Did you guys see Catalyst? Crazy Right? I personally enjoyed it from a fanfiction standpoint. Considering that it takes place in season 2 (the same time as this story) it highly interested me _. There were a few things I didn't care for, but that's normal.

Elogane: Yes! It's time for the Sweet Boys to continue their bonding.

Amanda27A.g: Yes. I've written the moment as best as I could. You'll have to wait because it takes place later. A lot of things are between that moment and now. I hate to ask you to wait.

That you for all the love! Now, who's ready for chapter 14? I know I am! We continue with the pair finally encountering The HOUSE. There are some dark themes such as mentions of Suicide and Murder. AS well as some improper medical procedures later. Read at your own risk.

Disclaimer: It's really become a habit to just write these out. I do not Own ML or DGM. Both belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 14: The House

After the incident at the restaurant, the duo went back to the house. This time they stood in front of it, on the sidewalk. Allen told him that it would be best if they checked out the whole property, front to back, before entering. Adrien—now transformed—was tasked with searching the back for anything suspicious and potential entry routes. Allen was tasked with searching the front for anything. They were to then come back and create a plan. To which Adrien questioned why they were going through such trouble to enter a simple house.

"Can't we just walk through the front door?"

The exorcist slapped his palm to his forehead. Making the hero notice how the other wore gloves. He didn't make a note of it because the weather had been cooling recently, so gloves were completely normal.

"No, we can't just enter. There could be something inside and as far as we know, this house has a history of luring people in according to that…what was it that you found it off of again?"

"A thread?"

"Yes. Speaking of that...Why a thread? Wouldn't that be hard to read off of?" Did this guy not know what a thread was?

"An online thread. Ya know like a series of posts on a website?" If anything his explanation only confused the exorcist even more. "Anyway, that's why we just use a distraction. One of us acts like bait while the other searches the place. Easy."

"And dangerous. This is your first mi—I mean, this is your first Innocence extraction. We can't just jump right in. It's reckless."

"I'm the master of all things reckless! It'll be fine!" he argued.

A cold breeze blew and fallen leaves on the ground began to stir. One orange colored one floated upward. Weaving. Weaving. Weaving. Dancing through the hair like a graceful ballerina. It brushed past Allen's white locks and continued towards the front of the house. It slammed into the front door before sliding down. It stopped at the gap under the door. Something seemed to be pulling and pulling on it before it finally slipped underneath. In response, the door opened with a loud creak. Loud enough to reach the ears of the duo.

The stopped and turned their heads towards the house. The door was wide open and inside had to have looked like an endless void. His night vision could see right through the darkness and into the house. There was an entrance way that had a staircase next to it. On the right, there was a hallway that seemed to cut into a larger kitchen-like area, before turning sharply. At the end of the staircase was a square rug. His eyes wandered over to Allen and he saw how on edge the other was.

"About it having something inside…do you think it wants us to come in?" he pathetically spoke in the silence.

Allen grumbled, "I don't like this not one bit, but I guess there is no way around it."

All plans were thrown carelessly out the window as they walked up to the porch. They were hesitant to step on the planks of wood though. Chat quickly scanned the doorway and everything surrounding it. Now that he stood close, the details started to show themselves. He could see the pattern of the rug. It was a large spiral. A galaxy type of spiral with two colors. The only difference between them was that one was lighter and the other was dark enough to pass as black. If he's night vision didn't make everything green he could've been able to correctly tell what colors they were. If he was being honest it looked like it could suck someone in. In the entranceway, he saw a peak of a couch and papers on the ground. In the kitchen, he could see cube shapes with small handles. Cabinets or something. All in all, everything looked normal but the atmosphere said otherwise.

Chat was about to speak up once more when he saw something staining the edges of the rug and the lighter color on the pattern. It was just as—if not darker—than the darker color. And it was in a star-like shape. He wanted to say it was a design of some sort but it was sprinkled on the rug as if someone had spilled something.

Wait a minute…is it—Is it moving!?

The spiral seemed to be spinning but that couldn't have been true. Surely it was just a trick of the mind. But as he watched, he saw the lighter color lift up off the rug. They twirled around on their way up before halting. The sight was eerie, to say the least. And it made him on edge. Hadn't the thread he viewed talked about a rug-pulling people in? Regardless, when it turned sharply towards them, Chat was quick to leap at Allen to push him out of the way. They crashed onto the lawn as the rug parts sunk into the concrete where they stood. Now that it was out of the darkness, he could see that it was a lilac color. The star stains collected more towards the strip of rug that would've impaled them. It made it look like they were blood stains.

Chat slipped his baton from his lower back and rolled off of the exorcist. Allen hurriedly got on his feet. They both jumped out of the way of another attack. The hero twirled his weapon and used it to block any attacks aimed at him.

