A/N: You guys see this chapter? This fucker right here? Yes, this chapter is the bane of my existence from the first ever version of this fic. God, I really beat myself up over how I wrote this chapter cause... well, I wanted it to hit the damn feels. So, years later, I have attempted to meet the same goal once more! (And I feel like I have failed spectacularly). Nevertheless, I'm publishing it! (Cause I like doing this to myself).

Guest - Thank you so much for reviewing! Knowing that my writing makes someone happy is like... a wonderful feeling. I hope you enjoy the rest to come :D

Speaking of, pop a review of what you think. I'm starving for opinions at this point loves.

Till next time,

D.L.D

Chapter 19: Wake Up

Marinette

Slowly, Marinette's eyes fluttered open to meet the clearest, purest blue she had ever set her eyes upon spread out before her. Soft puffs of white drifted across the blue, speckled with patches with dove grey and black dots that moved into sharp arrows of migrating patterns. The sky. A clear sky. The type of sky that Parisians never really saw in the city, the towering buildings and urban atmosphere being a deterrent for mother nature's beauty.

All around her, surrounding her body, Marinette could feel the soft tickle of wild grass. In the breeze it swayed beneath her, beside her, bending and tickling as she took in a deep sigh and soaked in the warm sunlight bathing her skin. A familiar feeling - even to her. Grass, the sun, soft whispers of the wind: oh yes, Marinette was used to the simple pleasures of life itself.

Content, the young woman eased herself into a sitting position, looking around at the fields stretched before her. Vibrant flowers, bright petals ranging from rosy red to vivid violet sprouted from emerald blades of grass, bees and butterflies wafting between the growing plants. Gentle slopes rose into small hills and between them meandered a slow-flowing river, its waters almost crystal clear as it splashed and bubbled underneath the summer sun.

Marinette smiled at the sight; it was such a contrast to back in Paris where she fought akumas as Ladybug and juggled her normal civilian life with her superhero duties. This place was so serene, so peaceful, like a forever dreamworld made to cater to the whims of its occupant. If only Marinette could bring everyone she loved here, then it would be perfect...

Like a ten tonne truck, realisation hit Marinette. Hard. She wasn't going back to her family, or Alya and Nino, not even Adrien. Moments ago, in the waking world, she had just fallen from the Eiffel Tower, after letting go of her one true love's trembling hand, after letting herself fall onto the hard concrete slabs of the pavement. Even now, in the calm, Marinette could remember it all: the way the impact stung her skin, the sound and way her bones cracked, the way her tears remained as she was carried away by Carapace. How could she let herself fall? How could she be so weak and yielding? How could she... leave Adrien alone like that?

Oh, the last one hurt the most. How could she abandon Adrien like that? Someone who arguably needed her most.

Hot molten tears pricked at Marinette's eyes as she hung her head low, sadness beginning to take over realisation. How could she do that? Why did fate always do this to her? Was she just cursed to always be so close, so damn close, to happiness only to lose it within the gaps of her own unsuspecting hands? Cause, even if it didn't seem that way, it sure did feel that way. To Marinette it felt like fate didn't want her to be happy.

Cracking, a horrible sob shook her body as Marinette sat there, alone in the meadow, allowing the sadness and pain to wash over herself. Great tears, soulful sobs, racked her body as she thought about how much she'd miss, how much she'd wasted, how much she'd left behind. As if tears could help at all. If only tears could grant wishes, cast magical spells that reversed all of our mistakes in the blink of an eye.

For hours Marinette wailed, grief and remorse engulfing her whole. Gone was the happy-go-lucky girl with a clumsy heart of gold. Now she was shattered, unraveling at the seams, sticking out in this tranquil meadow like a sore, twisted thumb.

Spotting the distressed girl, another figure emerged from the swaying grass, clad in a polka-dotted suit. Bright blue eyes, dark hair that was tied into pigtails and the same earrings the famed heroine sported: it was Ladybug. The one and only famed superhero of Paris. Twisting her brows and tugging her lips into a frown, she wore a sympathetic expression on her face as she drew closer to the howling Marinette. Without even speaking, she could feel the pain she was experiencing; she knew what it was like to lose someone she had loved with her entire soul. In her own heart, her own soul, she felt the pang, the burning sting, that accompanied slipping out of Chat Noir's hand; she felt the stab of never being able to go back, the bullet wound of knowing that Marinette didn't have to let go and risk it all.

