Hey, everyone! Sorry for the wait- Damn life got in the road, but I'm still kicking! (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖ Hope you enjoy!

The rafters were a lot colder, and the air tasted like dust. But there were no more boxes, and at each step was a little green light like on an airport runway, just bright enough to show you where you were going. They crept along, filled with equal amounts of terror ad the kind of excitement that made you want to giggle at the worst possible moment.

Underneath them, the tops of the shelves creaked and shifted. They could see the platforms extending all the way to the other wall. It was a lot dustier in the roof, and colder as well. The wind was bashing against the roof above them and escaping through the cracks in between the sheets of corrugated iron. They could just make out the floor below them with their tiny torches. And, as they walked around a corner, they could see the silhouette of Matchbreaker, crouched on the platform in front of them, huge eyes looking down underneath him.

Nino gasped, and Alya clamped a hand over his mouth, crouching down underneath the handrail. The Akuma was so close to them that if he turned around they would be done for. Nino stuffed his Eiffel Tower lights under his shirt. He tried not to breathe.

Suddenly, Matchbreaker tensed, and jumped, down in the darkness. He laughed that huge laugh that made Nino want to run as far away as he could. Nino looked down, trying to see past the darkness.

Matchbreaker had Adrien, limp in his huge hand. They had lost.

Perhaps- not. Alya had run off already, following Matchbreaker with those sneaky reporter skills that Nino thought were so cool, running along the platforms above Matchbreaker's head. Nino jogged a little slower, trying to keep as quiet as possible, trying to work out where they were going. Matchbreaker was walking with a quick, angry purpose, the purple haze of Hawkmoth covering his face. He reached the edge of the room where there was a kind of separate room with a single door, built into the wall- just like Chat had said. Marinette was inside, leaning heavily on the wall, a huge purple bruise across her collar bones that Nino could see even from his perch in the roof. Before she could react, or even open her mouth, Matchbreaker had torn the ring off Adrien's finger and thrown him into the cupboard as well, even before his suit could disappear. Matchbreaker roared in triumph and tucked the ring underneath his bracelet. The purple haze over his face grew darker and twisted around the Akuma's head like a ball.

Marinette was banging on the door behind him. Nino couldn't quite hear what she said, but it had Matchbreaker pausing for a moment, turning to look at the closed door. Marinette yelled again; "Papa! Please!" was all Nino heard.

Matchbreaker laughed again, but this time it sounded almost… unsure. He reached down to the door, pressing one huge hand against the metal. He tapped against the door- three times, once, a pause. Three times again.

Inside, Marinette copied. The noise seemed huge in the space, even though the wind rushing past Nino was so much louder. Matchbreaker reached for the door handle.

The purple haze solidified and attacked him. It passed right through his shoulder, and Matchbreaker screamed and tried desperately to swat it away. And then it covered his whole body, and he howled again. Marinette was screaming, too, and the wind seemed to scream along with them.

And then Matchbreaker seemed to… grow. He snarled, now, and Nino realised that whatever had been human inside of him, trying desperately to get out, had been beaten and broken. There was no chance of bringing him back any other way than breaking his Akuma- and yet, Ladybug and Chat Noir were trapped together in the dark, and Hawkmoth was most likely coming towards them right at this moment to collect his prize.

"No one shall ever love again! Love breaks people, destroys lives, turns people into desperate idiots! I will make sure no one ever loves again!"

They had to go to the police. Matchbreaker looked mad, looked bloodthirsty. He turned to Alya, motioning for her to follow him back to the police, update them on what was happening and maybe have time for a new plan before Hawkmoth arrived.

Alya wasn't there.

She was gone. Completely. he couldn't see her at all. Nino sunk to his knees and covered his mouth scared that the Akuma would hear him. Had she been taken by Matchbreaker, so fast that he hadn't seen it? Had she run off again, putting herself in danger without thinking, stupidly just relying on luck to keep her alive? His hands were shaking. His teeth were shaking.

He looked down again. She wasn't with Matchbreaker. She was safe; for the moment, at least. She must have wanted to move closer, just expected him to follow her. Now he was shaking with anger. How dare she put herself in danger like this without thinking of how badly it would hurt him? Searching for her perfect story, wanting to be the perfect hero but not thinking of how far she could fall. Nino wanted to cry.

There was movement at the bottom of the stairs. Nino scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he dared. But it wasn't Alya. It was a man in thick, dark clothing, the kind that hid all sorts of harmful weapons around his person. He grabbed Nino's hand and pressed a finger to his lips, then motioned for Nino to follow him. Nino shook his head firmly; he had to find Alya! But the man stared at him and tugged hard enough that Nino had no choice to follow or make a scene that the Akuma would notice.

They weaved around two aisles before the man spoke, bending down to Nino's ear despite that Nino had always considered himself far from short. His voice was rough and low, and Nino nodded gravely when he finished speaking. He wondered where Alya was, and what she would think of this new development.

