The consequences of actions

It had started as any typical day for Chloe Bourgeois, got up, went to class with her beloved Adrien and put that commoner Marinette in her place. After class finished up for the day Chloe decided to head through the park to go to the shops, but this creepy man dared to run into her while carrying a large net, he was collecting disgusting bugs, it made Chloe feel sick and like she needed ten baths for touching such a disgusting person. For running into her and being so disgusting, Chloe had Sabrina crush the collection of bugs the man had dropped on the floor to teach him a lesson, she then had Sabrina throw away her shoes because they had crushed bugs on them.

Apparently, the man actually enjoyed his disgusting little hobby and was upset by her just actions, because he became Akumatised and came after Chloe. With the villain using his large net to shrink people down and adding them to his bug collection case along the way.

"No! Ew! Get off me!" Chloe cried as the Akumatised villain, who called himself 'Le Collecteur', grabbed hold of her.

"I think not." Le Collecteur said, using his wings to fly them into the air.

Ladybug swung towards them with a miniaturised Chat Noir, who she had managed to rescue after he was caught by Le Collecteur's net, on her shoulder.

"Ladybug will save me." Chloe said. "She won't let me become part of your disgusting collection."

"I don't intend to add a grub like you to my collection." Le Collecteur said menacingly. "You are not worthy enough to be part of my collection."

"Excuse me?" Chloe demanded. "I am perfectly worthy."

Le Collecteur only grinned and took one of his collection boxes and held it up for Ladybug and Chat Noir to see, he then threw it as far as he could.

Ladybug gasped and immediately chased after it to save the people inside.

Le Collecteur laughed evilly, he then faced Chloe. "And now there is no one to save you." He sneered.

He then let go of Chloe and she fell.

Back with Ladybug, she had just managed to catch the collection box before it hit the ground, but when she looked inside she saw it was empty.

"A decoy!" She growled.

She then heard a scream.

"Oh no! Ladybug, look!" Chat screamed in her ear.

Ladybug turned around to see Chloe falling towards the ground. Her heart leapt to her throat as she raced towards the girl.

Chloe screamed with fear as she fell to the ground, but that was only for effect really, she knew Ladybug would rescue her, Ladybug always rescued her from the stupid Akumas who took her actions and words way too personally.

Chloe then came to an abrupt stop, at first she thought Ladybug had caught her like she always did, but then unimaginable pain erupted through her entire body, causing her to cry out in agony.

Ladybug landed next to Chloe's prone body, shock and fear clear on her face, she hadn't been quick enough to catch Chloe.

"Oh god!" Ladybug gasped.

Chloe's screams of pain cut her to the bone, but at least assured her the girl was still alive.

"Chl-Miss Bourgeois. Try not to move, it'll make it worse." Ladybug said, kneeling next to Chloe.

Chloe didn't give any sign that she heard Ladybug.

Le Collecteur laughed evilly from overhead.

"Ladybug," Chat said from Ladbug's shoulder, his voice suggesting he was holding back tears. "Maybe your Miraculous Cure will fix Chloe."

Ladybug nodded, face determined. "It's worth a try." She said.

Chat Noir jumped down from her shoulder as Ladybug stood up and threw her yoyo into the air.

"Lucky Charm!" She called.

The spotted object fell into her hand and she chased after Le Collecteur to defeat him so she could use her Miraculous Cure to hopefully save Chloe.

As Chloe lay on the ground all she could think about was the pain she was currently feeling and the approaching feeling of unconsciousness, which she feared because she knew she might not wake up if she went to sleep. She felt like she couldn't move at all, not even her head. She was dimly aware of the presence of others around her and the light touch of something on her hand.

'I don't want to die!' Chloe cried inside her mind since she couldn't say it aloud.

Ladybug finally managed to get hold of Le Collecteur's net and break it in half, the Akuma flew out and she purified it without her usual words.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug cried as she threw her Lucky Charm into the air.

The object burst into Ladybugs, they went over to the collection boxes and freed everyone inside them back into the streets and their proper sizes, Chat Noir included, they then went over to Chloe and wrapped around her before disappearing.

Ladybug quickly swung over to Chloe to check if she was alright.

Chloe slowly opened her eye when the immense pain she was in suddenly stopped, she was also aware that she could move her body again.

"Miss Bourgeois, are you alright?" Ladybug asked Chloe as she landed beside her, helping the girl to sit up.

Chloe looked silently at her hero before bursting into tears, she threw herself at Ladybug and sobbed on the hero's shoulder.

Ladybug gently patted Chloe's head and gave the girl a much needed hug. But then her Miraculous beeped, telling her that she had to leave. Ladybug was conflicted, her identity was important but she couldn't just leave Chloe like this.

"I'll take her." Chat Noir said gently to Ladybug. "I haven't used my cataclysm so I still have time."

It took a bit of effort and coaxing, but Chloe eventually let go of Ladybug and latched onto Chat Noir instead. Ladybug then raced off.

"It's okay." Chat said to Chloe. "You're fine now."

Inside, Chat felt so distressed at seeing his childhood friend like this. He had been so worried for her life as his tiny-self had sat by her injured body.

It didn't take long for Mayor Bourgeois to show up in his limo.

"Oh, my baby girl!" He cried as he took Chloe off of Chat.

The mayor took Chloe to his limo.

"To the hospital, immediately." He ordered his driver, wanting to make sure Chloe wasn't still injured before taking her home.

…

It took a week for Chloe to return to classes, and when she did she didn't look like she should be back yet. There were bags under her eyes that were poorly concealed by make-up, her hair was down instead of her usual style and didn't look as well kept, and she looked ready to fall over at any time.

