A quick author's note before we begin. I just want to thank MaritheViolinist for looking this over for me and correcting some mistakes. Thanks for the help!

She stayed within the shadows, eyes on the man as he exited his vehicle, heading into the office to finish some late night work. She had been watching him carefully, observing his schedule and tracking him where he went, waiting for the best time to strike.

He was Cerastes's next target.

Jacque Martin was a businessman. He was on the board for a retailer company called All for One. A company that sold various items in their superstores such as groceries, clothing, petcare products, toys for children, etc. It was a profitable business.

A business that would lose its COO.

Cerastes had heard of Martin's corrupt ways of blackmailing people within the company, blacklisting competitors…

She would make sure it came to an end.

Martin was alone in his office, sitting at his computer and looking through budgets and income statements, unaware he was being watched.

The window had slowly been opened as the woman entered, a syringe in her hand, ready to pierce the man's skin. She crept into the room and had waited, hidden in the darkest part of the room, watching as he sat down and began to work.

She moved silently around the perimeter of the room, making sure that Jacque Martin was well distracted. Then, once she was behind him, she struck.

A gasp escaped him as the needle entered his body, the poison shutting it down. Cerastes watched as he released his final breath then left the way she came, staying in the darkness and avoiding the security system she had mapped out during her observations .

Her job was done. Cobra would be pleased.

Cerastes reported to Cobra when she returned to the Snakes' base. She let him know that she was successful in her kill. Jacque Martin was no more.

"Good work" he praised. "Quick and efficient as always."

"Thank you, Sir" she replied.

"You've made me proud once again, now, go rest, you're free for the rest night" he stated with a grin.

"Very well, Sir, thank you" Cerastes replied.

She left the leader's office and headed to her room, ready to retire for the night after a quick shower. She washed herself up then headed to bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.

The next day she was approached by Luka while she was in the training room practicing some kicks and punches on a dummy.

"Ah, there's my desert viper" he grinned. "Working hard?"

"As usual Viperion" she replied, completing another kick. "Want to join?"

"Sure" replied the dark-haired boy. "How about one on one?"

"Alright" she answered with a grin of her own.

Blue eyes met blue as they both went to the spacious center of the room, the floor laid out with gym mats. Cerastes got into a defensive position while Luka struck, swinging his arm at her with a clenched fist.

"You know, I can think of a few other, more fun ways to relax" he smirked.

"I'm sure you could, but, do our definitions of fun match?" She asked cheekily as she ducked his fist and swung her legs at his knees.

"Oh I'd like to think they should, Beautiful." He replied as he sidestepped "You, me, a comfy mattress.." he smiled.

"A fantasy of yours I'm sure" she replied as he went for another punch

"Every night, Gorgeous, by the way, Father has another mission for you" he said as she ducked and swung her own fist at him which he sidestepped again.

"Really?" She replied, swinging her foot under his.

"Yep, tonight you are to take out Chat Noir, Father wanted me to tell you." He jumped, then grabbed her fist as she aimed to punch him.

"He's the one who has been interfering with a few of our plans isn't he?" She asked, twisting her wrist in his hold to grab his and pull him towards her and spin him around so his back was to her.

"Yeah, he's a tough one" he grunted as he used his free arm he had kept out of her reach and swung it back to grab her and flip her over his shoulder, causing her to fall onto the mat, allowing him to pin her floor by straddling her waist.

"I can handle him" Cerastes said, wrapping her legs around his waist and bucking her hips to reverse their positions so she was straddling him now. "He won't be a hindrance anymore…"

The two finished their spar and Cerastes went to prepare after a good luck wish from Viperion.

She packed her usual items, needles, a special yo-yo that allowed her to reach higher places, and a pistol she had yet to really use. There had never really been a need for it, but she took it with her on her missions just in case, especially considering who her target was. If Chat Noir was as tough to catch as she had heard about, it might come in handy for once.

When she was ready she went to tell Cobra that she would be leaving to complete her assigned task. He wished her well, saying he had faith in her, and to be on guard and cautious at all times. Cerastes had replied that she would and then, once dismissed, left the base. Tonight would find one cat skinned.

She went about on the rooftops, having used her yo-yo to climb up. She had been told that the cat was sometimes spotted here on patrol and it wasn't long before she spotted him. He was dressed in all blacks and dark colors like her, though a bright green paw print on the back of his jacket made him easier to see. So stealth was not his strong point apparently, well, at least he made it easy.