After all, Ladybug had gone through it with Marinette. They'd both experienced the exact same moment in the exact same time - and it was the one thing that played back and forth in their restless mind. The one puzzle they could never solve.

Before she knew it, the heroine was centimeters away, biting her lip as she hesitated. Ignoring the pinch to her gut, the voice screaming to leave Marinette alone, the superhero persisted, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Alarmed, Marinette's head whipped to stare at the hand. In that moment Ladybug saw it all - the red, puffy eyes; puffed cheeks; smeared mascara - and felt her heart clench. She looked a mess - both physically and emotionally. Just seeing it, staring at it, was breaking her heart all over again.

Shaking those thoughts aside, Ladybug only smiled, squeezing Marinette's shoulder. The only reason she didn't break down was because she needed to be strong for Marinette. Both of them couldn't be weakened at the same time. No, if that ever happened - if Hawkmoth ever succeeded in breaking them both down - all of the world would be doomed.

"L-Ladybug?" Marinette asked, her voice hoarse and trembling. Cold tears trickled down her cheeks.

"The one and only," The heroine joked, pointing a finger-gun at the girl in an attempt to make her smile. She only succeeded in making her sob harder, releasing a dreadful groan. "Dang it! Marinette, please don't cry! Chat Noir - Adrien - wouldn't want you to cry in a moment like this."

"But what's the point?" Marinette wailed, an ugly, rumbling sound that was familiar to a mother whale mourning its lost child. Two hands flew around the heroine's neck, trapping her into a hug. "I'll never see him again!"

"Don't say that," Ladybug frowned, shaking her head as a hand pat the girl's back in comfort. "Don't you ever lose hope on that. There's always hope. You had hope we'd live, and I believed you, and- "

"W-why?" Warbling, Marinette sniffed as she glanced at the heroine. Teary eyes met softened eyes, both verging on the edge of filling with pools of salty helplessness. "What did hope ever do for us? What has hope done to us?"

"We're not dead for one," Ladybug deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Denial had already sunk in fast it seemed, sinking its nasty hooks right into poor Marinette. Already she could feel her own doubt telling her, pleading with her, to agree with Marinette. What was the point now? What could they really do from here, stuck in the confines of this tranquil meadow? Nothing. That was it. Nothing but hope and believe. And by god was Ladybug going to do so. She'd be the strong one.

"There's no way we're alive!" Shaking her head, Marinette pushed away from the heroine. Instead her two hands fixed into her hair, tugging at her pigtails. "Why else would we be here? Plus how could you be here? We're the same person, the same soul, in the same body! Clearly we must be dead if I can see you and you can see me. None of this makes sense and..."

"Because it's all in your head," Ladybug interjected, staring up at the nearly cloudless sky. A pretty sky, a perfect sky. Too bad it was as fake as the grass beneath their feet. "If you don't believe me, think of it like this: I live here most of the time. I should be able to recognise my own home and I definitely do right now. You're asleep and your body is trying to wake you back up. The only problem is that you, Marinette, keep denying the truth every time. The miraculous cannot heal you if you believe that you can't be healed."

Silence greeted the heroine for the first time. Stubborn, set in her ways, Marinette glared ahead, straight into the abyss of the infinite meadow, and sniffed as she wiped at her teary eyes. A classic Marinette move. Nothing new for the baker's daughter who shared this brain space with Ladybug. That stubbornness she had, that ability to be fixed, was part of why they were good a team together; stubbornness encouraged determination.

"Why should I believe you?" Marinette questioned, not peeling her gaze away from the blue abyss for a second. "We can't be in two places at once, you know that. For all I know, this could be an elaborate trap by Hawkmoth."

"But it's not because- "

Abruptly, Ladybug was interrupted by the pleading tones of some new voices, familiar voices that echoed about the air in windless cries:

"Marinette please wake up!"

Nino.

"Oh if only I knew, Tom! If only I was there to stop her."

Mama.

"Please, forgive me, Marinette. I never meant to do that. I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you. Please just wake up!"

Alya.

"I know you can do this Marinette. You've always been a fighter, my little warrior."

Papa.

"No-one's really been the same since you came here," Adrien. Marinette felt her heart squeeze within her chest. Air rattled within her lungs. "Alya's a mess, Nino's barely spoken and your parents definitely aren't as cheerful as they were anymore. They need you Marinette... I need you."

