Hey y'all, sorry for the wait. I've been a little uninspired as of late, but I really want the best quality for the story. I hope you like what I came up with.

Disclaimer- ok, so I have a plan.

1)Get rich quick.

2)Wait for zag entertainment to sell stocks publicly.

3) BUY THEM ALL!

until then... you know the drill.

Chapter 6- Broken Clocks and Oranges

The trio gathered around Marinette's phone. They stared at the small rectangular screen, looking at the recently watched history.

"Play 'Manners 101' first since Adrien watched it first," Nino suggested.

They watched the video in near silence. The only sound was a light scratching sound that Marinette and Nino ignored.

As the video concluded, they looked at Alya to see she was the source of then scratching. She had written every word in the entire video.

"Babe, did you just write the entire script of an instructional video about table manners?"

Alya nodded. "You have to write fast if you want to get everything out of an interview."

"Or you could just record it," Nino said snarkily.

"Well reporters don't always have that luxury. Sometimes people don't like recording devices."

Alya was near fuming and Nino was halfway there himself. Of course Marinette didn't notice. She was going over Alya's transcription, searching every word for an imaginary clue.

"Maybe we should move to Meerkat Manor?" she suggested, hoping there was a clue in the episode Adrien had watched.

The trio repeated the process, though this time Nino interrupted the video.

"Alya, do you really have to write so loudly?"

"Well, Nino, maybe I could just grab one of my silent pencils... oh wait, that's all of them because pencils barely even make sound! Shouldn't you be half deaf from all your loud DJing anyways? How can you hear a pencil scribble you--"

"Akuma!" Marinette screamed, pointing at the window.

The pair instantly went silent and stared out the window.

"Where is it?" Nino asked worriedly. She could see him inhaling deeply, trying to rid himself of negative emotions. Alya was emulating his meditative actions.

"I dunno, I haven't seen one all day," Marinette shrugged,"I just wanted you two to think about how much worse our situation could get if you didn't stop fighting and one of us got akumatized. After all, it could happen."

"Sorry, Alya," Nino said, hanging his head in shame.

Alya softly placed a hand on his chin, raising his downcast eyes to meet her own.

"Hey, mon trésor, it's ok. We're all worried about Adrien. I think it's getting to all of us," Alya comforted.

The trio talked a bit more over the coffee table, and discussed possible suspects.

"Well I don't think I'm a suspect," Nino said half jokingly as he stared at Marinette's whiteboard of suspects.

"Yeah, sorry for accusing you two," Marinette apologized,"I didn't know who I could trust."

Chloe. Kim. Kagami. Nathalie. Lila.

The names stuck out at the small group. The obvious suspects, their best bets.

"Ok," Marinette decided, distributing papers to her friends,"let's try this. Each of us ranks the suspects 1 to 5, with 1 being the most suspicious and 5 being the least."

The group each went to work, picking their suspects.

Alya was the first one done, it took her about 5 seconds. Marinette was slightly behind her at 15 seconds or so. Nino was at a minute, but kept scribling out two numbers are replacing them. Finally he seemed somewhat satisfied, and "turned in" his paper.

(First number is Alya, second is Mari, third is Nino)

Chloe 424=10

Kim 542=11

Kagami 211=4

Nathalie 353=11

Lila 135=9

The trio tallied up the points.

1- Kagami

2- Lila

3- Chloe

4- Nathalie

4- Kim

Nino stared at the names.

"You think Lila is a suspect? Isn't she still locked up in the crazy hut?" he pointed out.

His wife gave him a simple stare. "And we all know that Lie-la would never try to escape, huh?" She said condescendingly,"plus, what's with giving Kim a 2? He's probably the least suspicious person on the list."

Nino was starting to get mad again. This time, instead of arguing further, he stood up, effortlessly turned, and marched away, slamming the door in the process.

Alya let out a protesting "humpf" and slammed the bathroom door herself.

Marinette sighed and stared at the ground.

"Mew!"

Marinette smiled as she turned her head to see Kokomo, Adrien's kitten, standing at her side. She patted her lap, and the feline lept, landing on her legs.

"Kokomo, how is it that the exhausted pregnant woman, whose husband is missing, is supposed to be the responsible one? Shouldn't Alya and Nino be helping ME through mood swings?"

"Mew."

Plagg appeared from the kitchen, leaving the other Kwami, in order to talk to Marinette.

"Kokomo said 'Screw Nino' ... that or 'Nino needs to take a bath'. Koko kinda has a weird almost Bavarian accent. My guess is a feline ancestor called southern Germany home," Plagg informed before floating back to the kitchen, not bothering to clarify further.

"Home," she thought, "such a strange word."

Marinette could feel sleep pull at her eyes. Manner... Manor... home... surely there was some connection. Maybe sleep would help her figure it out.

"Yeah, bedtime. That sounds nice," Marinette thought before drifting off on the couch.

Adrien woke up several kilometres away from his beloved wife. The sun had yet to rise on the new day. He stared at the sleeping villain centimetres from his face. Carefully he pulled himself off of the bed. He looked back to see Ghost Moth still asleep under the covers. He crept to the door, only to hear a floorboard creak under his weight. He turned to see his captor sound asleep. He silently turned the doorknob. When it remained rigid, a cold realisation washed over him.

"Ghost Moth has the key," he thought dismally, remembering the events of night before.

With silence reminiscent of a ninja Adrien made his way to Ghost Moth.

