I was reading an assignment for school when suddenly the lights went out. Tikki was sleeping next to me and I got up carefully not to wake her. On my way to the balcony I knocked something off my desk. 

"Marinette?" Tikki asked softly. "What are you doing?" 

"The power went out," I explained and opened the balcony door. "In all of Paris, as it seems." 

I had never seen the city entirely dark before. Paris, the city of light. There was not one single light in any of the windows I could see, all the streets lay in complete darkness, the Eiffel tower wasn't lit as it usually was. 

Tikki flew to my side and took it in. "I think we have a problem," she said. "Do you think a power outage could do this?" 

"No," I stated firmly. "This is Hawkmoth's doing. I have to find out whom he has acumatised this time. Tikki! Spots on!" 

As Ladybug I went out into the streets. There weren't many people outside but the ones I could see seemed to have fallen asleep right where they were standing or sitting. At first, I thought something way worse had happened to them but then I spotted a man on a bench who was snoring happily into a melting ice cream cone. Everything was so dark, and I was incredibly grateful for the full moon, the only light source in the city. 

I landed on a chimney, trying to figure out where the villain was, when I heard the sounds. Maniacal laughter and a sort of quiet swoosh. Then a louder swoosh as someone clearly flew past me, screaming. My reflexes kicked in and I caught his ankle with my yoyo, before he could fall off the rooftop. 

"Hello, Cat Noir", I greeted him as I pulled him up and freed his ankle. "You're early."

"What can I say, Mylady? I'm a nocturnal cat." He smiled at me. 

"Do you know what happened?" 

"Yeah. This guy is all in black, it's almost impossible to see him. He's shooting those rays of darkness that make you fall asleep instantly when you get hit." 

That was all I needed. I nodded and was about to make the first step to the edge of the rooftop to go find and fight this villain when Cat Noir grabbed my arm and pulled me back. 

"Just a second,", he said. 

"What is it, Cat Noir?" 

"Look up." 

He watched at me as I sighed and looked up to the sky. There was the full moon and the sky was covered in a million stars. That's the disadvantage of living in the city of light – you can barely ever see the stars. I had never in my life seen as many as tonight. 

"It's beautiful," I whispered. 

"Yeah," he said softly. "It is." I glanced at him and realized he hadn't been looking at the stars at all. 

I cleared my throat and took a step back. His hand dropped off my arm. 

"Let's go!"

Usually the villains weren't at all hard to find. This one however was different. Cat Noir followed the streets, eyes peeled for someone who hadn't been made to fall asleep yet and I was following him, relying on his night vision. Suddenly he stopped and pulled me into a narrow alleyway. "There he is," he whispered almost too quietly to hear. 

"Oh Ladybug!" I heard the villain call. He was getting closer. "Cat Noir! Where are you hiding?"
I held my breath. 

"I'm the Sleeper! And soon the entire city will be asleep forever! And when I find you, you will sleep too, and I'll take your miraculous!" 

"What are we going to do?" Cat Noir asked. 

I peeked around the corner as the villain approached. He was floating on a black cloud, and there were smaller clouds around his hands that were similar to Cat Noir's Cataclysm. The only light I could see was a small purple dot on his helmet. 

"I bet the Akuma's in there," I whispered. "You know what to do." 

Cat Noir nodded slightly, and I climbed the building. Quietly and as fast as I could I made my way over the rooftops so I could pass the Sleeper. When I was sure I was ahead of him I jumped down into the street. 

"Hello Sleeper!" I called him. 

He was closer than I had anticipated and dodging his first sleep ray was a close call. I couldn't see the rays in the dark at all; all I had to go on was the Sleeper's movement pattern and the almost inaudible swoosh sound the rays were making. 

The second ray hit the wall right next to my head and left a mark that was even darker than the darkness around me. 

"Cataclysm!" With a sigh of relief, I shot towards the Sleeper and Cat Noir, ready to capture the Akuma as soon as it showed up. 

"No!" I screamed. The Sleeper shot a ray towards Cat Noir who could barely dodge it, he tripped and fell, and his cataclysm made a car at the side of the road dissolve into rusty powder instead of destroying the vessel of the Akuma. 

