"So…" Marinette started, coughing awkwardly. "How are things?" The villain across the room looked up at her, seemingly startled that she broke the silence. When he looked away again without responding, Marinette nodded as though he had said something. "Cool story," she whispered, feeling Tikki giggle from inside her pocket. She could just hear the kwami's thoughts now; here they were, surrounding by a dozen or so potential akuma butterflies and within feet of Hawkmoth himself, yet the Ladybug side of her just couldn't sit there and wait for Chat Noir to arrive. Oh no, the superhero in her was having none of this "waiting for someone to save me" bologna – unfortunately, until Chat did come save her, however, Marinette couldn't exactly just transform and swing out of the room in front of current company. Tikki was getting restless and nervous this close to their enemy, and Marinette didn't even want to think about what would happen if Hawkmoth realized the kwami was there, or who she really was. Alone, an untransformed Ladybug was just a sitting duck at risk of being akumatized, and a revealed Ladybug was doomed.

Alright kitty, anytime now would be great…

Across town, the shadow in black was finally rising, hackles raised and itching for a fight.

"Ah, Chat Noir, it's nice to see you!" Hawkmoth boomed, startling Marinette (whose eyes had been closed – it was late, and Chat was taking so long she was dang near ready for a nap). She looked around, expecting to see her partner nearby, but there was no one around but the butterflies – and Mothy, of course. Looking to her left, she found a projection against the large blank wall, showing Noir standing defensively on a very familiar rooftop.

"What have you done with her?" Chat shouted, crouched by the trapdoor that led to Marinette's room and looking around wildly. He couldn't see them, clearly, but he evidentially realized that Hawkmoth could see him. He went to my house first, Marinette realized, sitting up and suddenly full of nervous energy, the black band on her ankle still vibrating in alarm. Hawkmoth set up a camera for him, he doesn't realize that I called Chat for help! She willed her partner to play along with whatever Hawkmoth was going to say, and only track her GPS when he was at less of a risk of ambush. If he went along with Hawkmoth's plan, Noir could swing around and follow her GPS later. This had to be a temporary hideout, she had long ago figured out; Marinette was fairly sure that any plan of Hawkmoth's wouldn't include Chat Noir (and presumably Ladybug) landing straight in the heart of the lair, where he had nowhere to run. Of course, waiting on her partner meant time to reflect on just how she had gotten into this mess in the first place. Marinette sighed; this was going to be a long night.

The day had started fairly normally. Marinette had gotten ready and gone to school, clipping the bracelet around her ankle as had become her habit in the past couple of weeks (which, she supposed, technically made it an anklet, but whatever). She had gone to school, come home to do her homework (a.k.a. working on designing a new jacket), then gone to Alya's for a while in the afternoon. When she got home, she had dinner with her parents and retreated to the rooftop to work on actual homework until it got too dark to see the page in front of her. She met up with Noir as Ladybug for a patrol, just in case. It had been suspiciously quiet around lately, and the pair were worried that it meant that Hawkmoth was scheming something major (which, apparently, he was). Chat had insisted stopping by Marinette's house in case she was home to say hi, but (unsurprisingly), the duo found that she had already gone to bed and all of her lights had been turned off. After heading back to the Tower, they parted ways for the night, Marinette wandering toward home and de-transforming in a nearby alley, in case her partner decided to come back.

About a block away from her house, she discovered that it wasn't her partner making an appearance she should be worried about – instead, one of her neighbors was waiting outside the bakery for her, and it took her too long to realize that they had been akumatized. Before she could duck away to transform or call for help, she found herself being lifted up and away. Literally. In that moment, she had to give Hawkmoth some credit; an akuma to kidnap someone and giving them wings with which to do it? It was, after all, quite a smart move (unfortunate for her, but good for him, honestly). Fortunately, Hawkmoth's hideout was up a flight of stairs, and as the akuma set her down and pushed her up the staircase, Marinette "tripped", giving her just enough time to trigger the cat silhouette on the inside of the band on her ankle. If she hadn't been afraid of being recognized, she would have just transformed right then and there, but revealing Tikki and the Miraculous that close to their enemy (not to mention Tikki still hadn't eaten since they last transformed) seemed like a terrible idea. Even if her akumatized neighbor wouldn't remember anything, there may be cameras, and Hawkmoth would figure out her secret identity before she even made it up the stairs. After all, if he knew Marinette was coming and got Ladybug instead, it wouldn't be hard to figure out what had happened. As soon as Marinette had been sat down on the edge of the circular room at the top of the stairs, Hawkmoth had sent the akuma victim away, sending him most of the way back home before recalling the butterfly, leaving her neighbor stunned but unhurt.