Pinching, twisting, puncturing, Marinette could feel her heart bleeding from just the sound their voices. Desperately, oh so desperately, she wanted to open her eyes, sit up and yell that she was ok, that even though she had scared them, recklessly thrown herself into a dangerous battle, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was still alive and kicking. Passionately. However, no matter how hard she tried, how hard she willed her toes to wiggle, her fingers to twitch, her eyelids to flutter, nothing happened. Marinette remained in the fields.

Pain etched into the young woman's face like characters on a wax slate. Ladybug could only watch as her other half crumpled into herself. Intensely, vehemently, she wanted to help - in many ways; but all she could do was wait and watch as Marinette broke down again, swallowing herself up within the pain and anguish once more.

Giving up, Marinette felt herself become limp on the ground, tickled by comforting blades of grass that did little to soothe her gaping wounds. Shattered in two, split like a glass mirror dropped from a plane, she remained frozen, motionless, as Ladybug approached her once again, holding out a hand for her to take. This time Marinette didn't turn to face her, she didn't even share eye contact, instead she lay on the ground, her tears watering the grass.

"You know," Ladybug began, her voice thoughtful as she hummed. "We could find a way out. Together."

"R-really?" Marinette whispered, sniffing up a rather sticky stream of snot. At this point she was desperate - no, determined - to get back to the waking world. Anything, anything she could give or do, would be placed on the line to get back.

"I think so," Ladybug nodded, a kind smile flickering onto her masked face. "But it means seeing yourself as you are and accepting it - flaws and all."

"Flaws and all?" Marinette echoed, her voice a quiet whisper. That was a tricky feat, especially when there was so much, so many different things, that she would always resent herself for. Nevertheless, for Adrien - for everyone she loved - Marinette would put herself through this task. For everyone she loved she would walk through hell and back if she had to. With a determined smile, the teen peered up at the heroine, drive blazing within her gaze, "I'll do it."

Their hands clasped together, Ladybug lifted Marinette out of the dirt and grass. The lowest point they could ever reach.

"Follow me then," The superhero grinned, glad that she'd finally seen some sense. "But boy am I going to regret this tomorrow."

Adrien

Tirelessly, like a hand printed into wet cement, Adrien Agreste occupied his usual post beside his lady, his warm hand wrapped firmly around her clammy one. One week. For one week she had been knocked out cold, breathing through a machine and remaining in her stony slumber, not a flicker of movement seizing her body for a second. Gently, Adrien ran his thumb over her knuckles, anticipating her awakening.

One week. One week of this madness, trapped in the hospital, the sterile scent of iodine and other potent chemicals staining the air as he slouched in the hardened plastic of the building's chairs. In that week many people had come and gone - some familiar faces that urged him to take a break - revolving through the week like horses on a carousel. Most frequently Marinette's parents visited. Bringing tasty food and treats, forcing him out of the room to take a well-needed break, they relentlessly checked up on both Adrien and Marinette. Constantly.

Alya and Nino also dropped in whenever they could, spending chunks of time spread across the week. However even they - people who always found a way to look on the bright side - had lost the former spark and spring to their steps they usually had. Hysterical, Alya had announced a hiatus on the Ladyblog, declaring that she will be taking an indefinite break period; Nino had followed suit, his appetite for pastries swiftly declining.

Without Marinette it was like they were all wandering ghosts. No-one knew what to entirely do with themselves. Not her parents, not her friends, definitely not Adrien. Even Chat Noir was lost without Ladybug, feeling incomplete as he kept patrolling the city under strict supervision.

Sighing, Adrien watched as Marinette took in another round of air - motionless as she had been for the past week. His stomach couldn't help but knot at the sight of it. Last time he had been here, Adrien was still rather young. Too young. Worried, full of intense panic, he had cried and cried for hours on end as he watched his mother weaken and weaken as the days went on. Until, one day, she was no longer there. All that remained was her empty bed, straight sheets spread and pristine pillows fluffed.

"You can't let it end here, Marinette. Not like this," Adrien spoke into the silence, feeling as if she could hear him. At least that was what the doctors had told him - to ease his mind or keep him calm, he couldn't say. Either way it helped to pass the time.

One week was all that it had taken for the grief to hit him entirely, already bubbling into an intense rage. For the past few days no-one had seen a trace of Lila and Vixen had also mysteriously disappeared, making the situation much more tense for the three remaining superheroes. Several tributes for Ladybug had also been put out - courtesy of a witness who had spread the word about that fateful night.

