Everything happened so fast.

One moment Sabine and Tom were busy in the bakery, the next, they were summoned to the school because there was a serious situation that needed immediate parental attendance.

They rushed to the school, only to find Marinette sitting downcast, in one of the two chairs across from Principal Damocles, silent and fuming. Her eyes rimmed red, her cheeks flushed and splotchy.

Sabine had to wrestle her overwhelming mama bear instincts to hunt down whoever made her daughter hurt, but she took a deep breath. She needed to keep a calm head and remain logical about the situation or it wouldn't help anything. She would get to the bottom of this situation and she was going to get to the bottom of it now.

The only others in the office were an angry looking Principal Damocles and a softly sobbing teenage girl with brunette hair.

Strange… the other girl's parents weren't here. Why was that? Surely if Marinette had committed whatever acts against this other girl, shouldn't they be here too? It was a curious detail Sabine filed away for later.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng," Principal Damocles greeted stiffly.

Tom got straight to the point. "What exactly is our daughter being accused of, Principal Damocles?"

"It is quite the serious situation sir," Principal Damocles began, lacing his fingers together in front of his chest in a move that had clearly been practised in front of the mirror, "But we'll get this started from the source, Ms. Rossi, if you please?"

The Dupain-Chengs tried to hold their composure as the other girl—Lila Rossi—pointed the finger at their daughter for a long laundry list of heinous deeds: Marinette cheated on a test and then accused Lila of planting the evidence, Marinette purposefully bullied Lila and tried to turn their classmates against her, Marinette pushed Lila down the stairs when they were sent to the principal's office.

Only Sabine's grip on Tom's arm kept him from really getting angry. She loved that about her husband, he was so slow to anger, but when he did—it was a sight to behold. But she could recognize that anger wouldn't help here, not when Marinette was being accused of all these terrible incidents.

"My daughter is not a thief!" Tom protested indignantly when the final nail in the coffin finally pushed his patience over the edge, Lila accused Marinette of taking her grandmother's necklace.

Sabine was right behind him. "Why should we believe any of this? You're accusing her without any proof!"

All the while, Sabine watched Ms. Rossi carefully. She watched as the girl, who was sobbing mere moments earlier, far too calmly stated: "Oh, I have proof."

They had no choice but to follow Lila to the student locker room.

Principal Damocles followed closely behind them, keeping a close eye on Marinette like she would try to make a run for it at any moment. It rankled underneath Sabine's skin, but she bit her tongue.

There were far more teenagers in the locker room than Sabine anticipated as Lila confidently led them to Marinette's locker.

Marinette and Lila's classmates stared in blatant interest as they all came to a stop in front of her locker.

"Open your locker please." Principal Damocles commanded.

Marinette did so without hesitation. Her locker door swung wide open, and her eyes widening in horror as something fell out.

Lila was already crouching down, her eyes wide.

"My grandmother's necklace!" She gasped, cradling the necklace close.

Marinette gasped, mirrored by everyone else in that room.

"She's making up his whole thing! It wasn't me; I swear!" Marinette looked pleadingly at her parents, who looked just as shocked as she was. By now, a sizeable crowd had been drawn in by the commotion. "You know Lila's lying, don't you Adrien?"

She looked desperately towards Adrien, who was standing wide-eyed behind the Principal. He hesitated for only a moment before starting, "Mr. Damocles I don't think—"

But Principal Damocles was far beyond listening and cut right across him, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are expelled from this school!"

The next few moments happened so fast; it was a blur. One moment Sabine was in a haze of anger and disbelief—her daughter would never do something like this! And the next, there was an explosion of red butterflies and that all too familiar creeping sensation sprung up and she could hear Hawkmoth's voice whispering dangerous promises in her ear.

Just as soon as it happened, it was over. Hawkmoth's voice faded abruptly, and Sabine regained her awareness enough to clamp down on the negative emotions bubbling just beneath the surface. She looked immediately for her daughter, who looked horrified and pale.

"I think it's best if we go finalize the paperwork in my office." Principal Damocles said a moment later, his voice trembling slightly from the close call.

Marinette drew in on herself, head down, not looking at anyone—not even her parents.

Despite the close call just now, Sabine recognized the feeling niggling in her gut—something wasn't right about this. It was too easy. If Marinette really had stolen the necklace, why would she have been foolish enough to keep the evidence around? Why had Lila been so confident that it would be there?

