It's been a while since I've updated, school and work have got me pretty busy sorry about that guys... This is just a transition chapter for our next one which will contain so much angst! Hope that you guys can bare with me until tomorrow, hopefully I'll have my fic updated again with the new chapter and if not tomorrow it will be by the end of the week!


Tikki held her palms on the girl's cheeks trying to shake the sleep-walking girl awake, "Marinette!... Marinette!" The girl's cheeks grew pale- much more than normal and cold to the touch like her energy was being sucked fright rom her body. The small kwami grew more panicked by the minute this was the first time that she had ever experienced something like this in all of her years of living.

Almost immediately the girl's bright blue eyes shot open completely dilated and glazed over with tears she had tried her hardest to hold back, "T-Tikki?" Her voice shook as she sat frozen in place, her only motion was scanning the room for her missing companion.

Tikki could tell that her chosen was feeling panicked, she hadn't seen her like this in so long. "I think maybe we should head home" She said urging the girl to stand, "I think that it would be best for you to have Alya's company as well." She mumbled drifting off towards the trap door of the room.

Marinette nodded slowly standing to her feet her eyes remained glassed over as she turned towards the balcony doors the rain had begun to let up.

How long had she been asleep?

How long was the dream?

Marinette stared blankly at the glass doors it seemed like every time she blinked the image of a scared, weak, torn up Chat appeared in front of her begging and pleading for her help.

If Chat was alive, if that wasn't a dream, what was she supposed to do to find him? How was she supposed to know where he was and more importantly: Was Tikki dying? Was being apart from Plagg this long really taking that much of a toll on her kwami? And if it was- why wasn't she showing it.

Heavy footed the girl made her way to the trap door stairs when she was stopped by something that she didn't quite recognize laying on her desk.

A dirty torn up piece of paper sat there soaking. The ink bleeding down the paper like rain drops. Marinette tugged on the sleeve of her sweater pulling it up over her hand dabbing the piece of paper in attempt to dry it before reading the faded text.

"Marinette help me"

Gently she picked up the damp paper folding it and placing it in her pocket before heading down the stairs after Tikki who sat perched on the handle of a black umbrella.

"You ready to go?" Tikki asked drifting over to girls shoulder and resting there.

"Yeah… I'm ready.." She mumbled picking up the umbrella and holding it tightly in her hands. Opening the front door she let the wings of the black umbrella expand overhead.

It wasn't soon before she arrived at the apartment the entire walk seemed blurry to her it wasn't her main focus. Marinette cracked open the door slowly before entering and shaking the water droplets off the umbrella and folding it up leaving it next to the door.

Alya and Nino peaked over the couch at the tired eyed girl who had walked through their doorway.

"Hey Nette! You feelin' all right?" Nino called out resting his arm against the back of the couch.

Marinette's eyes found the couple sitting on the couch, the girl swallowed to attempt to add some moisture to her other wise dry throat, "Huh- yeah… I'm fine just a little tired is all." She said with a smile reaching one hand up to rub the back of her neck.

"I thought you were spending the night at your parents tonight?" Alya asked sitting up from the couch and making her way into the kitchen, "Girl look at you!" She said inching closer her best friend's paled face coming into better sight, "You look like you saw a ghost, are you feeling sick or something?" She asked placing the back of her hand against her forehead.

"N-No, I'm fine- really." She smiled gently pushing away Alya's hand, "I think I'm just going to get some sleep, just feeling a little tired is all." Marinette said with a forced smile. She placed her hands on Alya's shoulders to spin her around and began pushing her back towards the couch, "Now please- you two enjoy the rest of your night! I was never here." She smiled before heading off into her room and closing the door behind her. Her back pressed up against the bedroom door gently sliding down it until she hit the floor burring her face in her knees.

Alya stared blankly as Marinette's white door closed quickly behind her. She pursed her lips and flopped back on the couch. The two sat silent for a moment something in the air just didn't feel right to either. It didn't take long for both Alya and Nino to simultaneously turn towards each other and say:

"I'm gonna go check on her."

"You should go check on her."

The room fell silent again before a small grin took over the brunette's lips, "I'll be right back- don't finish this movie without me." She said with a squinting expression.


