A/N: Update 9/4/2017 - Sorry for the misinformation about the prequel. It's called "Follow-Through" instead of "Anti-hero". I forgot I renamed it post production.
This chapter came to a close more quickly than I had anticipated. I came up with a majority of the idea as I was falling asleep last night, so here you go. A fresh new chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 2: Empty
Today was a good day. A refreshingly relaxing one in comparison to what Adrien had been experiencing since the incident. It was as if all his anxiety had miraculously disappeared overnight. Everything seemed brighter. The sun was warm and the breeze provided a soft coolness, teasing his blonde locks playfully as he reclined against the grassy hill beneath him. Birds fluttered in the sky overhead, passing his view of the peaceful skyline of Paris. Yes sir, Adrien could easily say this was the best he'd felt in a long time and he doubted anything could make it better. . . At least until he saw a red clad girl with blue pigtails in the distance. His heart leapt with excitement and his gut filled with butterflies as he made the realization his lady had come.
Ladybug strode quietly over to him and asked if she might join him to which he nodded eagerly. She promptly sat next to him. As she did, she brushed lightly against his arm sending the thrill of a tingling sensation up his spine, quickening his pulse. They looked over the city together in silence. Silent, that is, with the exception of the rapid beat of Adrien's heart thrumming against his chest and reverberating in his head. She made him feel alive and his internal response to her presence only made that all the more obvious. He turned to look at her to find her smiling kindly at him, resulting in another happy flip from his stomach. The girl's long lashes accentuated her bright blue eyes in such a way that it caused his breath to catch in the back of his throat as he attempted to speak.
The red heronie spared him his need to reply by gently shushing him with a single finger to his lips as she giggled sweetly, shaking her head with a smile. He felt her slender gloved fingers weave their way between his that sat against the grass. Stiffening slightly in surprise and unsure of how to react, he just remained there, gradually melting under the warmth of her hand. The blue eyed girl leaned toward him, her face sweeping against his, sending another wave of endorphins coursing through the length of his body. She then whispered something incoherent in his ear causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight. A gentle peck on the cheek put a quick end to any and all focus he retained, instead, his head spun with ecstasy sending him rocking back into the grassy field below. Ladybug followed him, laying down next to his side all the while keeping her hand entwined in his.
The heroine giggled again, nuzzling her face against his shoulder. He turned onto his side to look at her, daring to reach to her face to reset a lock of stray hair past her cheek. She smiled again, her eyes tempting him to kiss her. Reaching up, she took his hand that remained against her face.
"Adrien."
Her voice echoed in his mind. He stared at her with wide eyed confusion when her lips didn't move and he heard her voice again.
"Adrien," her voice repeated, "are you happy?"
Of course he was. Did she really need to ask? With her, he felt safe. Alive. Like the world could tumble out of existence, crumble completely beneath them but he would still be okay. He sat up, gazing down at her as he formulated a response in his mind. He would tell her. Tell her how he felt about her. That he was the Chat Noir. Everything. He would.
But it wasn't that simple.
The words didn't come. Adrien's expression fell as he realized the words weren't there. They would never come. Ladybug's face seemed to droop as well, her features wilting into a sad, pitying expression as Adrien stared at her. His mouth remained agape, his lips trembling at his inability to speak. A shadow cast over the girl's face as the sky darkened suddenly, obscuring her features entirely. Adrien felt his gut twist violently when a pit formed in his stomach, Ladybug dissipating before his very eyes as her form faded into a black field of nothing. He tried to call her name, groping desperately at the place where she once lay hoping to find a trace of his heroine, but the space beyond his hands remained void. The darkness grew, surrounding him like a growing puddle of water. He wanted to scream as the black ate him. Steadily climbing up his legs and torso, binding his arms to his side, the black water-ish substance coated him further, taunting him in his inability to escape.
A dim light suddenly stripped away the darkness. It felt cold. Adrien found himself lying on a dirty floor, unable to move. A yellow grin with a gold tooth leaned over him. Adrien jerked away from him instinctively, only to bump into a pair of legs at his back. He cast a nervous look over his shoulder only to have his attention brought abruptly back to the skinny, yellow toothed man in front of him.
"Do you still want to scream?" the man asked, baring a disconcerting, Cheshire-like grin before flipping a blade open right in front of the boy's nose.
Adrien tried to yell, call out to Ladybug for help, or anyone. . . but the sound hitched deep at the back of his throat, failing to escape his vocal cords. He let out a panicked gasp, exerting himself with every ounce of energy he had, but his voice remained trapped. His mouth felt like it was crammed full with a rough, wadded cloth. He wretched dryly against it, desperate to release himself from whatever force bound his tongue and limbs, but to no avail. The smirking man leaned closer to where he lay, carelessly drawing the knife across across the blonde's jaw, down along his neck, working his way slowly down to the back of the boy's hand. It didn't hurt, but a dark crimson fluid poured from the lines carved into his skin, dripping to the floor with a series of sickening splats. Adrien thrashed unsuccessfully against the abuse when his assailant suddenly paused his motions as if pondering something, the blood coated knife dangling from his hand. The eyes of the man were dead, unreadable, causing Adrien's panic to escalate, his eyes blowing wide with terror when the man's statue-like posture unfroze without warning.