With Ladybug's injury - the disappearance of Paris' famed heroine - the entire city knew that they had to wait for Vixen to truly be gone. Without her power, after all, the akuma could still multiply, survive, spreading its evil throughout the streets like a lethal plague.

Carefully, a nurse opened the door, silently shuffling inside after a doctor as she shot a small smile to Adrien. She'd been assigned to Marinette for a while now and had grown used to the sight of him at her side - always watching whenever she came for checkups with a doctor. To her, Adrien was a really sweet and caring thing and it broke her heart to watch him come here every day, face filled with hopeful anxiety, only to get the same disappointing result.

"This is no normal case," The doctor had told the blonde last week, their brow furrowed as they reviewed the charts and stats. "Normally a fall from such a height would result in a concussion. However, Miss Dupain-Cheng has sustained a head injury so bad that she has become comatose. Then there is also the matter of her fractured bones and spinal injury. To us medical professionals it is quite the conundrum."

One week later and it was still no different. Silently, Adrien watched as the nurse gently sat Marinette up and the doctor began to examine her. Each checkup was the same, the doctor pulling out the torch to check her eyes and using the monitor to record Marinette's blood pressure. At the same time, the doctor would consult the stats and charts, glancing at the beeping machine that displayed her heart rate.

Each examination had the same result: Marinette was getting better, but no-one could truly estimate when she would wake up. If Marinette would even wake up. And after each fruitless checkup, the latest lead to nowhere, both the doctor and nurse would give matching sympathetic smiles as they gathered their equipment and left the room.

Today was no different. Just like the day before and the day before that. Nevertheless, Adrien remained by Marinette's side, slumped in his uncomfortable chair until his eyelids began to droop and he slipped into sleep, not once abandoning his princess' side.

Alya

Haphazardly, Alya crammed her things for school into her bag. Certain that she had wasted enough time already, she had decided that she wanted to spend the night in Marinette's hospital room so that she could try to think of the good times, the funny stories they shared, before anything disastrous could occur. Coma patients were the most unpredictable, after all. One moment they could be well on the way to recovery, nearly at the point of waking up, before plummeting right back down to a near-death state.

Violently, a sharp shiver raced down Alya's spine. Yeah, the thought of losing Marinette, her best friend, daunted the blogger to the core. So much so that she shook the unpleasant possibility away. She needed to stay positive for Marinette. Thinking negatively would do nothing useful. If anything, thinking in a negative light would only encourage those thoughts to come to life, manifesting from thought into action.

And Alya didn't need to think about that either.

Brushing all negative thoughts aside, Alya slipped on a comfy pair of sweats and a thick jumper before grabbing her phone, keys and purse. Sleepy and content, her parents were in the living room watching the news and already aware of Alya's plans to stay overnight at the hospital. Ella and Etta - the troublesome twins - were also efficiently dealt with, tucked up for bed and snoring their heads off in their room. Nora, however, Alya's older sister was also in the apartment - and that was the problem.

Overprotective, almost to Gabriel Agreste's degree, Alya's sister highly disapproved of late night excursions with an akuma on the loose. And she certainly wasn't above using brute force - as well as her kickboxing skills - to enforce that opinion. So if she wanted to get to the hospital unscathed, then Alya needed to leave the building before Nora could say otherwise.

Releasing a quick breath, Alya left her bedroom and entered the living room. Luckily for her, both her parents were half-asleep on the couch and Nora herself was located in the kitchen, making Alya's escape route swift and simple.

Within seconds Alya was at the front door with no problems and she sighed as she turned the knob and exited the apartment. Putting on her thick jacket and slinging her bag over her shoulder, she then booked it to the elevators, still wary of the possibility that Nora would come checking on her. After pressing the button and waiting for the elevator, Alya relaxed as she traveled down three floors to the main entrance. This was it. She was out now. All she had to do was make it to the Uber.

Waiting outside of the apartment building, Alya found her Uber right on the main street and immediately rushed toward it. Not long after getting in, she was off to the hospital, her driver worthy of five stars as he took the quickest, traffic-free route and made it to the hospital in record time.