Nino tossed up his hands in defense with a small chuckle, "Hey now, that's one mistake I'll never make again, just go check on her, I'll wait here." He urged. It wasn't often that Marinette acted this way and when she did it wasn't for no good reason. Nino had known the girl since primary school and liked to think that he could read her like a book.

Alya gave the boy a gentle shove and rolled her eyes, " What ever, just don't do anything stupid." She smiled heading off towards her best friend's room. She hesitated at first as she brought the backs of her knuckles against the door knocking softly three times, "Mari..?" she called from behind the door, "Can I come in?" She asked again. She could hear shuffling coming from inside the room and it wasn't long until the door cracked open.

Alya poked her head in to find the girl sitting on her bed against the wall, a pillow held close to her chest, "Hey girl, what's going on?" She asked pushing the door closed behind her leaving it cracked, "Nino and I are worried about you." She smiled assuming position next to her friend on the bed.

Marinette shook her head and forced a smile, "Nothing's wrong- I just… I just had a bad dream is all and Tikki suggested I come back home so that I wasn't so alone." She mumbled into the pillow.

The brown skinned girl smiled and lifted her elbow to gently nudge her friend, "You wanna talk about it?" She asked. Alya wasn't stupid, she could tell that what ever was bothering Marinette was more than just a dream. Marinette has had bad dreams before and none have affected her quite like this.

The girl refused to make eye contact and only shook her head, "It was just some dumb dream."

Tikki drifted up taking her position on the pillow that Marinette was holding onto, ""I think that it would be a good idea if you talked about it… You've been acting weird ever since I found you upstairs..."

Trixx crawled on top of her chosen's lap silently responding, "I agree with Tikki…It would make you feel better…"

Marinette turned away from her friend and the two kwami's that at awaiting her response, "I'm sorry, I just-" she cut herself off, " It was just some dumb dream that's all." She tucked her hair behind her ear resting back against the wall sitting beside her frizzy haired friend, "It just threw me off is all!" Marinette thought that flashing a smile would somewhat help the situation- maybe mask her anxieties. She thought maybe if she smiled and pushed her dream aside that maybe it would help herself realize that it wasn't real.

Despite how hard Marinette tried to hide it Alya knew better, you couldn't be friends with someone over six years and not know about their quirks. It wasn't often that she found her friend so uncomfortable or at such unease but when she was it was quite obvious to tell. It was also quite obvious to tell when her best friend didn't wish to continue to the conversation and distracting Marinette was one of Alya's specialties.

Nino fidgeted around on the couch leaning over the backrest to peer down the hall at the slightly cracked door shedding light from the underneath the doorway. The brunette sat back on the couch tapping his fingers against his leg clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. It wasn't going to be any time soon that either of the girls would end up leaving the room. He knew that Marinette was distressed and he felt out of his element not being in there with her beside Alya. Nino stood grabbing the couple of plates that sat on the table. It wasn't out of the norm that Nino would find himself cleaning up after Alya- not that he minded. He made his way down the stairs into the kitchen and began to fill the sink with warm sudsy water. Nino leant back on the counter and peered out into the dreary Parisian street. It hadn't rained this heavily in a while but he didn't mind. There was always something about the water that made him feel at ease.

Through the pouring rain he noticed something, a figure standing on the opposing side of the street just standing. There was something that churned in his stomach as he tried to focus his eyes in on the shadow making him feel nauseous- like he was being watched.

Nino gripped onto the light blue curtains on either side of the window tightly before yanking them shut. He rushed over to the sink shutting off the water and disregarding the dishes that he had put in there before. What if that person, that shadow, was the reason that Marinette was acting so weird. Was she in danger? Have they been following her around all day? Is that why she rushed back to the apartment so late- so that she wasn't at her parents all alone?

Nino, with great haste made his way up the stairs and paused as he started at the beginning of the hallway. The dim lights still shined through the cracked door and he approached it on his tiptoes not wanting to interrupt the girls. He pressed his ear up against the door and gently began to push the door open. All of the anxieties that consumed him slowly washed away seeing his two best friends curled up with their heads resting on each other. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, closing the door quietly until he was able to lock it behind him. He made his way to the couple windows around Marinette's room and tugged their blinds closed it wasn't until he made it to her bay window that he looked back down on the street corner seeing the shadow still standing there watching, maybe waiting, but he wasn't about to let any harm come to the two people he cared about the most.