Something wasn't right.

Sabine watched her daughter carefully as they began the long walk of shame back to the principal's office.

Marinette's eyes never left the floor, as she walked a few paces ahead of her parents. By the trembling of her shoulders, Sabine knew that she was trying hard not to cry. Expelled and then very nearly akumatized—it it was not something she ever wanted her little girl to experience.

Lila, meanwhile, seemed to be walking with an extra spring in her step as she accompanied them back to the office.

Sabine's eyes narrowed.

Of all the things Sabine imagined Marinette could do when she got a little out of hand, bullying someone had never crossed her mind. Her daughter was someone who knew firsthand what it was like to be bullied. For years she'd been maliciously picked on by that insufferable Mayor's equally insufferable daughter and the school let it happen. Something wasn't sitting right in Sabine's gut about this whole situation. She knew Marinette could get carried away, particularly when it came to her crush on Adrien (something Sabine had been meaning to talk to her daughter about, because there was something to be said about healthy crushes).

However, one thing was for certain: Marinette was no bully.

Just before they headed back into Principal Damocles' office, Sabine pulled her daughter aside.

"Marinette, I need you to tell me honestly, did you do any of the things that Ms. Rossi is accusing you of?"

"Maman, I didn't. I promise." Marinette pleaded, voice cracking. Sabine's heart lurched, Marinette looked about five seconds away from a breakdown and she quickly gathered her daughter into her arms, holding her tight.

"Shh," Sabine soothed gently as Marinette stifled a sob, "I believe you."

"You do?" Marinette asked pitifully, voice muffled against her mother's chest.

"I know you would never bully anyone."

"Everyone else believed her." Marinette choked, bitterly.

Sabine knew they'd have to talk about this later, but right now there were more pressing things to handle. "Right now, we will focus on setting this situation straight. If your friends truly are your friends, they will apologize to you. It will be up to you whether you accept it or not."

Marinette looked surprised for a moment, like it never occurred to her that she didn't have to not accept someone's apology.

"Okay maman." She agreed, taking a deep breath.

Sabine and Marinette re-entered the office, where Principal Damocles was clearly impatient to get this over with.

"We will get your paperwork in order today, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. You will have until the end of the day to clear your locker."

Marinette's shoulders slumped, but before she could look any more defeated, Sabine decided enough was enough.

"I understand theft is inexcusable, but where is your proof that Marinette did the other things that she was accused of?"

Principal Damocles looked at Sabine in disbelief. "Madam, you cannot seriously think that after the proof of the stolen item—"

Sabine was so done with this man. She cut him off sharply, "you reviewed the security footage and are in fact, certain that it was Marinette who pushed Ms. Rossi down the stairs, Principal Damocles?"

"Well I thought Lila's injuries were enough of a testament to that-"

"So let me get this straight," Sabine said smoothly, cutting across the Principal, "you had two students come to you with two entirely different stories, and you just outright believed one student over the other without checking the video footage that could put an end to this question?"

Lila blanched, not liking where this line of reasoning was heading to.

"R-really, it's not necessary." She said pleadingly, tears springing to her eyes. "I really should have never even brought it up, I didn't really want to get Marinette in trouble and make her hate me more." Her voice warbled pitifully by the end of the sentence and Marinette looked about ready to jump out of her chair, her face an unhealthy shade of pink. It was Tom who lay a firm, but comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder immediately some of the tension bled from her shoulders and he dad kept her anchored enough not to lose her head.

Sabine ignored that little pitiful display, her iron gaze never wavering from the Principal. She kept a cool head. Yes, she was rightfully angry on behalf of Marinette, but a cool head always prevailed… and also didn't attract an akuma.

"I fail to see what the problem is here Principal Damocles." Sabine said sweetly, but the underlying current of steel sent shivers down the principal's spine. "It is a win-win scenario. If Ms. Rossi is correct, and our daughter did do such a heinous act as pushing her down the stairs, we can all rest easy knowing that Marinette will be expelled, as well as properly punished at home."

"Well, when you put it like that…" Principal Damocles looked rightfully chastised.

Marinette was looking at her mother with a mixture of hope and relief so palpable that for a moment Sabine wondered how long this… situation might have been going on between Marinette and this new student. Sure, their business kept them very busy a lot of the time, but Sabine vowed silently there and then to make sure to keep a little closer eye on her daughter.