"How does one fight a strip of carpet!?" When he said that, a sharp claw cut it right in half, making a large piece fall off. Once it fell away the fabric turned and blackened. It seemed to curl up before the threads came apart.

His savior was none other than the tattooed boy. With his blinding cape and horrific claw, he successfully halted the rug's assault. The rest of the carpet receded back into the house and curled back into its rug. A huge hole was in place of where the piece would've gone.

"Well!" his exclamation drew Allen's attention. "That was some welcome."

"Tell me about it."

Chat grinned before creeping up to the door. Whatever doubt he had about this house being special was ripped away after that little stunt. His weapon was ready as they slipped inside. Predictably the door closed behind them. Didn't stop them from jumping at the sound though.

"Now, if I were Innocence where would I be?" he mumbled.

"Well, where ever centralizes this place. Some place that controls everything." Now, what controls everything in a home? I know that there are apps that say you can control everything in your home but this is obviously an old home. They crept along. Each step making the wood underneath their feet cry out.

BANG

BANG

BANG

They instantly froze in their tracks. Their heads turning to the source. It was a door. A door he hadn't noticed before. It was closed shut and had a glimmering lock hanging from it. Whatever was behind it desperately wanted to be let out. But he had seen the horror films. He watched the shows. He knew what would happen if he should try to open it. So he made no attempt to open it. The banging suddenly stopped.

After a period of tense silence, Chat chuckled. "Whoo, how scary. Loud banging doors. Truly frightening."

"You remind me of Lavi—" Allen began before his sentence was cut off by a shout.

Chat whipped around and found that the floor underneath Allen had broken away and caused him to fall down. The Exorcist, however, remain gripping the edge. A gasp left the hero's mouth as something metal rose up and pulled him down. Without hesitation, he tried to jump after him. He was close, but not close enough. The floor engulfed Allen and sealed itself tight. Now they were separated. Something that he knew from movies that you should never do. Under no circumstance.

"Damnit!"

A yell tore through his throat as Allen journeyed downward. His body tumbled and he landed on hard concrete. Shock rippled through his core and he let out a low hiss. In pain, he brought himself onto one knee. He felt a cold wind brush by his face and bring his eyes to a glowing green light in the room. In front of him was a furnace with a bright green flame. It moved like a dancer behind a barred hatch. The unnatural fire made it glaringly obvious what it was.

"Well, at least I found the Innocence."

Right when he said that, something metal ripped out the wall and wrapped around his torso. More of them appeared and wrapped around every limb. Something thin curled around his neck and pulled his head back. He struggled against control. Trying to hack his way out but even his Innocence hand was being detained.

"Just…my…luck!" he grunted before willing his cape to let loose sharp tendrils that pierced the things that confined him. They shattered and he ripped himself away.

The exorcist stumbled forward towards the green fire. It was brighter now and wisps of green were flowing from it. The wisps collected themselves and formed a ghostly figure. It was a silhouette of a woman. She had long flowy hair and bright green eyes that were almost blinding. They reminded him of the various glowing signs that this city had. She seemed to have a short but wide dress on. As well as something that fit loosely around her shoulders. In her hand was a long blade that looked almost like a Rapier. The wisp woman shifted her stance and rose her arms.

"Am I correct to assume that you're the thing that's been haunting this place?" his question was met with silence. Not that he was surprised. He rose his Innocence and wiggled his claws slightly.

"You don't belong here." she finally spoke. Her voice was soft yet held so much malice behind it. "This is my house!" her voice rose and she lunged at him.

Allen turned his body to the side and successfully dodged her attack. Or so he thought. Her feet hit the ground and slide to a stop. With a flick of her wrist, she redirected the blade at his face. He knew he wouldn't be able to block it in time, so he opted to drop down in the crouch to duck underneath it. She brought her weapon up and tried to bring them down on his head. He propelled himself up into a backflip. Narrowly dodging the hit. Her weapon hit the stone ground and reduced the spot to a mere crater of chunks.

"I'll make you pay for trespassing!" as if on command, more of those metal tubes ripped themselves out of the walls and posed themselves behind her. All aimed at him.

I hope Chat's having fun wherever he is.

Still.

The house was oddly still.

It was strange. He was sure that as soon as Allen had been taken the house would start to attack him as well. But instead, it just lied still. Could it be that it assumed only one person had come in? That's ridiculous. Whatever the case, he made sure to take advantage of this temporary peace. He started to search the place. Many of the doors were locked—nothing that he claws couldn't fix—and none he found so far led anywhere downward. Allen had been taken somewhere under the house, so he had to go down there. Hopefully, he was doing alright. As far as he knew, the teen could have been…exposed off.

"No! Think happy thoughts. He's probably being held captive or something." That was the best scenario.

Currently, Chat had wandered into another room. This time it had been unlocked and the inside was strange, to say the least. He wanted to call it a study. Since it had a desk and some books like a study. But it had clothes lying around it. Clothes that were ripped and dosed in that strange star staining pattern. Along with some dust. It was mostly modern clothes. Everything from Women's to Children's. Hell, he even saw something from his father's line. Then there was the large painting that hung on the wall. It was of a woman, man, and a small girl. They were dressed in old 1950's fashion and were posing in front of a sign that read, "Woman's Fencing Tournament". They all looked cheerful. Or well the ones he saw were. The man's face was brutally hacked up while the girl had a simple X over her heart.

The hero wandered over to the painting, careful to step over the mess on the floor. Up close he saw something else pinned next to it. This time it was off an old newspaper. In cruel bold lettering, the title read, "Child Murderer Released!" Suddenly, all the pieces were starting to come together. He scanned the wall for more information and found another article. "Claude Rey Found Dead in Home!" The last article had a picture to go with it. It was of a woman suspended by a rope in the very room he stood in. He didn't really need the title to know exactly what she had done. "Beauty Commits Suicide!"

He sighed sadly at the misfortune that had fallen upon this family. The hero turned away from the wall and found himself staring at the desk. There were papers scattered about and a picture frame. It was face down and had glass around it. Carefully he reached over and picked it up. He gazed at the photo inside with sadness. The family in it was happy and cheerful. Carefree even. They were all posing on a beach. Each dressed in their own suits. The girls wore spotted one-pieces while the father wore only a pair of trunks. Thanks to his night vision, he couldn't see what color they were. He was prepared to put it down when he saw that one of the corners stuck out of the back frame.

Carefully, he took the frame apart and pulled the picture out. Making extra sure not to poke holes in the antique. With the picture now in his hands, he flipped it over. On the back in curly handwriting were three names and a date.

"Blanche, Claude, and Iréne Rey. July 14th, 1959." He read aloud.

I wonder...could it be that one of them is controlling this house? If that's the case then..."Which one could it be?" He voiced his thoughts out, particularly to no one. He would need to find more evidence.

He continued to study the photo, unaware of a shadow creeping out from the darkness towards him. It wasn't until he felt something flop on his shoulder, did he panic. The cat nearly flew in the air. He quickly released the photograph and pulled out his baton. With a flick of his wrist, the weapon expanded and he pointed it towards his assailant. Imagine his surprise to find a certain hovering golem. It was flying with a plastic bag hanging from its teeth. The bag had the logo of the restaurant they had been at. He had forgotten that the exorcist packed a box to go.

"Ah, Timcanpy. You scared me half to death. I thought you were with Allen." As he predicted, the golem gave him no verbal response. Instead, it flew around faster. As if trying to get him to notice something. Timcanpy sped away and landed on a small book that was left on a dusty chair. It sat by the door so, he hadn't noticed it right away. On the right side of it was a stand with a lamp and a small assortment of pens.

Chat strolled over, curious as a cat. Tim flew out of the way, revealing the book he had previously covered. It was a small leather booklet. It had a floral pattern on the cover and a leather belt that held it close. He picked it up and unclasped the belt. His nose was assaulted with that famous old book smell as he flipped through the pages. Each titled with a date as if it was a diary of some sorts. Then he came to a certain page. One that spoke about the deceased child and their killer. The name Iréne and Claude were mentioned multiple times. Leading him to believe that the owner of the journal had been Blanche Rey. It had turned out that she had been Iréne's mother while Claude was her husband. How devastating. The handwriting was shaking and smeared from dried up liquid stains. He flipped to the second page and found another date with the same subject. The owner barely made sense this time around. Most of its sentences cut off or changed focus in the middle of a sentence. It made him think that she was still dealing with the grief of losing a child. The nosy cat flipped through some more pages and found one last entry. The page was torn and stained with dark dots. Blood, he realized. There was only one line of text.

"Finally. It's over." Nothing more and nothing less.

It sent a chill down his spine yet his brain connected the pieces of the puzzle. A father for some unspecified reason murdered his daughter. He was found out and tried, only to be set free. The mother, oh so rightfully enraged, decided to take justice in her own hands. She took his life just as he took her daughter's and committed suicide. Truly saddening.

Suddenly, a loud roar ripped through the air and sent the house shaking.

"This can't be good!" Chat ran out of the room, the book now lay forgotten on the trembling ground.

The paintings on the wall were falling off one by one. Glasses and vases were being pushed off shelves and tables. He had to grab on to the door frame to keep steady. It was like experiencing a mini earthquake. He instantly felt bad for all those regions that went through this often. The shaking subsided and the house was left still once more. Releasing a sigh of relief, he crept away from the door and looked around the small home. The floor was now littered with glass fragments. Each step he took made cracking sounds. He thanked the heavens for his invincible suit.

Chat's feet led him to the kitchen. In its darkness, he saw the trademark checkered tile, the vintage dinner table set, and the small fridge with one door and a pivoting handle. Everything screamed 1950. How strange, a house obviously built in the Victorian Era yet the interior is 1950-ish. Maybe this was a house handed down through each generation? Regardless, he walked along until he came to another door in the kitchen. It was hidden in the corner of the room and had the strangest light coming from underneath it. As well as a gust of air seeping through the cracks.

"Well, you know what they say, always go towards the light? Or something like that." He mumbled. His ears picked up a slight flapping movement behind him and he registered it as Allen's golem.

The hero walked towards the door and opened it. It opened with a loud creak that made him cringe. He hoped the house didn't hear that or else he would be doomed. He stilled and waited for a second. Gauging whether or not to move. When his ears picked up on another sound. This time it sounded like a yelp and a clash of metal against metal. Without hesitation, he ran down the flight of stairs. When he reached the end, he was greeted with the sight of Allen being constrained by metal piping and a ghost woman. Her figure resembled that of the woman in the article and picture. She was pointing her sword at Allen's neck, ready to deliver the final blow.

Springing into action, he whipped out his baton and extend it with a touch of his thumb. As the woman rose her hand, he threw his weapon at her. It made contact and knocked the sword out of her hand. The ghostly weapon clattered to the ground and disappeared in green wisps of smoke. The baton clattered to the ground, having fulfilled its purpose.

"Oh my god, that actually worked?"

He had doubted that it would work. He thought maybe it would go through, but it seemed that this woman was not transparent like a stereotypical ghost. The women growled and turned his way. He saw that her eyes were a solid color and shone like a neon sign. Her hair and dress twirled around her like smoke. The ghost extended her arm out toward the furnace in the room. That's when he noticed it. It was old fashion, extremely old-fashioned. And the flame inside was a bright green. A flame that was reaching through the bars. Its wisps of smokes were dancing towards the woman. They were forming another weapon for her, he realized. A loud shattering sound reached his ears and he saw a white blur—or more commonly known as Allen, run towards the woman. He heard a pained cry from Allen, who pulled away from the woman with a bright red mark on his cheek. It looked as though he got burned.

Is she made of fire? Allen's cloak flared up around him and ribbons shot from them. Each grabbed hold of the women. But they were starting to go up in flames.

"Chat!" He called to his attention. "I'm gonna need you to get the Innocence!"

"But where—" they hadn't found the innocence yet. It could be anywhere.

"The furnace!"

After he yelled that, the woman shrieked angrily. More fire came from the furnace and formed a sword for her. The women took gabs at Allen, who went on the defense and blocked with his claw. The ribbons detached themselves from her but hovered around waiting for an opening. Chat ran to the furnace. The air around him got warmer, the closer he came to it. He peered inside and saw something solid in the flames. He couldn't make it out. Can my suit withstand heat? I'm sure it can, right? Somehow he didn't want to stick his hand in to find out. Maybe I can like do it real fast. Just a quick—

"Chat!"

"I'm on it!" He took his claws and dung into the hatch of the furnace. He tried to pry it open. The flames licking at his arms and neck. He could feel the heat coming off of it. It was a miracle that he didn't boil in his suit. With a very unnecessary yet instinctual war cry, he tried to pop the hatch off. The fire roared in response and seemed to grow. Heating up the metal he was gripping. Resulting in him letting go of it. Behind him, he heard a feminine shriek.

"Oh no, you don't! You're fighting me!" He heard Allen respond followed sound of a swing.

Okay Adrien, just focus. You can do it. Just reach—Ah! No, I can't do this! Who knew that Chat Noir would chicken out so easily? He grasped his head and ran the tips of his fingers through his hair. What could he do? It would be easy to just stick his hand in through the bars, but he wasn't so keen on having his hand in the fire. If only I could—Wait. He stopped his hand and brought the one with his miraculous to his face. There was always that one thing he could try. But would it be worth—the fire roared. Without hesitation, he called forth his power.

"Cataclysm!" Darkness emitted from his hand.

He pressed his hand to the shell of the furnace. He expected it to rust and crumble. Maybe turn to dust. Instead, it glowed green and the fire grew. The furnace even expanded as if it was gaining pressure. Unlikely. Any pressure would've escaped out the bars. Right? Unfortunately, he didn't want to stick around to find out. The cat leaped away from the ticking time bomb. His haste made him fall on his rear end though. Time seemed to slow. He could see the thing pulsating and enlarging. A loud shrill was heard. A grunt and yell for his name. He could hear his heart echoing in his head. Or were those footsteps? What was the difference again? Green and white assaulted his eyes before his vision was clouded in black.

That was a mistake.

