Author's Note: Welcome to the bottom of the sinkhole. I'm sorry. That's all.

Chapter 9 "The abduction"

Afterwards Adrien spent another hour on the bench before he gathered enough strength to stand up and go home. He felt so numb and sore he didn't know what to do with himself once he got to the mansion.

He tried to eat something but his stomach twisted in violent protest.

He tried to get some sleep, but the images of Marinette being swallowed by the void wouldn't leave him alone.

So he ended up lying on the couch and staring at the lights seeping through his windows.

In the middle of the night Plagg woke up from his post-camembert coma and discovered Adrien wasn't in his bed. The kwami found his charge awake on the sofa and silently settled on his chest.

It was a very rare occurrence for Plagg to openly display any kind of concern, but now he was visibly displeased. Yet he decided to restrain from comment. Instead he curled up and started purring softly. Adrien didn't recall any other occasion on which the kwami would make sounds like that. He wasn't even aware Plagg could purr at all. Though if he was a cat, it probably shouldn't be such a surprise.

The gentle purring reverberated in his chest and soon Adrien dozed off into a shallow dreamless slumber. Plagg smiled to himself at the job well done. He stayed with the boy all night determined to guard him from any nightmare that might come. His purring drifted in the air until dawn.

The modicum of dreamless sleep brought back some vigor into Adrien's previously deflated body.

He woke up to a notification on his phone that school had been canceled due to the state of emergency declared by the authorities in the early morning. His first shameful thought was one of a relief, that he wouldn't have to confront Marinette in class after what he had said and done.

But the state of emergency hadn't been declared to accommodate Adrien's guilty conscience. The city was under attack. And people were disappearing.

He found out about this thanks to Ladyblog, which he usually browsed through every morning. After Ladybug's fight with the translucent monster the other day Alya started her hunt for footage. There were no akuma attacks so she probably figured the monsters would be a good replacement content.

Now the blogger was live-streaming her journey from home to her mother's work at Le Grand Paris so the boy could immediately tell something new was happening. Just like with Chloé at the day of the first attack the minions started to abduct people. Not everyone, just some – and the reasons behind their choices were obscure.

Adrien's blood ran cold when he saw on the live feed what appeared to be a second attempt to capture Mayor's daughter. A huge dragon-like creature ripped a hole in the hotel's wall where Chloé's room was and was currently wiggling his limbs in it probably in order to whisk the girl out of the building.

Chloé.

Adrien didn't wait another second, but called on his transformation and ran to the bathroom window. As he took a leap to the fence and then to the street he registered that there were a few monsters circling around his house too, one hanging out just outside his windows and peeking inside. Did it see him transforming? Probably not or it would be aware of him leaving through bathroom and it would be definitely following him right now.

Putting the thoughts of close calls for later Chat Noir made a beeline for the hotel only to witness Chloé disappearing, taken in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. Chat heard a familiar scream and turned looking for its source.

Alya.

The minions were now trying to trap her but she was fighting them back, using everything including her teeth and nails. It wasn't enough.

Before Chat managed to rush to her side, baton at the ready, she was already lifted high above the ground and soon vanished like Chloé.

The feline hero was helpless. He didn't want to attack the monsters mid air, afraid to cause Alya to fall to the ground. If he used his baton to propel himself to their level he'd be defenseless against them. Besides, he didn't even know if his weapon would have any kind of effect and there was no way he would try repeating Ladybug's trick. There was not one happy thought left in him.

A sudden fear gripped him in its iron clutches. He ran back home. The mansion was full of transparent creatures sweeping the site. No way in but maybe there was no need for that. Chat saw Nathalie running down the stairs, scared but unharmed. She jumped into the car just as Gorilla started the engine. The hero caught up with them at the last moment. He stopped the car. His father's assistant opened the window and glanced at him.

'Is there anyone left in the house?' Chat asked quickly.

'No,' Nathalie's voice trembled. 'But we can't find our employer's son. He was supposed to be in his room, but when we saw those things outside, Jerome ran to get him and Adrien wasn't there.'

The bodyguard whispered something to Nathalie while Chat tried really quickly to think of a way to let them know he was okay. It would be suspicious if he didn't offer to look for a missing kid.

'Yes, thank you,' Nathalie said to her co-worker. 'Jerome thinks Adrien must have left earlier, because the monsters were still outside when he went to fetch the boy. We don't know where he is and he left his phone in his room.' The woman waved her hand to show Chat his own civilian phone. Damn, he would be needing that later, but for now there was nothing he could do to retrieve it.

'I think I know the boy,' the hero said instead. 'I remember rescuing him and his father once,' he explained not to arise suspicion.

Nathalie nodded, 'Yes. Blonde, green eyes, about your height. You can also know his face from Gabriel's adds all over Paris.' She tapped her tablet a few times and produced a picture of Adrien from the perfume campaign. The hero took a look and nodded.

'I'll look for him,' Chat promised. 'What about his father?'

'My boss left earlier today. He's safe. Called me a few minutes ago and ordered the evacuation.' The woman hid her face in her hands. 'What am I going to tell him about Adrien?!' she sobbed.

'Don't worry,' the boy replied. 'I'm sure he's okay. Maybe you could give me his phone? That way he will be able to call you once I find him?' He asked hopefully and against all odds Nathalie agreed. Apparently she lost her usual composure faced with Adrien's disappearance.

