"We meet again, Cat." The avatar of the Ladybug stared him in the face with all of her ancient divinity, eyes of the cosmos itself stripping his soul bare.

The holder of the Cat suddenly felt himself kneel, body completely paralyzed under her scrutiny. He clenched his eyes shut tightly as if it would protect him from the immensity of her presence.

"It's good to see that you've been holding up your end of the bargain thus far. But be warned..." he could feel her eyes flash, despite not looking at her. The crushing hold of doom in his chest seemed to double. "... if you dare go back on your word, not even Plagg will be able to save you from my wrath."

"I- I understand," he rasped, the pressure in his chest building until it all but strangled his very voice from his throat.

"Good."

All at once, the weight on his body lifted, and he collapsed to the ground clutching his chest and gasping for breath. Plagg. Where was Plagg?

The Ladybug regarded him coolly, before turning away. "Do not fail us this time..."

Long, lithe shadows crept across the pristine floors, seeping across the tile and making the boy's hair stand on end. The sky outside was dark, too dark with the clouds gathering overhead; there was no light from the moon, but in its place were beams of light from sconces outside.

They hardly served to lift his mood.

Mother and Uncle Gabriel were surely still asleep, and Nathalie had gone home for a well-deserved vacation this week... and that left Felix all alone, alone to wander the twisting halls of this unnerving mansion.

Swallowing again, he scrubbed at his eyes with his fist and yawned widely. His jaw creaked in protest. Despite the late night twisting his memory, somehow he felt as if he still remembered where the kitchen was.

The steady patting of his footsteps along the hall paused in surprise as he stood, one eye wide, at someone standing inside the kitchen.

"A...drien?" He rasped, lowering his hand and blinking to wet his eyes. "What are you doing up?"

The blond cracked a weary smile at him, turning to reveal the cup in his hand. "Sorry if I woke you... I wanted water."

"You didn't," he confirmed with a furrowed brow as he crept into the kitchen. "Actually, I wanted some water too."

Adrien watched him curiously as he moved towards the cabinets. His hair was still disheveled from sleep, making him look so unlike the boy he saw every morning at school. In this lighting, he could almost see hints of black creeping along his collar, flickers of brighter green in those inquisitive eyes...

"What'cha thinking about?" His younger cousin piped up, breaking that train of thought.

Felix shook his head, longer blond hairs tickling his ears, and mused, "I've been thinking about a little project of mine."

That seemed to do the trick. Adrien's droopy expression brightened up, and he tilted his head. "Project?"

Nodding his head, Felix paused to fill the cup with tap water.

The two stood in stark silence as he tilted his head back to drink. It was mild and pleasant - and just what he needed.

Finally, when his tongue no longer felt like sandpaper, he set the cup on the counter and smiled at his cousin. "How do you feel with helping me do a little... field research?"

The resulting grin that spread across the boy's face lifted his spirits a little more, and distracted from the cold emptiness that persisted every time he looked at his own mother. Adrien was about to make his investigation much, much easier...

Once he was settled into bed for the night, again, the Cat holder relaxed against silken pillows and turned on his side.

Plagg was already settled in, lifting his head to yawn widely and offering a peek of the sharp teeth he had. "Finally decide to come back to bed, kid?"

"I was thirsty," the boy defended quietly, closing his eyes. "Besides, you were the one who told me to go get a drink."

"Well excuuuuuuuuse me, how was I supposed to know you'd be gone for twenty minutes?"

"I didn't think you'd stay awake that long," Cat Noir quipped with a grin. "Aren't you always going on about how you need your rest?"

Plagg's soft grumbles sounded almost like purring. "No respect, I get no respect these days. Witty brats using my own words against me..."

"Good night, Grandpa," the boy teased.

The avatar of the Cat rolled his eyes and curled up tighter. He watched as the boy's face smoothed out, the crease in his brow lifting as he finally began to drift off. The bags under his eyes were concerning, but not unexpected.

"Didn't take him that long to drop off," the Cat observed to himself, getting up and stretching. Deep, unsettlingly green eyes scoured the dark bedroom until they finally came to rest on a particularly dark corner.

Grunting, he got up from the nightstand and flew over to the corner, skinny arms folded across his furry chest. "I know you're there, Rabbit. Quit being shy around my Holder, already."

There was a long moment's pause. The shadows in the corner seemed to blink.

And then, slowly, the veil thrown against the corners began to swirl - and from them, a familiar head with white and blue ears poked out of the portal, icy-blue eyes gazing determinedly into the god's own.

Plagg was unmoved by her audacity. Blinking lazily, he offered a flat grin to the woman. "Long time no see, bunny rabbit. Sorry to ruin the fun, but the kid's asleep at the moment, so I'll take a message."

A/N: Surprise! Honestly, I was wondering where I was going to set the Rabbit in this story - given the massive plot twist at hand, I didn't want to make her too relevant, but I also didn't want to leave her out entirely considering I have many things planned for her. For now, Bunnyx will be working in the background - or, pardon the joke, in the shadows!