Darkness was all he knew. Thickening and thickening around him. The crystals were gone and the suffocating black made it hard to breathe. The one thing that held him together was the limp figure in his arms.

Foster.

He had found her. She was in his arms, her blonde hair swishing as he ran. He focused on her and ignored the scuffling snarls close behind him. He just had to hold on.

Was he ever together in the first place? Or were the few days he remembered living an illusion? The black made it impossible to tell. He had to get back. He couldn't let the scuffling sounds catch up with him, so his feet moved him faster than he was sure he'd ever ran before. He was sure his mind was playing tricks on him when the walls began to shift. It was like he was skipping through space, but he didn't think too much about it. It was all in his head. It had to be. It was impossible to skip through space.

Adrien kept telling himself this, focusing on Foster and trying to find a way out of there when a strange hole appeared right in front of him. He was going too fast to avoid it, and he jumped in. The next thing he knew he was standing outside of the hospital he had woken up in.

Breathing raggedly, with millions of questions racing through his head, he bolted through the spinning doors, bringing Foster to the nearest nurse he saw. The man was young with blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

"She's unconscious," he choked, "can you please get help?"

"It looks like she won't be the only one that needs help," the nurse said, looking Adrien over, "you look like you sprinted a whole marathon to get here!" The man was deceptively kind and helpful for him being in such a situation but all Adrien cared about was getting Foster to safety at that point.

"It feels like it too," Adrien huffed between breaths.

"Come, we'll figure this out." The nurse lead Adrien to the emergency wing, getting them into a sterile room that smelled like all the chemicals in the world.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Adrien—Adrien Agreste."

"All right, and what's her name?" The man gestured to the blonde girl covered in deep gashes and bruises.

"All I know is that I call her Foster," he said. "I'm sorry, I don't know anything else."

"So you don't know your friend's name?" The man  joked.

"It's... complicated. I woke up from a coma that erased my memory only a few days ago."

"Well, it looks like you've got a lot going on then, young mister! We'll get this sorted out, I promise. I'll go get a doctor." The man left the room, leaving Adrien and Foster alone.

Adrien reached for her shoulder, not wanting to look at her wounds. "Foster, please wake up. I hardly know you, but it feels like I've known you forever. I don't know what I'd do if you didn't wake up." The girl didn't stir, but he could've sworn he saw her hand move.

You're not who you think you are.

"What was that?!"

You are something so much greater.

Are you speaking in my mind? Adrien thought.

So you figured it out! I was wondering how much longer I'd have to watch you squirm. Her mental voice laughed, and Adrien was too tired to ask questions.

Who are you, Foster?

I'm not important right now. You've lost your memories obviously, and I can't tell you everything or I might trigger your memories, which will take a while. Get us out of here. I'll explain everything when I wake up...

When will that be?

I don't know. Right now just get us out of here. Go to a different hospital room or something.

Adrien scooped her up and went down some stairs to a lower level. He brought her to the first open room he saw.

Is this ok?

I can't see, but as long as that man is gone we're ok. I have to go now, my mental strength is draining.
I—I need you to be ok.

Have you seen yourself? You're the one with the giant gashes, which is totally not cool by the way. Now we've both had to be in the hospital for severe reasons within days of each other! We can be hospital buddies!

Her mental voice chuckled. I'm glad to see you're still in there, even without your memories.

Her mental voice drifted off, leaving Adrien alone. Silence stretched, and he didn't know what to do. Should he get a doctor? Should he just stay there until he got the all-clear?

Then he knew. He knew it would be risky, and he knew he would be asked a lot of questions, but it was the best shot he had, so he called Marinette.

The clumsy girl answered almost immediately, "Hey Adrien! Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital, and I need your help."

"What? Are you all right? What hap—"

"Just trust me! Come alone to room B12 in the hospital I was in a coma in. I'll explain as much as I know when you get here."

"I'll be there quicker than lightning." She clicked off the phone and Adrien was sure she'd be there soon if she transformed.

Just as he thought, she was there at the window within two minutes. "Who is she? Why is she hurt so badly?" She asked, examining Foster's wounds.

"I... I don't exactly know, but she told me there are people after she and I, and that I couldn't get a doctor or I'd be caught."

"Why would people be—"

"Can you not ask questions right now please? It's been a very confusing few hours for me and I don't know even half of what's going on." It came out sharper than he meant it to, but his headache was growing worse with every second.

"Yeah... I'm sorry Adrien." She crossed her arms across her chest, glancing down at his bloodied hands.

"It's ok, can you help me take her to my house?"

"You realize you can just transform, right? Plagg makes you stronger! You don't need me!" She said the last words teasingly but Adrien could sense the bitterness behind them. "I'm still glad you called though, even if this is very confusing."

"Yeah, thanks for coming. Also I forgot, I'm a superhero!" He transformed and stood there for a moment, still not used to the tight-fitting bodysuit that really showed off his muscles.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to your new eyes, I'm just so used to the green. Ice blue just feels... foreign. But anyways, that's not important right now. Let's go!"

Adrien carried Foster again, careful not to drop her over the rooftops of Paris. He stole a glance at her features at one point only to see that she was wearing a small grin, leaning into his chest.

They arrived at his room and he delicately placed her on the bed, not wanting to leave her side.

"Can you get some supplies to clean her wounds, Marinette? I'm going to stay here with her."

"Of course, I'll be back soon."

Then it was just Adrien and Foster, yet again.

Foster? He thought. Can you hear me?

No reply. She must be resting, or maybe she couldn't hear his thoughts and he was just going delusional. That being said, he was sure he had a full conversation in his head. As crazy as it sounded, he did. It wasn't even the craziest thing that had happened that day, like the fact he was pretty sure he had teleported, fought a guy, and met his not-so-nice mom. All he wanted to do at the moment was rest, but he couldn't leave Foster's side.

"I'm back," Marinette said from the doorway, "and I brought supplies."

"Well, do either of us know how to clean and treat a wound?"

"I know a bit from when you nearly died," Marinette said, sorrow etched in her brow, "it was hard to leave your side and I was there for most of it. The only times I left were when they kicked me out."

"I can't believe you did that for me," Adrien said, strange as it sounded. He cleared his throat. "We should get to work before it gets any worse."

Marinette opened bottles and gauzes and cleaning agents and whatnots, setting to work on her wounds. She was surprisingly practiced and seemed to know what she was doing, even with all the chaos going on.

"So, now that we have some time as I'm doing this, tell me. What happened?"

"I... I really don't know."

"Oh, so did you lose your memory again?" The words struck a nerve in both of them.

"No, it's just really confusing. First this creepy lady in a cloak comes to me and tells me she's my mom—"

"Emilie is dead, Adrien."

"Emilie? No, she said her name was Madame Gisela."

"That's strange... anyways, go on."

Adrien told her everything, leaving out the detail that Foster and he had talked in his mind. He could figure that out on his own later.

"That sounds insane..."

"Believe me, I know, but it's true."

Neither of them seemed to know what to say so Marinette worked on Foster's wounds in silence, cleaning and wiping and putting different creams and bandages on her arms and head.

"Do you think she's important?" Marinette asked after she was all bandaged up.

After a moment, he responded, "Yeah, I know she is."

Marinette left, leaving Adrien alone with Foster yet again. Should he even call himself Adrien anymore? He was too tired to think about all of the crazy things so he carefully crawled over to the other side of his huge bed, leaving room between him and Foster, and fell asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow.