Marinette was drifting.

There were short moments of extreme lucidity. In those instances, she was fully aware, could tell what was going on around her and even react to it. When Alya reached out, gently took her hand and told her she was going to be alright, Marinette could smooth back her friend's hair and attempt a smile. Chat's joking and being called 'Princess' tore a laugh out of her weak and aching throat. Seeing Adrien slumped against the wall, droopy-eyed and weak because of her, filled her with panic and guilt. Each time, she couldfeel something.

And then Silent Night would take over the second she lost her concentration.

Marinette couldn't tell where Tikki was. She tried not to think too hard about it, unsure if the Papillion could read her mind to some extent. Thoughts of Tikki and of Ladybug were shoved aside as soon as they formed. Unfortunately, it was really hard to not think about it all when Chat was right there, looking around as though Ladybug was going to come crashing in through a window and save the day.

When ignoring the existence of Ladybug failed, all Marinette could do was hope that Tikki had escaped her purse before it had been akumized. Marinette didn't want to know what would happen if her friend and kwami had been trapped inside.

She tried not to think about it.

Marinette also attempted to ignore the clinical and merciless way she had attacked Chat. Knocked him to the ground and pinned him there, told him to stay down. It was like watching another person, Marinette had no control over her body and yet, was still present enough to see everything Silent Night was doing. She wondered if that was how Chat had felt when the Puppeteer had taken control of him, or even when Dislocoeur had got him with the arrow.

Every second she spent trapped inside her own head was like walking through a raging storm and still she fought with all her might. Even if Chat could find the akuma and release it (though the way he laid nearly passed out on the ground showed there was a long ways to go before he accomplished that), he had no way of purifying it and it could easily go on to some other victim.

Marinette couldn't allow that. Ladybug couldn't allow that. So she pushed as hard as she could, trying to make herself feel something or say something. But it was difficult, incredibly difficult. The temptation to let anger take over was strong, so was the cloud over her mind. The fog made it almost impossible to think, let alone make an attempt to fight back.

So far, whenever Marinette tried to speak, Silent Night took over instead and twisted her words. The Papillion was still trying to talk to her, but his speech was garbled and strange. Marinette wasn't sure if that was the botched transformation's doing or her being Ladybug or maybe even a little bit of both, but either way she was glad that he didn't seem to be in her head too much. He got louder when she knocked down Chat, seemed to be encouraging her to take his Miraculous, but Silent Night was still focused on Chloe.

Marinette knew the only way she was going to get out of this was if she fought off the akuma and somehow transformed. Her best bet was getting Chat to bait her away, but with him on the floor from her last command, that would be difficult.

Marinette tried to turn and look at Chat, her best friend, the silly boy who flirted incessantly and yet, was always there for her when she needed him. She needed him now, maybe more than ever, to help her. To keep her right, keep her from hurting anyone. To bring her back.

Chat! She practically screamed into her own mind, desperation coloring her thoughts. Chat, can you hear me?

In her peripheral, she could see the boy jolt. He was still on the ground and when he raised his head, his eyes were dull. Chat blinked slowly up at her and though Marinette couldn't seem to get control of her limbs, 'talking' was easier. Obviously he had heard (felt?) something, so she tried again.

Marinette pushed her thoughts towards Chat as forcefully as she could manage. You have to wake me up. Tell stupid jokes, slap me, I don't care! Just wake me up.

Chat stared at her a moment, brow furrowing under his mask. He shook his head, blonde hair fanning out under his stupid cat ears. Marinette realized the familiar sight was comforting rather than silly, for once.

Gritting her teeth, Marinette tried her best to slow her body down while giving Chat a chance to come to and get up. Chat was pushing at the ground, his shoulders hunched like there was a great weight upon them, and Marinette could see the way he strained to stand.

Come on kitty, I need you.

With that thought, Chat seemed renewed, shoving himself up forcefully until he was on his feet. He swayed lightly, still blinking like he was tired. It was a start though, and Marinette silently cheered him on.

"Princess." Chat called and Marinette almost winced because for a second she had forgotten that Chat was seeing Marinette and not Ladybug. "Why bother with that pathetic girl when you could fight me?"