Lila grew paler and paler by the moment, her eyes darting around the room as if searching for an avenue of escape.

It took a minute for the Principal to pull up the correct day, and they sat there patiently as he rewound the footage to the approximate time this allegedly serious incident occurred.

"Ah," he let out a noise of affirmation, before letting the screen play out. Sabine watched; hawklike eyes trained on his face as he watched the footage. Not even a moment later, his eyebrows shot nearly into his receding hairline. He scrambled for the mouse and Sabine only had to guess he was replaying the footage.

Once.

Twice.

Each time, his face grew somehow paler and yet increasingly flushed at the same time.

"MS. ROSSI." Principal Damocles finally snapped, "I think you have some explaining to do."

Lila flinched, her eyes wide and the waterworks were prepped to go. "It's not what it looks like, Principal Damocles! I wouldn't-" She looked desperately around the room, looking for any support, but only found Sabine's scorching gaze. She quickly looked away, pointing at Marinette, "it's all her fault!"

The Principal stood abruptly; face flushed as red as Ladybug's signature red suit. "You purposefully made it appear as though Ms. Dupain-Cheng pushed you down the stairs when she did nothing!"

"No—I—"

"I think, Principal Damocles," Sabine cut across Lila without so much as a look at the girl, "it is high time you call Ms. Rossi's parents in."

If possible, Lila went even paler.

"That's really not necessary, my mother is an ambassador you see and very busy—"

"In fact, it's a little strange you haven't already called them in by now." Sabine's tone hardened.

Principal Damocles seemed to deflate just a bit. "Er… right, right." He cleared his throat, "I didn't want to bother such an important ambassador at first…"

It was the wrong thing to say.

"And yet you decided to pull us away from our business, forcing us to close shop for the day and costing us potentially hundreds of euros?" Tom piped up, his tone warning.

Principal Damocles went a shade of puce that no one realized was achievable. He didn't want to dig his grave any deeper and made a smart move by pulling out a large ledger, scanning through it frantically until he found what he was looking for. Ignoring Lila's protests, the Principal dialed the phone number.

His brow knit together. "Must have been a misdial."

He hung up and dialed again.

Lila had gone strangely quiet and looked to be shrinking in on herself to avoid drawing any attention to herself. It didn't work.

"Ms. Rossi, you'd better explain as to why your listed phone number is not working. Or provide another that we can reach your mother at immediately."

Lila sunk lower into her seat, "my uh… she's out of town! That's why. She's on an important diplomatic mission in Achu."

No one bought it.

"I will simply call the embassy in the meantime," Principal Damocles said icily, "I'm sure they can connect me to her."

"While we wait, I think it would be best if you heard Marinette out from the beginning, as it seems you denied her the chance, without Ms. Rossi." Sabine's fingers curled into her palms and she forced herself to take a deep breath.

"But I—Marinette will try to twist everything—" Lila tried again desperately but was ignored completely.

"Ms. Laurent?" Principle Damocles called on the intercom, "Ms. Rossi will be sitting in the office with you until I come to get her. Do not let her out of your sight."

"Yes Principal Damocles." Ms. Laurent's pleasant voice sealed Lila's fate.

"You are to wait with Ms. Laurent until I am able to reach your mother, Ms. Rossi." With perfect timing, Ms. Laurent appeared at the door.

There was nothing left for Lila to say. She snatched her bag from the ground and shot Marinette a poisonous look before she was escorted out by Ms. Laurent.

Even with just Lila leaving, Sabine could see some of the tension in her daughter's shoulders bleed away, but it wasn't over.

"Now Marinette," Sabine said gently, touching her daughter's hair soothingly, "can you please tell us what happened today, from the beginning?"

"Okay, maman." Marinette agreed softly.

And so Marinette told them everything. From the time the test answers were "discovered" in her bag because of an anonymous note, to Ms. Bustier telling Marinette that she couldn't just accuse someone without evidence (Tom looked particularly upset at that, but reigned it in), to Lila's threats as they were on the way to Principal Damocles' office and then the "supposed" push. They'd all seen what happened at the locker room, and the question of the necklace was quickly solved with a cursory look through the footage, damning evidence of Lila herself putting the necklace into the locker. There was no talking her way out of this one.

Once Marinette was finished talking, there was only one unanswered question left.