The villain laughed and shot another ray at Cat Noir who was already jumping around frantically to distract him further. I tried my best to hit the helmet with my yoyo, but it was impossible to aim in the dark. And then the Sleeper started to twirl on his floating cloud, shooting rays in all directions and dodging the rays was all we could do. I couldn't even deflect the rays, they were going through my defenses like they were made of pure darkness. 

My back hit the wall and I was sure the next ray was going to hit me. I already closed my eyes, ready to leave the rest of the fight to Cat Noir. He could do it without me, somehow. I knew he could. 

"Ladybug! No!"

I should have known better. 

When I opened my eyes, he was right in front of me and I watched his face go from painful effort to exhausted numbness. His breathing suddenly wasn't labored anymore but heavy with sleep. His eyes closed and he fell towards me. I caught him in my arms and looked over his shoulder as the Sleeper came towards us with outstretched hands, reaching for Cat Noir's Miraculous. So, I did the only thing I could, I threw my unconscious friend over my shoulder fireman-style and pulled myself up the building, out of reach. 

"You can't run away forever, Ladybug!"

I wasn't going to. As soon as I was sure the Sleeper wouldn't go this far to find Cat Noir, I set him down against a chimney on a roof. 

Only that he wasn't Cat Noir anymore. The timer from his Cataclysm must have worn off while I was carrying him and I hadn't noticed. 

"This can't be real," I breathed as I looked into the one face that was more familiar to me than my own. The perfect cheekbones usually slightly flushed but pale in the moonlight. The curve of his lips that could form into the kindest smile on the planet. The blond hair, softer than feathers.
I would have known his face anywhere and I knew it here, in the intense darkness of a lightless Parisian night. "Adrien." 

I fell down to my knees and reached out to push a loose strand of hair out of his face. His eyes were still closed, which was probably for the better since they were so incredibly dreamy that I forgot my own name often enough while looking into them. 

Should I have known? Adrien had been Cat Noir this entire time? How was that possible?
I shook my head to try and focus on the villain at hand, but it was hopeless. I was used to not being able to think around Adrien, but I'd thought that was a weakness of Marinette, not one of Ladybug. 

With heavy heart I turned around and ran, jumped and pulled myself back to the main street where I had left the Sleeper. 

I paused on a roof and knelt beside the edge. I was lucky enough the villain didn't care about hiding his position. He was trying to lure me in, calling my name, talking about how he had hit the mayor with one of his rays. I took a couple of steps back, raised my arm and used my Lucky Charm. 

I had expected something like a shield or a weapon so I could break the Sleeper's helmet but instead a fragile little teacup fell into my hands. I knew what to do. 

Ten minutes and one transformation later, I knocked on Master Fu's door. 

"Hello, Marinette."

I was in my pajamas and didn't have any food for Tikki to recharge her powers. Master Fu opened and let me in when I presented him with the teacup. His apartment was lit with candles and his kwami, Wayzz, was sitting by the window, anxiously watching the streets down below. Tikki joined him and grabbed a cookie from the table on her way. 

"The Sleeper has hit Cat Noir with one of his sleep rays," I explained. "I used my Lucky Charm and it led me here. I think it wants to tell me I cannot defeat the Sleeper on my own." 

"Ah, yes," said Master Fu and nodded knowingly. "Of course." 

He pushed a footstool to the dresser and climbed it to open the box that contained the miraculous. 

"Marinette," he said, "pick an ally you can trust on this mission." 

I watched the compartments of the box open on their own, presenting various miraculous that were familiar by now and some that were not yet familiar. 

"Choose wisely. Once the mission is over, you must retrieve the miraculous from them." 

I considered the fox miraculous for a second but discarded the idea quickly. Rina Rouge and her illusions weren't the right match for the Sleeper. 

"I think ..." I began and my eyes fell onto the bracelet Master Fu was wearing. "That is the one I need." 

Master Fu's eyes widened. 

"If you don't mind," I added quickly. 

He smiled. "Not at all. See you soon, Wayzz." He pulled the bracelet over his wrist, waited until Wayzz went back inside, and dropped it into my outstretched hand. 

"Tikki, are you ready?" 

She swallowed the last bits of the cookie and flew to my side. "Let's defeat the Sleeper!"

"Tikki! Spots on!" 

Nino's house wasn't easy to find in the dark, but I managed it reasonably fast. He was in his bedroom alone by the light of a single candle. 

"Ladydude – err, I mean, Ladybug!" He scratched his head nervously when I landed on his windowsill. 