She got her needle ready and slowly crept up behind him, ready to strike…

Chat Noir was on the roofs scouting the area. He figured if he could spot one of the Snakes, he could follow them back to the base, or capture one of them for interrogation. The Miraculous agency had been trying the found the base for the clan for a while now. He himself wondered what hole they return to after a raid or assassination. He figured he could get the information somehow from one of the members, or at least stop a raid and prevent more chaos. So he patrolled the Parisian sky at night keeping his eyes peeled.

That was when he felt eyes on him, and a stray hair flew by, dark in color and nothing like his own blond, but it still reflected some of the streetlights below as it flew, only noticeable as he was paying attention, no one else would really notice the subtle clue.

So, when his attackers hand began to strike he leaped out of the way.

He then turned to look at her, dark hair, blue eyes. He had to admit she was pretty...too bad she was apparently trying to hurt him.

She must've been one of the Snakes, why else would she be targeting him. He figured that they would send someone to axe him sooner or later. Guess that time is now.

The woman hissed and took out something round, she began moving it and he realized it was attached to a string, a yo-yo. He quickly took out his baton that he carried with him, specially designed to extend into a staff if needed. It was needed now…

She swung her yo-yo at him, trying to tangle him in its string, but he had managed to block it with his baton, deflecting the object and causing it to clatter to the ground between them.

Then the fight begun.

She charged at him, spinning her yo-yo again and continuing to aim at him. He jumped out of the way then took his turn to charge forward, swinging his staff and continuing to deflect her attacks. During one dodge of he leaped backwards, then positioning his weapon, he ran forward and used it to vault over her, landing behind her and swinging his staff to try and trip her. She managed to dodge the swipe and block the next series of swings he took at her by spinning her yo-yo again in a circle to create a shield of sorts.

This went on as Chat continued to move forward as Cerastes continued walking backwards defending herself. She felt her foot reach the ledge, thinking quickly she swung her yo-yo towards a fire escape ladder on the next roof, letting it wrap around the side. She then retracted it and let it pull her towards the ladder, causing it shake a little from her momentum as she landed on it and quickly climbed up to get on the next roof.

Chat vaulted over with his staff, landing on the roof as well. She then ran towards him, her arm coming forward to punch him. He ducked and raised his own fist towards her which she sidestepped. She raised a leg and swung, managing to kick his side.

He grunted, holding his side as he dodged her next attack. He then thrust his staff forward, hitting her on the stomach. She let out a hiss and swung her yo-yo again which he once again deflected. That's when she decided she had had enough…

A pistol was now held in her hand, which he eyed warily, and quickly began moving away as she fired without hesitation.

Chat managed to roll out of way of the first few, but one got his arm as he spun his staff to create a shield for himself. He cried out in pain and grabbed the grazed arm. He heard another shot fired and it got his side as he leaped out of the way. Shit!

He needed to retreat. Now.

Without thinking twice he dodged one last bullet and popped open the top of the staff, taking out a tiny object from within and throwing it at her. There was a blinding light and smoke filled the air.

When Cerastes looked up after her eyes recovered from the light and the smoke had cleared, the cat was gone. She quickly went in search of him, following a few blood trails left by the graze wounds he suffered.

Meanwhile, Chat had managed to quickly hide in an alley and rip some fabric from the shirt he wore under his leather jacket using it to temporarily bandage his arm, then he wrapped the jacket around his waist tightly. This wasn't much in the way of first aid, but it should help with the bleeding. He then purposefully followed his own trail backwards a short distance before slipping away into the night, moving quickly as he was well aware that the woman was following the trail of blood he left. He made his way back to headquarters, making sure to keep out of sight of the assassin hunting him down.

When Chat arrived at last he quickly headed to the infirmary, the nurse, a woman name Mylene gasped and quickly had him sit on the of the beds in the room.

"What happened?" She asked, removing his makeshift bandages and assessing his wounds.

"I ran into one of the Snakes, they apparently sent out a hitman to kill me. The bitch got a few good shots on me." He answered as he removed his shirt, leaving him bare-chested. "She had good aim, I'll give her that…"

"Well, it luckily wasn't too good, the bullets seemed to only graze you and not hit anything vital, I'll clean out your wounds, make sure there is nothing remaining the bullets and then give you stitches." The nurse said, moving her multi-colored hair back behind her ear as a largely built man came in with a tray of snacks.

"Hey there, Chat, I heard you got back from a mission injured." The man said, his green eyes looking over the blond haired man as he set the tray down on a table.