"Thank you." Sabine squeezed her exhausted looking daughter's shoulder in comfort, hating that she had to push just a little further, but it was for the good of her in the long run. "Do you know why Lila felt she needed to do these things, Marinette?"

Marinette looked torn for a moment, her eyes flicking back and forth between her parents. Sabine couldn't help but hold her breath, recognizing that their daughter was making a decision-one that Sabine could not make for her and one that if her and Tom had done what they could, Marinette would feel comfortable telling them.

"She was… making good on her threat."

Sabine's blood ran cold. Beside her, she felt Tom stiffen.

"What?" Sabine was unable to keep all the anger from bleeding into her tone.

"She threatened you?" Tom asked, keeping his voice calm despite the uneasiness in his gaze.

Marinette bowed her head but nodded.

Sabine wanted to ask, "why didn't you tell us sooner?" But realized that this wasn't the time or the place to talk about this and all that really mattered was that Marinette was telling them now.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Tom asked gently, recognizing Sabine was unable to find her voice at that moment.

And so Marinette began all over again, from the true beginning to explain how Lila had come to dislike her, how she constantly lied about having several injuries or medical conditions, she told them about how the class had moved her seat all the way to the back by herself without even asking her, and how anytime she tried to call Lila on her lies it only backfired on her further.

If Sabine didn't think she could get any angrier, she was wrong when Marinette's story came to a head about how Lila had cornered her in the bathroom and threatened her. Even Tom had to remind himself to breathe deeply when Marinette admitted that she'd nearly been akumatized twice now because of Lila. Twice.

What scared Sabine the most was those threats had almost come true and would have come true had she and her husband not stepped in. The thought left her with a cold anger simmering beneath her skin.

Once Marinette was done telling the story, her parents hugged her tight.

Tom gave her a gentle kiss on her temple and Sabine wanted to hold her exhausted daughter for as long as she needed, but it wasn't over yet.

"In light of… this new information," Principal Damocles cleared his throat nervously, "Marinette's expulsion of course, is null. I apologize, Ms. Dupain-Cheng."

Anger flared beneath Sabine's skin, but she clamped it down, hard. Between one upset Marinette, two upset parents and whatever that girl was out there, it was a miracle Hawkmoth hadn't sent an akuma yet.

Tom normally was content to sit back and let Sabine handle these kinds of situations, but something didn't sit right with him and so he voiced his opinion next.

"You expelled our daughter in front of her peers, giving her no privacy. I expect you to rectify the situation by making just as public an apology for this misunderstanding that could have been avoided if you had fairly listened to your students beforehand." Tom added, not even letting the Principal off with that much.

Principal Damocles looked like he'd swallowed a lemon but agreed. "Yes, of course."

Judging by the way Marinette looked at her dad like he'd just hung all the stars in the night sky, he figured he'd done something right.

"That girl maliciously tried to smear my daughter's reputation into nothing and nearly caused her to be akumatized—twice. I expect all her misdeeds will come to light in this very public apology in order to set the record straight. If not, I will be going directly to the Board of Governors, do I make myself clear?" Sabine demanded, somehow towering above the principle despite being a good foot shorter than him.

It was times like these when Tom got to be reminded why he fell so hard for Sabine Cheng. There was nothing more beautiful to him when his wife got that sharp look in her eye and the extra proud set to her shoulders, ready to take anyone down. He swooned a little and had to remind himself to pay attention. He was here to support his wife and especially daughter, in any way possible.

"Marinette, sweetie." Sabine turned towards her daughter, only love in her eyes, "why don't you take the rest of the day off from school and go get an ice cream with your father? I'm sure Principal Damocles will excuse your absence for the rest of the day due to this unfortunate and completely avoidable situation."

Principal Damocles gulped, pulling at his tie uncomfortably. "Of course, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I will inform your teachers that I have excused your absence."

Marinette rose from her chair at her father's prompting, looking understandably dazed by the abrupt change of tide. It was not forty minutes earlier she'd been very publicly expelled after all.

"Will you be joining us, dear?" Tom asked cheerfully, already knowing the answer to the question.

"Oh no," Sabine practically purred, "I think I'll stay here and continue our enlightening conversation with Principal Damocles about why our daughter was expelled at the drop of a hat with no concrete evidence to do so. But you two go on, enjoy yourselves."

She pressed a kiss to each of their cheeks and waved them out of the office as Principal Damocles sank low into his chair.