Tipping the driver generously, Alya closed the car door and dashed toward the hospital's main doors. Immediately, she directed herself to Marinette's room - a sight that was disturbingly familiar now - and walked right past the receptionist on duty. These days she didn't need to ask for permission as the staff were used to seeing her face on this floor. To them she was known as the friend to the girl who fell from the window.

Carefully opening the room's door, Alya peeped inside. Right away a smile crept onto her lips.

Once again Adrien Agreste was there, slumped in his own 'Agreste-claimed' chair and as close to Marinette as he could humanly be in the sterile environment of this hospital. He'd fallen asleep again, his golden hair ruffled and dark, unmistakable shadows resting beneath his eyes. Honestly, Alya was surprised that she had just noticed the obvious fatigue sunken into her friend's face. With visiting Mari, attending school and his father's strict schedule - as well as being Chat Noir - poor Sunshine was burning on fuel he quite frankly didn't have.

Beside him, Marinette was the same as she had been before. Comatose, almost as still as a wax figure, she lay on her hospital bed with unblinking eyes and tubes and cables coming from every direction in ordered, confusing tangles. Even her midnight hair, usually kept in its pigtails, was loose and flowing, neatly combed by someone who Alya assumed to be a nurse or her mother or even Adrien himself. The irony in such a normal act, a caring act, was not at all missed by Alya.

'At least she's not dead,' A familiar voice rang in her skull. 'That means she can wake up and we can get past this.' Hopefully - she would have liked to add on. But Alya always was one to ignore the voice in her head.

"Hey Sunshine," Alya spoke in a lowered voice, gently shaking the blonde slumped in his chair. "Wake up."

"W-what?" Adrien responded, somewhat groggy as he rubbed at his sleepy green eyes. Immediately, his gaze shot to the hospital bed, Marinette, filled with an almost infectious hope, "Did she wake up?"

"No. You fell asleep," Alya shook her head, dismissing the chuckle that wanted to bubble from her throat. Now was not the time for jokes. No. They needed to be serious. "Go home Adrien, I'll keep your precious cargo safe so you can get a good night's sleep. Don't worry Mr Knight!"

"I'm not worried about that," Adrien rolled his eyes, shaking his head at Alya as he stretched. "I just don't want to miss her waking up."

"And you won't," Alya assured him. Pulling out her phone, she brandished it in his face. "If sleeping beauty here so much as twitches I'll make sure to call you. I promise."

"Thanks Alya," Adrien smiled slightly, the remaining glimmers of his past self shining through as he grabbed his bag. Throwing it over his shoulder, he pulled open the hospital room's door. "I'll take over tomorrow morning."

"Just get some rest, Furball," Alya chuckled, shaking her head as the blonde rolled his eyes once more. "And make sure none of the fangirls get you on the way out! I'll roast you alive if they do!"

Laughter followed Adrien as he left the room, Alya's joke hitting just the right spot in this period of grief. Just as she'd figured it would when she'd initially planned to take over the night shift in Marinette's hospital room. Once Adrien had left the room - no, once he'd left the general vicinity - Alya turned to her unconscious best friend, brows knitted with worry as she took Marinette's hands into her own, squeezing them with all she had.

"No matter what you'll get through this," She murmured, tears burning at the corners of her eyes. Gently, her hands squeezed once more. "We'll all get through this. You are Ladybug, after all, and you and Chat Noir are inseparable."

In this moment, Marinette once again vulnerable and Alya once more playing protector, she couldn't help but think back to when she first met Marinette. The first day of school, fresh in the morning, and Alya had been the new girl in class - transferred after migrating from Martinique. Backed into a corner, Marinette was struggling to defend herself against Chloe and, acting on instinct, Alya had dragged the poor girl to her side and told her that they should do nothing because the good people always did. Chloe would get her karma.

After those wise words, a friendship was born and Marinette had offered her a macaroon, half-squashed but still completely yummy. Since that moment they had been like sisters, always having the other's back no matter what.

Times like those were when Alya felt a pang in her heart where Marinette would usually be. Even though it had only been a week, Alya missed having her best friend there for the small battles, the important little moments, that helped to build their characters. Marinette being absent was like missing a limb - Alya couldn't help but feel awkward, unable to function without a limb that she had grown so accustomed to.

Releasing a sigh, the blogger sighed as she pulled out her nail polishes and began to paint Marinette's nails. Tonight was going to be long - and if these were indeed their final moments together - she was going to make them memorable.

