Prison Yard

Chapter eight - Outing the Enemy

"Marinette?!" A familiar voice called out at her. She froze where she stood. The piercing green eyes of the blonde boy stood in front of her. 

"Ad-Adrien." She stammered. Her body tense with fear evident in her features . "I uh-" She tried to form a sentence but nothing came to her mind. 

 "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" He asked, clearly put off by her presents at his place, she can't blame him though, she was technically supposed to be in a jail cell, at the moment, and for the rest of her life. For a crime she didn't commit, she had to prove her innocence, which is why she was here. Adrien was the only one who could help her right now.

"I-... '' She cut herself off, Marinette wasn't sure how she was going to explain this to him without revealing that it was her under the spotted red mask she wore across her face. That night had gone by so fast and never in a million years did she think that that one day could go so wrong and end up ruining her entire life.

It was hero's day and she had gone with Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, and Carapace. Chloe, of course, being Chloe, was angry and upset that Ladybug had not trusted her with the bee Miraculous which rightfully belonged to her, in her own opinion. She should finally have understood that after the Miracle Queen incident four years back, there was no way she was ever going to be able to even touch a Miraculous again, let alone wield one. But she still attended it as a guest because her father, the mayor, was giving a speech for the heroes. After the parade he walked up onto the podium and started his discourse. He kept going on about how he was grateful for the heroes which caused a loud roar of applause from the audience, which showed that they agreed wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately, Marinette had to help her parents who were bringing baked goods from the confectionery to the event. It wasn't much of a surprise, since mostly everybody in the city considered it the best bakery in all of Paris. Of course they would need help bringing some of the delicious desserts to the table in the middle of all of the action.

"Chat." She whispered to her feline friend who was standing next to her. 

 "Yes m'lady?" He asked in his normal flirty voice, ears perked up and attentive. Almost as if he was ready to do anything that she asked at that moment. 

 "I've got to go, I'll be back in about half an hour, cover for me will ya?" He nodded his head, 

"Yeah sure, what do you want me to say if someone asks me where you went?" He said quietly, keeping his eyes on the people with a smile on his face so as to not look weird. 

 "I don't know," she thought for a moment, her hand on her chin. "Just say I had to step away for a minute and I'll be back soon, You know," she elbowed him, a smile growing on her face. "Superhero business."

He chuckled discreetly at the way she worded that. "Okay I'll do it, just hurry." He responded. 

"I will." She stepped away, careful not to attract any attention with her exit. She bolted into an alleyway and released her kwami from her earrings to let her rest. The flying creature hid under her jacket as Marinette sprinted over to the tables where her mom and dad were selling pastries. "Sorry I'm late papa." She said while her father sighed. 

"Better late than never." Her mother said cheerfully. 

"Oh no." 

"What is it Tom?" Sabine asked. 

"We forgot to bring the filling for the cheesecake." He announced, clearly stressed. 

 "I can run back to the backer and get it." Marinette offered.