"Try again," the man said.
A sudden white hot pain stabbed into Adrien's thigh, just above his knee, causing his entire body to jolt with an arch backward. He fell as his body continued to contort and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Darkness embraced him with a smothering thickness, daring him to breathe in and choke on its suffocating mass. All of the light disappeared as he descended into black, continuing to fall and fall.
And fall.
. . . . .
Adrien jumped with a start, finding himself tangled messily in a thin blanket. Flailing in a mad effort to free himself, the blonde found himself falling from the edge of the mattress onto the floor face down with a thud. Ignoring the pain in his nose he threw the sheet from him as if were on fire, rapidly pulling himself backward away from the bed- the source his terror always spawned from. He heaved frantically as he tried to breathe properly. Plagg woke up somewhere above him with a snort. The small entity, having been startled awake looked around the room quickly in alarm before dropping from his small nest of a bed to hover over Adrien's shoulder.
The boy sobbed with small noises as he curled into himself, pulling a knee up to his chin. He emitted a choking noise as his frame trembled erratically to which the small cat-like being sympathetically touched the back of his shoulder. Adrien flinched at the contact, so Plagg instantly retracted his paw, drifting from him until he hovered in front of the blonde's face. Moonlight glistened off the tears streaming across his cheeks but his eyes remained downcast, so the kwami decided to speak up.
"Another nightmare?"
Adrien nodded dully as he continued to stare at the floor, stuttering a sniff as he raised a shaky arm up to wipe at his face.
"Aw, kid. . ." Plagg sighed sadly, hugging up against the boy's chest by his shoulder. "By the looks of things, your knee still bothers you too, doesn't it?"
Adrien nodded in small motions, gratefully cupping the small being against him with both hands. Tears continued to leak from his tired eyes but his shuddering sigh was slightly calmer than the rapid breathing he had experienced only moments ago. The cat burrowed into the loose fabric of the hoodie wishing, not for the first time, that he had Tikki's healing powers. But as it was, he simply held the power of destruction. While he enjoyed his counter role to the Ladybug on most occasions, it was times like these that made him feel useless. But while he couldn't heal, him it dawned on him, perhaps he could aid Adrien in his recovery. He looked in the direction of the boy's glossy, green eyes, pulling back a bit so Adrien could see him.
"Hey kid, I know you haven't really been feeling bold enough, but-" his voice trailed off. Adrien blinked the remaining tears from his eyes and looked at Plagg with a mildly eager curiosity. "I just thought, maybe if you transformed, I could help you more, you know?" Adrien cocked his head to the side. "What I mean to say is, well. . . I can't help you in the same way Tikki can help Ladybug or anything, but perhaps my magic can give you a bit of a buffer," Plagg shrugged. "I can protect you physically when you're Chat Noir, so what's stopping me from concentrating on keeping you mentally healthy?"
Adrien let out a breath much like a muted laugh, smiling slightly at the little cat and wiped his face another time. Plagg beamed at his reaction, flitting into the air with renewed determination.
"So what do you say? You game?" Plagg stated enthusiastically. Adrien nodded. "You just need to give the command."
". . ."
"Plagg, transform me," is what Adrien tried to say. However, he was steadily growing accustomed to the disappointing breathy, wordless noise he emitted instead. He lips quivered as he relapsed into his fears, the steep spiral threatening to take him down again. Plagg noticed immediately. However, instead of going to his default, pessimistic responses, he tried to spur hope in the teen.
"Wait, wait, wait," he said, waving a paw in front of his face. "That's not what I meant. We're transforming you with the intent to help you speak again, along with everything else. Right?" Adrien waited for him to continue. "So use another form of communication."
Adrien stared at him, arching an eyebrow indicating he didn't understand where Plagg was going with his thought. Plagg drifted over to the computer and pushed the mouse about in order to restore the monitor from sleep mode. He then proceeded to dart back and forth, clacking the buttons of the keyboard as he went, pulling up a search result in a browser. "Langue des Signes Française."
"I just need a refresher course," Plagg replied when he saw Adrien react in his peripheral. "I had a deaf Chat once upon a time so I quickly learned sign language, but it was a long time ago. Ah ha!" he exclaimed. "There. Now I remember. You can just spell my name out. You know the alphabet, right? And there are your other commands," he said, gesturing a small paw at the screen.
The blonde looked intently at the monitor, clumsily practicing the shapes with his hands. He looked to Plagg.
"You sure you want to do this?" Plagg asked. "I don't want you to feel like you have to, and besides, we don't even know if this will work."
Adrien shook his head with a small smile, shrugging as if to say they had nothing to lose. Without hesitation, he inexpertly signed the words "Plagg, transform me." The cat nodded with a giant smile as he was sucked into the ring. Now clad in black leather and pointed ears, Adrien turned toward the moonlight sky beyond his windows before triumphantly exclaiming:
"Chat Noir is back."
A/N: I keep putting this poor kid through the wringer. At least little Plagg is keeping an eye out for him. The next chapter will be a little lighter, and I'll try to update sometime next weekend. Thanks for reading!