'Thank you,' Chat said, relieved. 'Now go to your boss and stay safe,' he instructed and gestured for them to drive away.

As soon as the car disappeared round the corner Chat broke off into a sprint. The hotel seemed a safer place now that the creatures took who they had come for. It was definitely safer than the mansion, still under scrutinous inspection. The young hero pulled out his baton and tried to contact Ladybug, but her communicator was unavailable and the tracked showed no sign of the heroine. This meant she wasn't transformed. Possibly she wasn't even aware of this new development yet.

Now that he had his own phone he didn't even need to de-transform to let Nathalie know he was safe, but it would be highly improbable for Chat to find Adrien so soon. The hero considered his other options. He unlocked the screen and saw a missed call from Nino. He hesitated for a moment, thumb hovering over "call back" button. Finally the boy took a deep breath and touched the screen.

The connection went straight to voicemail. Chat Noir felt his stomach twisting in a tight knot.

Nino.

Maybe it was just a coincidence? Maybe Nino was still sleeping, because there was no school today? Maybe…

Chat noticed Chloé's phone in its distinctive golden case, discarded on the pavement just outside the hotel. A few meters away Alya's cell lied, its screen black and cracked in the middle.

Adrien didn't have many friends. Lately he didn't even feel he deserved those he had. If Nino shared Chloé's and Alya's fate there was only one more person Adrien would, at least until yesterday, consider his friend.

Marinette.

With his heart in his throat Chat chose Marinette's number on Adrien's phone.

One, two, three, four, five tones and the connection went to voicemail. He tried once more with similar result. Was that a good sign? Was Marinette safe and just chose not to pick up? He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to talk to him after all.

There was only one way to find out. The hero decided to check on her on his way to Nino's.

It took barely two jumps and he was already leaping over the rooftops of the houses surrounding the little park next to the bakery when the ground trembled. The noise came from the direction of the Seine. Chat Noir halted, searching for the source.

The bridge.

Dreamcatcher's minions were ripping the bridge apart. And with the debris they were-

Chat's heart stopped, he froze and his knees buckled under his weight.

The monsters were hurling the debris at the bakery!

The boy forced his lungs to take the air in. He willed his heart to pump blood again and tried to stand up. He was fighting with his body for every breath, every beat, every move in an attempt to move towards Marinette's house.

And then he saw her rushing onto her little balcony, probably to check on the noises.

It happened fast. In one second she was standing there with eyes wide opened and calling to someone hidden in her room and in the next they already had her. She was kicking wildly, screaming, biting, clawing but to no avail. One creature almost instantly covered her mouth and muffled her screams, two others grabbed her arms and legs. In a blink of an eye she was gone, soaring between her captors towards Champ du Mars.

A banshee howl ripped from Chat's chest as he collapsed onto the rooftop. He was too shocked to notice a red blur of a small creature, hovering silently between plants on the balcony, looking infinitely desperate and scared.

Adrien didn't know how much time had passed before he was able to stand up again. It was rain that sobered him up. He tried to gather his thoughts but it was too big of a task for him.

All this was too much. Too much to feel, to comprehend, to manage.

Chat Noir broke off into a frantic run above the wet and slippery rooftops. No direction, no plan. Pure despair and anguish roaming over the desolation of his soul. His muscles falling into the familiar routine, his brain voided of any thought.

He ran to forget, to escape the nightmare that became his reality, to lose himself along the way.

He stopped only when he finally ran out of energy. His legs slowly folded and he sank to the roof. The boy pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

Adrien didn't notice when his transformation had faded. He wasn't aware of Plagg hovering over him and talking. Silently he crawled to the edge of the roof and let his orange sneakers dangle fifty floors above the street. Water dripped of his hair and fell in streaks over his now drenched clothes. His body shivered, but he took no notice of that too. There really was no point in anything anymore. Except...

The boy looked at his right hand, at the ring finger. A hysterical laughter shook his chest. Oh, what a great hero he was. How much good had he done. How many people was he able to rescue. The laughter turned into a whimper. Adrien choked on his own tears, now pouring out of him as steady as the rain that drenched him to the bone. He felt a surge of pain when his forehead was hit with a surprising force.

Plagg.

Plagg gave up on talking and waving and was now head-butting him forcefully be it to get his attention or bring him out of the shock.

'That's enough, Adrien!' the black kwami yelled in an attempt to outscream the storm that was breaking over their heads. 'Get yourself together and-'

His Chosen finally focused, his gaze zeroing on the little sprite. 'You're right, Plagg,' he interrupted the kwami with unexpected calm. 'That's enough.'

With infinitely emotionless face he took the miraculous off his finger and it was like Plagg was never there.

He took a deep breath to embrace the silence and solitude letting his eyes roam over the horizon in search of the inevitable.

'It's a nice ring you have there,' a soft voice spoke right into his ear.

AN: Welcome to the sinkhole. Please leave your screams and rants in the review box.

I'm off to my first holiday trip. Chances are there won't be any internet access so forgive me if I don't reply to your comments right away. Chances are there will be more opportunities to write though, and I find lakes and woods and the middle of nowhere quite inspiring so maybe there are going to be some updates when I get back.