At last, all three of our captors drop off to sleep, and I whisper in Cat's ear. "Try to wiggle closer to them." "Are you nuts?" he whispers back. "Girth looks like he could tear apart the net with one hand." "What did we say about trust?" Cat nods. "I'd trust you blindly." It's hard to wiggle closer as the leaves rustle under us, but eventually we are close enough that I can slip some sleeping pills into the water bucket. I motion for Cat to be silent, and slither back to our original position.

Tuff snorts and nudges Sendi with his eyes still closed. "Have you checked them lately?" He mumbles. Sendi grunts, offering no reply. The wind starts to pick up, and dust begins to billow around us. All three of the men start to cough and rub their eyes. "Great! A dust storm! I knew we should have kept going when the going was good. Now, who wants a drink?"

They fight and shove over the bucket, but that's the least of my worries as suddenly a growl of thunder crashes overhead. Great, this wasn't part of the plan, and my mind works furiously to use this coming storm to our advantage. I listen hard, the air is so still, so silent, like the earth is holding its breath. But underneath that, I hear the gurgle of water, and it sounds deep to. I could cry with relief, because all we need to do is wait for them to fall asleep. I just hope that happens before the storm starts for real.

The men drink deeply, and Tuff kicks at the leaves. "Permission to go to hideout until the storm passes, Girth?" Girth chuckles darkly. "What, you afraid of a little rain?" Sendi stands up, wringing his hands. He's the most timid of the group. "Its not like their going anywhere. And that rope net is keeping them nice and snug." Girth growls, then sighs. "Fine. I'm feeling a bit sleepy anyway. But they escape," he points to Sendi and Tuff, "It will be your fault!"

I watch them blunder and crash through the trees, the sleeping pills are already started to take effect, and soon they'll be out like lights. "Nighty-night," I whisper, a grin on my face. "Do your thing, Kitty," I gesture. "Cataclysm!" The rope is no match for our powers and we stagger to our feet, the pins and needles feeling is painful, after being tied up for so long. Crash! Another peal of thunder rumbles, closer then ever. "Cat, we need to get to the stream and use our aqua powers."

At first, we're stiff and slow, but we need to hurry to beat the coming storm. A droplet hits me on the head and I jump. "Come on!" I yell as the rain tumbles down from the heavens. The stream isn't far, but I skid to a stop at its banks so fast, Cat nearly topples over and falls in. "What's wrong?"

"Its angry," I stare at him, then down into the boiling, roiling water. Cat looks back at me. "We don't have a choice, love." "Oi!" I look up in terror to see Girth running towards us. "Cat, power up and jump! Now!"

With flashes of pink and green, we dive into the water, and immediately I'm whisked away by the current. I fight it with all my strength, but even with my suit the water is cold, numbing me and making me sleepy. Come on, push, fight! I struggle to see through the foam and bubbles but I just make out Cat up ahead. I kick out, left, right, and I repeat until I grab onto his tail. Holding on for dear life, Cat kicks out bravely.

Thud! Pain, a rock must of struck me, I feel dull and I slip away into unconsciousness.

Silence fills my ears and I wonder if I have slipped from one world to the next. But then a dull throb is pulsing on the back of my neck. Nope, another life wouldn't be this painful. I struggle to sit up, but strong arms pin my down. The darkness is so thick you can't see a hand in front of your face.

"Stay still, M'lady. You've been injured," I can hear Cat say. "Cat?" I croak. "Where am I? What happened?" "After a rock struck you, the current swept us away into this cave. Once your back on your feet, we'll try to find a way out." "At least there's air to breathe here," I say, trying to think positive. He strokes my hair. "That's the good news. The bad news is our packs got swept away."

My stomach churns at the news and I feel like I might be sick, but I push it away and smile. "We have each other. We'll get through this together." "I was able to save a few tubes of oniment that I put it in suit pocket. We can use it for your cuts and scratches."

I slowly flip over so I'm lying on my back. Cat starts to rub some ointment on, but I stop him. I feel silly when I ask the next question. "Cat, can you see me? You know, with your night vision?" "Well enough. Why?" I squirm. "I want you. Its been so scary the last few days with us fighting and then the capture…." Speaking of capturing, Cat does so with my lips and I'm cut off.

I don't need oxygen now, his lips are an addictive drug, the only thing I crave. "Cat," I whisper. "Claws In." "Spots Off."

The floor this cave might be damp and chilly, but Cat enters my body, none of that matters. We lose ourselves in each other, mating, making love to the other. Cat hits my sweet spot again and again, but the pleasure outweighs the pain and I scream his name. "Cat Noir!"

Later, we cuddled close, and Cat is stroking my hair. "I wish you knew my real name, you know," he whispers and I squeeze his hand. " I want to know too, but I'm scared." "M'lady, don't you know how much I love you even without the mask?" I feel his warm hand caressing my cheek. My heart speeds up, and so does my breathing. "I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of rejection. I can't live without you, Cat. Its that simple." "You know I'll be waiting, and when the time is right we take off the masks." I laugh a shaky laugh. "You may be waiting some time for that, my love." He kisses my fingers, one by one. "I'm not worried, for my love for you will last an eternity."

I shiver and I re-don my suit and so does Cat, but I crawl into his lap. "Maybe now would be the good time for the medicine?"

I doze off as he smears oniment on my wounds, and then we both fall asleep. Even if we are trapped here, at least no harm can come to us.

I blush with shame at the thought. I rid to rid of world of evil, rid of Hawkmoth. Someone could be suffering in agony, unable to resist the akuma all because of a negative emotion. I can't tell if its night or day, and Cat's asleep, and I don't want to wander off in the dark by myself.

I hug my knees to my chest, listening to Cat's steady breathing, and find myself lulled into a thinking stupor. What's Adrien doing now? Was he heading back to Paris, does he know about the fire? Are my parents okay? Maybe, maybe they didn't survive after all. No, don't think that, I tell myself sternly. Its just strange that they haven't contacted me all this time.

I think again of Adrien, who doesn't have a mother, and still finds reasons to smile and be kind. If he can do it, so I can I.

My stomach growls after going without food, but I try to think of other things. Yet, if we don't find food or water soon, things will become every different.

Cat wakes, and reaches for my hand. His grip which was so strong an hour ago, seems a bit weaker. "M'lady, my head feels fuzzy. Like I can't think straight." "That's because we've been without food and water for some time, Kitty."

"We need to find a way out," he says. "Can you help me up?" I nod, grabbing his hand in the darkness. "We'll try one direction for awhile, and if we don't find anything, we'll try another." "Sounds like a plan." That, or we'll find a wall first.

We walk carefully, slow but steady. Already the ground seems to be sloping downwards then Cat gives out a yell of alarm, and then we're sliding down something smooth and cool.

Sloosph! We reach the bottom, and I wipe what I think is mud from my face. I spit out some as well, for it has a vile and disgusting taste.

The mud is thick and it takes strength to pull Cat from it. We can't give up, we can't. Finally, we find a path the begins to lead upwards.

"Maybe our luck is turning?" I ask. Just as I say it though, we reach a dead end. Its like that most of the day, find a path, travel aways, always to the same results. " Bugaboo, I don't know how much more of this I can take," Cat tells me.

"We have to be strong," I remind him. But even I'm starting to give up hope, for we hit a rock wall every time.

Cat snaps, and before I can stop him, I hear his footsteps running towards the wall. "Catay-" "Cat, don't!"

I want for the destructive sound of falling rocks but it doesn't come. All I can is my breathing. "Ladybug, help," Cat pulls me into his arms, tears lapping in his voice. "I don't want to die underground."