Jean Allard was the third twin in his slightly dysfunctional family. The only difference between him and the others was the mole he had under his right eye. Currently, he was staring out of his shared bedroom window. His brothers were asleep peacefully, but he was watching that house. It was diagonal from his home. He remembered when he saw his friend, Lindsey, got taken by the thing. The poor girl, she lost her father recently and started to become withdrawn. Then she went to the house that everyone knew not to go near. Only to get taken.

Now he saw the same thing happen to two men in black. One had white hair peeking from underneath his hat and the other blonde. He wondered if they were the ones from the restaurant. They were going to find themselves experiencing the same fate as Lindsey.

"How far does an author have to go to write a good book? Geez." He mumbled.

It had been only a few hours since they entered. He was starting to get worried. Fearful even. But his worry for the strangers made him exhausted. It was way past his bedtime and those blankets were started to look good. Jean leaned his head on the glass and fluttered his eyes close. A nap would be okay. It'll only be for a minute. His body slumped against the window and he started to relax. Just...10 minutes.

BOOM!

He jumped from his spot. Wide awake. His brothers all sprung from their beds with a shout. He could hear his parents yelling the background, along with some other loud adults from outside. Lights were turning on and people were emerging from their homes. But he could only stare at the house. It was destroyed. In shambles. Black smoke was rising from the debris and waved in the air. Those guys...they left right?! He felt his body being shaken.

"Jean! Jean! Come'on!"

"Those...they...They're still in there!" He yelled out.

When Chat Noir came too, he felt something pressing down on him. Something heavy was weighing him down. He shifted and heard someone groan above him. The hero turned his head and opened his eyes. White. There was white everywhere. Could it be that he was...

"Am I dead?"

"No, but you almost were." A voice responded. One he recognized.

"Allen?"

"Yeah." There was movement above him and the weight that was on him was lifted off of him. The white receded and he saw wood and metal around him. Along with stone. Other than the white cloak that rested on Allen's shoulders, there was another source of light. It was glaring green object. It had a cube shape in the center with two cogs around it. Almost like Rutherford's version of an atom. His ears picked up on it's faint humming. Almost like it was vibrating.

"Tim," Allen commanded wordlessly and he saw the golem dart towards the object. With one scary gulp, he ate the whole thing.

"Was that the..uh...Innocence?"

"Yes."

Chat finally decided to use his arms and push himself up. It felt like he just got it by a moving truck. The cat kept himself balanced as he turned around and sat down. Allen was leaning on the broken pillar. His cheek was as red as if he was blushing, but he recalled the other getting burnt by that woman.

"That Woman! Where—!?"

"Don't worry, you somehow disabled the Innocence and she disappeared." Allen's eyes met his and he saw him wince. "Sorry."

"For what?" What was the albino apologizing for? The exorcist gestured to his forehead. Which Chat followed and brought his claws to his head. Only to wince away with a hiss. He reapplied his palm to the spot and felt like it was bruised. Father will not be pleased.

"Yeah, I didn't think I pushed you that hard, but I guess you must've hit something on the way down." Allen sheepishly scratched his head.

"It's fine. No harm done. What about you?"

"I'm fine. My cloak protected us. So...yeah."

"Wait...you mean to tell me that we survived that blast because of a cape?"

"Cloak."

"Tomato, To-mah-to."

"Wha—you know what. Yeah, it did. Great right?"

"Killer."

"I assume that means good?"

Chat gave him a funny look. How could he not know that slang term? Wasn't he English or something? "Yeah." His ears twitched and heard the sound of police cars and ambulances. "Uh oh. Seems like we attracted some attention."

"Best we get out of here then."

The two dragged themselves towards the doorway that leads to the stairs. They both walked up, stepping over some shards of debris. The door that Chat had entered in was now blown out and hanging on one hinge. He winced at the damaged. He hoped that none of the houses were affected.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

He heard the sound of his miraculous and found his body being engulfed in green light. Panic rose up in him as he realized that he detransformed in front of Allen. The hero turned to his companion and found that the other was looking away. His eyes closed. He let out a sigh of relief. But he still had to ask.

"D-Did you see me?"

"No. I know that Stra—I mean Ladybug made it obvious that you guys value your identity." He chuckled. "I'm sure she would have my head if I found you two out."

"Thank you." He felt grateful. Truly. He didn't want anyone else to know who he was before his Lady. It would seem unfair to reveal himself to someone other than his lady love. Wait—Didn't I...He dug into the pocket of his new jacket and pulled out the glasses he had left in there. He put them on and was about to tell Allen that it was alright to look when Plagg zipped away from his side and pressed himself against Allen's cheek.

The poor boy nearly had a heart attack. "C-Chat?!"

"Nope~!" Plagg sang.

