She stared up at the moon and the cloud streaked skies, one hand hovering over her stomach to quiet the non-Akumatized mess of butterflies that had taken up residence.

Sleepless nights were not an unfamiliar thing for Marinette. The occasional early morning wake-up call to wage war against the constant rash of Akuma plaguing Paris had become far too common for her own night owl tendencies.

But Chat Noir not showing on Patrol?

That was definitely new.

He'd shown up sick before, bad enough that she'd had to send him home. Or he'd gotten stuck at some civilian life obligation, but he'd always made a point to sneak away and check in with her.

But for him to just not call?

Impawsible.

Marinette frowned, resting her hand above her head. At the moment, she couldn't even bring herself to mentally kick herself for hanging around Chat nearly so much.

Try as she might, no amount of soothing on Tikki's part had calmed her down.

Marinette's mind was just too busy, mulling over dire scenario followed by an even more dire scenario. Was Chat in a hospital somewhere? Had he lost his miraculous?

Her fingernails bit into her comforter.

What if Hawkmoth had found him somehow?

Her eyes slammed shut, exhaling a few short breaths to try to regain control.

She had already haunted the Ladyblog and checked every news site. She had been up pacing for hours, before she had woken Tikki up from her slumber.

The green light of her alarm clock was even more blurry than usual, but it showed that her parents would be up soon.

Maybe it would be best for her to go down in the bakery for a bit, to keep her mind occupied before she needed to head to school.

Covered in flour, Marinette raced back up the stairs, ducking into the bathroom. Tikki had swooped down, phasing through the access door that lead to her room.

"There you are." Tikki murmured, cuddling up to her cheek. "You weren't in bed and I was worried."

Marinette tilted her head, shrugging awkwardly. "I wasn't really sleeping anyways."

"Oh, Marinette," her Kwami cooed. "It will be alright. I promise."

Her eyes widened. "Does that mean he's left a message?"

Pursing her tiny lips, Tikki shook her head. "Unfortunately, no."

Marinette swallowed heavily, setting her jaw as she turned back towards the shower.

Tikki smiled reassuringly. "But you know Chat Noir. He can never stay away for too long."

Marinette shuffled towards the school, a full half hour earlier than usual. It was almost worth getting up so early, just to see the pure look of shock on Alya's face.

She bit her lip. Almost.

"Girl!" Alya gaped. "You're here way early."

Marinette sighed. "I had a little trouble sleeping last night."

"Honestly, I could tell. The bags under your eyes aren't really hiding it." Alya patted her shoulder. "You okay?"

"I'm feeling a little better already." Lips curving upwards slightly, Marinette looked down at the clock on her phone. "You're here early, too, you know."

"I know." Alya grinned, dropping a comic book onto their desk. "Everybody was talking about this coming out last night, but it was like my copy didn't come in. Of course, it just got shuffled in with Dad's paperwork, so he handed it off to me this morning. And since Mom was getting Etta and Ella ready, I snuck out to read in peace."

Marinette peered down at the table, blinking. "A Ladybug and Chat Noir comic?"

Alya smirked as she slid down into her seat. "We'll, it's nothing official for sure. It's more like a fan-made comic, but the art looks really impressive. I got lucky enough that they sent me a free one to review on the Ladyblog."

The other students slowly trickled in as Alya showed her a few of the articles she had posted last night.

Marinette smiled, nodding politely at her best friend. She didn't have the heart to tell her she'd already pored over their contents.

Of course, she really couldn't explain why she'd had to.

Her focus was more drawn to the comic on the desk. And the Cheshire cat smile lingering on the sketched Chat Noir's face as he swung his baton at an unseen villain.

When Nino walked in, tugging his headphones from his ears, Alya shifted her focus to her boyfriend. "I think Adrien must be sick."

"Yeah?"

Nino nodded. "He usually checks in once he's gotten his schedule for the day. So we can make plans to get him away from the bodyguard as much as possible."

Alya wheeled around, checking out the open desks. "Maybe something is going around. Looks like Nathaniel might be out, too. And Chloe."

Nino sighed heavily, dropping into his seat. "He must be pretty bad off if he's not answering his phone."

Maybe Chat Noir was just sick, Marinette mused, as her fingers drifted over the cover. She opened up to the first page, only half paying attention to the conversation. Whoever the artist was that did this comic, they were good. Chat Noir's movements were so fluid, so dynamic, that they were often difficult to capture on the page. But this artist had done the cat justice.

"Well, if he's sick at home, the guy's bound to go stir crazy once he's feeling well enough."

"You're right," Alya nodded. "We really should plan something."

Even when Chat Noir was sitting still, he was fidgeting, always slightly in motion.

She turned another page, finding one of the recent Akuma shown there. Ladybug had yet to come into the action, so she was a little more reserved on her criticism, but she was glad to see that Chat was holding his own so far. So many people didn't give him enough credit.

"Maybe something at the arcade?"

Nino shrugged. "I dunno. Adrien's room has almost the same amount of stuff you could find in the arcade. His Dad would probably find some way to say it wasn't necessary."

Flipping another page, Marinette's eyes drifted back to the panels, finding Chat Noir slightly out of breath, his piercing green eyes - the sole spot of color on the page - scanning the skies in the final frame.

She flipped the page again, finding a wide soft smile that had always affected her a bit more without her mask. Especially when its full weight was directed straight at her.

Like it was now. It was uncanny - almost as if he was staring directly out at her.

Her purse swung at her side as she leaned forward, tilting her head as she examined the page.

She could almost swear that his smile had gotten a little bit wider.

Ladybug...

Marinette did a double take. She could have sworn that text bubble hadn't been there before.

Shaking her head, Marinette sighed. She must be far more tired than she thought.

Rubbing her eyes, her focus was drawn to Chat's claw reaching out to her from the next page.

Absently, her fingers drifted over the inked images, reaching her hand out to the vision that was far too familiar to her tired eyes.

Her eyes widened, breath hitching slightly, when her fingertips didn't meet the glossy surface of the page.

Instead, Chat Noir's clawed glove reached back to her through the page, open and extended so she could place her fingers in his.

Author's Note:

Thanks as always to Enberlight for beta reading. This idea has been stuck in my head - on repeat - for some reason. ;)