-LADYBUG-

Ladybug could feel this searing pain through her right arm. She looked at Chat, her eyes on the brim of tears. His horrified and concerned expression only confirming her fears.

She whimpered softly as she reached up, just at Chat did.

She looked away from her, her face contorting with surprise as the assailant slowly disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Her eyes widened as she pointed, pulling Chats attention somewhere else other than her injury.

"Where did she go?" He asked, his brow raised.

Ladybug slowly climbed to her feet, her wincing clearing evident as she examined her suit that was torn.

"We have to find her." Ladybug said adamantly.

Chat looked back at her with wide eyes.

"You're wounded... You have to go back." He said almost frantically.

Ladybug groaned with frustration, as she looked at Chat.

"We can't let her get away. If she could do this to me, can you imagine what she could be doing to others?!" She exclaimed.

Ladybug took a few steps forward, her head slowly spinning.

Chat merely grazed her hand before she was able to get away.

He immediately ran after her, stopping her from jumping to the next building.

"If you go on like this, you're going to end up passing out... If you bleed too much, it's not safe for you..." He said softly. "If that happens, who will protect your identity then"

Ladybug wanted to protest, but her mouth closed quickly. She couldn't argue with him. He was right and she had no argument to retort that.

"I'll look for her." He said softly. "Just get yourself away from here, and patch up" he said before he nodded and jumped to the next roof.

Ladybug watched him as he disappeared.

The sun had almost set and ladybugs blood almost ran cold.

She forgot about her study date with Alya... Again!

She needed to patch herself up quick while there was still time.

She gathered whatever strength she had left to make it home.

-Chat Noir-

Chat slowly walked on the streets. There was no sign of the akumatized victim anywhere, and the streets became eerily quiet. He kept his weapon to his side diligently.

He didn't know what to expect when it came to this situation. He had worry in the back of his mind for ladybug. He had hoped she took his advice and went to patch herself up before anything serious had happened. She looked as if she lost a lot of blood, and the thought sent shudders down his spine. The voice of the assailant sounded quite familiar, and the thought of it made his skin crawl. Her new found abilities were unlike anything he had ever seen, especially coming from Hawk moth. His worry only intensified as he was going on for hours and hours. He still couldn't find her anywhere. It was incredibly unusual and it wasn't something that he was used to.

He sighed in discontent as he could hear a familiar beeping sound, emanating from his ring. He brought his hand up to his face inspecting it briefly, before he retreated to a safe place to revert back to himself.

Plagg was ejected forcefully from the ring, and groaned as he carefully landed on an open palm Adrien respectively held out for him.

"I'm so tired..." He whined as he turned to his side.

Adrien slumped slightly and then put the little kwami in his outer shirt pocket.

"I'll get you home, and fetch you something to eat" he sighed. "I just...have to figure things out." He added as he turned the corner and began to power walk almost.

Plagg slowly peaked out from his shirt and looked at Adrien, his yellowish green eyes almost glowing in the dark.

"You're tense..." He said simply, his ears perked up. He didn't bother to move an inch. He wasn't lying when he commented that he was sore from the previous events.

"Its just... Strange... I've never had this problem before." Adrien responded.

"We've never had an akuma do this before... I believe Hawk moth is up to something far more serious and complex than what we're used to"

Plagg didn't say a word as he knew Adrien was right. He had never seen this kind of plot before, but it worried him just as much.

Adrien continued to walk down the street, at this point he would have usually called for a ride, but this time he needed to think, especially if there was something so little as one small detail or gathered smoke could be witnessed.

-Marinette-

Just as she anticipated she made it home on time. Alya had sent her a few texts explaining the few things she had to do, and was on her way.

She was able to stop the bleeding. Her eyes watering the moment she began to clean it.

Tikki remained at her side the entire time, comforting her.

Marinette had a hard time, trying to come up with a way to hide the pain she would be experiencing while Alya made her stay. She didn't want to draw attention to herself.

Like Chat Noir, Marinette worried about the situation on their hands. This was different, something that was going to be much tougher than usual. She knew this the moment she realized that the assailants attack ripped right through her suit.

The wound didn't look superficial. She feared she would need some sort of stitching. It would be hard to cover it more so.

She bit her lip as she put pressure on it. She was thankful to not get blood everywhere. Her parents were definitely going to question her.

Patching it up as carefully as she could she pulled her shirt over her head.

She winced as the pain it caused her, every time she used her arm strength.

She worried it could pose a problem for future events.

Tikki slowly rubbed her forearm.

"Do you think Chat Noir at least got a lead of where she could be at?" Marinette asked Tikki nervously.

Tikki shook her head.

"I'm not sure... But I think its best to meet up with him at least before the night Is out." She said thoughtfully.

Marinette nodded as she pushed herself out of the chair.

Wiping away all traces of pain she had in her face, she retrieved all the items she needed to complete her project with Alya.

Within moments, night had fallen and Alya was allowed to ascend up to Marinette's room.

