Marinette paced back and forth in her room, her mind racing.

She didn't understand at all. How could he have found out her identity? She'd been so careful. She wracked her brain for any explanation or clue as to what had made him say her name, but she kept coming up blank.

"Marinette, this isn't going to help anyone." said Tikki, flying up to her face. "You have to calm down."

"How can I, Tikki?" she asked, "I failed. This was a secret I was meant to take to my grave, but Chat found out. He found out anyway and I just don't understand how."

Tikki shook her head and sighed. "Marinette, I don't know why he said your name, but I'm certain he doesn't know it's you beneath the mask."

"How can you be so sure? You know the way he looked at me. He had to know..." It didn't make sense at all. Tikki flew back up to Marinette and hovered in front of her smiling cheekily to herself. Marinette's eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking, Tikki?"

"Well, maybe he was thinking of you while he was kissing Ladybug?"

Marinette's jaw dropped and her neck flushed dark red. "What?" she asked, voice raspy.

Tikki gave Marinette a reassuring smile and patted her forehead. "Think about it, Marinette. Why would he call you Ladybug after he called you by your name? He doesn't know."

Marinette couldn't believe it. She didn't want to. It was too unrealistic. Too good to be true.

She glanced at the roses on her desk and her heart fluttered. Could he really be in love with her? The real her?

She couldn't deny the waves of pleasure she'd felt during their passionate kiss. The ways his hands caressed her through the suit and the way his mouth molded against her own.

Marinette walked towards the flowers and brushed her hand tenderly against the petals.

She grinned madly. "Could he really..." Could he love her true self more unconditionally than the side everyone else favored?

Marinette pulled a rose from the vase and glanced back at Tikki, but the kwami's expression was pained.

Her skin turned a paler shade of red and her eyes were frantic. "Marinette," she wheezed.

Marinette dropped the rose and rushed over to Tikki, barely capturing her in her hands before she hit the ground.

"Tikki!" Marinette pulled her kwami closer to her face and frowned, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Tikki rolled on her side and frowned. "Don't let him see me. Please, Marinette. Hide me."

"What?" she asked. Marinette heard the familiar knocking on her balcony and glanced down at Tikki again. She pursed her lips and nodded.

Hesitantly, she grabbed her diary box, opened it and set Tikki comfortably inside.

The knocking echoed again and Marinette frowned. "I'm coming. Hold on." She placed her diary box in her bottom drawer and climbed up the stairs. She opened the latch to her balcony with a small smile on her face.

"Chat –," She looked up at him and all the words died on her lips. Chat's suit was stark white. His messy blonde hair was a shade paler and his wonderful green eyes were now tinted purple. He stared down at her with a forced smile and crouched down in front of her.

"May I come in, Purrincess?"

Marinette couldn't speak. She couldn't move or function. He grinned at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. They were hollow and blank as if he didn't feel anything at all. No amusement, no jokes and no puns. He snapped his fingers and sneered.

"That's right. I completely forgot." He tilted his head down to hers and grabbed her chin between his fingers. "You're not my princess anymore. You're his."

Marinette's mind raced. The roses on her balcony...Nathaniel in her room...the kiss...He'd seen it. He'd seen it all and Marinette's stomach burned with guilt.

"W –What happened?" stuttered Marinette, both terrified and intrigued by him in his akumatised state.

He pursed his lips. "Isn't it obvious? I'm Chat Blanc now. You always found the name so fitting. Such a sweet reminder." he sneered.

He dropped her chin and Marinette's breath hitched. He looked so menacing now. No longer the sweet kitty she knew him to be. "Kitty –,"

"Don't call me that!" he snarled. "I'm not your kitty and I never will be." Marinette flinched back from him, but Chat Blanc grabbed her arm and pulled her up against him. He slammed the trapdoor shut with his foot and pressed her chest against his.

He smirked. "Don't worry, Mari. I'm better. It's better this way."

"Why?" she whispered, "Why is it better?"

He chuckled darkly and pushed back her fringe. "I can't feel any pain. And I never will. All I have to do is give Hawk Moth Ladybug's miraculous and I'll get to stay like this forever."

"He doesn't care about you –,"

"And you do?" he sneered.

He tightened his grip around Marinette's arms and she hissed in pain. "No one cares about me. They all leave me in the end, but don't worry..." His warm breath brushed against her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"You won't be one of them."