"Who—"

"Don't worry, it's just my Kwami, Plagg. Plagg meet Allen. Allen meet Plagg."

"Uh. Are you sure I can—" he gestured to his eyes.

"Yeah. I have those glasses on, so you won't be able to tell who I am." With that, the exorcist safely opened his eyes and looked to the kwami. His eyes were wide in wonder and awe. Plagg's eyes seem to sparkle too before he zipped around and landed on Allen's hand. The one that was a claw.

"Are you like a golem?"

"Golem? Nah! I'm a being of magical properties. I am what makes Cat boy...well cat boy." The kwami's tail curled around Allen's claw-finger-thing. Adrien wasn't sure. Did he refer to the whole thing as a claw or the single fingers-claws as...claws? Who knows? Plagg seemed to be getting pretty comfortable. He swore he was even purring.

"Uh, may I ask, Mr. Plagg, what is it that you're doing?" Allen questioned. His voice was oddly polite once again. When they were fighting, the other's speech pattern started to become a tad bit normal. Like he was getting comfortable with him.

"Just call me Plagg. No one's called me Mister since...since well forever."

"Sorry. Plagg, what is it that you are doing? You seem to be—" the kwami purred loudly as he rolled around in the exorcist's "claw". "—enjoying my Innocence?"

"I don't know what it is about it, but it makes me feel calm." The cat mumbled.

Adrien sighed before snatching the kwami up. "Don't be weird, Plagg."

"It's not weird!" The kwami whined.

The boy rolled his eyes and pulled out a baggie of cheese. The kwami wasted no time to run over and pick it up. Plagg ripped it open and started to devour the cheese slices inside. Adrien turned to Allen, who was watching in awe. "After Plagg's done, I'll re-transform then we both get out of here. If we leave fast enough, no one will know that we were here."

Lou Fa awoke to Allen creeping in early that morning. She knew that the Ladybug had told him to patrol that night but she never expected it to be as long as it was. She was currently laying on the floor with a sheet curled around her. While also being comfortably wrapped in the sweater that Allen pawned off someone (she was sure of that). As well as a pair of warm shorts that she had gotten while shopping with Silvia (an apparent "must" according to her). Lou Fa had to her hair in one loose, braid.

While she had the floor, Lavi and Kanda had the bed. Or well Kanda did because he had kicked Lavi off the first chance he got. When Allen arrived, the scientist was stoked to see him and was about to greet him normally until her eyes laid on something red. And It wasn't his scar.

"Mr. Walker?"

The boy jumped. He Jumped! She never thought her of all people would startle him. But there was a first for everything. He turned his head towards her and stuttered. Actually stuttered! If she wasn't so focused on the mark, she would've nearly died at the adorableness of it. "Ms. Lou Fa! Um...W-What a pleasant surprise! I- uh, I didn't know you would be awake!"

"What happened to your cheek?" She pushed herself onto her knees.

"I well…got burnt." he sagged his shoulders and spoke honestly.

When he said that, she jumped up and grabbed him by his face. "Burnt!?" she forcefully tilted his head to the side and examined the burn. She carefully ran her thumb near it. "What happened?"

He chuckled nervously and scratched his head, "Well…" When he told her the whole story, she was furious. Not only did he not tell them about the whole mini-mission, but he took that child, Chat Noir, with him. Who knows what could've happened? With a Noah in town, they could've been cornered. She trusted Allen. No doubt about it. However, it would've been safer if he had taken Lavi or Kanda with them. When she shared this with him, he reassured her that he knew the risk.

"Besides if I had tried to stop him or maybe told him to wait while I go check in with you guys, he probably would've left anyway."

"Still! You could've sent Tim to tell us. He's fast enough." she stressed.

The perfection ran his hands through his hair. "It wasn't that big of a deal. These things happen on normal missions." He seemed to be trying to slide away from her. His eyes flickered away from her. She had noticed throughout the interaction that he avoided making eye contact with her. It reminded her of a guilty child. "Sometimes, one of us goes off on our own. It's perfectly fine."

She huffed, "The situation is a bit different, don't you think?" She shook her head and sighed. With crossed arms, she turned away slightly. "I'm just disappointed you didn't say anything. Something bad could've happened!"

Lou Fa missed the suddenly panicked expression on Allen's face as he hurried out his next excuse, "Nothing bad happened! Just…he…we might've destroyed the place."

She looked at him with suspicion. I sure hope, he doesn't mean completely. "Destroyed? You mean like trashed right?" He meant as in messy. Right?

"Like…the house is in shambles."

"Shambles!?"

"More like it blew up."

"Allen!" she hadn't meant to call him by his first name, but in her exasperation she had.

"It wasn't my fault!"