Marinette could hear Chloe sputtering behind her, apparently taking offense at being called 'pathetic'. Which was ironic, considering...

Silent Night whipped around to face Chloe more fully and Marinette panicked.

She is pathetic, isn't she? Silent Night's thoughts rang out through the whole room and by the way her classmates shuddered, they had all heard it. All the more reason to get rid of her.

"Don't get distracted, his Miraculous is more important than your little tirade!" The Papillon's voice came through clearer than it had since she first transformed, and neither Silent Night nor Marinette liked what he was saying.

You don't control me . She told the villain. That was one point that Marinette could agree on.

A chilling chuckle filled her mind. "But I do control your powers."

Marinette felt her arms shaking, the places where the transformation was complete jerking back towards Chat. She frowned and tugged, knowing it was the Papillion that was making her move. Silent Night was also resisting, even more than Marinette was, and dragged the both of them closer to Chloe.

The blonde was still cowering and Marinette was shocked at how pleased that made her, how satisfying it was to see Chloe being put in her place. All those times she'd treated Marinette and her friends with cruelty and disrespect were on the forefront of her mind and things got hazy. Everything mixed and dulled to the point where Marinette was having a hard time figuring out where Silent Night ended and Marinette started.

"Silent Night! Don't lose focus!" Papillon's roar startled her out of the fog.

"Shut up!" She yelled back.

Though everyone in the room was still, it seemed as though they froze further with her shout and Marinette realized she had managed to speak out loud. Chat was still watching her, a strangely unreadable expression on his face as he seemed to consider her.

Marinette felt her hand reaching for her side, Silent Night grabbing on to the purse at her side. While Marinette strained against the motion, Silent Night ignored her, and threaded her hand through a little loop of string. Throwing her hand down, the purse dangled away from the loop, and Silent Night twisted her wrist until it started spinning. Marinette watched with detached horror as the pieces came together.

A yo-yo. Of course.

While it was lacking the red and the spots of her usual weapon, it was still undoubtedly a Ladybugesque yo-yo, black as the rest of her suit. If Marinette had the time, she would have admired the way starlight seemed to fall from it, trailing in the wide circle the yo-yo cut through the air. As it was, Marinette was a little busy being panicked by her entirely too obvious weapon and watching Chat for his reaction.

Though he looked a bit surprised, Chat didn't seemed to make the (obvious, obvious!) connection, instead lowering into a fighting stance. His baton was still out in the hall, but that didn't stop the teen from squaring up, reading to attack.

Don't be ridiculous chaton, do you plan to fight me with your fists alone? Silent Night's voice had regained its detached quality, though now something smug and snide curled into her silent voice.

"You'd be surprised at the damage these paws can do." Chat curled one in a (frankly ridiculous) imitation of cat paws. "But, no. I don't intend to fight you, Princess. Let's just talk."

Marinette wasn't sure she liked the sound of that, though it seemed to peak Silent Night's interest, because she stopped spinning the yo-yo and cocked a hip. Talk? I think I like you better when you can't...

Chat opened his mouth again, but this time no sound came out. He frowned, grabbing at his neck a little. Surprisingly, whatever powers Silent Night was directing at Chat seemed to lessen the effect of the spell she had on the students and teacher, because they shook themselves and blinked. A few of them were starting to climb out of their seats, Julexa and Rose hurrying to each other sides and Ivan started to stand, body turned like he was going to join Mylene.

Alright, you work like the Mime. Marinette partly directed the thought to Chat. Directing your powers at one focused point makes all the other spells weaken .

Silent Night was both surprised and annoyed by this knowledge, stopping the charm she'd cast over Chat to settle the students back down. Marinette could feel her confusion at the fact that her powers had limitations, and distantly hear Papillion muttering to himself about it as well. It felt wrong, in a way like the rest of her transformation was. It wasoff .

Maybe it was due to the faulty transformation, Marinette wasn't sure. Her powers were still present, just not quite as strong as she would have thought. Maybe the thing dulling them wasn't Marinette herself but actually...Tikki's influence?

