Author Notes: Sorry I've been gone, had some personal things! Thank you all for your continued support. I hope this quenches your synikalangel writing thirst for a little while! To anybody who reviewed the first chapter, thank you! I will start doing individual reviews again after this! You guys are awesome!

Chapter Two: The Return

He hadn't had any intention on doing…this. His throbbing arousal was pressing more persistently against her core, her exotic scent wafting towards his sensitive nose, over and above the rest of the assaulting smells of the room. One drawback of the nightlife as Chat Noir…the smells and sounds could accost him at every turn if he wasn't careful to distract himself, or beg Plagg to draw some of his abilities to the back.

Now, smelling her, he was glad for his keen senses. She was intoxicating…and oddly, far more familiar than she should be, since they'd never been intimate. Her scent lingered along the cavernous expanses in his mind, filling corners he was unaware existed. It both troubled and calmed his inner beast in a circular quandary.

"Ch-Chat," she moaned softly, her full lips parting with a gasp, and he loved hearing his name escape from that beautiful mouth. The sound raked a current along his core, shuttling electricity into his soul. Immediately, his miraculous seethed against his skin, but the sensation was erotic, lulling him further into the sensation of her presence.

Whether or not he could bring himself to admit it, Chat was drowning, and he wasn't sure why. This hadn't been the plan as he approached. He'd wanted to secure her safety. He'd wanted to check on her. He'd wanted to…

Nothing has felt more right than this moment in months…

"Ch-Chat," she repeated. This time, her voice held a little hesitation despite the heat lacing through the singular strained word. He could lick each droplet of her desire from the air as it released along an invisible string of pheromones. There was no denying she wanted this, on some level, just as the animal inside of him yearned, more desperately than with anybody else, to cave to the softness…sweetness of her beckoning flesh.

He gave his head a small shake, barely perceptible, before the sultry grin returned. The pretense needed to stand despite the conflicting emotions swirling inside. "Princess has filled out quite nicely, hasn't she?" The boisterous façade barely held the wall of his crumbling confidence in check, but his face didn't waver as it studied every inch of her outline. This was Marinette. She was the girl that had been his secret Princess. The once sacred friend of the hero. His single true escape with no judgments….that…lifetime ago. How had they drifted so far apart?

"I just..." The bluenette stammered over any semblance of an explanation, the shimmering of her orbs giving way to embarrassment. The crimson rapidly tinged her cheeks, even as she fought to suppress it.

The vulnerability radiating from her form urged Chat to offer her consolation. He wanted to cure the ailments of her life. However, his brain and lips decided their own path, aligning with his alternate persona."I think you've turned into quite a naughty Princesssss," he teased, inwardly surprised by his words. "Would the lonely girl with nowhere to turn like a taste of the real Chat Noir?" He dipped his head, poising his curved mouth near her quivering lips, and something in the woman shifted. Fear? Uncertainty? Want? Lust? Hatred?

The multitude of emotions exploded through her glistening eyes, cascading far too quickly for him to capture each one as an individual, but he realized, too late, he'd crossed a sacred line. Unspoken, as it might have been over many years of friendship, near or far, it was sacred all the same.

Her hand lashed out faster than the feline expected, catching him flat against his chest. The blow itself wasn't strong, but the surprise knocked him backwards a step, giving the woman enough room to free herself from the barrier between the wall and his body. "Y-You," she whispered, voice breaking. "You don't know anything about me." Mari squeezed her eyes shut and sliced her hands through the air in an X motion. "Not anymore!" The next sob that dripped from her trembling lips splintered Chat's mock reality, gouging into the core he'd worked hard to bury since that fateful day.

"Princ—"

An explosive chorus of shrieks pulled his attention, the man's body already moving into action from years of training and habit. Chat tasted the panic in the back of his throat even before he launched himself over the railing of the second floor. Something genuine was causing fear. The blonde's heart raced, pouring the adrenaline through his veins, and something inside aligned. The universe allowed, for a moment, clarity. His purpose didn't seem forgotten or in question. Right now, he felt like himself. For once, in the longest time, he was Chat Noir again. No baggage, no guilt, and no anger.

However, the sentiment and the ease, was short lived. The feline's eyes glimmered, enhanced from all the time spent as his alter ego, catching sight of every detail he could. Even falling, things filtered through his mind at rapid speed, processed through Plagg, and his experienced mind.

No.

Plagg's quaking voice shifted the alignment and resonated a deep discord inside the hero, but the blonde didn't have time to register the anxiety. Before his boots could touch the floor, a black butterfly disappeared into a nearby patron.

***POV Change***

Marinette couldn't stop the hurt filling her heart even as the cacophonous screams filled the air. Instead, the world seemed to slow down as she hit the floor on her butt, blinking back the accumulated tears in her eyes. What just happened?

Her brain felt like it was filled with webs of cotton candy, and each time she plucked at a string to untangle the confusion, it just became more sticky and messy. You have to get up.

"You have to get up," she whispered, echoing her inner voice. However, her legs were refusing to obey. Get up! The bluenette propelled herself towards the railing, staring down at a scene, that quite frankly, refused to register in her mind.