So now Marinette sat, her hands wrapped lightly behind her, watching her poor partner go on a wild goose chase across the city. He was on his way to the Eiffel Tower at the moment, to wait for Ladybug upon Hawkmoth's instruction. Mothy had set up several computer monitors on a table at the front of the room, all displaying feeds from various traffic cameras across the city. Using them, he tracked Chat all the way to the Tower, where he activated the camera setup and microphone that had been planted there ahead of time (not so good for her partner, but dang, Hawkmoth had really been planning ahead for this).

"So, Chat Noir, as soon as your partner bothers to show up, we'll make a deal for your friend, shall we?"

"Where's Marinette?" Chat jumped toward the camera planted on the metal beam by his head, looking angrier than she had ever seen him. His face filled up most of the wall, bringing his wrath to larger-than-life proportions. Did he really care that much about her, or would he be that worried about anyone who was kidnapped by his worst enemy?

"Tsk tsk, calm yourself," Hawkmoth cooed, acting as though he was bored. Ladybug knew better, though, and knew that he was reversing the game of cat and mouse, relishing in teasing with the hero in black. The man in purple strolled casually to her side of the room, and a smaller feed popped up on the glass next to Noir's face, showing a barely-distinguishable Marinette half-hidden in the darkness. Chat, who could now see her, pulled his baton loose and extended it in his hand, as though fighting the camera feed would do either of them any good.

"Marinette! Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

Hawkmoth was looking at her, clearly also expecting an answer.

Marinette sighed. Why oh why did Chat insist on going by her house tonight, after patrol? She could be asleep right now. "I'm fine, Chat, just could use a little help here."

"Are you hurt?" The anger was morphing into concern, and Hawkmoth was watching this change carefully, unseen by her partner. He's calculating, Marinette thought. Looking for ways to use me against Noir.

"I'm fine," she repeated, rolling her eyes slightly. Honestly, it was like he thought she couldn't take care of herself or something. Tikki shifted slightly in her jacket, pressing closer to her Chosen's side to stay out of sight. If only she could just transform, this whole mess would be over with and she could go to bed. Thank goodness it was Friday and she didn't have school tomorrow. From the look on Hawkmoth's face as Chat kept talking, this could be awhile.

"Why does it have to be Friday night," Chat muttered, leaping from streetlight to streetlight on his way to the Tower. "Couldn't have been Monday, when there would be less traffic at ten thirty at night, but nooooo, it had to be a Friday!" He had already tried calling Ladybug multiple times since Marinette's call had managed to wake him up (actually it was Plagg that woke him up – the kwami was annoyed with the vibrating ring and told Adrien to make it stop). If only he knew where his partner was, he could just go get her, but by the looks of it, she was asleep and out for the night unless someone got akumatized and the news alert woke her up. He had a GPS of Marinette's bracelet and knew full well it was unlikely he would find her at home, but he had to check just in case. Unfortunately, Hawkmoth's monitor had quickly proven him otherwise. Adrien was tempted to ignore the villain and just follow his baton to his friend, but he had the feeling that if Hawkmoth didn't realize he could easily find Marinette (as long as she was wearing the bracelet), it wasn't information that should be given away if he could help it. He quickly scaled the Tower and landed on the highest viewing deck, thankfully deserted at the late hour. Before Noir had a chance to do much more than land, he heard the dreaded voice sound from somewhere behind him.

"So, Chat Noir, as soon as your partner bothers to show up, we'll make a deal for your friend, shall we?"

Ladybug, oh where are you?

"Where's Marinette?" He shouted, spinning around and glaring at what he hoped was the camera that he knew had to be there somewhere. After a moment, his sharp eyes found the small red dot hidden on the beam near his head – out of sight for anyone without good night vision. As much as he hated Hawkmoth, he did have to give him some credit – the man knew how to plan ahead.

"Tsk, tsk, calm yourself," the voice continued, irritating Chat further. Calm himself, why in the world would he be calm when his friend was in danger – and it was his fault? As he continued to stare hard at the area around the red light (the camera, unlike the light, was much harder to spot), a small screen about the size of his phone suddenly lit up less than a foot from his face, causing him take a step back as his eyes focused on what he was looking at. A moment later, there she was – Marinette, sitting on the floor with her legs twisted under her and her hands behind her back, looking for all the world like she was ready for a nap.

"Marinette! Are you okay? What did he do to you?" Noir saw Hawkmoth on the edge of the screen, not looking at him but at the girl on the floor.

"I'm fine, Chat, just could use a little help here." The audio crackled little a bit, breaking her sentence in two. Regardless, Noir got the message – rescue now, talk later. One last question though.