"Hey, Tom" Chat said, then hissed at the pain as Mylene worked on his wounds. "Yeah, the Snake's finally sent out someone to do me in, the lady sure knew how to fight, I think she may have been able to sneak up and kill me if I hadn't noticed a piece of her dark hair.."

Tom's eyes widened, he then ran a hand through his own brown hair. "A dark haired woman attacked you?" He asked.

"Yeah, she had dark hair, blue eyes too, and was wearing all black and grey" he said

"What else?" Tom asked, curious now.

"Well, she was thin, and seemed to be around my age, a little shorter than me in height" he answered.

Tom then pulled out a photo from a pocket watch he kept on him, a present from his late wife. "Here, did she look like this woman here?" He asked.

Tom knew it was a long shot but...what if that woman was his little Marinette...The authorities had never found his child's body or the girl herself when they conducted their investigation. CCTV footage only showed his wife fighting for the life of herself and her daughter before she was murdered and a man took the infant away. It was unknown what became of the child for certain.

Chat looked at the photo, an image of Tom standing with a woman with dark hair and blue eyes like his attacker. He knew the woman in the picture was Tom's late wife as the man talked about her a lot and so he knew the story. In the photo she was holding a baby, with a fuzzy head of dark hair like her mother's and eyes just as blue. "Yeah, it's an uncanny resemblance."

"Then...do you think..it could be.." Tom began, trying not to get his hopes up.

"You think it could be your little girl?" Chat asked, then winced and hissed as Mylene disinfected his wounds and began stitching him up.

"I don't want to seem too optimistic but...what if it is her...she was taken away by the Snakes and was never found, not dead or alive...what if they...decided to use her and make her one of their own…?" Tom theorized.

"I.." Chat hissed again, breathing heavily through the pain "it's...quite a...long shot...could be...just a coincidence…" God he should've made sure Mylene had used some sort of anesthetic on him before fixing him up.

"I know...I just...can't help but get the feeling that she's out there somewhere…" Tom answered, looking at Chat sadly, and with a bit of sympathy as he saw the pain the 21 year old was in.

"Maybe I'll look into it, see if there's any connection between your daughter and my attacker, who I suspect will be back to finish the job…" The cat said as Mylene finished the stitches and gently placed antibiotic ointment around the area.

"Please, if there's any chance it's her...let me know" Tom said. He had to know if the assassin was his daughter.

"Of course Tom...you'll be the first to know if I find anything out" the young man replied with a small smile.

"Thank you...Adrien" the man said, giving him a gently hug.

Adrien hugged him back, grabbed a few snacks that Tom had brought in, then left the base to go home. Tom's theory kept playing around in his mind. His attacker did seem to look a lot like the man's late wife and lost daughter...could it really be her…?

He decided to head into his office and turned on his computer. Once the device was on and loaded he began looking through the case files he had and read the file for the events of that night, reading the results of the investigation, what was found at the crime scene, and the camera footage the Snakes didn't realize was recorded. He watched as the Snake's leader, Cobra, took the child from her dead mother's arms and carried her away after giving out some sort of command to the others. Adrien came to a conclusion after studying what information he had for some time and mulling it over as he prepared for bed.

Tom could actually be right…

Adrien decided that there was only one way to find out. He would need to trap that woman the next time she came after him, as he suspected would happen. If he could just capture her, then maybe he could the information he sought out of her, and then tell her the truth of her past if it was Tom's lost daughter…

He would need to prepare once he woke up from his sleep…

"So...you've failed to kill him, Cerastes." Cobra spoke, looking at the woman in his office, reporting how her mission went.

"Yes…" She said, looking at the ground…"I apologize...I have no excuse…"

"The cat is a tough one." Cobra mused. "I shouldn't be surprised he's been giving us trouble…"

Cerastes merely nodded.

"I'll give you another chance, this is the first time you're skills have truly been challenged after all…" The man stated.

"Thank you, Sir." The woman replied. "I shall not fail you again."

"See to it that you don't, be as prepared as possible, I suspect he be will harder to find now that he knows we won't tolerate him being in the way." Cobra warned.

"Yes, Sir" Cerastes agreed. "Understood."

"Good, now go rest up, you'll finish what you started tomorrow night."

"I will do that, Sir, Good night." She stated and went to leave and return to her room.

"Good night" Cobra replied, watching her go.

Cerastes got ready for bed and soon drifted off to sleep, exhausted from her fight with damn cat. Tomorrow she'd get him back for making her look like a fool...