AN: Wow . . . it's been a while. I intended to take a few weeks break from writing this story, and it turned into several months. Sorry about that. Anyway, I'm back now with the latest chapter. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading. I promise the next update shouldn't take as long as this one did.

Adrien

The room was dark. Now of all times I wished Plagg were here and I could transform. Cat Noir's night vision really could've come in handy right now. I sat in a chair, my hands tied behind my back. It was already dark, but as an added security, a cloth also covered my eyes.

"I know who you are, Adrien." A deep, masculine voice finally said. "But, I want you to tell me."

"I won't tell you anything," I said. "You got what you want so just let me go."

He released a deep, menacing laugh. "I only have half of what I want, boy. And, you know where I can find the other half."

My heart raced at the thought of Ladybug/Marinette. I had to play it cool. No way could I give up her identity now. No matter what, I had to protect her in any way I could. She was Plagg's only hope, as well as mine.

"I don't know her identity," I said calmly. "Even if I knew, I'd never tell you."

"I figured that would be your answer," he said. "But, I think I can persuade you."

My heart hammered louder by the second. "There's nothing you can threaten me with because I don't know."

He didn't respond. Hard footsteps crossed the room until I felt his presence behind me. The cloth was ripped from my eyes, and suddenly, I was looking at a computer screen. On the screen was my class picture.

The screen zoomed in over each of the faces: Rose, Chloe, Nino, Alex, Sabrina, Alya, Marinette, Kim, Ivan . . . What was he planning?

"It seems my little Akumas have already affected most of your classmates. Looking at these faces, I see The Bubbler, Anti-bug, Lady WiFi, Horrifcator, Stone Heart . . . And that's only naming a few. However, there is one that has so far not been touched by my powers."

The screen zoomed in close on Marinette's face.

"It's Marinette Dupain-Cheng, correct? Is she a friend of yours?"

I shook my head, trying to maintain my composure. "No. She's just a classmate. I barely know her."

"I think you're lying," Hawkmoth said. "I've seen you with her. You're awfully friendly with her."

I shook my head. "I'm friendly with all my classmates. It means nothing."

"So you wouldn't mind trading her life for Ladybug's identity?"

I didn't want to react, but that struck a nerve. Marinette's life, or her secret identity . . .either way, she was in danger.

"I don't know her identity," I repeated. "You can threaten anyone's life you want, but it doesn't change the fact that I don't know who she is."

The image on the screen changed, and my heart nearly stopped. It was Marinette and I, holding each other just hours ago in my room.

My stomach churned. There were no cameras in my room. It looked as though it was taken through the window, meaning the outside camera had picked it up. But, how did Hawkmoth gain access to the security footage?

"Seems to me that she's more important to you than you let on," he said. "Unless you hold all your classmates this intimately."

I glared at him, ditching my indifference act. "Just leave her out of this! I don't know anything!"

I sensed his smirk from behind me. He had me where he wanted me. "You know what I want. I'm giving you two days to get me the information I seek. If you don't have it by then, Marinette will be my newest super villain. Maybe she has what it takes to bring down Ladybug."

Footsteps came from behind me. The cloth was pulled over my eyes again. A cold, gloved hand pulled me to my feet and dragged me out the door. He led me down a hallway, and I nearly fell down a flight of stairs.

After fumbling down the steps, the door opened and the cool, Paris air hit me. He pushed me until another door opened, and then I was thrown inside a vehicle. My door closed and another opened and closed after another body got in. The car sped off. The first time around, I attempted to trace the path the car took, but it took too many twists and turns for me to keep up with, and this time was no different.

When we arrived at the destination, he pulled me out of the car and inside a set of doors. I felt the cold metal of a knife at my wrists as he untied my hands. Once they were loose, the door immediately closed. Pulling the cloth off my eyes, I re-opened the door hoping to catch a glimpse of Hawkmoth, but the night was calm. There was no sign of anyone.

Closing the door, I breathed a sigh of relief, even though this nightmare was far from over. Stumbling upstairs to my room, I closed and locked the bedroom door and made sure every window was locked before throwing myself on the bed.