"Are you hurt?" His anger was fading slightly to make room for concern for his friend. He wasn't paying attention to Hawkmoth anymore, and frankly could care less what the man with the butterfly pin was thinking about him right now.

"I'm fine," Marinette repeated, still sitting half in the shadows and making a face. Adrien didn't quite believe her, but a nudge from Plagg got Chat Noir back into action.

"What do you want?" He addressed Hawkmoth now, still feeling his baton vibrating in his hand. Her bracelet was too, he realized, and hoped that the villain wouldn't get close enough to notice (which, he realized later, was exactly why she was sitting cross-legged like she was – the vibrations were muffled and unnoticeable).

"I want your Miraculous in exchange for your friend," Hawkmoth answered, "and Ladybug's earrings too if she ever shows up. Where is your better half, anyway?" Chat ignored the jab, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Marinette looked offended on his behalf. Point to Mari, he thought, turning in a circle to scan the city. Ladybug may be absent, but it seemed like she was rubbing off on Marinette, who was looking less scared and more simply inconvenienced by the moment.

"What if she doesn't come?" Chat asked, realizing that his fighting alone was becoming a very real possibility. His hand tightened around his baton, the other starting to shake. Fighting for himself was one thing, but being alone with his friend on the line was an entirely different game – one that Chat wasn't willing to lose.

Hawkmoth seemed to contemplate this for a moment, and Adrien was getting the feeling that he was being played with. "Make sure she doesn't."

"Excuse me?" Of all the things Chat was expecting him to say, that certainly wasn't it. Whatever Hawkmoth's plan was, he had managed to lose Noir entirely.

"I've changed my mind. Tell your Ladybug to stay away, and then you alone have one hour. If you manage to find your Marinette in that time, you take her and go. If you fail, or if Ladybug makes an appearance anywhere in this city, return to the Tower and we will make a trade, your ring for her." Marinette's eyes had grown wide, and Chat could see the whites even on the small screen. He didn't need an hour, he only needed a matter of minutes to be at her side, and they both knew it. When she saw that he was looking at her, she gave the smallest of nods; evidently, she believed that Hawkmoth was so sure he wouldn't find them that he was telling the truth. Hawkmoth's face filled the small screen.

"Your time starts now." The screen went black.

Whelp, now we're in for it, thought Marinette. There was a rumbling in her chest as the moments passed. If he thought that he was going to beat Chat Noir just because of her, he was very, very wrong. When Hawkmoth walked away, she stretched her shoulders as far as she could in the ties, and felt Tikki shifting in her jacket – if it was a fight that he wanted, it was a fight he was going to get.

Chat Noir was nothing if not efficient, and even as the screen in front of him was going dark he had his baton out and ringing for his partner. When she once again didn't answer, he left her a message.

"I'll explain later, but if you transform just call me, do not come out, okay? Stay home, don't let anyone see you! Hawkmoth wants a trade, but he only wants one of us at a time. Do not come out when you're transformed or Marinette is in trouble, okay? Talk soon!" He reached up and smashed the red light, not bothering with a Cataclysm. When it blinked out, he nodded, satisfied, and made a mental note to come back for the broken camera later.

In a moment, he had the illuminated map of Paris on his screen. The moment after that, the uppermost viewing deck of the Eiffel Tower was empty.

He had tried to wait at least a little bit, he really did. He spent the better part of thirty minutes moving seemingly aimlessly across the city, slowly working his way toward her. If Hawkmoth could see him (and Chat suspected that he could), he wanted to at least be believably lucky. If Moth got tipped off that Marinette had called for help and given away her location, it might mean trouble for both of them, and with Marinette between him and his enemy, that wasn't a risk he was about to take. Before long, Adrien simply couldn't stand it anymore, and dropped onto a nearby rooftop. A quick glance at his baton confirmed that she was less than 100 feet away from him, and his bet was the second floor of the (seemingly) abandoned building underneath his boots. Moving a few feet toward the opposite edge of the rooftop, his suspicions where confirmed.

Yup, found it.

A quick circle of the roof proved there to be a lack of windows on the second story, and the only vent he could find was too small for him to fit through.

"Alright," he muttered, moving carefully. "Stairs it is." Extending his baton like a fire pole, Noir slid to the ground and tested the nearest window, finding it to be unlocked. Crossing his fingers and hoping that the building wasn't fully wired, he slowly slid the window open (he would learn later that Marinette was right, this was a temporary lair, as Hawkmoth wasn't about to give away his main location). He climbed through the window to find himself in a large, wood-paneled room. A quick scan through the darkness showed him a small door to his right and only a single camera, which he quickly ducked through the doorway to avoid (thank goodness for night vision).Through the door led to only a narrow wooden staircase; he started to climb, and was halfway up when he heard voices.