"You're not getting rid of me so easily, Mari," Alya chuckled as she finished applying the base coat to one of her fingers. Pretty pearl pink, a shade she'd always liked. "Oh no, we made a pact for life and for life it will be. Even if it means our final adventures are from this room."

Chat Noir

Calmness seemed to evade him these days. Always, there was a need for distraction. Itching the hero's veins, twitching his nerves, there always the need to be doing something. Anything. Even when he was Adrien, sat in Marinette's hospital room, listening to the regular beeps of her heartbeat, there was always the feeling to do something. Something, anything, could be what flipped this situation on its head. Something could always be victory. Something could always be anything.

Ladybug always did something.

Most nights Adrien Agreste didn't find himself at home. Time ripped between the city and Marinette, he was always on the go. Sometimes, as Chat Noir, he would be pole-vaulting about the rooftops, trying his best to eliminate Vixen's possible hiding spots. Other times he was slumped in a hard plastic chair, being shaken awake by a nurse who had come to check up on Marinette during the early hours of the morning.

Being stationary was something he couldn't stand at the moment. Feeling useless, being useless, was something he had never liked. Even all those years ago, a young child sobbing into his fading mother's shoulder, he had hated it. There was always a need to do something. There was always the urge to be something.

So, tonight, Chat Noir went back to his midnight duties, prowling the twilit streets with an almost desperate vigour.

Cutting through his thoughts, the harsh thud of his feet hitting solid brick kept Chat Noir focused. Autumn had set in now, cold and bringing a biting, nipping breeze that felt like frozen fingers jabbing at your rib cage. Early autumn wasn't usually this horrible in Paris; late autumn was usually when the colder, less merciful weather settled in. However, as if the world itself knew something was wrong, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Ever since that fateful night.

One week had passed. One week and there were no leads at all into Vixen's possible whereabouts. Ever since that fateful battle - the first where Ladybug had ever crumbled - the akuma and Hawkmoth had disappeared off the face of the planet. But they weren't the only strange things. Rena Rouge barely spoke to Chat Noir anymore. Carapace was silent, a stoic figure on their team. And Chat Noir himself was trying his best to play it solo. Lone wolf style.

Working with Ladybug had been his only true intention. Being by her side, helping her to succeed, had been the only thing pushing Chat Noir toward working on a large team.

That night, when Rena Rouge had removed his miraculous, things changed. There was no longer a tight bond between them all, that treasured trust that helped them all to work so seamlessly. Even in their every day lives it showed, Alya limiting her time around Adrien and Adrien doing the same. Neither of them wanted to argue about it; neither of them wanted to fracture their group more than it already had been. But the friction was there. Evident. Marinette, bless her soul, was the only thing keeping it from splitting wide open.

Patrol - the prowl - today had led Chat Noir toward the city centre. Large, gaudy buildings, lit up with a million electric bulbs and boasting fancy glowing signs, were all that surrounded him. In this part of Paris darkness was rare. Shadows were few and far between here; there was barely anywhere to hide. Usually, such a spot would be the opposite of what Chat Noir wanted. Whenever he was out on the prowl, looking for something, he had always preferred darkness.

Things change, though. Things were always changing. Tonight he was out in the spotlight, a dark figure in a sea of bright light, as he perched on the cold balcony of an old friend. Staring over the city, fluffy yellow dressing gown on with matching yellow slippers, Chloe Bourgeois was a familiar sight. In her hand was a half-finished glass of orange juice, swirling around as she idly studied the glittering city skyline.

"Looking for Lila the Liar are you?" Raising a brow, the blonde brat took a large gulp from her glass. For once she had actually turned to acknowledge her company, giving him her undivided attention. A rare feat for her.

Last Chat Noir recalled, Chloe rarely went out on her balcony during night hours. Always eager to keep in the loop, always attached to the hip with Sabrina, Chloe Bourgeois rarely had a reason to enjoy lonely silence in the atmosphere of a million, burning man-made stars. If there was anything Chloe hated, then it was the silence. Silence made her think and when she was thinking Chloe would always circle back to something nestled in her brain, something vulnerable.

Even in all the years he'd known her, Adrien had never known what she kept hidden back there. All he knew was that it tied to her mother, all the way across the Atlantic, hundreds of thousands of miles away. Nothing else. Nothing more. Chloe always hated when people knew more.

