Ladybug hadn't shown up for patrol.
Adrien had waited at their usual spot for her. When she hadn't been there exactly on time, he hadn't thought twice about it. Running late wasn't unusual for either of them. Real life obligations and sneaking out of the house held both of them up at least once a week. He just leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
Fifteen minutes passed and he had sighed, shifting positions. He had expected her to be there by then, but it wasn't like he could blame her for her tardiness. No one knew that they were Chat Noir and Ladybug, so literally anyone from her regular life could be holding her up without knowing that they were stopping a superhero from protecting the city.
Half an hour passed and he had sat down on the edge of the rooftop. This was a little later than either of them had been in quite some time. The past four years had seen the two of them settle into a routine and it was more than a little concerning that she wasn't there, especially on a Saturday night patrol. It wasn't like homework could be holding her up. He started to wonder if something had happened, but brushed it off. He didn't want to turn into one of those people who worried over nothing. It was essential to their partnership that he trusted her ability to take care of herself, after all.
A full hour later and he decided that he was not being ridiculous in his concern. Neither of them had ever been that late without letting the other know. He had tried to call her three times and it had gone straight to voicemail. It hadn't even rung. Usually it rang out long enough for the kwami to tell them that the other was trying to contact them. Had she taken her earrings off?
Adrien had gotten up to patrol on his own at that point, but it was more with the intent to search for his partner than to actually check for any wrong doings in Paris that night. Finding no sign of her, he had been forced to return home at about midnight.
Currently, he had detransformed and fallen back on to his bed, Plagg going over to where he had left out a piece of camembert for him and starting to eat the cheese.
"What do you think, Plagg?" he asked the black kwami. "Why wouldn't Ladybug show up?"
Plagg took a few bites and looked to be thinking about what Adrien was asking him before speaking. He had been uncharacteristically quiet in the fifteen minutes since they had gotten home and the blonde had noticed the difference. Was he worried, too? He had never asked, but Adrien had always assumed that he and Ladybug's kwami had to have known one another quite well. Afterall, their chosen had been partners for thousands of years.
"I don't know, kid," Plagg eventually admitted. "I can't sense Tikki, but that doesn't have to mean anything bad... They could have went out of town for some reason, ya know? A family emergency or something."
Adrien shook his head in disagreement.
"No way. Ladybug would have contacted me," he stated. "She would have excused herself to the bathroom and called or… or something. There's no way she would just take off."
"People have emergencies sometimes, Adrien," Plagg responded. "Something could have happened that made her not think straight. Someone in the hospital or worse that she really cares about. It doesn't have to be that something happened to her or to Tikki."
Even though the little cat said that, Adrien still thought that he looked just as worried as he did. Plagg could pretend to be indifferent all he wanted, but the young man could see that it wasn't true. He knew him too well after so long of being partners.
"When did you stop sensing her kwami?" he asked.
"It's not like I'm constantly looking for her or something," Plagg grumbled as he finished up his cheese. "I was napping before we went on patrol, remember? I guess… Maybe the last time I sensed her was when we were at school yesterday? I don't know..."
And it was there in that uncertainty that Adrien was finally sure that he was seeing Plagg upset, too.
"Look, even if something did happen, and I'm not saying that it did, it doesn't do anyone any good for you to be up all night worrying about it," his kwami added before he could speak again, this time sounding unusually passionate for a topic that wasn't cheese related. "It's late. Go to sleep. We'll find your Ladybug in the morning when we can both think straight. If she really is missing or hurt, you'll be the only thing standing between Hawkmoth and Paris and you'll have to be your best."
Adrien sat up and ran his fingers through his hair.
He couldn't stand the idea that something had happened to Ladybug. He was supposed to protect her. He was supposed to be by her side when she was in trouble. Had an akuma hit that he hadn't known about? Had she been injured in her normal life? Had the earrings been stolen from her?
How was he supposed to sleep when the love of his life might be dead in a ditch somewhere?
He sighed and got out of bed.
"I'll take a shower and get to sleep," he finally agreed. "You should sleep, too, Plagg. We're going out first thing in the morning to look again."
Plagg nodded.
"Okay, okay. Don't torture yourself with what-ifs all night, though. Good night, kid."
Marinette blinked awake slowly, groaning from pain. Her whole body ached and she felt too groggy to think straight. She tried to bring her hand up to her had and found that her hand had been tied down. In fact, she couldn't move either of her hands or her legs.
She shook her head and tried to take in her surroundings, but it was pitch black and her wits were not with her anyway. She seemed to be sitting in a high backed chair that had arms, which was what her own limbs had been tied to.
"Tikki?" she asked quietly and cautiously.
No response.
In a panic, she tipped her head to the side, leaning her ear against her shoulder to feel for her earrings.
Nothing.
Well, that couldn't be good.