Ever since her near-death experience, Chloe found it hard to sleep. She had constant nightmares of the Akumas that went after her in the past, only Ladybug and Chat Noir weren't there to save her. Ladybug wasn't there to catch her when Stoneheart threw her off the Eiffel tower, Chat Noir wasn't there to stop Evillustrator's saw blade from cutting through her, every situation where she was put into danger by an Akuma and saved by Ladybug and Chat Noir, she saw what would have happened if they hadn't been there to save her.

The experience had really shaken her up and made her want to do nothing more than hide in her room forever, or at least until Hawkmoth was defeated and she didn't have to worry about Akumas popping up anymore. But with encouragement from her father, Sabrina and Adrien, Chloe returned to school, determined to not let the experience get to her.

Through the first half of class Chloe couldn't concentrate, not that Sabrina wasn't already taking class notes for her anyway, her mind kept wandering to the classmates who had attacked her under Hawkmoth's influence. And then her mind went somewhere she had been trying to ignore for the longest time, how those classmates had come after her because she caused them to be put in Hawkmoth's sight in the first place.

The second time Ivan was Akumatised, she called him a monster to his face. She got Alya suspended for taking a picture of her locker, turning her into Lady Wifi. She made fun of Nathanael's crush, harshly rejected Kim then humiliated him on social media, insulted Mylene about her fears because she wanted to kiss Adrien. The list went on.

Chloe couldn't take the thoughts anymore and stood up abruptly, she then ran out of class. Miss Bustier watched her go but didn't try to stop her, realising she was still struggling.

"Would someone please go and make sure she's alright?" Miss Bustier asked.

"I have to take notes for her." Sabrina said, looking confused as to what she should do.

"I'll go." Adrien volunteered.

"She's probably in the toilets if she didn't go home." Sabrina told him.

"I'll check the girl's toilets." Marinette volunteered.

"Okay." Miss Bustier said.

Marinette left the classroom and went to the girl's toilets, in there she heard the quiet sound of crying.

"Chloe? Are you in here?" Marinette asked as she opened the door.

Chloe stood in front of the mirror as she cried.

"Go away!" Chloe demanded.

"I just came to see if you're alright." Marinette said.

Chloe was about to insult Marinette when a thought crossed her mind. What if she insulted Marinette and she ended up becoming an Akuma because of it? Marinette would then go after her and maybe succeed where Le Collecteur had failed.

So instead Chloe just cried again as she crouched to the floor, her hands still holding the rim of the sink.

Marinette hesitantly approached Chloe and crouched down beside her, she reached out an arm to rub Chloe's back but pulled away.

"Last week really shook you up." Marinette said.

"You think?" Chloe snapped.

"But you've been close to death before." Marinette said, remembering the times Chloe was seconds away from death.

"But that's the first time I got hurt." Chloe sobbed.

"Oh, yeah."

It was also Marinette's first time not being able to save someone in time, usually, thanks to her powers of luck, she could save people just in the nick of time. It had taken a lot of reassurance from Tikki to assure that she wasn't a failure as a hero, and Alya had unknowingly helped by referring to her comic books where the hero didn't always manage to save everyone.

The two girls were silent for a few minutes.

Then Chloe opened her mouth, she didn't know what compelled her to speak, especially to Marinette of all people, but she did.

"I can't help but think about how it wouldn't have happened if I had just ignored that guy instead of crushing his bugs. If I hadn't done that Hawkmoth would have made him a villain, and if he hadn't been a villain he wouldn't have dropped me."

Marinette didn't know what to say, she couldn't think of anything that could comfort Chloe since the girl was right about her actions.

"And then I think about all the other times I was attacked only for Ladybug to save me, and what could have happened if she wasn't there in time, like she wasn't there in time when I fell." Chloe continued to cry. "And now I can't stop thinking about how my life never would have been threatened in the first place if I hadn't caused them to…" She broke off into sobs.

Marinette waited for Chloe's cries to die down before speaking.

"I think you should go home for today. You were very brave coming in though." She said.

"Yeah, whatever." Chloe said. "Tell Sabrina to drop off my bag after classes end."

Chloe stood up, took a few minutes to fix her make-up, then headed home.

…

It took a few more weeks but Chloe finally seemed to be back to her usual self, concerned primarily with her looks, flirting with Adrien and scowling at Marinette.

"It's amazing." Alya commented, watching Chloe hang off Adrien's arm. "It's like last month never happened."

"Maybe it's for the best." Marinette said. "I mean, I would never want to go through what happened to her. If it were me I'd probably be dealing with the lingering issues for a long time."

"I guess. I just hope it teaches her to be more careful about who she insults." Alya said.

Chloe said goodbye to Adrien only for her to knock into someone, causing that person to drop the stack of papers they were carrying.

"Oh no, here we go." Alya said, waiting for Chloe's usual over-the-top reaction.

Chloe looked coldly at the person who bumped into her.

"Watch where you're going." She said, she then looked at the papers on the ground. "Sabrina, pick these up for him." She ordered her lackey before walking off.

Sabrina looked surprised before helping the person pick up their papers and then racing after Chloe.

"Well I'll be." Alya said surprised. "I guess she has learned."

Marinette smiled and hummed in agreement.

"Wow." Nino said to Adrien. "I thought for sure she was going to blow up at him. Guess she's changing."

Adrien just watched his childhood friend walk off with a proud smile.

This was just an idea I had for how Chloe's redemption could start, possibly putting her on the path to becoming the Bee superhero. Considering how many times her life is put in danger because of an Akuma she caused, yet she never realises it or seems to care, I thought actually getting badly injured and close to death would finally make her learn from her mistakes.