Nino didn't have much. Unlike Marinette and Alya he didn't have parents – or siblings for that matter, but having known Marinette for so long he was grateful for all of the things that the Dupain-Chengs did for him. He didn't have a lot of money. He didn't have a lot of friends and up until recently he didn't have a job that really mattered to him. Without those two girls in his life he wasn't really sure of what he'd have. After shutting all of the blinds the room was illuminated by a lamp that sat on Marinette's desk. He looked over towards the girls, passed out on each other fast asleep and smiled walking over on his tip toes to keep from waking them. He tugged at Marinette's pink covers and laid them on top of the girls.

Nino reached up his hand running his fingers through his Alya's hair before placing a kiss on her forehead only to be stopped by something tangled up in her thick locks. He gripped the seemingly large knot and smiled de-tangling her hair and pulling out the small faded orange ball of fuzz. He gently cradled the small foxlike creature before placing her down on the pillow next to Alya's head.

Sure, Nino didn't have the best grades… ever. In general he wasn't good at school- it never interested him- but he wasn't an idiot. He knew from the moment Rossa Volpe showed up on the scene that it was Alya. The random "endangered citizen check-ins" late at night by a certain masked hero. Followed shortly after it wasn't long before he realized who Ladybug was. The two sneaking away for extra long "bathroom breaks" or just straight up disappearing on him then conveniently showing back up when the danger was gone. Not only that but the little creature wasn't the best at hiding he'd always catch her out the corner of his eye but thought that it was best to keep it a secret from the girls that he knew about them.

He felt lucky to have two of Paris' most prized heroes as his best friends. Though constant guilt always followed him- what if the two girls were in danger? He wouldn't be able to do anything to protect them so the least that he could do was try to protect them when they had their guard down.

He sat on the ground, his back resting against the side of the bed. He tried his best to fall asleep but every creak and patter on the windows from the rain jerked him awake. What if he fell asleep and something happened to the girls? He'd never forgive himself- He'd already lost one of his best friends and he wasn't about to lose two more.


The shadow lurked for a few moments watching with glowing eyes as the boy in the apartment rushed to keep eyes from peaking into the home. The shadow melded to the ground sneaking against the wet pavement. It crept up along the side of a building down the street from the apartment and slipped it's way into the open end of a stained black flute. The green glowing eyes on the figure faded. She was covered head to toe in a black cloth.

The black laced glove reached up tucking a small bit of hair behind the olive skinned girl's ear a smirk peaked at the corner of her lips as she tucked her hand into her shirt to pull out a golden chain on it laced a fox-tail charm nestled beside a black ring, she admired both placing a small kiss on her cursed charm and newly acquired miraculous.

With that, she hopped off the building pressing a button on the side of her flute extending into a baton easing her way through the shadows of the stormy Parisian night. Being so nimble rain found it hard to get a place on her until she made it to an opened window attached to a rather large building and made her way inside almost silent.

She placed her flute between her shoulder blades and made her way down the darkened stretch of hall. She came upon a largely set dark purple door fearlessly, without a knock she invited herself in and announced her entrance.

"I've found her." The girl's smoky voice floated through the room catching the ears of a certain masked villain.

"Good. He'll be returning soon in search of me. You are to stay out of my way until I say otherwise, have I made myself clear, Volpina?" the voice shot back from the shadows of the room.

"Of course, sir. It will be a great pleasure working beside you."

Hawkmoth nodded, not removing himself from the shadows, " For now I will allow you to gain the trust of the civilians, extract any needed information. Can I count on you?"

"My loyalty has never needed to be questioned and never will be. I can promise you that I will not fail. Ladybug will fall." The black fox responded, her darkened red lips smirking as she turned to exit the room, "Goodnight, sir."

The room fell silent with no response, only the creaking door closing behind the girl.

Nino failed to gain any amount of sleep that night. For the first time he realized how creaky and noisy the girl's apartment was. Call it paranoia but he wasn't about to allow some… thing, to get to his girls. His wristwatch alarmed a couple of beeps and he looked down at the time:

6:45

He had to make his way over to Fu's place to help him get ready for his morning physical therapy session. For a- how old was he again? Well for such an old man being able to take care of these people and stretching them in ways Nino has never seen before he found that incredible. Half the time he didn't even know why Fu needed an assistant in the first place.