My mind raced as worries about Plagg and Marinette consumed my thoughts. Clearly, Hawkmoth didn't know who Marinette was, meaning her identity was safe for now. But, for how long? If he took her, how soon would it be until he found out she was Ladybug? Either way, he would find out. Either way, Marinette was doomed.

Picking up my phone from my nightstand, I debated on calling her. But, when I scrolled down my list of contacts and reached her name, I hesitated. He said he wouldn't do anything to her now. I could at least let her sleep easy one more night before I broke the news. Just because I wouldn't sleep tonight didn't mean she shouldn't sleep, either. Tomorrow, I would tell her.

/

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed nearly half an hour later than usual. It had been a long night of tossing and turning, and I was no more ready to face the day than I had been when I was returned to my home.

Slipping into the shower, I washed off faster than usual and dried off. After throwing on my clothes and combing my hair, I headed downstairs. I wasn't hungry, but I forced myself to eat breakfast so that Nathalie nor anyone else would question what was wrong. Once I was ready, I followed her and the gorilla to the car and got in.

My stomach was in knots as I thought about the conversation with Marinette that awaited me. As much as I had tried to prepare myself the last few hours, I still wasn't ready. I didn't want to worry Marinette more than she already was, and how would she react?

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I cleared my worries from my thoughts and remembered: she was Ladybug. When had I ever truly seen Ladybug afraid? Had she ever been in a situation she couldn't get herself out of?

I fought back a groan. There had been times when I had to get her out of situations. Vulpina. I had to stop her before she gave up her Miraculous, all because she had thought I was in danger. When it involved the people she cared about, she was willing to sacrifice everything. And now that I wasn't just her friend and the boy she had a secret crush on but her partner and boyfriend, just what would she be willing to sacrifice now?

Shaking these thoughts from my head, I stared out the window. I was over-reacting. I had to be. Marinette would be fine. So would Plagg. Everything would work out. It always did, especially when Ladybug was involved.

Once the car pulled up to the curb, I got out and headed up the steps. A familiar hand clamped down on my shoulder. "Hey, how's it going? You doing alright?"

I forced a smile. "Yeah, Nino. Everything's fine."

"Your dad didn't come down too hard on you for running away, did he?" he asked. "He didn't add ten extra photo shoots for this week or anything like that, did he?"

I shook my head. "I wouldn't go if he did."

"You need the break, man," Nino said. "You're wearing yourself too thin. School, photo shoots, fencing . . . whatever else your dad makes you do."

Being Cat Noir. Of course, Nino didn't know anything about that, and it wasn't exactly an issue anymore since I no longer had my Miraculous.

"Adrikins!"

Internally, I groaned as Nino backed away and Chloe's arms wrapped tightly around me. I wasn't even sure from what direction she came from. It was like she just appeared.

"Hi . . . Chloe," I managed to say as it felt like she was crushing my lungs.

"Oh, Adrikins, I was so worried about you! I was so afraid you would run away again!"

Pulling myself out of her grasp, I let out a nervous laugh. "It's okay, Chloe. I'm not going anywhere." At least, not today.

"Chloe, Adrien has lots of work to catch up on. He doesn't have time to talk." Nino pushed me away from Chloe.

"Hey, you can't just take him away from me! My daddy says I can talk to whoever I want, when I want to!"

Nino and I quickened our paces almost into a run as we headed inside, putting enough distance between us and Chloe that she wouldn't have an easy time finding us.

"Thanks," I said once we stopped.

"Anytime," he said. "You better get to class so she can't trap you."

I nodded. Even though Chloe was the least of my worries, I didn't want her hanging all over me, especially not in front of Marinette. I was going to have to upset her enough without her having to see Chloe all over me.

Walking into class, my eyes darted to where Marinette sat, chatting with Alya. She glanced down at me, giving me a small smile which I returned. She was here. She was safe. For now, anyway.

Taking my seat, I faced forward, trying to look inconspicuous as I secretly listened to Alya and Marinette's conversation.