Adrien groaned as he was tossed into the room, hitting his head firmly against something heavy and hard. He was in a heap on the floor, something jamming onto his back

He opened his eyes but could see nothing. His hand felt light, wrong to not have his ring on, his finger stinging slightly from where it had been ripped off him. The green light around his suit had just disappeared, and he was just Adrien again, locked in a prison with Marinette.

It was her knee pressed into his back, and she was stretched over his chest, her hair tickling his neck. She moved again, drawing herself from underneath him, and he sat up as slowly as he could. The room was tiny, and Adrien hit his hand on another of the shelves, wincing as something sharp pressed into his skin. He could feel Marinette trying to make herself as small as possible in the other corner, and twisted towards her.

"Ladybug? Are you okay?" He reached over to feel her face, wet with tears. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Chat." She said. "We should have gone to the Eiffel Tower instead, I don't know what I was thinking, I-"

"Don't worry about it, Bugaboo. You did as well as you've always done. I should have helped you better, as well. And I shouldn't have just fallen into that trap before- I should have seen it coming a mile off. I was just so worried about you- but that doesn't matter. We just have to work out how to get out now."

There was a roar outside, and Marinette shot to her feet, paging her flat palm against the door as hard as she could, the echo making Adrien wince. "Papa! Papa!" She screamed. "Don't do this! I know you're still in there! Just let us out, and we can help you. I'll defeat Hawkmoth and we can find Maman and Adrien, and then we can all go back home and be happy. Papa! Please, Papa!"

There was a tap on the other side of the door, that Marinette copied, and Adrien watched the door handle twist. This was it! They could help him! This time I'll make sure that all of my family and friends are safe, I'll defeat Hawkmoth and then I'll get faster and stronger and better, I won't let anything happen to them ever again-

The handle flicked back, and there was a roar outside, a roar of anger and pain. The whole room seemed to shake with it, and Marinette fell to her knees on the floor next to Adrien. "Hawkmoth has taken him." She whispered, curling into herself. "He's gone. It's hopeless."

Adrien looked around, trying to see anything other than black, with no success. "Surely there's something else- some other way out. Is there an air vent or something? A crack in the concrete?"

"If there is, it's far too dark for us to see. We just have to wait here until someone finds us, I suppose. At least we don't have our Miraculous, so no one can work how much of a failure we are."

Adrien turned back to her, trying to feel his way to hug her. "Marinette… you can't say that. You did so well. Just because it was your Dad, and your Mum got turned, it's no wonder, really. You're putting way to much pressure on yourself to fix it all on your own. We'll just wait here, and help will come."

"But you can't know that! And Papa has both of our Miraculouses and he's preparing to give them to Hawkmoth right now. And we can't do anything."

"Look- Marinette, stop. You need to stop. You didn't fail. It's not over, it's not finished. And we're going to fix it, just like we always do. Together."

He could feel her cheeks smile underneath his hands, and he sighed in relief. "We'll stay together, Marinette. I promise."

She nodded, and tucked herself under his arm, into his jacket. Adrien just realised how freezing it was, now that all the excitement and adrenaline had drained out of him, that they were sitting awkwardly on the concrete floor of a supplies closet, in the middle of the night with the wind howling all around them. He took off his jacket and draped it over them both, and rested his head against the door. He could hear the creak of metal, and the sound of the police at the doors. Would they be able to find them in here? Did Alya and Nino know where they were? How badly Adrien failed?

"So everyone did see."

"I- what?''

"You know who I am. You called me Marinette. Does the rest of Paris know as well?"

"No! Not at all. It was just me that saw you detransform, and, well, I really should have guessed beforehand anyway. Just me. And Nino and Alya."

"Alya knows! How?"

"She was at the football stadium, she just saw you. She says she feels really bad for not realising it sooner. She and Nino are here to help me find you."

"Is she angry?"

"Maybe. I don't really know."

"Chat…" Marinette shifted again. "Do you think everyone's okay? Like, that no ones hurt or anything?"

"I think that the police did a good job of evacuating everyone. I'm sure that no one's really hurt."

Marinette made a small sound in response and rested her head against his shoulder. They listened intently, to the wind, to the Akuma, to the people outside. For once, it wasn't up to them.

Alya was running as fast as she could down the stairs, the wind whipping her hair across her face. She could see Matchbreaker out of the corner of her eye, determinedly didn't watch when he twisted and transformed into some kind of monster even Paris hadn't seen yet. And she didn't listen when Marinette screamed, and when Matchbreaker roared and again, and turned towards the door- waiting for Hawkmoth, no doubt. No. Alya only had one thing in mind.

She'd seen it from the platform above, just out of the corner of her eye when the light had reflected it perfectly. If she could jump high enough- yes! Thank goodness! And she crawled on the stack of boxes.

