"Lead me with strong hands, stand up, when I can't, don't leave me; hungry for love chasing dreams." Lead Me ~ Sanctus Real

Helpful hint; don't fall!

Adrien, now Chat, thanks to the 'courtesy' of the Puzzlemaker, had his hands folded tightly together, digging his claws as deep as he could, indenting the skin on the back of his knuckles as his elbows rested on his knees. It's been thirty minutes since he made her worst fear a reality, thirty minutes of guilt eating him alive, and thirty minutes of constant worry about her.

He didn't like this- this feeling of being alone. He had enough of it in the previous years of his teenage life. He wasn't suppose to feel like this anymore after meeting Marinette. Her caring nature was suppose to cancel out his loneliness, not entice it.

Maybe you're too dependent on her, Adrien. Plagg had told you before that you were too dependent on Ladybug as well.

He believed it- he truly did- yet he couldn't stop. He needed love, he craved for it and he needed someone that could give it to him. Maybe he was too possessive of the bluenette, too protective. And these were all the reason which led to him thinking she was weak.

She was by no means weak, and yet that was what he thought of her. He compared her to a rare gem that everyone needed to love and protect, like a dainty porcelain doll, too beautiful for this hateful and cruel world.

How could I say that to her? That look, that broken look she held in her usually bright eyes. Why would I say that when I knew that it was her worst fear?

Because if you didn't she would have died. Would you rather she die as your friend, or have her live a healthy and long life hating you?

He would choose the latter. He would always choose the latter. Just the thought of her as a cold and lifeless corpse sent shivers down his spine and left behind an unsettling feeling in his stomach.

Where is she? I need to go find her and go help her-

"Chat Noir!"

The sound of his name from her rosy pink lips made his head shoot up, seeing the girl he was just thinking about come bounding towards him, tears flying out of the corners of her eyes which were a light pink.

He had gotten up but wasn't prepared when she slammed into him, full force, and wrapped her thin arms around his neck.

His back hit the wall behind him hard as he took the brunt of the collision, but he didn't care as he held her close to him. He felt her hot tears splash onto the bare skin of his neck, catching on to the leather collar of his black suit. Her nails dug into his shoulder blades as she tightened her hold on him, which was sure to leave some crescent shaped marks later on.

"Don't cry Marinette. You don't need to cry." But he could understand why. One of the people she felt was a close friend of hers betrayed her, and probably lost all of the trust she had held in him.

"You don't get it, Chat." She hiccuped into his collar as the tears continued to roll down her cheeks and onto him. "He said that... One of my friends said... My crush said he thought I was weak! Weak, Chat! And he's right, he's so right!"

Crush... I was that too... Not only did I break her spirit, I broke her heart as well... I should have never been her crush- neither Chat nor Adrien deserved her love, no matter how much we both wanted- scratch that -needed it.

He held her tightly, looking like he was trying to absorb her and make them one with how close he held her to himself. Chat could only hope that this hug would somehow convey all of his guilt and how sorry he was as he buried his face into her neck. His green eyes stung with unshed tears. He wanted to take all of her pain away. If he could, he would, 100 fold- no a thousand fold! Then the lights went out.

The teens, arms still wrapped around each other, froze as they were engulfed by darkness.

"Yipee! I hope none of ya are scared of the dark! But you might be after we finish this fun time we're gonna be having."

Fun time?

"Does he think that this is some kind of game?" Chat felt a tight grip on his left hand, firm and unnerving. His fingers overlapped hers as he answered her question. "He's a sadistic psychopath, of course he does."

"I can still hear ya, y'know. That's harsh, you belligerent tomcat. And using big words to impress your girlfriend? You probably don't even know what they even mean." The blond scowled at the Puzzlemaker. "Anyways! The rules are simple! Just escape this room!"

Escape this room? That's too easy for this infuriating genius. What exactly is he not telling us?

"What's the catch, sicko?"