His lips pressed against her neck and Marinette inhaled sharply, his lips sending jolts of electricity through her body. His clawed hand climbed up her back to her hair and he gripped it tightly in his hand, pulling her head back and trailing the outline of her jaw with the tip of his nose.

"I have some business to take care of." he murmurred, "But when I get back we'll have some fun." His grin was both seductive and deadly, making Marinette feel more vulnerable and intimidated than she ever had. How could she have let this happen?

Chat lightly pushed her away, untangling his limbs from her own and setting her down on one of the balcony seats. He tilted her head up to his and pressed his lips against hers. Marinette gasped in shock and he deepened the kiss, sending fireworks erupting through her body.

But this wasn't her Chat. Chat Blanc wasn't the same Chat that she fell in love with. Chat Blanc was dangerous and if she wanted her real kitty back she was going to have to stop him.

He pulled away from her, leaving barely an inch between them. His warm breath brushed against her flushed face and he grinned.

"I can't wait to come back."

"What are you going to do?" she whispered. Chat Blanc smirked down at her, trailing his claw down her face along her neck to her collarbone. "My little, Mari. I'm going to maim the one who took you from me and then Ladybug will come to his rescue."

Marinette's eyes widened at the thought of Nathaniel in harms way. She couldn't do that to him. She couldn't have him get hurt because of her. "It's a real shame though," murmured Chat, "They'll both be dead either way. And then..." he chuckled lightly.

He gave her another seductive grin and Marinette felt his claws lightly brush against her shoulders. They were cold against her flushed body, making it hard to think clearly with him so near to her. But she had to stop him.

She breathed in a ragged breath and whimpered, "Please don't do this. This isn't you, Chat." He withdrew his hands from her as if she'd burned him and he glared at her.

"What do you know?" he growled, "Hawk Moth will stop once he has the miraculous and I've had enough. The pain, the disappointment –the grieving!"

His eyes went hollow again and he glanced over the railing, "I will never feel like that again. I am in control of my emotions now and I wouldn't relinquish that for a city that never even care about me in the first place."

"Chat –,"

Chat Blanc pressed a finger to her lips and grinned wickedly, "Be a good girl, Mari and stay. I'll come back for you soon and then you won't remember anyone else's name but mine." He walked back towards the railing and jumped over it into the darkness of Paris.

Marinette's chest ached from remorse and fear. She couldn't fight him. She'd done it before when he was under the akuma's influence, but that was before she'd fallen in love with him.

She raced back to her trapdoor and jumped down on her bed. She hurried down the stairs and pulled open her drawer, grabbing her diary box and unlocking it. Tikki lay inside, shivering madly even paler than before.

"Tikki, what's happening to you?" she breathed. The kwami shook and Marinette gently brought her to her chest. "I'll take you to get help. We'll go now –,"

"No, Marinette. He can't help me like this." replied the kwami. "Chat Noir is the other half of Ladybug. His kwami is the other half of me and when he's weak so am I."

"What do you mean?" asked Marinette.

Tikki wheezed and snuggled Marinette's chest, "Plagg, my other half. We control the balance. We can't live without one another and if he's weak..."

"Then you are too." guessed Marinette. "But I don't understand. If you can't transform then how am I supposed to stop him? I can't do it without Ladybug."

"You're the same person." replied Tikki. "Chat Blanc will kill Ladybug, but he won't harm Marinette. You need to do this without the mask."

Marinette was more than skeptical. He wasn't the same Chat she'd fallen in love with. He was hollow, empty and lifeless.

"How do you know?" she asked.

Tikki gave Marinette a weak smile, "I could feel it every time he came around. He cares about your Marinette and deep down the akuma can't change that. They strengthen the negative emotions, but that doesn't mean the positive ones aren't there. You need to help him, as yourself."

Marinette's breathing caught. No. She couldn't do it. "Tikki," she rasped, "I'm not strong enough." Tikki shut her eyes and Marinette cursed under her breath. She slipped Tikki in her purse and sighed, "I'll figure this out, Tikki."

She glanced at her phone on her desk and grabbed it. She frantically searched for Nathaniel's number and raced downstairs.

Nathaniel, where are you?

Two amazing things happened in these past two days. Firstly, my first chapter got over 1k reads!! Can you believe it? Secondly, my story actually got on the fanfiction HOTLIST. At number 997 I'm so proud and honored.

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Please don't forget to vote or comment on yet another unedited chapter.

Thanks again to everyone who helped contribute to this books success.❤