She placed her hands on her hips and took a step towards him. He was taller than her, so she was forced to look up at him with strong disapproval. At the time, she didn't realize how close she actually got. The woman had ended up getting in his face. "You were the adult in that situation! You take responsibility for his actions." she punctuated with an angry pout.

His eyes were wide for a moment. The cursed exorcist's cheeks had colored slightly. His eyes flickered downward before he glanced away. Whatever he was thinking was making his face look feverous. "I-I hardly consider myself the adult in that situation."

"Hardly? You're 16 and he's like 12. Is he 12? He looks 12." They never really told them their ages. Lavi had irritated Ladybug before she could even think about divulging that information.

"Not sure…"

She heard shifting of fabric and a loud yawn. From the obnoxious nature of the yawn, she could only think of one person who it belonged to. The scientist turned her head and found Lavi stretching his arms out before rubbing his eye. He looked at them with a tired grin.

"Aww is the lovebirds having another quarrel?"

Her face turned beet red while Allen went into a stuttering frenzy on How they were NOT lovebirds. Though, her mind instantly imagined a world where he would instead blush and laugh at Lavi. As if they were-She shook the thought away. This was not the time for fairy tales! She was supposed to be angry with him! Not having her heart pounding at the sound of his adorable, embarrassed stutter. The scientist turned her attention to the outside world. Orange and pink were painted across the sky as she saw a yellow orb coming up. At the beauty of it all, there was a slight nagging at the back of her head. Something wasn't right. Something was about to go wrong. But what?

It was all over the news. An old house was blown up in a separate district. It was reported that it was from boiler exploding. The weird part was the fact that the house had been abandoned years ago. The police thought it was the work of two people. A boy had said two men went into the building and never came out. However, no remains were found. So someone was out destroying houses. Marinette had a bad feeling about the whole thing. It was fishy. It could be another Akuma, but what Akuma destroys a house and vanishes?

The designer was currently sitting in class, that Monday morning, and trying not to fall asleep. Everyone around her was speculating about the incident. Theories were flying everywhere. Everything from random arsonists to Akumas to the new heroes being the cause. Marinette wanted to doubt they would destroy a house, but she didn't know them that well. So they could very well have been behind it.

"Maybe it was an accident." Adrien sheepishly suggested.

"No way man, it was totally them," Nino argued.

The reporter beside her wasn't having it. "No way. That one boy doesn't even look like he could harm a fly's wing."

"Did you or did you not see that big claw. Because I saw it."

"I saw it! I'm just saying that they probably aren't as bad as they seem. What do you think, Mariette?" Alya switched her focus to her.

The girl's head snapped up. She had started to doze off. With a yawn, she stretched out and brought her hands to her face. She slumped down. The girl settled on having one hand held her up as she looked at her friend.

"What were you saying again?" She mumbled.

Alya rolled her eyes fondly before sighing. "You look tired. Did you stay up designing again?" the reporter pried.

She gave her a laugh. "Yeah. I'm suffering from a major art block or well design block."

"So it's one of those? Try to think of other things. Like…where that stuffed toy go? Did you give up the search?" She had forgotten all about the admirer lie—er assumption that her friend made (that she went along with). Unknown to her, Adrien tensed in front of her before relaxing.

"I just decided to leave it at home today." Yeah more like, Timcanpy was with Allen and she had no idea where they were. She just hoped the boy didn't see the recordings of her transforming. Oh god, what if he's watching it right now? She would be ruined. The girl covered her eyes and sighed. It was not like she could request that they not view the footage. If she did, then she would have to explain and everything. That was not something she wanted to do. Hey, could you not view your pet-thingy's last recordings? It shows my true identity and I don't want that to get out. Yeah like that wouldn't tempt anyone.

"Marinette?" she heard Adrien address her.

She peeked out at the boy. That was another thing she was worried about. Adrien wasn't himself lately. He looked exhausted. His hair lost its shine. His eyes were droopy. He had been paler lately. The paleness making his make-up under his eyes more and more obvious. He even had a bruise in the corner of his forehead. It spread over his right temple and ended pass his eyebrow.

She hummed to show that she acknowledged him (and to avoid speaking for a least a short second). He then gave her a small smile. "Maybe you should go lay down in the nurse's offices. Get a few bits of sleep maybe?" he suggested. That seemed like a great idea if she was honest.

She shook her head, "N-no. I'll miss a lesson or the whole day if I go."

Alya gasped loudly causing her to look her way. The girl leaned in and whispered. "One stutter? You are tired!" Marinette hadn't even realized it until Alya pointed it out. "Maybe you should lose sleep more often." Alya jokingly suggested.

Marinette pouted and lightly bumped Alya with her shoulder. "Alya..." She warned. The girl just laughed it off.

"Hey Adrien, how'd you get that killer bruise?" Nino pointed it out.

