Author's note: Once more thanks for all the reviews!

/

Something is terribly wrong.

For the longest time, she is unable to identify just what it is. She can't move. Which the woman reasons must be a sign that something isn't right. She finds herself a prisoner of her own body. Trapped in a sense of semi-consciousness, Nathalie can't even think clearly enough to recall just how she ended up here. Here seems like a decidedly abstract concept. In the face of such uncertainty, it's very tempting just to close her eyes and drift back to sleep. It feels as if she's been sleeping or if she hasn't that she really should be. The exhaustion which afflicts her is unlike any that she's ever felt before, it's actively draining her strength.

Eventually, she manages to cough. It isn't much but that single action serves to bring her back into the world. It does so both simply and unpleasantly by causing all of her aches and pains to become immediately apparent to her. It's a searing feeling which courses through seemingly every part of her body. It's at its worse in her head and the back of neck however. She can only equate that particular sensation with the entirety of her being thrown into a brick wall at high speed. It's blinding, dazzling and makes it impossible to think or even particularly to move.

All she can do is lie there, gasping for breath and try to make sense of this. It's a dreadful state for her to be in and right now, she has no idea just how exactly she got into it. Her vision is blurry and it seems to be dark. Whether that's related to what's happened to her or if the world genuinely is like that, she can't say. Sounds and even smells have become equally distorted. She'd say that she was underwater if it weren't for the fact that she's pretty much sure that she isn't. Finally, she manages with a certain amount of effort to make a sound. It isn't formulated enough to be words, her tongue's not ready for that yet. What comes out is more of a moan of sorts, half-conscious, wondering just what exactly has befallen her and how she can remedy it.

It takes a while before she's able to turn somewhat. She's only prompted to do so when she realizes that there's movement out there. People… She can hear there voices but can't quite make sense of what they're talking about for all that. That little bit of movement causes her to become aware that there's something wet on her face. She raises her hand to it. Instantly, the woman encounters a sharp stinging sensation. Pulling her hand down, somewhat mindlessly, she decides to see just what this warm sticky liquid is. Inspecting her fingers, she sees some red.

The realization that she's injured acts as something of a slap in the face. It wakes her up. Panic causes adrenaline to course through her veins.

She's able to make some sense of where she is. It's the back of a car… That much she can tell simply from the comparatively enclosed surroundings. Something's not quite right however… It takes her a few moments to realize that they've crashed. She understands that much both from a logical deduction (why else would she be in such pain right now?) and as slowly but surely, the state of the vehicle becomes apparent. The front of it is all crumpled up and the windshield is cracked and bent beyond all recognition. It must have been quite the blow to see this happen to them. Did they hit something or something hit them? Her mind won't travel that far back to allow her to know.

For whatever reason, the woman finds herself reaching out to the seat next to her. It's empty. She's been left alone.

Dazed, she struggles to pull herself together. Her vision is blurry. There's a ringing in her ears. There are people outside, either they don't know that she's in there or have other things on their mind. She'll make some commotion, in a moment. For the time being, she contents herself with breathing deeply, trying to regain some sense of self. Unable to exert herself physically, Nathalie casts her mind back, trying to figure out just how she came to be in this situation.

They were driving along, following the car in front. It had been the same mandatory silence all the way along. Then, in a flash something had changed. She can remember being shocked, startled. A terrible feeling had taken hold of her. She'd protested, shouted a desperate warning. Someone next to her had been struck but she didn't mind. Her head hurts as she tries to think back. It's clear however in her mind that she'd been frightened, not because of what had happened but what she could see was going to occur. Then… Blackness. For whatever reason she can't recall just what had happened.

The door next to her is opened. She hears a man shouting at her but can't quite bring herself to respond. She's aware that there's a pair of strong arms around her. They unbuckle her belt and proceed to drag her, not too carefully, out of the vehicle. She lets out a weak groan of protest but is unable to actually do anything about it. The strangers dump her unceremoniously in the dirt without bothering to check if she is injured – which she's certain that she is. It's clear that they don't care about her as they step round her, still tending to the car for some strange reason.

Who are these men to care so little about another's life?

As confused as she is right now, she realizes that these are not her friends, nor are they concerned bystanders. For a moment, it feels like she might just be about to lose consciousness once more. Perhaps she would find it easier to slip away if it weren't for the face which lies just behind her eyes. There's something that she's missing. She can remember the terror of being in the car, presumably mere moments before they had crashed. It hadn't been her that she'd been afraid from. She knows that she wasn't alone. There had been somebody else there with her. Someone whom she lo-

Adrien!

In a flash everything comes back to her. She gasps suddenly. Stupid boy. Brave boy… It had been his attempts at heroics which had seen the car crash in the first place. He'd had nothing but the noblest of intentions. The move had been selfless, perhaps even well-planned but poorly timed. The impact itself remains impossible for her to recall. She reasons that she must have hit her head. Perhaps it has permanently been erased from her brain.