Nino shrugged off his sleep-deprived feelings and stood up tall stretching his arms above his head letting out a small groan. He turned and looked at the two girls with their creatures nestled up together under the covers. The room was still darkened on a count of all of the shades being closed but Nino had no intentions of opening them and allowing anyone or anything to peak in.

He hesitated before unlocking and opening Marinette's bedroom door and letting himself out careful to shut it behind him just as he was with their front door locking it and soon after pushing back on the door just to be sure it really was closed. He pushed his glasses up farther on the bridge of his nose and tugged up on the hood of his blue sweatshirt.

A night after rain caused the streets of Paris to have a sort of gloomy and fogged look, which was soon to disappear by the afternoon, he thought for sure. He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets refusing to look up in front of him the shadowed figure scared his mind every time he closed his eyes. Before he knew it he reached the parlor across the street from the Dupain-Cheng bakery and groggily let himself in.

"Yo, Mr. Fu?" He called out pulling his hood off of his head and wiping off the water from his glasses.

The old man made his way into the room slowly and slightly hunched over, "Ah, Nino, having a good morning?" he asked making his way into the living space with Nino following behind.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Bit of a restless night." He replied trying to hide a yawn, "Storm kept me up pretty late." He covered taking a seat at the table reaching for the teapot nestled on the hot plate and switched it on. Fu sat on the opposite side of the table with a concerned look but stayed silent examining the sleepy boy sitting across the table as he poured the hot water into the two mugs with green tea bags resting into them.

Fu grabbed his mug and wrapped his hands around it and stared into the slowly darkening water, "He who is drowned is not bothered by the rain." He spoke taking a small sip of the tea.

Nino slowly blinked and stared at the old man for a few moments, "It's to early for that 'old man wisdom' stuff." He said with a smile while steeping his tea.

"It means he who is troubled by something greater is not bothered by something so small." He smiled placing his mug down, "In other words it was not the rain that disturbed your sleeping rather it was something of greater discomfort."

Without fail as always Fu read Nino like a book. There was nothing he couldn't hide from this man. Nino let a nervous smile fell upon his face and rubbed the back of his neck, " Alright, you got me there, but it's no big deal I can handle it." He chuckled holding his mug up to his lips feeling its warmth.

"Lady problems I take it, then?" the grey haired man assumed.

"Lady problems?" he questioned with a laugh, "No, no, Alya is perfect. I think that it's safe to say that she's my silver lining..." he muttered.

"Then tell me, what's troubling you?" Fu pressed on.

There was something about the man that made him feel the need to confide in him, he was truly someone that he could trust. Could you believe it? Nino Lahiffe trusting an adult- he laughed at the thought and rested his elbow on the table holding his head up, "It's just-" he hesitated at first, "Marinette came home late last night pretty upset about something, I haven't seen her act like this before and I guess I just got this feeling like… Like she was being watched or-or followed." His fingers traced the lining of the mug, "I couldn't just go to sleep, what if, you know, something happened to them while I was asleep." He frowned reaching up and rubbing his bloodshot eyes.

"You feel a great need to protect these girls?" Fu asked not maintaining eye contact and continuing the drink his tea.

"Why wouldn't I? I love both of them and they do so much to protect me it's the least I can do…" he mumbled finally taking a sip of the tea.

"They protect you?" He asked with a growing smirk out of the corner of his mouth covering it by the mug.

Nino stammered, he hadn't realized his slip up quite frankly he wasn't on his toes that morning but he had to find some way to cover it up, "Yeah, you know, they're always there for me always taking care of me, stuff like that, you can't take me so literally, Fu." He smiled.

"My apologies, I do understand what you are saying, but this presence, this feeling of being followed, why do you think you had that?" he asked placing his mug down on the table.

"I just thought I had seen something is all- probably nothing to worry about." He said again as he stood up taking the mugs from the table and making his way out of the room, "I'll start getting the massage room ready, your client should be here in any minute."

Fu watched as the boy left the living space and he averted his gaze over to the small turtle kawmi and exchanged looks before getting up and following Nino into the other room.