Won't Tell a Soul

One Last Run

Nino held as still as possible, goosebumps rising on his skin as he fought back the urge to shake off the gently glowing white butterflies that settled on him. Their bodies were so light that he was hardly aware of them until they flapped their wings, steading themselves as they clung to him. They did not swarm him or overwhelm him, but they did seem drawn to him... the only light flooding in from a single large window and shining off of the wings of his company in an eerie and unsettling way.

Nino struggled to sit up, ignoring the burning pain in his wrists as he strained against the coarse restraints binding his arms. It felt like rope, irritating the skin and tied too tightly. He took a deep breath, flinching every time he saw a butterfly shift and flutter near him, doing everything he could to be quiet.

This was Hawkmoth's... this space. It was empty and... unsettling, filled only with the gentle persistent sound of butterfly wings. The quieter he was the more they settled, sitting obediently on the ground as they waited for their master.

His head ached and he swallowed back fear, hating how he couldn't stop himself from shaking but biting his tongue forcefully to maintain silence.

This was bad...

It had happened so suddenly, the window exploding out and throwing him against the wall like a bomb had been set off. He remembered Plagg flying towards him, panicked and concerned but Nino had been too disoriented to say anything, acting on instinct and hiding Plagg behind him when something started to crawl in the window. It was massive and hulking, an akuma from the looks of it. Its eyes were vacant and obedient, the thing so massive that Nino was shaking in terror, but even still he hid Plagg from view. He vividly remembered the chill of horror he felt when Plagg slithered beneath his shirt, clinging to his back and hiding there even as Nino was picked up by the monster. Silently he had been shouting at Plagg to hide, to stay behind, if both of them were captured things would only be worse but now as he sat in the darkness of that room he understood why Plagg had done it.

He could feel him shaking too.

"Plagg..." Nino dared, his voice so painfully loud but he was sure that for the moment they were alone. "You can't stay here."

"I can't leave you," his small voice replied, Nino wriggling in discomfort as Plagg darted up his shirt to cling to his neck, glaring at the butterflies. His voice was surprisingly heavy, tense for such a jovial trickster. "I can't leave you alone here."

"You have to get back to him," Nino said, no name needed. Nino knew that Adrien was all Plagg had thought about since they had been taken. "You should have stayed in the first place."

"I couldn't just leave you!" Plagg shot back, sounding conflicted. "This is my fault... I should have stayed with him. Then he could come and save you. I can't do anything without the ring... Nino-"

"Don't say sorry," Nino cut him off, his eyes fixed on the huge window nearby. "Run Plagg, I'm serious."

"I can't!" Plagg protested, Nino flinching at how hurt he sounded. It didn't fit him... in the short time they had spent together Nino knew it didn't fit him.

"You have to buddy," Nino whispered, starting to scoot towards the window and watching the butterflies fearfully. "You have to. You can't stay here, he needs you. You need to go to him."

"What about you?" Plagg asked instantly, and Nino faltered. He didn't have a real answer.

"I won't tell him anything," Nino said quietly, deflecting slightly as he fought to move closer to Plagg's best escape route. "I swear, I won't tell a soul. So don't worry about that okay? Just get out of here, get to safety and find Cat Noir okay?"