It doesn't really matter. She finds herself with a renewed sense of purpose. She has to find Adrien Agreste. He should be nearby, surely. The woman ignores her own suffering to the best of her ability. She'll have to sit up if she wants to get anywhere. So, gritting her teeth, she manages to push herself up off of the ground. Her right wrist is too badly injured for her to put any weight on it. Thankfully, her left is dominant. Her head spins but she fights on through the dizziness and pain in order to sit up. A few deep breaths she hopes will set her on her way. It's likely that the teen will be injured, just like she is. Therefore, it's unlikely that he'll have gotten all that far.

For whatever reason, it takes the woman a few moments to realize that there's a small crowd a few yards away. Well, less of a crowd but two of the men are there as well as a third individual. The woman's vision is too blurry without her glasses to be able to make much out. She trusts her still ringing ears instead. The men are encouraging the stranger away, trying to convince them to leave if they don't want to be caught. Unable to move herself, Nathalie, still dazed, watches them as they finally manage to coax the stranger away from something.

It's as the spectator passes that her gaze meets Nathalie's. Whilst the injured woman might have still been stunned and dazed, suffering from the accident but she's not completely out of it. She's conscious enough to recognize the other's blurry features: golden hair and green eyes are difficult to mistake for belonging to anyone else. They fix one another for a moment. For the former assistant, it's a painful confirmation of a terrible fear that takes hold. Were she in a better state, perhaps the woman would have glared more coldly at her enemy, made some effort to let the one responsible for all of this suffer one way or another for what she'd done.

She's tired though. Now is not the time for fighting…

Emilie looks away back towards the front of the car. Uncertain, Nathalie finds her own gaze drifting back down, towards the front of the car. It's only then that she spots the figure lying motionless a few yards away. Terror takes hold. She forgets about everything else. Only one thing truly matters, one person…

Ignoring her own pain, for the most part at least, Nathalie struggles to her feet. Her legs are wobbly, they can scarcely even bear her own weight. So she resolves to dragging her left limb, her ankle paining her too much for her to do otherwise. She doesn't have to make it far. She repeats that to herself like a mantra. At one point, she resolves to bracing herself against the car for some support. It makes things just that little bit easier. She's desperate, frantic. Internally, she prays that this is just her injuries and the blow to her head talking and convincing her that the worst has happened.

Finally, she manages to see round the front of the car. She isn't too sure if her heart stops or breaks first.

Adrien lies motionless in the dirt. There's blood on him. Before her eyes, she finds herself reliving the accident. This time she sees what before she had not. Adrien's attempt to free them, distract the driver. They hit a tree as he'd attempted to climb into the front seat… She wants to forget the look of panic on his face as he'd no doubt realized just what was going to happen. Unfortunately, that desperation remains plastered behind her eyes no matter how hard she struggles to remove the image from behind her eyelids.

The woman staggers over to the teen who lies completely motionless. For a moment, she fears the worst. She's not too sure how he's gotten out here, if he'd actually gone through the windscreen or if their captors had dragged him out after the event. Whatever the case, he's unresponsive and the damage present seems to have been more than enough to kill him. Nathalie can only stare down at the body, her mind spinning but unable to quite process what her eyes are seeing. It's like someone simply hits the off-switch.

Get up. Please… She wills silently. At least open your eyes…

The blood coming from his nose and mouth cause her to assume that he's gone. The impact would have been sudden and brutal. Cat Noir might have stood a chance but Adrien? It seems unlikely that-

She gets her sign a moment later. The teenager is breathing. Although it takes her a few moments to identify the noises he's making as being that. It's an ugly sound, almost as if he's chocking with every single gasp. He's still alive. That's all she needs to know. It serves to shake her out of her stupor. If he's alive, then he's suffering right now, if he's suffering, he needs some sort of help. Trembling from head to foot, the woman kneels down next to the teen. She doesn't dare even touch him for fear

Someone had the presence of mind to put him into the recovery position. The cuts on his body are unpleasant but not all that deep so she'd rather avoid putting pressure on them if it means protecting the rest of his body. He lies there broken, unresponsive. The external injuries don't appear to be all that severe. There's some blood but not enough to cause an excessive amount of concern. What troubles her a good deal more is what she can't see. Carefully, the one thing that she did dare do was reach down and take his pulse. His heart's still beating, that much she'd been expecting. It's irregular however and somewhat fainter than she would have liked. That's where her medical knowledge leaves her. She wishes that she knew exactly what to do, if anything. Instead, she just kneels next to him feeling decidedly useless.

It all of a sudden, there's a bright light. At first, Nathalie mistakes it for the sun coming up but when she raises her gaze, she actually finds herself faced with the car ablaze. The man responsible running to join his allies in the remaining SUV. They're already beginning to drive off. Even if she'd been in perfect health and with a miraculous to boot, the woman wouldn't have moved or made any attempt to stop them. To do so would mean abandoning Adrien and she can't/won't do that. Perhaps that's why they were so relaxed about leaving her here.

As the car drives off, the first rays of sun are just beginning to climb over the horizon. Nathalie stays with the injured young man. With her one remaining good hand, she gently runs a hand through the dirty golden hair, brushing it out of his face.

"It's alright… It's going to be alright..." She repeats to the teen.

Maybe he can hear her, maybe he's too far away right now. She won't leave. As the new day dawns, Nathalie holds onto the young man whom she's grown to love as a son, pleading with him not to leave her alone.