⚠️Slight violence. Be aware.⚠️
Marinette slowly awoke, feeling groggy and week.
Her eyes slowly got used to the bright light and her vision became clear.
She then felt that her hands were chained and that her feet were bound to the chair she was sitting on.
"What the hell?" She mumbled, not understanding what happened. Was this some stupid prank?
She then heard a chuckle from behind her and turn her face around. She could see a silhouette of a person, but she couldn't make out who it was.
"Nino? Is that you? This isn't funny." She spoke to the anonymous person.
The man then came into the light and grinned. Marinette's breath hitched and her mouth was agape. "Hawk Moth..."
He slowly approached her and crouched in front of the girl. "That's right, the one and only. You stupid little girl." He grinned. "You revealed something really useful to me. Can you guess what it is?"
She shook her head. She didn't know what he knew. She could accidentally reveal herself, without noticing it.
"Come on." The villain urged.
She spat in his face. "Never, you jerk."
His whole facial expression changed. It wasn't amused anymore, but furious.
"You better be careful. I could kill or akumatize you with a snap in my fingers."
Marinette swallowed the lump in her throat. "Let. Me. Go."
The grin once again appeared on his face and he looked her dead in the eyes.
"I'll give you a clue then. It is someone who stays in your house." He smiled. "Actually, he is sleeping in your bed at this exact moment."
The bluenette's eyes grew wide. "Chat Noir..."
He sniggered. "That's right, foolish girl. You led me right towards his secret identity. Now I've got his ring and he is helpless."
He stood back up and looked down at the helpless girl. "It will only be a matter of time before Ladybug will show up."
"Y-you know his identity?" Marinette mumbled.
This was bad. Really bad. She couldn't transform, because then Hawkmoth could easily take her earrings before she would be able to get free.
And Cat Noir didn't have his miraculous, didn't know who she was, and she didn't know where she was.
She didn't even know where she was.
Their only hope would be Tikki, her kwami. She could find him and help him save her. It was the only way.
Hawkmoth turned around and walked away, not even bothering to answer the question.
She was left helpless, alone, in the bright light, hoping everything would turn out alright.
She glanced at her hip, the place where her purse usually would be, but it wasn't there.
She was still in her pajamas and it was obvious that she was kidnapped when she was asleep, although she couldn't remember it anymore.
They were in deep shit.
Tikki was still asleep in her room, Adrien didn't have his miraculous anymore, and even if he would come to save her, he would see who she was, and he would possibly be akumatized.
She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She then felt someone grab her head and a cloth was pressed against her mouth.
"I'm sorry..." She heard a female voice say.
She couldn't respond, however, because she was already passed out.
❥ ❥ ❥
Adrien groaned, awakening by someone softly tapping his face over and over again.
"Not now, mom..."
"Wake up, you dufus!" He heard a familiar voice squeak.
His eyes fluttered open and two dark blue eyes met his green ones. "Tikki?"
"Marinette is gone!"
He shot up from the bed and looked around him. She really was gone.
"What? We have to find her. What if something bad happened?" He said worriedly.
Reality then rose upon him. He pointed at the black-spotted kwami. "What the hell are you doing here and how do you know Marinette!"
The kwami hit her head with her tiny hand and sighed. "You two really are clueless..."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed. "How are you a straight-A student? You seem to only have 2 brain cells."
Adrien rolled his eyes. "Why thank you, Tikki. That is so helpful. Would one of you be so kind to tell me what happened to my girlfriend!"
"Adrien... Don't immediately get mad, let me explain first." Tikki softly said to the blonde.
He looked at her confusedly but nodded.
She scratched her neck nervously before answering. "You see... Marinette is Ladybug..."
The blonde's eyes widened and he was about to scream but Tikki was already prepared and placed her tiny hands on his mouth.
"Remember what I told you seconds ago? Let me explain first."
She slowly retreated her hands from his mouth and sat on his thigh.
"I know this is a huge shock, but let me start with the fact that Marinette does love you."
Adrien rose his eyebrows but nodded.
"Well, you see, she kept rejecting you as Cat Noir because she was in love with Adrien. She was just so blinded by your civilian self that she couldn't see the amazing cat that was right in front of her.
"You two kept dancing around each other because you loved Ladybug and Marinette loved Adrien, which was so dumb." She rolled her eyes before continuing.
"But then, you needed a place to stay, because of your father. And let me remind you, she doesn't know that story yet.
"Anyways, she started to fall in love with Chat Noir, partly because Adrien went missing and also because she got to know the real you, and not just the flirty you.
"And then you revealed yourself and said all those nice things about her and she couldn't contain herself. She was of course also really happy that her two crushes were the same boy.
"But you didn't understand the real reason why she kissed you and got mad. She wanted to tell you who she was, but then she got scared... She thought you hated her."
Adrien was shocked upon hearing those words. Everything made sense now. Ladybug loved him, Marinette loved him, and they were the same person. He couldn't believe it.
"Wow..." He croaked out, still in shock.
"Yeah, wow. But now we cleared that up, we have to save Marinette!"
He snapped out of his trance and nodded. "Right! Plagg, claws out!"
Nothing happened.
He looked helplessly at Tikki before glancing at his hands. His ring was gone.
He choked out a sob. "My ring is gone! I can't save my lady."
He fell on his knees and buried his face in his hands.
Tikki slowly mumbled reassuring words to the boy, trying to calm him down.
"I-I'm useless. The love of my life is missing and I can't do anything about it!"
Tikki softly lifted his chin and looked him straight in the eyes. "Have you thought about where she could be?"
Realization then hit him. "Father..." He mumbled.
Tikki nodded in response. "I'm pretty sure that he saw the two of you on the rooftop, yesterday, and connected the dots."
Adrien nodded slowly. "He was in this room last night. He knows that I'm Chat Noir. He took my ring. He took my princess." He sobbed.
Tikki softly caressed his cheek. "Everything will be fine, Adrien. You just have to get your act together and save her."
His hands flew in his golden locks. "I'm a mess, Tikki. I can't do this, it's too much."
"You can, and you will. You have to, for Marinette."
Their eyes met once again and he nodded. "For my princess. Everything for my princess."
A small smile formed on Tikki's lips. "We'll save her. I'm sure of it."
"How?"
"I have a plan."
❥ ❥ ❥
Marinette awoke once again and she looked around her. She was still chained and was still helpless.
Her eyes scanned the room and she softly muttered reassuring words to herself, trying to get her to find a solution.
But the room was empty, apart from the chair she was sitting on. The chains were made of some kind of metal, so she wouldn't be able to break those either.
And she was fairly certain that if she transformed, Hawkmoth would notice, and would grab her earrings.
She groaned in frustration and prayed for a miracle to happen.
Hawkmoth then walked back in and Marinette gritted her teeth.
Hawkmoth wasn't affected in the slightest and shot one of his evil grins at her.
"Such a waste..." He ran a finger across her jawline, which made Marinette shiver.
"But I have to get what I want, and this is the only way."
He then grabbed a camera and began filming her. It looked expensive and she guessed that this would be broadcasted all around Paris.
He was trying to lure Ladybug in.
"Ladybug. I've taken Chat Noir's miraculous and I have a hostage. You must know how precious this girl is to him. So, I give you an opportunity: you can come to my lair and give me your miraculous, and in return for that, I'll let this girl live."
He reached in his pocket and a knife came out. He scraped it across her cheek and a small line of blood came running down. Marinette hissed at the pain.
"Stop the camera."
Marinette turned towards the sound and she saw a boy standing there.
It was the one and only Adrien Agreste.