"Cat Noir, you are under arrest for the murder of the Patston family."

"What?!?" He yelped, staring in disbelief at his bound hands. Ladybug's head was reeling.

"Sir, I don't understand. Cat Noir is not a killer!"

Something like sympathy flickered across the officer's face. "I want to believe you, but visual evidence was turned in. Even if you're telling the truth, there's nothing I can do."

The two heroes followed his gaze to a large police-van-type thing, that looked as though it was designed for transporting dangerous criminals. The pit in Ladybug's stomach grew bigger.

"But..." Cat Noir protested weakly, sounding years younger than he was. "...I would never... hurt anyone..."

Sabrina's dad turned, and Cat Noir gave him a pleading look. "I don't have to go in there, do I?"

The sympathy returned for a brief moment. "I'm sorry son. It's out of my hands."

Ladybug winced, knowing that being called "son" was probably a direct attack to her partner, but the officer wouldn't know that.

A couple more police officers came up to them, leading Cat Noir towards the truck. Ladybug snapped out of her daze.

"Wait!" She called, darting forward. They turned to her. The girl threw her arms around her partner's neck, hugging him. The boy flinched. After a moment he returned the hug as best he could with bound hands, and she felt him shaking. Ladybug resisted the urge to cry.

Then he was being led away, trying desperately to keep her in view. She turned to Sabrina's dad.

"The truth will come forward, right?" She asked. He nodded.

"The boy will be treated fairly. If he's innocent, he'll be released in no time." She was quiet, watching the situation helplessly.

Wait. Maybe there was something she could do. Ladybug spun around. "I have a few urgent requests, can you pass them on?"

He was confused, but agreeable.

"This is important. Keep his hand-- the one with the ring-- where he can't reach anything."

"Why?"

She hesitated. "I don't want him to use Cataclysm on himself," she admitted in a low voice. The officer's eyes widened.

"...o-okay, is there anything else?"

Ladybug looked over to her partner again, racking her brain.

"Just... be good to my Kitty, okay? Do whatever you can. Right now, so many awful things are happening to him, he doesn't deserve this... I'm doing what I can, but I'm afraid."

She closed her eyes, trying not to rant. "Please, try to help however you're able. Any little thing makes a difference."

The officer gazed over at Cat Noir, a mixture of sad, guilty, and surprised. Ladybug could guess why. They were heroes, it was probably difficult to imagine a normal person under the mask. Even harder to imagine that the hero might be broken.

"...I'll do my best."

~*~

Marinette detransformed and ran downstairs. Her parents were in front of the TV. When they turned to her, she saw on their faces that they knew.

"How could this happen?" Sabine asked in a whisper.

Marinette shook her head mutely. Her eyes caught on the TV screen, where the news was being broadcast, and she couldn't tear them away. She was still trying to process what had happened. When she thought about Cat Noir's room being empty for who knows how long, or of her partner caged up somewhere, she felt it like a knife to her chest.

He'll be okay.

...Right?

~*~

Cat Noir hated being locked up. That's why going in that truck had been so terrifying-- he didn't know if he'd ever be free again. Still, it wasn't half as bad as the idea of a prison cell.

He curled into a ball on the ground, pulled by chains, which kept his hands apart and away from him. He knew what they were for.

The hero debated staying here, not moving when he was told to, letting himself give up. But he didn't want to inconvenience the Police officers. He decided to hold out until they got where they were going.

Everything passed in a blur. It was like a dream, only it wasn't. He was so out of it, in fact, that he didn't even remember when they got inside.

The room was small and bare. Empty except for him and the chains. It was dark. He could see because of his Night Vision, but he closed his eyes and pretended he couldn't.

The claustrophobia kicked in. Then came the panic. The boy let it, doing his best to stay quiet; hiding away as usual.

He really was alone this time.

~*~

Alya offered to come stay the night, and she was welcome. Marinette's whole house had gone cold. It was too quiet, and no one knew what to do without goofy puns and a cheeky attitude to lighten things up. Marinette tried to imagine what Cat Noir would say if he were home right now. It only made her feel worse.

When they answered the door, Alya came inside, just as silent as everyone else. She hugged Marinette wordlessly.

They set up her bed in Marinette's room, and everyone got ready to sleep. It was late and school was tomorrow. Marinette didn't want to go. But she would anyway. Right now was a time to be strong.

Sometime in the night, Alya must have heard her friend's sniffling, because she climbed into the bunk bed and lay down next to Marinette. They hugged again, Alya rubbed her back reassuringly.

"He'll be back soon, Girl. It'll be alright. You'll see."

Those were the first words spoken that night, and they were also the last.

Nobody slept that night.

~*~

"Hey, Marinette, is everything okay?"

It was lunchtime. Marinette hadn't spoken to anyone, and she hadn't been paying attention in class. Alya was almost as bad but she at least was acting mostly like herself.

"Yeah, just... had a rough night."

Nino gave her a look. Well, I'm not exactly lying.

"Does it have something to do with Cat Noir?" Marinette froze. What? Does he know about the situation? How did he find out? What if he told someone?

"Wh-what do you m-m-mean?"

"What happened last night! It was a huge shock for everyone. The poor dude is definitely innocent. I can't believe so many people are hating on him right now."

"Oh, yeah. Um... we were up late watching the news. I'm a little worried. Ladybug will be fighting villains alone, you know?"

He nodded. Thankfully, Marinette wasn't interrogated anymore.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Nino sighed, "It's just sad to see."

Marinette bit her lip. You have no idea.

Alya came back from her locker, and they left the school together, parting ways at the bakery.

"See you after lunch!" Alya called. She gave her friend one last reassuring look before heading off.

Marinette went inside, giving her parents a half-hearted greeting, and went up to the balcony with her food. She forced herself to eat.

Then she sat where she always did, trying to imagine her partner sitting on the railing, sharing her quiet escape from the world.

Tears came. She let them.

It was painfully serene for a while.

"Marinette!" Sabine called some time later. "It's time to get back to school!"

She hastily wiped her face. "Alright! One minute!"

The girl rushed to the bathroom to fix herself up, then grabbed her plate and went downstairs. She was out the door on time for once.

It was cold. Icy rain misted on her bare arms, and she shivered, hugging herself. The sky was overcast and grey. Just like so many days when they sat together, trying to heal and grow, but never getting past the walls Cat Noir had built around himself.

They were stuck. Unchanging, like the sky. Only the nights they spent leaping across rooftops were clear, and those had slowly trickled out, and now... everything felt... grey. Worst of all, there was nothing more she could do.

I'm just one person. I can't carry these burdens. How has he done it alone for so long? And why hasn't he asked for help?

That stupid Cat really is something. He's stronger than I could ever be. But I don't blame him for being afraid; it takes a special kind of strength to reach out, and with everything, he was already going through...

Marinette stopped just outside the school, closing her eyes to feel the mist. It wasn't getting heavier or showing any signs of fading away. A faint breeze spread a chill through her damp skin.

Reluctantly, she went inside.

AN: none of the artwork is mine. Just to be clear.

I don't really have much to say, but I hope you're enjoying the story so far and sorry this took so long! I've been busy, believe it or not.

Please share any theories you have, I love knowing where you guys are at. It helps me decide how to go about future chapters. Plus it's just nice to hear from readers.

That's all for now, Bug Out!