Tom happily led Marinette out of the office just as Sabine rounded back on the Principal.

It was just as they came out of the office that they were ambushed by a very stressed looking Adrien.

"Marinette!" He burst out desperately, "I came as soon as Bustier would let me go. I'm going to talk to the Principal and tell him everything I know."

Marinette was too shocked to speak.

"I'm so sorry." Adrien apologized, so shamefaced that Tom was certain someone must have kicked a puppy right in front of him, "it's all my fault. I didn't think Lila would ever—if I had known—"

The poor kid was working himself into a right state and Marinette was so exhausted she wasn't even able to respond.

"Whoa, whoa," Tom said gently, "slow down there son. What's your fault?"

Adrien seemed to notice Tom was there too finally, clearly having had tunnel vision for just Marinette. He gulped, but there was a flicker of determination behind his gaze.

"I knew Lila was a liar and I told Marinette that her lies weren't hurting anyone…but I was wrong." Adrien hung his head, fists clenching at his sides. "I never thought she'd lie like this. I'm sorry Marinette, but I'll do everything I can to help you get unexpelled."

Marinette was staring at Adrien like he'd grown a second head, and Tom recognized his daughter had reached her limit for today.

"Look, Adrien," Tom began kindly, "that may not have been the best advice to give. Letting others lie to your friends is never a good thing. I'm not saying you coming forward would have helped the situation any, but you can't sit back next time like this and not speak up for a friend."

With each of Tom's gentle, but firm words Adrien deflated more and more.

"But it looks like you realized it was wrong. I'm sure when Marinette has some time to rest and recover after today's upsetting events, she'll talk to you about it. The good news is Marinette isn't expelled anymore. We got that all straightened out."

Relief splashed across Adrien's face.

"T-thanks for coming to support me, Adrien." Marinette said softly, finally having recovered from her shock to say that much.

Adrien nodded, looking sad. "Don't thank me Marinette, I should have come to my senses sooner. I'll talk to you about it when you're feeling better though, okay? Right now, I'll go talk to Principal Damocles about Lila too."

Tom nodded approvingly at Adrien.

They bid Adrien a quick goodbye, before setting out once was careful to lead Marinette straight out of the school. If any of her other classmates looked like they might want to approach her—he made sure to give them a look that kept a clear berth around them.

They stopped very briefly at the store, stocked up on good ol' rocky road ice cream before heading home. Marinette very briefly went upstairs to change into her pajamas, and when she came back down, Tom already had all the blankets out on the couch and two big spoons for the ice cream.

They chose a funny movie that they both had seen many times before; it was one of Marinette's favourites and Tom watched with approval as Marinette slowly drifted off into a nap.

She was still napping when Sabine finally got home a few hours later.

It warmed her heart seeing her daughter and husband, curled up and cuddling on the couch, Marinette passed right out.

"How did it go?" Tom asked quietly, doing his best not to stir Marinette even as he made room for Sabine on the couch too.

Sabine settled in beside her husband, cuddling right up to his other side and practically melting into him. What a day it had been.

"As good as it could have gone." Sabine sighed. "They are going to publicly apologize to Marinette during an assembly on Friday, which she doesn't have to attend if she doesn't want to."

"And what about Ms. Rossi?"

Sabine's lips turned downwards, an expression that seemed out of place on her normally kind features. "Ms. Rossi's mother was quite shocked to hear what her daughter had been up to all this time. Apparently, she'd told her mother that the school had been closed for several months due to akuma attacks and Mrs. Rossi never bothered to follow up. If they didn't expel her for the truancy, the bullying was the nail in the coffin. She will be forced to explain herself at the assembly to all her peers, but they will be returning back to Italy."

Tom let out a breath of relief and held his wife a little closer.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Sabine admitted honestly, "but it needed to be done. I'm just sorry Marinette felt like she couldn't come to us sooner."

"At least she felt comfortable enough to tell us today, or who knows what might have happened." Tom said soothingly, neither parent wanted to imagine the alternative.

Marinette would have to decide if she wanted to forgive her peers for jumping so quickly to conclusions, but they would be here to support her, no matter what she decided.

That's what they were here for.

Sabine and Tom cuddled a little closer, content to spend a relaxing night with their daughter.

A/N: My first foray into the Miraculous fandom! I've been an admiring reader for so long, but this popped into my head and I had to write it!

I hope you enjoyed!