The boy quickly placed his hand over it and seemed a little nervous. "I was practicing shooting hoops at home and the ball hit the rim and bounced back. I wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough."

"Ouch." Nino winced.

"Yeah. My father's not happy about it. I had to talk him out of tearing down my hoop."

"Well~" Alya sang and Marinette could feel her embarrassment rise up in her. "Marinette is known for her klutzy behavior. I'm sure she knows a way for that bruise to heal faster. Right, Mari?"

The three of them looked at her and she could feel her face burning. Adrien was staring at her with sparkles in his eyes and she dared to wish that he was looking at her like she was the world. But that wasn't possible, right? After years of pining with no results was he finally returning her feelings? She hoped. She desperately hoped.

"Sure!" she chirped.

Esther officially hated hospitals. She was stuck here while all her friends were enjoying the autumn breeze. She just wanted to go home and go back to school. A thought she never thought she'd ever had.

She'd been kept awake with nightmares from that dream. It was awful. She would relive the whole experience and then wake up. Thankfully, she wasn't covered in cuts this time. Although She rubbed her arm thoughtfully, they are sore. Her doctor, Dr. Lépine, told her before that it looked like she was suffering from a variant of the Common cold. She expected to be let go, yet they kept her here. It made her worry that this "Cold" was not all it seemed. She was due to receive medicine soon.

Esther looked over at the card on her nightstand. It was a single white card with a black butterfly on it. She frowned at the reminder of what happened to her. It was a "get well soon" card, but it felt like whoever was giving it to her was being mean. Everyone knew, by now, that black butterflies were the trademark of the city's villain.

Knock, Knock.

She turned to the opened door and noticed a pretty nurse standing in the doorway. The woman was short and had blonde hair tied back in a bun. She had a kind smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes were like a broken colored lightbulb. They were a dull blue that she could see her reflection in. Esther frowned. She had always noticed how everyone had a spark in their eye. But this woman…where was it? She had a clipboard with her along with some tiny silver box.

"You're not Doctor Lépine." she pointed out.

"I'm Nurse Lucia. I was asked by the doctor to give you your medicine."

"Oh…"

The woman walked forward and placed her clipboard down. Esther noticed a tiny spider charm hanging off the woman's necklace. She watched her open the tiny box. It revealed two syringes. The sight made her flinch until she noticed the lack of needles. One of the syringes had clear liquid in it while the liquid inside the other looked awful. It was a transparent black color. It had tiny little specs floating around in it. That, she suspected, was her medicine. She was thankful that she didn't have to drink that.

Nurse Lucia took the first, clear syringe and went towards the thing sticking out her arm. The syringe snapped perfectly with the bit. Lucia pressed down slowly on the pump. Esther felt a rush of something running through her bloodstream before it was gone. Then, she switched to the other syringe.

"Is that really going to make me feel better?"

"Of course, sweetie." slowly, she injected the medication.

In an instant, Esther felt the rush of it flowing her in veins. Then she suddenly felt dizzy. She lifted her hand and placed it on her head. Her breathing picked up and she felt like she was standing outside in the middle of summer. Her chest was burning. No, she felt her veins pulse, her blood was burning. She looked up at the nurse and—why are there two of her? Esther reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, I don't feel so good." just speaking made her want to vomit.

The woman looked up at her with a smile. "That means it's working."

Esther shook her head and regretted it. "N-No. Stop. Something's not right."

"I can't." suddenly, the woman's skin turned dark gray and her eyes turned white. A black star appeared on her forehead. "Doctor's orders."

Esther gasped as she felt dark spots creep in the corners of her vision. Her grip loosened as he body felt heavy. She leaned back and tried to keep her eyes open. She felt something rise in her throat before she coughed lightly. The nurse pulled away and calmly collected her things. Esther felt something drip out the corner of her mouth. She brushed it aside and looked at her hand. On the tip of her finger was the unmistakable sight of blood.

"What..?" she whispered while feeling weak.

"You'll be taking this every day until you feel all better!" the woman sang joyfully. The girl's heart skipped in fear. This isn't right! This woman is a monster! She reached for her phone on the nightstand. If she could call the police, she could be safe. The heroes would arrive and drag this witch away. Her fingers brushed against the edge before it was snatched up. The nurse giggled, "You younglings with your technology. You need rest, darling."

"No." she refused weakly but felt her head sink low into her pillow. She had complained about feeling lethargic before but she felt absolutely exhausted now. No, don't sleep. Don't…sleep! She focused on the nurse. Burning her image in her mind. Yet, each time she blinked she felt sleep creep on her. As the world grew dim around her, she kept her eyes on the spider charm before consciousness left her.

"Good Night~!"

Okay, I'm so done with this chapter. This is the best I could do. Maybe I'll revisit later when I get better at writing.

Anyway! See you in the next installment!

Ciao-su~