Threatened Love (sequel to "Heartbroken Hero")

Chapter 2

Marinette panicked.

Someone definitely knew she was Ladybug. That meant everything was compromised; her secret identity and the safety of her friends and family.

Besides the initial "J," Marinette had no indication of who this could be besides Louise.

But even then, why did she sign it as J?

Perhaps a shoddy cover up, but she had no way to confirm that. Marinette needed to leave school ASAP so she could share the news with Tikki and start investigating.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and proceeded to leave but the classroom door creaked open, causing her to come to a stop.

Adrien left the room, approaching her concerningly. "Hey, you okay? Ms. Bustier is wondering where you are."

"O-oh," Marinette stuttered, grinning awkwardly. "Just, uh, going home. I don't feel so well."

She couldn't tell Adrien about the note. That would put him in so much danger.

"Mari," Adrien frowned, reaching for her arm and caressing it. "Is something going on? You know you can tell me anything..."

"I'm fine," Marinette half smiled. "I just need to go home."

"Want me to walk you?" Adrien asked.

"No," she grinned, "...thanks."

Marinette knew she was treading on thin ice with Adrien, but she needed to start investigating now. The longer this person knew her secret identity, the worse.

"Okay," Adrien mumbled slowly, a look of hurt on his face. "Call me later, alright?"

"I'm sorry," Marinette apologized, kissing his cheek. "And I will. I promise."

Marinette turned on her heel and started heading towards the exit. She felt horrible lying to Adrien, but even her boyfriend could not know about her secret identity.

*

Marinette showed the photo to Tikki, who examined it carefully.

"Well, this person was definitely in a hurry," Tikki observed.

"That must mean they weren't supposed to be at the school," Marinette commented, scratching her chin. "So they were trying to hurry before anyone saw them."

"Exactly. An outsider wrote this," Tikki nodded.

Marinette leaned back, grabbing her head. "That doesn't really narrow anything down."

"But at least we know it wasn't anyone in school. If they were a student, they wouldn't have any reason to hurry up and leave the note, right?" Tikki continued.

"But how do we know it wasn't written somewhere else?" Marinette asked.

"They had to have written at school because how else would they have know which class you were in?" Tikki shot back.

"True," Marinette nodded. "I don't know where to start this search."

"Does the handwriting look familiar?" Tikki asked. "That's somewhere to begin."

"No, but then again, I know for a fact this is Louise," Marinette stated.

Tikki leaned in closer to the note and scanned it over, narrowing her eyes at the signature in suspicion. "What about this initial? J?"

"Has to be an alibi to throw me off of her trail, but I know it's her. Who else is crazy enough to go through all of this trouble to threaten me at school?"