"Something like that," Chat Noir found himself admitting, shrugging a little as he decided to keep her company. Chloe never did like being alone, after all. What harm would a few minutes do? Easily making himself comfortable on her balcony's ledge, he decided to take a break from his search. If he was lucky, Chloe might even give him a clue as to where Lila was; hell, if he finally had some kind of astronomical good luck, Vixen may turn up here tonight.

"Well, you won't find her any time soon," Chloe responded, the words like a bitter spit as she turned back to the city. Glowering, she kept her gaze straight ahead. "If that snake wants to remain hidden, she'll become thin air."

"Don't I know it," Chat Noir sighed, his shoulders deflating as he joined her in overlooking the city. A million different lives all connected by one plot of land; a million different things all sewn together by one city of people.

"Of course you do," Chloe murmured from his side, draining the remaining contents of her glass.

For a while they simply stayed there, unbothered by the drafty breeze and unphased by the lack of conversation. If he didn't focus too much Chat Noir would dare to say that it felt like years ago, back when they were kids, content with knowing that they simply weren't alone. That someone, someone out there, was with them. Even if it was silent, even if they'd made the biggest mistakes in their lives, there was someone there. Someone to simply fill the empty space.

Last time they had been like this - what must have been a million years ago - was when his mother disappeared. All that time ago. A lifetime ago. However, somehow, that time felt not too in comparison to now. Almost simultaneous.

"Answer me this, Adri-kitty," Chloe abruptly broke the calm, placing her glass to the side. Fighting back the uncomfortable cringe from Chloe's terrible nickname, Chat Noir watched as she rested a cheek on a perfectly manicured palm, raising another questioning brow. "What exactly will you do once you catch Vixen? Let her go?"

That was a good question: what would happen once Chat Noir had caught Vixen? If - on a night like this, alone and capable of doing as he pleased - he did see her, what exactly would Chat Noir do? With the almost unlimited power within his hands, pure destruction swirling within his miraculous, he could do great damage. If shoved in the right direction, if he was so consumed in his own anger, his own feelings of injustice, Chat Noir could very well end the world.

Ending the world had always been an underlying danger of his miraculous. Could Lila trigger that? Would Lila trigger that? Was ending the world (by using Chat Noir) her true final plan? Was killing Vixen his final plan?

Honestly, those answers were open. Even Chat Noir, filled with ideas, filled with a throbbing, grieving heart, couldn't say what he would do. Even he, as tuned into everything as he was, couldn't definitely say how his own position played into Lila's grand schemes. Instead he could only keep watching, keep hunting, keep hoping - praying - that he didn't become a complete monster in the process. That something didn't shatter and never quite snap back into place.

"I don't know, Chloe," Was Chat Noir's grand response, a murmur into the night as his bright green eyes stared ahead into the starry gloom. Soundless, a cool breeze whooshed past. "But I do know what I might do."

"Then make sure you don't fuck it up," Chloe responded, her voice snippy and sharp from beside him. From the corner of his eye, Chat Noir could see her frowning, the glower still evident as she pensively overlooked the city like a stony gargoyle. However, hidden within her icy eyes - barely visible to most - there was a softness, a gentle mellowness. "Because I swear to god Adrien Agreste, if you end the fucking world I will haunt you from the afterlife."

For the first time in a while, Chat Noir let out a genuine laugh. Shaking his shoulders, lighting up his face with that wonderful grin of his, he laughed. But only for a short, fleeting while. Because happiness was never a permanent state. Not in the dreary present that they all called reality.

Releasing a sigh, the hero nodded as he scratched at his head, "Noted. That would be a horrible existence."

"Please, I would be a fabulous ghost," Chloe rolled her eyes, huffing as she placed a hand over her chest. Leaning toward the hero, she jabbed him in the shoulder, frowning a little. "For you information, Mr Adri-kitty, my company would be invaluable. Especially when you're the only person around on the entire planet."

Yep, the only person. That was how far Chat Noir's power could stretch when given the right conditions. That was what made him so dangerous; that was what had driven Rena Rouge into removing his miraculous. All the close eyes, the extra precautions, were because of how dangerous Chat Noir could be without Ladybug around. Ladybug balanced him out, calmed him down when he was getting ahead of himself. But now...

Ladybug wasn't there. At least, she wasn't there to stop him. And that thought was incredibly scary. Downright petrifying.

After all, without Ladybug, what would Chat Noir do when he saw Vixen again?