"Aw, you caught on? You're smarter than you look, tomcat. That sucks, I thought the surprise would be fun. You have 30 minutes to leave!"His cheerful voice took a violent turn to maniacal as he spoke, which was probably directed at her partner, considering he made it his job to annoy and distract their enemies. Which he was doing with the Puzzlemaker currently. "Bye bye~"

God, I really should have been paying attention to my surroundings when I had time. And the light.

Stupid, you have night vision. His subconscious said demeaningly as Chat felt the green vision cover the insides of his pupils. Blinking a few times to adjust to the new light, he saw the outlines of the room they were in, showing him their exit. He squeezed Marinette's slim fingers as a signal to be ready as he began to wak to the wall on their right where a door was waiting for them, ajar.

"Chat?" He hummed in response, comfortingly tightening his grip on her. It felt to him that he was doing so as if he needed to assure himself that she was there, that she was real. Nothing was gonna stop him from leaving this room.

"What if it's another trap?" -That was gonna stop him. He stopped in his tracks, barely noticing Marinette walking into him as he fiercly glared at their surroundings like they had done something to offend him. And in his mind, they probably had.

What if this was a trap? I can't go through there! That's too easy for that genius to give us, and going off of his previous knowledge of his miraculous, he probably also knows about the night vision Chat Noir is given. So where do we go? He let his eyes wander around the room. A new way out, a new way out, a new way out, a small voice in his head chanted repeatedly.

Suddenly, he spotted something that looked helpful.

"Books!"

"What?" Marinette looked at Chat, or more so turned to the direction of his voice as a look of confusion passed over her delicate features. "What about books?"

"You know, Scooby-Doo? They always pull books and find some kind of hidden door!" Chat reasoned as he pulled her to the wall stacked with books.

"Yeah, and when they do, something always goes wrong!" Marinette pointed out skeptically before a loud think echoed in the room. "Chat... tell me that was not a book."

Hearing the underlying threat, Chat froze. His free hand was resting on the next book on the shelf as he glanced down at the previously tossed one. "... That was not a book."

"Liar!" Marinette hissed as she squeezed his hand with all her might. A yelp escaped from Chat who tried to pull his hand out of her iron grip. Feeling satisfied, she stopped and let their conjoined hands fall limply inbetween them.

"Let's just get it done and over with." He muttered as he pulled several more books off the shelf in one swipe. Hearing Marinette squeak, he quickly tugged her behind him just before one of the books slammed on to the place she had previously been standing. "Shit. I need to be more careful."

He was saying it more to himself, but it felt as if he was also warning Marinette. Just as he tugged a thicker book, the floor beneath them gave way, starting both the teens.

"What did I tell you?!" Marinette shouted behind them as they fell. His heart leapt from his chest to his throat as an awful, yet fresh memory began to resurface. Acting quickly, he wrapped an arm around her small waist and hugged her to him as he desperately looked for something, anything, to grab onto.

He was basically running on pure adrenaline at this point as he felt his blood rush up to his head.

Finally adjusting to their fast pace, he noticed poles sticking out of the never ending walls. They didn't have any specific order. It looked like someone just drilled a hole in the ground and cut through the pipes. Grabbing on to one, he abruptly ceased their freefall with one hand and he silently prayed that the metal wouldn't bend under the sudden ambush of their weight.

"Chat?"

"It's fine. We're okay. We're okay!" He was cheering now. He knew Marinette was probably looking at him like he was crazy. Hell, he probably was! After all the hell and torture he and her have been through in just mere hours was ridiculous! Of course they'd loose their minds! But he couldn't. He couldn't because he still had Marinette to save, and to protect.

Quickly sobering up, he coughed. "I need you to climp onto my back okay? I'm going to get us down." His left arm was throbbing from the intense strain it was going through to just hold them up with the little grip his hand had on the bar. He felt her do as he commanded before he looked down at the way he had to go.

There's no room for slipping up this time.

Is this any good so far? I know it's dark and twisted, but I actually really like how this is turning out, especially with the Puzzlemaker. Also, sorry for the late update, I fell asleep as soon as I got home yesterday.

Word Count: 1,707

Date, February 1st, 2017

Until next time, peace!