work and going home. She didn't mind the normalcy it came with, and the sense of calm she hadn't had in a while. The guilt was there though, a dull reminder that she was ignoring the bigger picture.

This sense of normal was temporary. Eventually she had to go back to finish what she started with Chat Noir. She had to defeat Hawkmoth and get back the miraculous that was lost. It was her duty, her responsibility. Even if it was one she never wanted to begin with, it was hers now. Marinette would never trade it for the world though, not when the kawmi's held a piece of her heart and she couldn't bare the thought of them falling into the wrong hands again.

The thought of going back to Paris wasn't as nerve racking anymore though. A part of Marinette had accepted everything that happened, that it all happened for a reason and she grew from it. Surely she felt a loss, but she had also gained. 

She gained a job in her dream field. 

She gained friends.

She gained a great teacher. 

She gained Peter. 

In the end Marinette knew that she had a reason to come back to New York after she left to deal with Paris. She had a reason to stay, and it was because she was herself. Peter nor anyone else here knew about Ladybug. To them Ladybug didn't exist, and never would. They only knew Marinette, and they accepted her. 

It felt nice to be accepted. No one here asked anything from her. No one asking her to babysit, or to make outfits in her free time, or to arrange something. There was no expectations, just the ones that Audrey had of her and that was it really. Plus her responsibility of learning with Stephen, but that was something she didn't mind.  

Her thoughts were abruptly stopped as she felt her body fly to the side when the subway suddenly hit the breaks to stop. Air left her body as she collided into one of the poles used to hold onto, sliding down into a fetal position as she held her side trying to get air back into her lungs. Briefly she felt Tikki stirring in her purse, but there wasn't much the kawmi could do. 

Only Marinette realized three seconds later that it wasn't because of the breaks she flew, but because there was a gapping hole in the side of the other subway unit. Smoke filled her nostrils, making her cough the air she just regained back out. Groaning, she sat back up to yelp back down when the sounds of gun shots rang about.

"Judge Robert, I know you're here!" A man yelled, voice full of hatred and a promise of pain. The anger radiated off of him, so strong that not even if Marinette dared to look up. She could feel it wafting off of him, the hatred and malice. She couldn't help but flinch hearing a gun shot ring out. 

It was different than Paris, this waiting around and holding her breath. She was helpless here, truly helpless because a gun was something she hardly dealt with in Paris. She couldn't run here to transform, she couldn't be Ladybug without potentially risking her life. She also was not trained enough with Stephen to use any type of magic, so here she was like a sitting duck.