"Nino, I need your help. Do you want to fight with me to defeat the Sleeper?" 

He got up from his bed. "Of course, dude! I'll do anything for Ladybug." 

I smiled. "Thanks, dude." I showed him the turtle miraculous. "Nino Lahiffe, this is the miraculous of the turtle which grants the power of protection. You will use it for the greater good." 

He took the small box the miraculous was in and opened it. Wayzz materialized and greeted Nino like an old friend. "It's good to see you again, Nino." 

"You too, little dude." 

"Once the job is done, you must return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?" 

"Absolutely, Ladybug. Anytime." 

"Great. Hurry, we have to go!" 

Nino put the bracelet on and he and Wayzz nodded at each other once. "Wayzz! Shell on!" 

On the way to the Sleeper, Carapace asked about what happened to Cat Noir. I tried hard not to think about his transformation or the feeling of leaving the love of my life behind without any protection on a rooftop. "He was hit by a sleep ray," I explained. "We have to be very careful. I cannot block the rays, but I think, maybe you can." 

"I'll give it all I've got, Ladydu- ehm, Ladybug!" 

We landed in the middle of the road, just a few steps away from the Sleeper. 

"There you are, Ladybug. I missed you." 

"You can't do this forever, Sleeper," I said, yoyo in hand and ready to dodge any rays that might come my way. "The sun will rise eventually." 

"Not if I have anything to say about it." 

Without further talking, the fight began. Hawkmoth must have grown impatient by now because the Sleeper focused entirely on hitting me, clearly trying hard to give Hawkmoth what he wanted. 

"Block him!" I yelled at Carapace because the Sleeper was gaining ground on us. 

Carapace lifted his shield in front of him and I mentally crossed my fingers that it would work. It did. I made the right choice by picking the turtle miraculous. The ray deflected off the shield and shot into the sky. 

"You need to hit him back with his own rays!" I called. 

"You got it, dude!"

It was harder than it sounded. The curve of the shield made it almost impossible to aim accurately. Carapace could deflect the rays, but he never managed to shoot them anywhere near the Sleeper. That's when I noticed what the Sleeper was trying to do. He wasn't simply floating towards us and getting closer, he wanted to herd us to the river where we couldn't escape anymore. 

"We're running out of time!"

Carapace deflected a ray that burst through a window. Glass rained onto the Sleeper who just laughed about it. 

"I've got an idea!" Carapace called and in the next second, he jumped towards the Sleeper, yelling "Shelter!" and activating his superpower. He locked himself in his forcefield, together with the Sleeper, who shot rays at Carapace, clearly panicking. I couldn't see what was happening but after only a few seconds the forcefield went out and both of them fell to the ground, apparently asleep. 

The rays must have bounced back from the walls of the forcefield and hit them both.
I pulled the helmet from the Sleepers head and destroyed it with a determined stomp. The Akuma was glowing in the darkness which made it easy enough to capture and release it. I looked down at the Sleeper as he transformed back into a tired looking young man with a shirt saying Late Night Delivery on it. 

"Thank you, Carapace," I said and helped him back on his feet. "You were amazing." 

"Don't mention it, dude," he replied but seemed happy with himself. I took him into an alleyway where the lights had flickered back to life and he returned the miraculous to me. 

Out on the street, I saw a familiar figure. His face lit up when he saw me. "Mylady! Are you all right?"

Cat Noir hurried to my side and I just stood there, entirely frozen. "I – I – I," I stuttered and gave up with a sigh. 

"What happened?"

"Cat Noir! Dude! She saved the city again, what else do you think happened?" Nino came to my aid unexpectedly. "And there was sick other guy, Carapace? Actually, he kinda helped defeat the villain because you were asleep somewhere in a tree, right?" 

"That's awesome, Nino. Are you sure you're okay, though, Bugaboo?" 

His voice was so much Adrien when he was worried. I couldn't believe I never noticed. The catlike eyes, spiky hair and bad puns must have distracted me too much. I had been so blind. And apparently deaf, I was just staring at him, completely blank and had no idea what he had just said. 

"I have to go," I managed to say finally. "The – err, I have to go to bed! Yes! It's late!" 

"Okay." Cat Noir still sounded worried and questioning but I was happy to have found a reason to leave. I sailed across the rooftops, glancing at the starless sky and missing the stars more than I should have.