There was an air vent on the roof of where Marinette and Adrien were trapped. If she could fit her head through, then she could pull them out, right? Matchbreaker wasn't watching. He was just there, guarding the door. The police were outside- she could hear them yelling into their radios.

Carefully, she inched the vent open and shined her phone light inside. She could see the shadows of the shelves, and the wine of Adrien's hair. And there was Marinette as well, blinking in the light!

Alya thrust out her hand, ready to pull her friends to safety, so incredibly happy that she couldn't breathe. Adrien grabbed her hand first, pulling himself out easily, and crawling out of the way to sit at the edge of the roof. He helped Alya pull out Marinette as well, ad the two girls hugged desperately. Alya opened her mouth, ready to blurt out everything that had crossed over her mind all of that day, all of the excitement and discoveries and terror at the world that she and Nino had just been thrust into. But Marinette- oh my god, Ladybug- placed a finger over her mouth, and with the trademark smile that Alya couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before, followed Adrien down Alya's makeshift ladder to the floor. Matchbreaker laughed, and the police started to ram something against the metal doors in front of him, was that a helicopter?

Alya saw Nino in the shadows, gesturing for them to come over. Adrien had grasped Marinette's hand tightly, and he pulled her into the shadows, Alya on their tail. They followed Nino, crawling in the shadows until they were far enough away that Alya felt safe to talk.

"What's happening, Nino?" she asked.

"The army was notified by the police after Ladybug was taken by Matchbreaker. They've surrounded the building. There are people inside here waiting for Hawkmoth to arrive, and they want us to find Ladybug and Chat Noir, which I suppose means getting your jewellery back- without alerting Matchbreaker. Which is practically impossible, but anyway." Nino had a grim look on his face, and wasn't looking at her; instead, his head was turned towards Adrien and Marinette, the latter holding onto Adrien's hand until the skin around had gone white. She looked exhausted but Adrien didn't seem to mind, or perhaps not even notice; he was watching Nino with a seriousness that she had never seen before, an expression that made her wonder how she had never worked out that he was a superhero.

Nino directed them into a haphazard pile of empty cardboard boxes that should have been found in a children's cartoon. How quickly something she would've wanted to play in has become the only safe place. They curled up together behind the boxes, and Alya tried to drown out the noise outside. Bubbles of excitement in her blood- this was the adventure. This was what she'd always dreamed of, been chasing for years as soon as she had heard about Ladybug the teenage superhero. Something that she could do that might be recognised, something that might actually make a difference to people.

"I learned this all from one of the sergeants. He said that we need the two of you to get ready to fight as soon as possible. For the moment, it's all hanging on us to make sure that Matchbreaker can't give the Miraculous to Hawkmoth. We need a plan now, otherwise, this might actually be it. This is the end of all of it." Nino continued, his voice filling up the tiny space between their faces. At that, Marinette seemed to transform into a statue, her eyes blown wide, overwhelmed and scared. She looked so very small and lost, as just a teenage girl in a whole dark world that she had only touched the surface of. And Alya realised the same- that although their two friends had been running around Paris, saving the city time and time again, now that they had lost the Miraculouses and they were just- Just Adrien and Marinette, that people could get hurt now, and a shout of "Miraculous Ladybug!" couldn't fix everything like it usually would. People could die. People could actually die. Alya subtly moved closer to her friend, worried that she was just about to keel over. She tapped Marinette on the shoulder, who jumped and turned her head to look at Alya, her eyes widening in recognition before narrowing again. She crawled past Adrien, deliberately not looking at him, and spoke directly to Nino, her voice shaking but wiry-strong. "I was thinking a little about this while I was stuck in there, and I have a plan. Chat Noir and I have to get as close to Matchbreaker as possible, so we need something to distract him long enough that we can steal them. We have the advantage of surprise, and speed with all the obstacles around him. So Alya and Nino are going to be in charge of the distraction."

Alya listened dutifully, torn between excitement and terror. She couldn't help but keep thinking; this is real now. This is all real. And if they didn't do this properly, if something went wrong, this could end very, very badly. As Marinette finished and she and Adrien moved into position, she turned to go but stopped with a hand on her wrist. "I'd like to talk to you for a moment. Now." Nino said. She crouched back down to look at him.

Nino opened his mouth and closed it again. Alya moved closer to him, listening past the wind.

"Don't."

She scrambled backwards. What was this? "Nino..."

"I thought you were going to die. When you ran off and I couldn't see you and now I just sound like some kind of overbearing boyfriend but I was so scared, I was so scared when you weren't there Alya and I just thought about how many times you've just run off after something like that, searching for you adventure or whatever, and I just, I couldn't-"

On impulse, Alya kissed him. It seemed the least that she could do, with all these emotions pushing them so close together. she could feel his tears run across the bridge of her nose.

Then he hugged her, and his hair tickled her ear and his headphones fit awkwardly under her chin. "Don't scare me like that ever again," he whispered.

"Okay?"

"Okay."