He took a moment to examine his foe. She was a little shorter than him, though not by too much. She had beautiful hair and a soft pretty face. Adrien couldn't help but think that she was physically beautiful, even if she was an evil psychopath.

He felt around her jacket - strange that she wore a jacket to bed- and her pants. He looked at the jacket, studying it. Attached to the right side was the hawkmoth brooch. He tried to unpin it, but it held fast. A further examination showed why.

She had glued it to the jacket. "So that's why she wears the jacket to bed. In case she needs to make a quick transformation".

There was no sign of a key. And then he saw a string tied around her neck.

"Forgive me Mari," he whispered, cautiously reaching a hand down the captor's shirt. His hand trembled as he tried to grab the key without touching any part of her.

In a sudden act of utter horror, she shifted ever so slightly onto her side pinning Adrien's hand between the bed and her chest.

Her eyes fluttered open and a soft smile spread across her face.

"Couldn't resist me any longer, hmm?"

The hero's face was ladybug red. At this moment Adrien was praying for a quick and painless death. Actually, at this point quick and painful would do. A heart attack, an aneurism, a stroke, something.

When it didn't he forced a plastered-on model smile.

"Y-yeah. You know... you-you looked so beautiful. I-I couldn't h-help myself," he shuddered, nearly gagging.

"Well perhaps we could take things a step furth--" she stopped to look at him.

"Are you holding the key, Adrien?"

"No," he lied.

"I don't believe you."

He watched her swiftly reach under her pillow and produce a double pronged rectangle... some kind of remote.

As she jabbed it into his side his ribs exploded in crackling pain.

"Definitely not a remote. That's a taser." He concluded.

Yet even in the sharp pain, Adrien felt a sense of peace. She knew he wasn't trying to cheat on his princess. His heart belonged solely to Marinette, and Ghost Moth knew it.

As Adrien felt his consciousness begin to fade, he sighed. "Hopefully Marinette finds me."

He woke up what felt like seconds later on a chair. Or perhaps it was a wheelchair.

He felt himself lurch forward as a force behind him propelled the chair. "Yep, definitely a wheelchair."

Adrien glanced at his wrists, surprised to see they weren't restrained. He tried to lidt them, but was surprised to find they didn't lift.

"Adrien, darling, I pumped you with enough muscle relaxers to stop a horse. Don't think you'll be able to escape. Apparently you are still stuck on that Marinette girl."

Adrien ignored the rest of Ghost Moth's lecture about how they were true love and he should forget Ladybug. Instead he watched as she pushed him closer and closer to the kitchen counter. He saw a bowl of fruit and a large clock. The time on it told him that he had been unconscious for more than the few seconds he and previously guessed. When they reached it he struggled with all his might to yank his arm upward.

By some miracle he slapped the two nearest objects, a clock and an orange, dashing them into the ground. Exactly as he planned. He hoped this would function as a clue.

His warden stared at the crushed fruit and broken timepiece.

"I suppose you might need a slightly bigger dose."

Adrien saw her lift a needle, and press it to his skin. And then he lost all mobility. Even speaking was impossible.

"Time for the airport," she trilled, pushing Adrien forward.

It was at that moment that the first rays of dawn broke through the horizon.

Across the city, the same small gleam of morning light blasted into Marinette's eyes, waking her with a start.

"Manor-home!" She cried,"the manor is his home."

She scurried through the house, looking for Alya and Nino. They were curled upon the carpet, a phone on the ground next to them. It was likely they had been video chatting with their little ones and parents.

A sudden pang of guilt came over Marinette. Her friends were sacrificing their time with their family, along with their safety.

"And here they are sleeping on the floor, after arguing because of my mess," she thought emotionally.

"No time for tears- Important news," Marinette reminded herself.

"Alya, Nino, I figured it out! Manners-Manor-House!"

The couple stirred, and Alya's eyes fluttered open.

"Agreste Manor! Of course! How did we not see it?" She cried in response.

Nino grumbled, "What about Agreste's manners? They're pretty good... especially his table manners."

"No, his manor. You know?" Marinette asked.

Nino shook his head.

"A 'manor' is a concrete noun, a manner is an abstract noun," his wife explained.

"Great, maybe we can find the manor at Adrien's house," he suggested.

The girls didn't even bother to tell Nino that "Adrien's house" was the very definition of a manor; they knew they had to hurry if they wanted to reach Adrien.

The trio called their transformations, and ran out of the apartment.

Each flew through the Parisian streets in their own heroic fashion, daring themselves to reach Gabriel's mansion before Ghost Moth could escape.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the heroes reached the front gate. On one pillar of the gate was a speaker and a plaque reading "Agreste Manor".

Marinette barely heard Nino's whisper: "oooh, a manor is like a mansion".

Instead she listened to a vaguely familiar feminine voice over the intercom.

"Adrien's mine! And you'll have to fight my latest Akumo... akumer... I mean, my latest Akuma to get to him!"

Suddenly the front door exploded into shards of wood, and an ax wielding fireman appeared. He wore a gas mask, along with the standard fireman's attire: large boots, a helmet, and a thick neon coat. What was original were the two hoses, which were menacingly protruding from his sleeve. Each let out a blast of high pressure water, cutting through the steel gate. He looked absolutely terrifying.

"I am Firefighter!"

Oh, the things Marinette would do for her Kitty.

OK, so we might be getting to the point where we could have ideas of who our criminal is! I wonder? Also, notice how she is finally definitively called a she? That's a nice clue.-Icarus