Marinette lay back on the bed and watched the long shadows against the slightly wavy lines of candle light, laying side by side against the walls, she'd never had guessed that something as simple as 'light' could bring her so much peace.

She'd been afraid that she'd misjudged things when Panthere had thrown her in that vault, that Adrien had really been taken over entirely and there was nothing left for her to save, but then he came back for her, she couldn't imagine why he would bother to make her comfortable, much less to keep her alive, unless a part of him cared about what happened to her and right now, believing that was all she had.

Suddenly Marinette heard a noise, she looked up expectantly, surely, he hadn't returned so quickly? But then again, he did have super speed.

"Marinette!" came the small and unmistakable voice of her Kwami.

"Tiki, you escaped!" Exclaimed Marinette, holding out her hands as the Kwami fluttered over to them and landed.

"Best to speak quietly", Tiki warned, "he's got very good hearing and seems a little… paranoid".

"How do you mean?" Asked Marinette,

"I don't know how to tell you this Marinette, but the Akuma's having a very bad effect on Chat, he's been keeping your bag in his room with him, luckily he didn't bother to look inside or I'd have been toast, but I heard him, talking to himself",

"Talking… in a particularly crazy way I'm guessing?" Asked Marinette,

"Yes, though it's only one half of the conversation, at this point I don't know if he's hearing a voice in his head because he's going insane or if it's the Akuma its self",

"The Akuma could talk to him?"

"Maybe, they're infused with the dark will of Hawkmoth and he uses them to control the victim but… I can't imagine this is Hawkmoth's plan", Tiki said, looking thoughtful,

"What do you mean? I'm confused, start at the beginning",

"Basically, Hawkmoth controls the Akuma and the Akuma controls Chat but if Hawkmoth were controlling the Akuma that ring would be with Hawkmoth and Chat would be… well, plain old Adrien. Hawkmoth's only goal has ever been the Miraculous of Destruction and the Miraculous of creation so that he could join them together to form the ultimate power… doesn't it seem odd that Chat was allowed to keep his Miraculous?"

"So, you think Hawkmoth isn't in control?" Asked Marinette,

"I think something has happened to Hawkmoth, I don't know what or how, but I think Hawkmoth has somehow lost control",

"Which would mean that The Akuma is controlling Adrien… and no one is controlling the Akuma?"

"Correct",

"So, what would the Akuma want?" Queried Marinette,

"They don't really want anything, they're infused with darkness by Hawkmoth, they're drive is just all of the negative feelings of the person, all the pain and the loss… if it is talking to him, I don't imagine it has anything very nice to say and Adrien won't be able to resist it for very long", replied Tiki with a worried look on her face.

"So how do I reason with a person who's Akuma is possibly in an indestructible object, who's too fast for me to get it anyway and has something evil telling him what to do?"

"I think we'd need a different approach", squeaked Tiki, "the voices would be manipulating him by saying all of the horrible things that he's most afraid are true, I think a lot of Adrien's sadness comes from his relationship with his father and his loneliness, if only we could prove to him that his father actually loves him".

"I can't even prove to him that I actually love him, he doesn't trust a single word I say", sighed Marinette,

"Well… there have been a lot of lies", shrugged Tiki.

"But Tiki, I've never lied to him because I wanted to, it's always been because of my identity or because of Lila or whatever else has come up, it's always been about protecting him",

"Maybe we should have let him decide what's best for him… a lie is still a lie",

There was a noise in the hall way, they both looked startled and then Tiki flew behind the bed as fast as she could, the sound of the key turned in the lock and the door swung open.

"Adrien", said Marinette, trying her best to smile,

"I am not Adrien", he replied, stepping into the room with a tray of food and heading over to her.

"You are Adrien", she said as he took a seat on the edge of the bed beside her.

"If it pleases you to believe that it makes no difference to me", he put down the tray without looking at her, it had pastries, a bowl of red fruits and a banana as well as a bottle of water.

"Please", said Marinette, her resolve breaking, with his voice back to normal and his mask gone, she could hardly contain how much she just wanted to hold him and make everything right again.

She put her hand on his face, turning him to look her in the eyes, he looked surprised, perhaps he thought she'd be too afraid of him to be so forward.

"Adrien", she said again, "Chaton…", she leaned forward a little, she wanted to kiss him, to be close to him, to just feel him against her and know he wasn't suffering anymore, he leaned in a little too, her eyes were watering and he stared almost confused for a moment.

He blinked and seemed to be refocusing before speaking, "Mari?"

"Yes?" She replied,

"Marinette", he started to smile a little, a flash of what looked like relief… realisation? She wasn't sure but it was gone before she could think of it, he turned away sharply and jumped up from the bed, he looked annoyed.

"Stop it!" He commanded,

"Stop what?" She asked, bewildered.

"You are a pretender", she replied but almost to himself, like he was in need of reminding, "A liar, you cannot be trusted, everything you say is a manipulation!"

"Chat, it's not true!" She shouted, "I love you!"

"STOP IT!" His voice was not his own when he spoke, it was the deep, cruel tones of Panthere and as he roared his entire being was consumed in purple and black flames and he was Panthere once more with his razorsharp claws, mask and armoured suit.

He had appeared beside the bed in a second, murder in his eyes, his hand lifted high as though he was about to strike her and Marinette screamed but the sound of it seemed to stop him and he disappeared from the room, slamming the door behind him.

She sat alone, her heart hammering in her chest, what had just happened?

"Marinette?" Said Tiki, wizzing back out from behind the bed and landing on Marinette's shoulder and hugging her, "I thought he was going to hurt you!"

"So did I", confessed Marinette, panting a little from the shock, "something happened, it was like Adrien was there again, I saw it but then he forced it back down",

"Are you sure you're not letting yourself believe what you want to believe?" Asked Tiki, "he looked like he wanted to kill you!"

"No, it was him, I know it was, he's trapped in there somewhere, underneath the power of the Akuma… I need to get out of here", she said, jumping off the bed, "I need to find a way to get to him again".

"Marinette, you promised him you wouldn't leave, I heard him talking about it, if you leave, you'll have just lied to him again",

"I can't save him locked up in this room!" Argued Marinette, "come on Tiki, you must have some idea of how to get out of here without having to activate my powers, we just need a plan".

"I'm not sure we do", said Tiki, "he left in such a hurry… he didn't lock the door".