I believe in you Ladybug!

Part 8

"What?"

"I've done it." Adrien said blankly.

Chloe nearly balked at him, but managed to keep her face from doing more than raising a thin eyebrow.

"Lila and I made a deal."

For some reason, Chloe's heart sank the inch left to touch the very bottom of the pool. "What deal?"

"Chat Noir offered her something in return for clearing Marinette." Adrien smiled.

So they were working together then. Of course they were working together, the person she wanted to have an independent opinion managed to get himself intertwined.

"Chat Noir?"

"Lila said she didn't want anything from me, so it had to be something really special."

That was not what Chloe was really asking, but it did make sense. Lila had managed to scam Adrien and his father out of enough promotional material that all she had to do was flash a smile, show a picture, and drop a name to get whatever she wanted.

And she was only 'clearing Marinette's name', nothing that would ruin her own reputation in school of otherwise. If she actually admitted anything, then it would be too easy for Chloe or Sabrina to take a video and have it online within minutes.

"I thought you'd be happy about this Chlo."

Chloe looked up at Adrien again, somehow her eyes had made it to the floor.

"I'll be happy when it happens."

It was harsh, but it was the best lie she could come up with. Reasonable, deflecting satisfaction to a later time. She couldn't pretend to be happy about this, no matter how much she wanted to be. It was about to be all over.

But when the school bell rang, and Mrs. Bustier started class, Lila was not there. Everyone else was chatting, and casting looks at Marinette back in her old seat, everyone except Alyx who was gloating that she finally got hers back. Marinette wasn't paying any attention to them though, laughing with Alya. Adrien threw her a nervous look.

Lunch came, and Lila still wasn't present. Chloe cornered Adrien outside the front steps.

"I don't know. She's supposed to be here."

Chloe couldn't tell if she was happy or not. The news was terrible – a fix fell through? Awful. And somehow perfect.

"I'm going to pay her a visit to see what happened." Adrien decided, with an odd fire in his eyes.

"Chat Noir is supposed to come to lunch with us."

"What?"

"Are you braindead? Is he going to be there to talk about his deal? Do I need to?" Surely that'd be easier to do, a threat over a lunch.

"No, he's coming, I think. We're supposed to meet up in a minute, just in case. He'll come over as soon as we're done, I'll take Lila back to school."

A thorough plan. No place Chloe could improve it, and she didn't know the details to help in the negotiations. Adrien had this handled, probably. After last time there was no guarantee.

"Chloe! Are you coming?" To Chloe's surprise it was Luka that called out to her, waving her over. Adrien coaxed her along and she reluctantly went to join the group in walking to the Liberty. It was about halfway through the trip that Alya started talking about Lila.

"We need to take her down."

"We've been trying! She's too good." Marinette conceded.

"There has to be something somewhere – some evidence."