Sacrifice

by Rose Thorne

Disclaimer: Don't own Miraculous Ladybug or make any money writing fanfiction.

Marinette sat at a table in the art room, trying hard to find a creative spark. Lately it had been in hiding, or hibernating, or something. Really, since Lila had come back and vowed to destroy her. The liar had started to isolate her, slowly convincing her peers that she had done or said things she hadn't.

She had thought they'd trust her over a virtual stranger, but Lila had clearly done this before. She'd started small, believable, and made it worse over time. And Marinette herself hadn't helped the issue—injustice triggered her, made her see red. It had since Chloé had bullied her relentlessly with no consequences, teachers and staff choosing to look away instead of help. Or worse, they expected her to practically thank Chloé for her treatment, gaslighting her being upset. All those years of abuse, enabled by adults.

And so Marinette had reacted, and that had just dug a deeper hole, giving Lila's quiet accusations a foothold, giving the liar something to work with.

Before, everyone knew Chloé was awful. But now, Lila had them all convinced she was wonderful, and so they didn't believe anything Marinette said about her—they believed her instead. It was a whole different type of bullying, and so much more insidious than what Marinette had faced before.

Adrien expected her to take the 'high road,' and she'd slowly come to realize he meant what the enabling adults did. Marinette wondered what had stripped his sense of justice away; she was fairly certain the answer started with a G.

She was starting to wonder if it was even worth staying to use the art room, putting herself in situations that involved the classmates who used it.

"Marinette?"

Nathanaël's voice startled her out of her reverie, and she looked up warily to see him and Marc looking at her, their faces troubled. Marinette hoped she hadn't said something questionable out loud; she didn't need to look crazy in addition to being made to look like a bully.

"Yes?" she asked, keeping her voice as cool and disinterested as she could.

"Can… can we talk to you for a minute?" Marc asked softly.

His body language reminded her of a frightened rabbit, and she softened.

"Of course. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Nathanaël glanced around the room and Marinette did the same. Surprisingly, none of their other classmates were there today, and the realization relaxed tension she hadn't known she was feeling. Even the art teacher was out of the room. At the moment, it was just the three of them.

They sat across from her at the table, and seemed to have a silent conversation before Nathanaël finally spoke, not meeting her eyes.

"Marc pointed out some… inconsistencies in the stories Lila was telling us," he began.

"He means he knows she's lying now," Marc interjected in a whisper.

Nathanaël looked guilty. "I can't believe I ever believed her, especially about you. I… I mean, you know I had a crush on you, and I think so highly of you, but she had me convinced. I'm so sorry, Marinette."

"We want to help," Marc added.

Marinette wondered for a moment what Marc had said that she hadn't, but decided it didn't matter, not really.

Nathanaël finally looked up. "I want to help you expose her."

She blinked, startled. Marinette had thought they meant by supporting her; she hadn't expected the two shyest boys in the school to want to take an active role like this.

She couldn't let them.

Neither of them were strangers to being bullied, and they were both such sensitive souls that it impacted them far worse than most. Worse than her, definitely. If she was having trouble with the war Lila was waging against her, they'd be quick victims.

Marinette shook her head. "She'll come after you. Worse than Chloé ever did."

Nathanaël's eyes widened as he realized the ramifications of that—Chloé had been the reasons he'd been Akumatized, after all. If Lila could do worse, and sat right next to him…

"You can't do this alone," Marc whispered, and it was clear he got the meaning, too.

"I have to," she said. She could feel the tickle of threatened tears at the edge of her eyes, and fought them off. "If I'm her only target, no one else will get hurt. She can't know you know she's lying, or she'll go after you."

Marc covered his mouth with one hand, looking horrified. He didn't hold back the tears.

Nathanaël looked grim. "You're sacrificing yourself."

To avoid seeing Marc's tears, avoid them being contagious, Marinette looked down at the halfhearted doodles on the open page of her sketchbook. She had pages and pages like this, of half-assed designs and partly-drawn rejects.

"She's not going to stop coming after me, and the teachers won't do anything," she said after she was sure she had control. "If they won't stop the mayor's daughter, they won't stop a diplomat's either. None of us have powerful parents; it's never mattered when mine have complained. Even though M. Damocles has a duty to look into it, he never has before, and that's not likely to change."

She felt the bitterness twitching her lips into a sneer, and stopped it with a sigh. She shook her head.

"It's enough knowing you both know." Marinette attempted to smile at them. "Adrien knows, too. I'm sure the rest of the class will come around eventually, too."

Marc wiped at his face with the sleeve of his hoodie, not able to hold in a soft sob. "But you'll be suffering until then. It's not fair!"

"No," she agreed. "It's not. But our collége isn't fair. The adults aren't fair. And the only way I can create a tiny bit of justice in this situation is to make sure you two aren't hurt by it, too."

A hand covered her own, and she looked up to find it was Nathanaël's. He'd lost his battle against tears as well. Marinette could feel a lump in her throat.

"We'll support you however you need us to, Marinette," he whispered. "You're not alone. We won't let you be alone. We're here for you."

That did it; she felt a tear slip down her cheek. Marc rushed around the table to throw his arms around her, and she felt a sob start to build in her throat. Then Nathanaël was beside her, gathering her in his arms as well, and the sob broke free, so strong her whole body seemed to convulse. She was certain if she didn't keep some control, she'd start wailing and never stop.

She had felt alone, even with Adrien knowing. He never checked on her, though she was sure he'd heard the rumors Lila had been spreading. But Marc and Nathanaël—they were reaching out. They were supporting her.

Marinette would protect them, be strong for them. It was the only thing she could do.

I went through an experience not too unlike this when I was in 8th grade, protecting a peer by taking the blame for something that would piss off most of my classmates. I lived in Small Town, USA, and was already the bullied outcast, so I took on more to keep that peer from having to experience it.

I dunno, I guess it was cathartic to write this. It probably was a bit of neg-stimming, though.

Dear anon: I don't care about your prompts, particularly when you don't actually say anything about my fics.