"You know, Cat Noir hasn't been seen for a couple days," Alya said. "Before, he was everywhere. I wonder what's up with that."

"Maybe he's just taking a break," Marinette said. "I'm sure we'll see him again soon."

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I tried to ignore the fact that there was a good chance she was wrong. At this rate, it was more likely that Ladybug nor Cat Noir would ever be seen again, if Hawkmoth had it his way.

Turning to the girls, I forced myself to meet Marinette's gaze. She seemed a bit startled at first, but then she shrugged it off.

"Marinette, I . . . um . . . have a question about some of the make up work. Can we go to the library later and talk?"

She nodded. "Of course, Adrien."

I smiled, hoping it didn't look as forced as it felt. "Thanks, Marinette."

Alya leaned closer to Marinette, whispering something in her ear. I turned around, knowing whatever it was was private.

"Alya!" Marinette whispered sharply.

Judging by Marinette's reaction, I guessed Alya was teasing her about spending time with me, especially if Alya knew of Marinette's feelings for me. If I didn't already feel so low, I probably would've felt a bit embarrassed. Right now, though, all I could do was worry.

Nino came in just as class was about to start and took his seat beside me. It was only my second day back in class, and while yesterday saw more people coming up and worrying over my disappearance, it was nice to at least feel like things were returning to normal. Though, it wouldn't be fully back to normal until I heard the familiar sound of Plagg chewing his stinky cheese.

As soon as study hall came around, I started out of the room. Without turning, I sensed Marinette was right behind me. I had spent all morning trying to calm my nerves, but now my heart felt like it would beat out of my chest.

Once we arrived, we headed to the furthest corner of the room, out of immediate earshot of the librarian and far enough away from the couple students already here. Pulling out a chair, I motioned for her to sit, and I sat next to her.

"What I'm about to tell you is really bad," I whispered. "Promise me you won't scream, at least not while we're here."

She nodded. "Okay, I'm prepared. Tell me what's wrong."

"In the middle of the night, I was kidnapped by our favorite person," I started. "He told me that if I didn't tell him who a certain bug was, then his latest victim will be the only one left of my classmates he hasn't used yet."

I paused, watching as realization lit up her features.

"Me?" she said, almost above a whisper.

I nodded. "You understand the predicament we're in, don't you? He said I have two days to tell him the identity or else he's going to take you."

She looked at the table. "I don't know what we should do."

"We may need to make you disappear for a little while." Tikki poked her head out of Marinette's purse.

Marinette sat her purse on the table. "What do you mean?"

"Like how Adrien hid his true identity while on the run," Tikki said. "We may need to do the same with you, Marinette. Only, this time, to protect you until we can figure out how to go about this."

"But, my parents . . . they'll worry," Marinette said.

"We'll come up with an alibi," I said. "Don't worry. It shouldn't be for too long. You could just say you're staying with Alya a few days. We still have a day to come up with something, though."

"But, I would practically have to leave Paris or else risk ending up in a similar position you're in," she said.

"Before we do anything, I think we need to talk to someone," Tikki said, looking at us both. "After school, Marinette, let's talk to Master Fu."

"Who's Master Fu?" I asked.

"The one who gave us our powers," Marinette answered. "And, Tikki, you're right. After school, we'll go." She looked to me. "I know it'll probably be impossible for you to come, Adrien, so I'll call you once we've talked to him."

I nodded. "Good idea."

Taking my hand in hers, she gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

"That won't stop me from worrying," I said.

Removing her hand, she placed one on each of my cheeks, leaning closer until her lips brushed against mine. It took me by surprise, as we weren't exactly telling people about us, but, at the same time, could this have been our last opportunity for a kiss for a while? Her coming to my home as either Marinette or Ladybug put her at risk of Hawkmoth catching her, and I wasn't allowed anywhere but home or school. That left school as our only option.

After a moment, she pulled away but kept her hands on my cheeks. "Everything will be fine. Have I ever lied to you?"

Without hesitation, I shook my head. Maybe she was right. Maybe, despite the odds, everything would be fine.