Marinette had her papers placed on the floor evenly. The poster board went untouched on the far end of the room.

She had their outlines, placed in front of her. Marinette enjoyed the visual parts of the projects rather than the written parts.

Alya seemed to feel the same, but had confidence to maintain a high grade.

Marinette laughed some as Alya struggled to write down the thesis statement the both of them had a hard time coming up with in the first place.

"Its just really hard to gather the right words" Alya sighed.

Marinette nodded.

"I know the feeling all too well." She said, her free arm gliding up her other arm. She paused, the wound just about her fingertips.

Marinette gulped and pulled her hand away from her arm completely.

Alya raised a brow.

"Speaking of which. . . When was the last time you tried talking to Adrien?" Alya asked curiously.

Marinette sighed nervously and rubbed the back of her head with her free arm.

"It's... Been awhile... I barely see him in school anymore. We're both way too busy these days." She chuckled nervously.

Alya rolled her eyes with a grin.

"That's no excuse." She replied. "He was in school today, you didn't even say two words to him!"

Marinette laughed nervously, her cheeks turning into a dark shade of pink.

"A-Alya... Y-you know I can't talk to him." She stuttered, her heart racing at the thought of Adrien, the way that it always did.

"That's because you think too much!" Alya protested, and lightly patted Marinette unknowingly on her bad arm.

Marinette clenched her teeth, tears immediately started to sting her eyes.

She hid it well.

She pulled it off well, because Alya didn't even noticed.

"I can't help it... I can't function when I'm around him" she replied truthfully, her voice only shaking lightly as the pain subsided slowly.

Alya leaned down and began to write a bit on the draft paper.

"You can do it." She said softly. "We just have to work on it."

Marinette smiled and then leaned forward to start working on the first paragraph on their assignment.

Marinette knew she had worries that nagged her in the back of her head.

However, she allowed herself, just for a moment to enjoy her time with Alya.

It had been a long time since she had to spend some quality time with her friend.

She had really missed it.

-Adrien-

Adrien walked through the long narrow hallways of his home.

He kept his bag outside of his door. He couldn't focus on homework tonight. He had way too much on his mind. He pushed open the bedroom doors and threw his school bag to the side.

He looked around his room. He made sure his computers were off, his windows were closed. He tried to keep his room as tidy as possible so that Nathalie didn't feel the need to send cleaning staff into his room. He preferred that they cleaned outside of his bedroom, but that never stopped them anyway. That's why he made sure his things were hidden and put away just for that reason.

His head started to pound a bit, as he pulled off his clothes and started to throw them into a nearby hamper.

He depended on a shower to help him relax and soothe a headache. Despite his numerous relaxation attempts, he couldn't get himself to calm down. He always found his mind returning back to where it had started.

He had to meet up with her again. He wasn't sure when, but he needed to as soon as possible.

After his shower Adrien paced his room. He ran a hand through his hair, as his mouth continued to feel dry despite his attempts to hydrate.

Plagg, didn't seem to be bothered much by the situation at the moment. He simply sat on one of his pillows, munching on cheese. His face contorted into that of utter content and satisfaction as he gulped down the last lump of cheese.

He rasped a sigh, and rubbed his belly as he leaned back into the bed.

Adrien sat at the edge of his bed and looked at Plagg.

"Ready to go?" He asked, as Plagg simply turned to his side with distaste.

"Can't we call it a night? We've done enough work. I'd rather just sleep" Plagg complained.

Adrien sighed and stood up.

"Any other time... I'd agree with you" Adrien said solemnly. It has been so long since he had a good night's sleep, but he had much to deal with.

It would be impossible to sleep with that on his mind.

First things first, he needed to make sure that ladybug was okay.

-Marinette-

Marinette watched as Alya slung her bag over her shoulder.

"I'm glad we're almost done with the project." She said with a small yawn.

Marinette nodded as she led her towards the door. Her mother waited outside for her.

"Yeah... But I think we should get some sleep." Marinette suggested as Alya met her mother outside.

"See you tomorrow!" Alya said with a smile.

Marinette smiled and nodded in return.

She couldn't help but to feel giddy about being on good terms with Alya, but it didn't last long.

She still had a problem to deal with, and it mostly drained the energy from her.

As she closed the door she snuck back up stairs to her bedroom where Tikki waited for her.

"Do you think Chat Noir picked up any leads?" Marinette asked as she picked up the little kwami.

Tikki shook her head.

"We can't be sure... We'll probably have to ask him ourselves." She said with a wink.

Marinette pursed her lips in thought. Knowing Chat Noir the way she did, she knew he'd be worried sick. If she didn't know any better, she'd probably assume that he was outside still looking for the assailant, or maybe even looking for her.

Maybe she didn't know better.

Marinette looked at Tikki with weary eyes.

It was late and she was tired, but she at least had to see if he had found any. She had to assure him to the least that she was okay.

"Okay, Tikki. Let's go!"