"Anything you care to share about our wiry-tailed friend before he fails in his task?" Wiry-tailed? If he was less terrified of where he was, he would have scoffed.

"He won't fail." Silence followed this.

Go Marinette! Adrien was close to shaking in his boots just hearing Hawkmoth so close, but from the sound of it, she wasn't having the same problem.

"And what makes you so sure?" Hawkmoth sounded genuinely intrigued.

"He's Chat Noir."

"And?"

"And he's a hero."

Stated like a fact, leaving no room for argument.

Chat was grinning now, almost forgetting about the danger they were in. His Ladybug may be absent, but it felt like she was waiting for him to come fight by her side. Slowly moving to the top of the staircase, he found a closed door in his way. Checking the map on his baton once more, he found Marinette's dot less than 10 feet away. Pressing his thumb to the screen, his baton stopped vibrating for the first time since he had transformed that night.

Here goes nothing.

Hawkmoth was looking at her from across the room like she was crazy, but Marinette refused to look away – not even when the pulsing black band on her ankle went quiet.

He's here.

To her right, there was a bang, and her partner stood in front of her.

"Where have you been?" It was a reflex that she said it, Ladybug once again making herself known. Chat laughed, beaming in spite of it all.

"Better late than never, madam."

Noir couldn't help but to smile. She was there, and she was okay, and she – Chat suddenly found himself on the floor, the wind knocked out of him entirely.

"How did you find her?" Hawkmoth was standing over him, glaring down at the hero for all he was worth. Needless to say, Chat was a bit speechless. Fortunately for him, the blue-haired girl was not.

"Hey, Hawkmoth, think fast!" Think fast he did, but the villain was still too slow to catch the metallic chair that had flown his way. Noir, getting his breath back, managed to sit up and stare at his friend, who was standing beside him looking angrier than he had ever seen her, the fight in her eyes reminding him of another blue-eyed heroine he knew.

"Are you gonna help me or not?" She was smiling, holding out her hand to help him up.

Taking just a moment to bow dramatically her way as he stood, the hero in black turned to face his enemy.

"I made it in less than an hour, so now you let us both go, end of deal."

"Hmm, tempting…" Hawkmoth seemed much to calm for Noir's liking, having recovered from the flying chair. "But I think I'm going to have to pass on that one. You see, I intend to leave here with your Miraculous, regardless of when you arrived."

"You'll do no such thing!" Chat looked sideways at Marinette, who, standing braced beside him, suddenly seemed aware of what she had just said. "I mean uh…what's a Miraculous?"

"It's what gives me my powers," Chat explained quickly, not taking his eyes off of Hawkmoth and still wondering why she was acting so much like his partner, but glad that she was. It was like she knew he needed help to get them both out, and wasn't afraid of the villain she knew nothing about (she couldn't possibly have any idea of how powerful a Miraculous could be). Hawkmoth looked at her like he had just realized she was there.

"How did you untie…never mind," he waved his hand through the air as though warding off a fly. "No matter, please hand over the Miraculous and you both are free to go."

Noir almost laughed out loud, moving slightly sideways to put himself between his friend and his enemy. He had a sneaking suspicion that she had a better handle on the situation that it looked like she did, but he wasn't about to take any chances. The door was beside them, but far enough away that while he could easily make the jump, Marinette might be too slow, even though she was no longer tied to the metal desk (the matching chair to which she had just launched across the room; what Hawkmoth would have done if he knew Ladybug's kwami had undone the ties on her hands, Marinette was almost curious to know).

"Thanks for the offer, but I think we'll be leaving now." Chat spun around toward the door that he just came through to find Marinette standing between him and it, still and tense, looking at a spot just over his shoulder. A moment later, he caught sight of a pair of small dark wings as they floated into his peripheral vision.

Akum- Marinette!

Striking out sideways at the butterfly, he spun around and threw his baton like a boomerang, where it connected with Hawkmoth's staff and sent it spinning out sideways, and he hoped that the small moth-like creature had done the same.

"C'mon!" Reaching for Marinette, Chat bolted for the door, catching the baton in his free hand as he ran. The small group (flock? cluster?) swarm of butterflies was growing agitated, but their white wings meant that they could do nothing, at least for now. He scanned for the dark-winged butterfly as he pushed Marinette down the staircase, but didn't see it anywhere. He shooed away a white one that was too close to them for comfort, but the dark-winged creature had disappeared. When he noticed the black staff flying toward him, he pulled hard to close the door and ran.