Chat Noir was….Chat was…"Akuma," she hissed, and immediately grabbed her earrings. The movement seemed natural, but the moment she realized what she'd done, the woman frowned. Her fingers played along the faux, ruby, dangle, clip-on pieces, swallowing around the sudden knot in her throat. Why had she done that?

"Everyone evacuate," the feline hero ordered, pulling the bluenette from her trance. His succeeding growl sounded strained as she watched, in awe, as his baton pulled free. When was the last time Chat Noir even unsheathed his weapon?

Obsidian smoke billowed through the room, gradually eliminating what little light was left. The acrid smell of it stung her eyes, urging her to close the sensitive orbs, however, she jolted her body to the left, unable to halt herself. Her feet carried the weight of her body, unencumbered by mental decision as she found the stairs, blindly.

"You will yield to my power, Chat Noir," something gurgled, and a belching noise ensued just as the woman slid at the bottom of the staircase, hitting her hip on the sharp angle of the last step. The pain was immediate, but faded just as quickly as she reoriented her form.

Mari scrambled backwards, hugging the wall, squeezing her eyes closed against the toxic fog threatening to ruin her delicate orbs. She couldn't see anything. However, she could hear.

"I would never surrender to evil," the hero proclaimed calmly, and the air circulated violently, pushing the bluenette further into the wall. Her hair whipped wildly around her face, forcing it further into the wall to protect against the sting of flying debris.

"Your puny weapon cannot deter me," the gravelly voice chided. "Darkness has returned, and you are alone because you were too weak…"

Chat had been spinning his staff to dispel the fog, but his movements were faltering now as the visible hurt gripped his strong features. His wide eyes glimmered with the agony, and the woman was sure if he hadn't been in the midst of a battle, tears would be flowing freely from his emerald feline eyes.

"Yo—" The obsidian hero's swallow was audible throughout the room before his broken voice continued. "You don't know what you're talking about."

A mocking snicker ensued, and the wind died down enough to allow Mari to steal a glance. "You let her die," the wet voice countered, laughing. "Now, you face your misery and guilt without any chance of absolution." The beast's throat cleared, and this time, his voice was dry, steady. "You know, in your heart, her untimely fate lies in your hands, and in the end, you failed to save her."

"No," Chat whispered, and it was only because she was staring directly at him that she knew the word he'd uttered. The denial was so soft that it didn't breach the barrier of his soft lips. The first tear fell, and his body began to shake. "No," he repeated, sounding adamant this time, angry, even. "NO!"

He slammed the tip of his staff against the ground, green and onyx energy crackling along the surface and over his body.

"No sense in shifting blame—" the Akuma started, cut off by Chat's outburst.

"I am calm!" His head was shifted sideways, eyes rolled up as if listening to an internal voice.

The Akuma shifted, noting that the feline hero seemed distracted. Another step, and Chat Noir didn't even glance his way. He was going to attack the nimble fighter while he was off guard, and Marinette….something inside of her reacted.

A soft, tinkering, soothing voice in her head ushered along her mind. Move. She didn't need the lulling entity to tell her. Somehow, she was already moving, scooping up a piece of jagged wood, presumably from a chair.

Her heart was racing, hammering, threatening to break free from her chest at any second with the fear endeavoring to fill her veins with ice. Beneath those tendrils of panic, a peek of something more waited. It was…bright, and hot. It was pure, and full of fire, pushing against the doubt desperately trying to force her backwards.

Neither Chat or the Akuma noticed her as she neared, but she wasn't close enough. She wasn't going to be fast enough. Mari's fingers trembled, but she tightened her grasp on the stake, eyes darting around. She didn't see a way to do this other than—

"Hey!" She screamed more loudly than she intended, voice breaking a little as both parties turned to regard her. Chat's eyes looked a seemed clouded over, but a strange look of confusion passed over his distinct features.

"Mari?"

She rushed forward before the Akuma could gain his bearings, closing the gap she needed to, preventing his attack on Chat. The enemy took a step backwards as she swung the stake for his arm, and she missed. She never saw his other arm as she sailed off her feet and hit the dance floor, listening to the peculiar sound her arm made on impact.

The bluenette's head hit next, and black spots burst across her vision as she toppled a few times before coming to a halt near an upturned table. The woman groaned, blue orbs shifting towards the heavy sounds across the room. Everything was fuzzy, and rotating, but she could see Chat locked with the Akuma, face contorted with fury.

"Chat," she breathed shakily, the word barely dripping free from her throbbing mouth. She still needed to help. She wanted to help. Her heart clenched, tightening into an unbearable knot. She knew that it felt right to help him. She didn't know why, but she was sure.

Marinette tried to get up, something flashing at the edge of her vision. When she tried to spy the origin, it flashed again, making her frown. A piece of broken chain from a stanchion glowed, and she could of sworn it was decorated with spots. A chair beside it glowed next, and she was sure…she had a concussion as the world slanted sideways, and she was no longer able to keep her eyes open.