Silent Night managed to relax the students, they let out a collective sigh, falling back into their seats while Chat cleared his throat noisily.

"Interesting..." Chat narrowed his eyes. "I have a feline that will come in handy later."

Put it out of your mind. Silent Night commanded, though there wasn't the extra bite of compulsion to actually make Chat forget.

Silent Night didn't notice, too pissed off to really pay attention, but Marinette saw Chat shifting around her, making his way closer to Chloe with what appeared to be an unhurried stride. She was still on the defensive, whipping her yo-yo back into a rapid spin.

It seemed to happen in an instant, but Chat lunged for Chloe, scooping her up as she squawked, and charged for the door. Silent Night watched in surprise as Chat grabbed up his baton and ran down the hallways.

Though she was annoyed to be caught off guard, Silent Night was only a little put off that her target was being carted off by Chat. She drifted out of the room, by passing a still fairly out of it Alya, and allowing the sleepiness she'd forced upon the school away when she reached the front doors. Distantly, she could hear the sounds of people beginning to panic, but it didn't matter to her. They hadn't done anything wrong, and weren't deserving of her anger.

Standing on the front steps of the school, Silent Night saw Chat levering himself and Chloe up onto the rooftops with him, the blonde girl shrieking all the way. It may have been amusing in a different circumstance. Silent Night could see Chat checking over his shoulder, he made eye contact with her once and swept his clawed hand in silent invitation, that familiar cheeky smile gracing his features.

Come and get me.

Marinette was enraged. The closest her and Chat had ever come to using a civilian as bait was when Kim had hidden from Animan at her family's bakery, but that was more a matter of circumstance than part of the plan. But they didn't do civilian casualties, of any sort, the first priority was always keeping the people of Paris safe from akuma victims. Marinette wasn't sure how much damage her powers could restore, and wasn't sure if serious injuries could be healed. She'd never tested it, and wasn't planning to anytime soon.

Chat was baiting her with Chloe, he was purposely putting a civilian in danger. As soon as they got everything solved she was going to have a word with him .

Silent Night, however, was delighted. She narrowed her eyes, her own smile stretching wide and cruel, and slung her yo-yo towards the rooftops. It would just be a simple matter of catching up to Chat and Chloe.

( And, well... )

Silent Night tugged the string and shot off towards the sky, body relaxed as she landed easily on one of the rooftops before sprinting after them, darkness and starlight dripping off her suit as she went.

( ...she'd always been faster than Chat. )

AN: I have no qualms telling y'all this, because I've told other people and hinted at it in this chapter, but yeah. Tikki's in the purse. Or, yo-yo, I guess. (Am I a terrible person for laughing when thinking about Silent Night swinging around that yo-yo with Tikki inside it? Poor thing is probably SO dizzy.)

I think chapters are going to be alternating between Adrien and Mari point of view from now on, the first chapter was a special case. So, next chapter is in Chat's POV!

Vanitas' Queen21: I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND THAT I USED YOUR IDEA BECAUSE IT'S FANTASTIC! I'm crediting you here and on ao3. Also, Chat has no idea what he's doing, he's basically just making it up as he does along (as am I *cough cough*).

CutieAnonymous: Okay, just in case it wasn't clear in this chapter, when Marinette loses focus Silent Night gets stronger. SN is able to take over more control of her body when Marinette isn't really trying to prevent it.

FreeJoy: Oh gosh, I think the fact that you're able to 'see' everything so far is like, one of the best compliments I've ever gotten? I try so hard to be descriptive and I'm so, so glad it's coming across! Thank you for the lovely comment 3

PolgaraRoseTheBloodSorceress: Eyyyyy, that's what this chapter is ahaha!

Guest (you know which one you are): Okay now I'm franticly trying to find a way to work this in oh my GOD hair fluffing is my life and it would be sweet/also kinda creepy so I'm going to try!

Web1theweb2: Sorry bud, I'm not super comfortable emailing it to you directly. But if you follow the fic it should show up in your email on it's own!

Alright, that's all the responses I wanted to reply to directly. Don't forget, I track 'all is calm ml' on tumblr and my url is mazberrypie, feel free to pop by and Chat ;3