Marinette was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, looking completely unscathed and much less out of breath than he had expected, adjusting her jacket around her. She was muttering to herself, making faces to match what she was saying. "Can't believe him, the nerve, kidnapping people-"

"Are you okay?" He stopped beside her, still searching for the butterfly, slightly startled at her lack of, well, being startled. "Did he hurt you, did that akuma get you, did-"

"Duck!" At her command, Noir hit the floor (though he wasn't sure why he trusted her direction so much), expecting the blue-haired girl to do the same. Instead, he looked up to find her holding a black butterfly that had evidentially been aiming for her hair ribbons, hand partway toward her jacket pocket. Before he could say anything and without offering an explanation as to how she did something he was sure was impossible, Marinette grabbed his arm and pulled him along behind her as she headed for the very window that he had come in. Hawkmoth might be slightly dazed from the hit with the baton, but it wouldn't be long before he came down after them.

"Here," Chat Noir came to his senses enough to lift her up and out of the window, diving out after and closing it after him. Pulling her close against his side, he extended his baton to get them to the roof. They rolled slightly upon impact, both shifting to avoid hitting the other as they stood up near the edge of the roof. Knowing they only had moments to spare, Noir put his hands of Marinette's shoulders so that she was facing him.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

He gestured to the dark butterfly she had pinned by the wings between her fingers.

"Oh, I just, uh, I think it was headed toward you, so it-I-uh, caught it before it hit you!" Only partially believing her, Noir knew that regardless, it was time to move.

"Can you get on my back?"

"What?"

He sighed and smiled (she really was too cute sometimes) and lifted her with a twist, hooking her legs around his waist and feeling her arms lock around his chest as she caught on to what was happening. It felt oddly natural, but there was no time to dwell. When Hawkmoth made it to the roof less than a minute later, he was greeted by a stale puddle and an empty sky.

"That was way too close, Tikki." Marinette was lying on her bed, arm over her eyes and lights still off from earlier. It was just passed midnight, and her parents, assuming that she had made it home after she texted them that she was at the bakery earlier that night, were still sound asleep.

"Could you…image…if…" The kwami was starting to giggle so hard she could hardly speak. Her Chosen opened her eyes, wondering what in the world was so funny.

"Imagine…if Hawkmoth knew…who he had really kidnapped!"

"Uggggg, Tikki!" Marinette pressed her pillow over her eyes, not even wanting to think about what would have happened if the villain had realized that Tikki was there. Though she had to admit; there was almost an entire hour of just Marinette and Hawkmoth in the same room, yet he never even seemed to suspect who she was. Even when the kwami had untied her when Chat had come bursting through the doorway, Hawkmoth had failed to notice until she had – literally – hit him over the head. Whether there was some sort of magic involved, or if Hawkmoth was simply too absorbed in his plan to put the pieces together, she had no idea.

"And that butterfly, Marinette, you almost got caught by Chat Noir twice!"

"It was fine, Tikki, Chat didn't even notice the first time!" The first butterfly that had tried to akumatized her had met its fate and been purified in the hands – or, paws – of the kwami in her pocket before being sent away, and Marinette had been trying to do the same with the next one at the bottom of the stairs when Noir had noticed that she caught it. Come to think of it, he still had that akumatized butterfly, waiting to give it to Ladybug to purify.

"I should probably transform, shouldn't I? I bet there are at least three messages from Chat Noir just waiting for me, not to mention that akuma."

"Probably." Tikki was still giggling. "He should still be at the Tower if you wanted to meet him." The hero in black had made sure to smash and remove the camera on her rooftop as well as checking for more, and had said he was off to the Tower to do the same there.

"Tikki, spots on!"

"And then out of nowhere, this chair came flying in front of me and totally knocked him off his feet!" Ladybug laughed and nodded along, sitting beside her partner on the uppermost deck of the most recognizable building in Paris. The akuma had been purified and a brief summary from Noir of what had happened had been told the night before (or, technically, the very, very early hours of this morning). Now, the day after his daring rescue, Ladybug and Chat Noir sat, overlooking the Saturday night life below them, as he retold the story in perfect detail.

"You have got to come with me sometime when Marinette is home, you would totally love her," Chat said, nudging her shoulder.

Marinette smiled beneath the mask, leaning down to rest her head against his shoulder as he leaned back on his hands. "Perhaps someday I will, Chaton. After all, from what I'm hearing, without Marinette around, you would have been done for back there." Her partner laughed, raising his hands in mock defeat and ruffling her hair. Adrien might be a superhero, but he knew that without help sometimes, he would be doomed.

And who better to help than his blue-eyed pair of heroines?