Adrien could say that it was weird. He had a really good night after all. Marinette did not reject him, although he forgot to ask her out. She was willing enough to kiss him, albeit on the cheek, it was still a kiss nonetheless. And he did not get much teasing from Plagg although maybe that was because he gave him two rounds of Camembert.

It was a good night in general. So why was he panting and sweating in the middle of the night, running away from something. What was he even running away from?

Why am I running?

You have to run. And he did.

Then he saw it, in a dark alley with a dead end, being cornered by three men thrice his size.

"Marinette!" He yelled but he figured out that no one could hear him, "Marinette run!"

He ran towards the men and tried to push them away and use his baton to hit them but the metal just passed through their bodies as if he was not there. Chat furrowed his brows and ran to Marinette, trying to pull her wrist but failing.

"Chat!" She was starting to scream once her back was pressed against the wall, "Help me!"

"Princess, I'm here." He told her, propping himself in front of her, baton out and ready to hit anybody

"Save me! Anybody!" Marinette was sitting on the ground hugging her body

The men advanced even more until they reached Marinette. Chat stared wide eyed as they just passed through him with ease. He could hear Marinette's yells and cries.

"No! Let go of her!" He tried to push them away, "No! Princess!"

"Chat!" Her piercing scream jolted him awake

He sat up on his bed, heart beating wildly. He gripped the sheets and looked around, seeing the harsh glare of his clock which read 12:35 AM.

"That was just a dream." He told himself, trying to calm his breath, "Oh thank goodness it was just a dream."

He grabbed his phone and instantly dialed Marinette's number. Almost after the first ring, someone had answered.

Adrien? Why are you calling at this time?

Adrien looked at the phone and groaned. Wrong phone.

"Oops, sorry Marinette. I was trying to call someone else. Were you sleeping?" He asked

Nope. Just woke up.

"Oh." Adrien replied, "Are you okay? I dreamt about you. It wasn't really the best dream."

I'm fine. Why? What was it about?

"I don't want to remember, Mari." He murmured, "But could you look out of your window? Look if there are anyone there."

There was not a reply for a while and Adrien felt himself standing up and readying to transform.

Well there are three who are, I don't know, I think they're drunk. They're outside at the street in front.

"Are your parents asleep?" Adrien asked, putting a jacket on

Yeah.

"Okay, stay safe, Mari." He responded and followed a weak, "Please."

He put his phone on the desk and woke Plagg up.

"Let me guess," the Kwami stretched, "we're gonna go to Princess'."

"No time to joke, Plagg." He told the creature, "Transform me!"

And with that, Chat Noir was crossing the rooftops again. He was on a very important mission. To keep the nightmare as only a nightmare.

•••

You most likely know where this is going tomorrow.